December 12

December 12 is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining until the end of the year.

[edit] Events

• 627 – Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats 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 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.
• 1408 – The Order of the Dragon a monarchical chivalric order is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary.
• 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant – A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet.
• 1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution five days after Delaware became the first.
• 1862 – USS Cairo sinks 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 second black U.S. congressman, the first one being Hiram Revels.
• 1897 – Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is founded.
• 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
• 1911 – Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
• 1911 – King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.
• 1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
• 1917 – In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
• 1918 – Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk Hermann for the first time.
• 1925 – The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
• 1935 – Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
• 1936 – Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
• 1937 – USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink US gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
• 1939 – Winter War: Battle of Tolvajδrvi – Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
• 1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
• 1940 – World War II: 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. Jesϊs Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cιsar Basa is killed.
• 1941 – World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
• 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
• 1941 – Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
• 1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
• 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.
• 1956 – Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's "Border Campaign".
• 1958 – Guinea joins the United Nations.
• 1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1964 – Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
• 1969 – Strategy of tension: Piazza Fontana bombing – The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
• 1979 – Coup d'ιtat of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General 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 – President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
• 1979 – The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
• 1979 – A major earthquake and tsunami kill 259 people in Colombia.
• 1983 – the Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating floated the Australian dollar.
• 1984 – Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya becomes the third president of Mauritania after a coup d'ιtat against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter is attending a summit.
• 1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
• 1988 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains – one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.
• 1991 – Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.
• 2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.

