December 12

Events
Up to 1900
627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
1098 - First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan - Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 of the people living in it. After finding themselves without enough food, they resort to cannibalism.
1531 - Vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in Mexico City.
1719 - The Boston Gazette is published for the first time.
1781 - American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.
1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd state to make the United States Constitution official.
1812 - French invasion of Russia comes to an end.
1862 - USS Cairo sank on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.
1897 - Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is made official.
1901 1950
1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
1911 - George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are crowned Emperor and Empress of India.
1913 - The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, stolen from the Louvre two years earlier, is found in Florence, Italy.
1914 - The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 24.39%.
1915 - President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai tells that he is going to make himself the Emperor of China.
1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
1918 - The Flag of Estonia is first raised on Pikk Hermann in Tallinn.
1925 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
1936 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
1937 - Panay incident: Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
1939 - Winter War: Battle of Tolvajarvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
1939 - The ship HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland.
1940 - Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.
1941 - World War II: Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.
1941 - World War II: United States Marine Corps F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
1942 - A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
1946 - A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
1948 - Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
1951 2000
1958 - Guinea joins the UN.
1963 - Kenya becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
1969 - Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
1970 - NASA sends the Uhuru satellite into space.
1979 - Coup d'etat of December Twelfth: South Korean military officer Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
1979 - Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
1982 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.
1984 - Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya become the third president of Mauritania after coup d'etat against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla. Taya was ousted in March 2005 by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall in another coup.
1985 - Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
1988 - Clapham Junction rail crash killed 35 and injured 100's after two collisions of three commuter trains. One of the worst train crashes in Britain.
1991 - Russian Federation becomes independent from the USSR.
1992 - An earthquake on the island of Flores kills around 2,500 people.
1996 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
2000 - The United States Supreme Court released its decision in Bush v. Gore.
2000 - Ethiopia and Eritrea end a border war.
From 2001
2003 - Paul Martin becomes Prime Minister of Canada.
2006 - Peugeot produce their last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
2012 - North Korea launches the Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2 satellite.
2013 - Jang Sung-taek, previously a powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is executed, just days after being removed from his position.
2015 - Confenerce on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change makes Paris Agreement on reduction of CO2 after Kyoto Protocol.
2016 - Bill English becomes the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand, replacing John Key.
Births
Up to 1800
1298 - Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)
1418 - Albert VI of Austria
1574 - Anne of Denmark, wife of James I of England (d. 1619)
1610 - Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)
1612 - Nicholas Francis, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1670)
1659 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
1685 - Lodovico Giustini, Italian composer and pianist (d. 1743)
1712 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)
1724 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)
1731 - Erasmus Darwin, English physician and poet (d. 1802)
1745 - John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
1779 - Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)
1783 - Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1857)
1786 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
1791 - Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma (d. 1847)
1792 - Andreas Ypsilantis, Greek-Russian prince, general and rebel (d. 1828)
1799 - Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
1801 1900
1801 - King John I of Saxony (d. 1873)
1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
1806 - Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)
1812 - John Sandfield Macdonald, 1st Premier of Ontario (d. 1872)
1814 - Don Juan Prim, 1st Marquis of Castillejos, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1870)
1821 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
1843 - William P. Dillingham, Governor of Vermont (d. 1923)
1845 - Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)
1845 - Fanny Churberg, Finnish painter (d. 1892)
1849 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)
1850 - Martin Frederick Ansel, Governor of South Carolina (d. 1945)
1862 - J. Bruce Ismay, British entrepreneur (d. 1937)
1863 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
1864 - Paul Elmer More, American essayist (d. 1937)
1866 - Alfred Werner, Swiss Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
1870 - Walter Benona Sharp, American oil baron (d. 1912)
1875 - Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein, Olympic gold medalist (d. 1928)
1879 - Laura Hope Crews, American actress (d. 1942)
1881 - Harry Warner, Polish-American studio executive (d. 1958)
1887 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
1892 - Herman Potocnik Noordung, Croatia, Pula - rocket engineer (d. 1972)
1893 - Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)
1901 1925
1903 - Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer (d. 1976)
1903 - Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese movie director (d. 1963)
1904 - Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor and socialite (d. 1981)
1905 - Manes Sperber, Austro-Hungarian-born writer (d. 1984)
1907 - Roy Douglas, British composer and orchestrator
1909 - Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)
1911 - Boun Oum, Prime Minister of Laos (d. 1980)
1912 - Thorbjorn Egner, Norwegian writer (d. 1990)
1912 - Boun Oum, Lao nobleman and politician (d. 1980)
1912 - Henry Armstrong, American boxer (d. 1988)
1913 - George Whitman, American bookstore owner (d. 2011)
1914 - Patrick O'Brian (Richard Patrick Russ), British writer (d. 2000)
1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
1918 - Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)
1918 - Igor Ansoff, Russian-American economist and mathematician (d. 2002)
1919 - Jose Villalonga, Spanish football manager (d. 1973)
1919 - Paavo Aaltonen, Finnish sportsman (d. 1962)
1919 - Olivia Barclay, British astrologer (d. 2001)
1919 - Dan DeCarlo, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
1920 - Fred Kida, American comic artist (d. 2014)
1923 - Bob Barker, American television game show host
1924 - Ed Koch, 105th Mayor of New York City (d. 2013)
1925 - Vladimir Shainsky, Soviet and Russian composer (d. 2017)
1926 1950
1927 - Honor Blackman, British actress
1927 - Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
1928 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer (d. 2008)
1928 - Lionel Blair, British actor and choreographer
1928 - Helen Frankenthaler, American painter (d. 2011)
1929 - John Osborne, British dramatist and screenwriter (d. 1994)
1929 - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician
1930 - Bill Beutel, American journalist
1930 - Gwyneth Dunwoody, British politician (d. 2008)
1930 - Silvio Santos, Brazilian television host
1932 - Bob Pettit, American basketball player
1933 - Manu Dibango, Cameroonian musician and songwriter
1934 - Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico (d. 2012)
1936 - Denise Coffey, English actress and dancer
1936 - Iolanda Balas, Romanian high jumper (d. 2016)
1937 - Michael Jeffery, former Governor-General of Australia (2003-2008)
1938 - Connie Francis, American singer
1940 - Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
1940 - Dionne Warwick, American singer
1941 - Tim Hauser, American singer (d. 2014)
1943 - Dickey Betts, American musician (The Allman Brothers)
1943 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
1944 - Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
1944 - Jean Dore, Quebec politician, Mayor of Montreal (d. 2015)
1945 - Portia Simpson-Miller, former Prime Minister of Jamaica
1945 - Luciano Castellini, Italian footballer
1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing driver, two-time Formula 1 World Champion
1946 - Paula Wagner, American movie executive
1948 - Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal
1948 - Tom Wilkinson, English actor
1949 - Rajnikanth, Indian actor
1949 - Bill Nighy, English actor
1949 - Marc Ravalomanana, former President of Madagascar
1949 - Chris Baillieu, English rower
1949 - Gopinath Munde, Indian politician (d. 2014)
1950 - Billy Smith, National Hockey League goaltender
1951 1975
1951 - Anatoly Alyabyev, Russian biathlete
1951 - Rehman Malik, Pakistani politician
1952 - Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, Canadian politician
1952 - Peter Haber, Swedish actor
1952 - Cathy Rigby, American gymnast
1952 - Manuel Rosales, Venezuelan politician
1953 - Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss)
1954 - Liz Claman, American television anchor
1955 - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek businesswoman, President of the organizing committee for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens
1956 - Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
1957 - Sheila E., American musician
1957 - Robert Lepage, Quebec playwright
1959 - Jasper Conran, British fashion designer
1960 - Volker Beck, German politician
1962 - Tracy Austin, American tennis player
1962 - Mike Golic, former NFL football player
1963 - Juan Carlos Varela, President of Panama
1964 - Sabu, American professional wrestler
1964 - Reeta Chakrabarti, English journalist
1965 - Will Carling, English rugby player
1966 - Maurizio Gaudino, German footballer
1966 - Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
1966 - Ian Paisley, Jr., Northern Irish politician
1966 - Selen, Italian actress and television presenter
1967 - Walter Kogler, Austrian footballer
1967 - John Randle, American football player
1968 - Laurie Williams, Indian cricketer
1968 - Kate Humble, British television presenter
1969 - Wilfred Kirochi, Kenyan middle-distance runner
1969 - Sophie Kinsella, British author
1970 - Jennifer Connelly, American actress
1970 - Madchen Amick, American actress
1970 - Regina Hall, American actress
1970 - Wilson Kipketer, Kenyan-Danish athlete
1972 - Hank Williams III, grandson of Hank Williams
1972 - Nicky Eaden, English footballer
1972 - Kevin Parent, Quebec singer and songwriter
1972 - Yeoryios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter
1972 - Brandon Teena, American hate crime victim (d. 1993)
1973 - William Hutton, American engineer
1973 - Walter Otta, Argentine footballer
1973 - Dagur Kari, Icelandic moviemaker
1974 - Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer
1975 - Mayim Bialik, American actress
1975 - Craig Moore, Australian footballer
From 1976
1976 - Dan Hawkins, British guitarist (The Darkness)
1977 - Orlando Hudson, American baseball player
1977 - Bridget Hall, American supermodel
1977 - Colin White, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 - Dean Macey, British athlete
1978 - Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress
1978 - Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet Playboy models
1978 - Evren Genis, Turkish composer
1979 - Garrett Atkins, American baseball player
1979 - Nate Clements, American football player
1979 - Sharin Foo, Danish singer and bassist
1980 - Dorin Goian, Romanian footballer
1981 - Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier (d. 2011)
1981 - Ronnie Brown, American football player
1981 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricket player
1981 - Stephen Warnock, British footballer
1981 - Pedro Rios, Spanish footballer
1982 - Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player
1983 - Katrina Elam, American singer
1983 - Brad Smith, American football player
1984 - Daniel Agger, Danish footballer
1986 - Thomas Wansey, English television actor
1986 - Perparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer
1987 - Kate Todd, Canadian actress
1988 - Ham Eun-jung, South Korean singer and actress
1989 - Harry Eden, British actor
1990 - Tommy Lane, British football player
1990 - Victor Moses, Nigerian-British footballer
1991 - Daniel Magder, Canadian actor
1994 - Otto Warmbier, American student (d. 2017)
2008 - Julian Cortina, Professional gamer
Deaths
Up to 1900
884 - Carloman, King of the West Franks
894 - Guy III of Spoleto, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor
1212 - Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
1569 - Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (b. 1507)
1574 - Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)
1586 - Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
1685 - John Pell, English mathematician (b. 1610)
1751 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (b. 1678)
1754 - Wu Jingzi, Chinese writer (b. 1701)
1766 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)
1789 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (b. 1713)
1790 - Mikhail Shcherbatov, Russian philosopher and writer (b. 1733)
1843 - King William I of the Netherlands (b. 1772)
1858 - Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first Mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)
1889 - Robert Browning, British poet (b. 1812)
1889 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
1894 - Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
1901 2000
1912 - Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria (b. 1821)
1913 - Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)
1923 - Raymond Radiguet, French writer (b. 1903)
1926 - Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)
1929 - Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)
1934 - Thorleif Haug, Norwegian skier (b. 1894)
1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
1941 - Cesar Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)
1950 - Peter Fraser, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1884)
1952 - Bedrich Hrozny, Austro-Hungarian-born Czechoslovak orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
1963 - Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese movie director (b. 1903)
1963 - Theodor Heuss, first President of the Federal Republic of Germany (b. 1884)
1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
1970 - Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
1971 - David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)
1976 - Jack Cassidy, American actor (b. 1921)
1976 - Vinko Zganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
1977 - Lady Spencer Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
1980 - Jean Lesage, French-Canadian politician, premier of Quebec (b. 1912)
1985 - Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
1985 - Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)
1992 - Suzanne Lilar, Belgian esssayist, novelist and playwright (b. 1901)
1993 - Jozsef Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)
1994 - Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
1996 - Vance Packard, American writer (b. 1914)
1997 - Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
1998 - Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)
1999 - Joseph Heller, American writer (b. 1923)
2000 - George Montgomery, American actor
From 2001
2001 - Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
2002 - Dee Brown, American writer (b. 1908)
2002 - Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)
2002 - Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)
2003 - Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)
2003 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)
2005 - Gebran Tueni, Lebanese politician (b. 1957)
2005 - Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1956)
2006 - Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
2006 - Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1956)
2006 - Al Shugart, pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology (b. 1930)
2006 - Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)
2007 - Ike Turner, American musician (b. 1931)
2008 - Tassos Papadopoulos, President of Cyprus (b. 1934)
2010 - Tom Walkinshaw, British racing team owner (b. 1946)
2011 - Malina Olinescu, Romanian singer (b. 1974)
2012 - Nityanand Swami, Indian politician (b. 1927)
2013 - Abdul Quader Molla, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1948) (executed)
2013 - Jang Sung-taek, North Korean politician (b. 1946) (executed)
2013 - Audrey Totter, American actress (b. 1917)
2014 - Norman Bridwell, American writer, cartoonist and philanthropist (b. 1928)
2014 - Ivor Grattan-Guinness, English historian of mathematics (b. 1941)
2014 - John Persen, Norwegian footballer (b. 1941)
2014 - John Baxter, Scottish footballer (b. 1936)
2015 - Evelyn S. Lieberman, American public affairs professor (b. 1944)
2015 - Steve Gohouri, Ivorian footballer (b. 1981)
2016 - E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese novelist and diplomat (b. 1912)
2017 - Pat DiNizio, American singer and musician (b. 1955)
2017 - Alessandro Kokocinski, Italian-Argentine artist and sculptor (b. 1948)
2017 - Ed Lee, American politician, Mayor of San Francisco (b. 1952)
2017 - Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, Israeli rabbi (b. 1913)
2017 - Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1968)
2020 - Charley Pride, American country singer (b. 1934)
Holidays and observances
R.C. Saints - optional memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Baha'i Faith - Feast of Masa'il (Questions) - First day of the 15th month of the Baha'i Calendar
Kenya - Jamhuri Day: Independence Day (from Britain, 1963)
Russia - Constitution Day
Japan - Kanji Day
Turkmenistan - Neutrality Day
Other websites
BBC: On This Day
The New York Times: On This Day
On This Day in Canada
Days of the year