[edit] Births

• 1298 – Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)
• 1526 – Αlvaro de Bazαn, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral
• 1574 – Anne of Denmark, queen consort of James I of England (d. 1619)
• 1610 – Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)
• 1659 – Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
• 1685 – Lodovico Giustini, Italian composer and keyboard player (d. 1743)
• 1712 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)
• 1715 – Gennaro Manna, Italian composer (d. 1779)
• 1724 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)
• 1731 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician, slave trade abolitionist, inventor and poet (d. 1802)
• 1745 – John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
• 1766 – Nikolay Karamzin, Russian poet and historian (d. 1826)
• 1779 – Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)
• 1783 – Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1865)
• 1786 – William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
• 1791 – Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, wife of Napoleon (d. 1847)
• 1792 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek prince (d. 1828)
• 1799 – Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
• 1805 – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
• 1805 – Henry Wells, American banking executive (d. 1878)
• 1806 – Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)
• 1812 – John Sandfield Macdonald, Canadian premier of Ontario (d. 1872)
• 1821 – Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
• 1845 – Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)
• 1849 – William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)
• 1862 – Joseph Bruce Ismay, British ocean liner executive and Titanic survivor (d. 1937)
• 1862 – Andrι Fauquet-Lemaξtre, French polo player (d. 1943)
• 1863 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
• 1864 – Paul Elmer More, American essayist (d. 1937)
• 1866 – Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1919)
• 1870 – Walter Benona Sharp, American oil industry executive (d. 1912)
• 1875 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
• 1876 – Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (d. 1928)
• 1881 – Harry Warner, American studio executive (d. 1958)
• 1887 – Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
• 1892 – Milko Kos, Slovenian historian (d. 1972)
• 1893 – Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
• 1900 – Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Koloman Sokol, Slovak painter (d. 2003)
• 1903 – Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer (d. 1976)
• 1903 – Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (d. 1963)
• 1904 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor (d. 1981)
• 1905 – Manθs Sperber, Austrian writer (d. 1984)
• 1907 – Roy Douglas, English composer and orchestrator
• 1908 – Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (d. 1993)
• 1909 – Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1909 – Hans Keilson, German-born Dutch writer and child psychologist (d. 2011)
• 1910 – Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter (d. 1968)
• 1914 – Patrick O'Brian, English author (d. 2000)
• 1915 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
• 1917 – James Wall, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1918 – Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Olivia Barclay, English astrologer (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Dan DeCarlo, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
• 1920 – Fred Kida, American comics artist
• 1922 – Christian Dotremont, Belgian painter and writer (d. 1979)
• 1923 – Bob Barker, American television game show host
• 1923 – Bob Dorough, American jazz pianist/vocalist
• 1923 – Ken Kavanagh, Australian racing driver
• 1924 – Ed Koch, American politician
• 1924 – Ray Cordeiro, Hong Kong radio personality
• 1924 – Robert Coogan, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1925 – Vladimir Shainsky, Russian composer
• 1925 – Ahmad Shamlou, Iranian poet (d. 2000)
• 1927 – Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
• 1928 – Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Helen Frankenthaler, American artist (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician
• 1929 – John Osborne, English dramatist (d. 1994)
• 1930 – Bill Beutel, American journalist (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Silvio Santos, Brazilian TV show host
• 1931 – Lionel Blair, English actor and choreographer
• 1932 – Bob Pettit, American basketball player
• 1934 – Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican politician
• 1936 – Jefferson Kaye, American radio announcer (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Philip Ledger, English organist and composer (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Buford Pusser, American law enforcement official (d. 1974)
• 1938 – Connie Francis, American singer
• 1940 – Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
• 1940 – Dionne Warwick, American singer
• 1940 – Frances Willard, American magician
• 1942 – Morris Sadek, Egyptian-American lawyer and activist
• 1942 – Peter Sarstedt, British musician
• 1942 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress
• 1943 – Vassilis Alexakis, Greek-French writer
• 1943 – Dickey Betts, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
• 1943 – Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
• 1944 – Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
• 1944 – Jean Dorι, Canadian politician
• 1944 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress
• 1944 – Rob Tyner, American Singer, Songwriter and activist (The MC5) (d. 1991)
• 1945 – Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (d. 1997)
• 1946 – Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
• 1946 – Paula Wagner, American film executive
• 1947 – Wings Hauser, American actor
• 1949 – Bill Nighy, English actor
• 1949 – Marc Ravalomanana, President of Madagascar
• 1950 – Pedro Ferriz de Con, Mexican radio and TV news anchor
• 1950 – Rajinikanth, Indian actor
• 1950 – Billy Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1951 – Rehman Malik, Pakistani politician
• 1952 – Brenton Broadstock, Australian composer and academic
• 1952 – Herb Dhaliwal, Canadian politician
• 1952 – Sarah Douglas, English actress
• 1952 – Cathy Rigby, American gymnast and actress
• 1953 – Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad)
• 1953 – Dave Meniketti, American guitarist
• 1953 – Rafael Septien, Mexican placekicker and convicted sex offender
• 1954 – Hemant Karkare, Chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (d. 2008)
• 1955 – Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek businesswoman
• 1955 – Eddy Schepers, Belgian cyclist
• 1956 – Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
• 1957 – Sheila E., American musician
• 1957 – Robert Lepage, French Canadian playwright
• 1958 – Monica Attard, Australian journalist
• 1958 – Lucie Guay, Canadian canoer
• 1958 – Dag Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian musician
• 1958 – Sheree J. Wilson, American actress
• 1962 – Tracy Austin, American tennis player
• 1962 – Peter Bergen, American journalist and national security analyst
• 1962 – Mike Golic, American football player
• 1963 – Liz Claman, American television anchor
• 1963 – Eduardo Castro Luque, Mexican politician (d. 2012)
• 1963 – Ai Orikasa, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1964 – Sabu, American professional wrestler
• 1964 – Haywood Jeffries, American football player
• 1965 – Will Carling, English rugby union footballer
• 1966 – Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
• 1966 – Kouichi Nagano, Japanese voice actor
• 1966 – Ϊltimo Dragσn, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1967 – Yuzo Koshiro, Japanese composer
• 1967 – Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Japanese composer
• 1967 – John Randle, American football player
• 1967 – Deke Sharon, American musician
• 1968 – Kate Humble, English television presenter
• 1968 – Rory Kennedy, American documentarian
• 1968 – Laurie Williams, Jamaican cricketer (d. 2002)
• 1969 – Carrie Westcott, American model and actress
• 1970 – Mδdchen Amick, American actress
• 1970 – Jennifer Connelly, American actress
• 1970 – Regina Hall, American actress
• 1972 – Nicky Eaden, English footballer
• 1972 – Wilson Kipketer, Danish middle-distance runner
• 1972 – Kevin Parent, French Canadian singer and songwriter
• 1972 – Brandon Teena, American murder victim (d. 1993)
• 1972 – Georgios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter
• 1972 – Hank Williams III, American musician
• 1973 – Walter Otta, Argentine footballer
• 1973 – Gary Breen, Republic of Ireland footballer
• 1973 – Tony Hsieh, American Businessman
• 1974 – Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer
• 1975 – Mayim Bialik, American actress
• 1975 – Wesley Charles, Vincentian footballer
• 1975 – Craig Moore, Australian footballer
• 1976 – Dan Hawkins, English guitarist (The Darkness)
• 1976 – Lloyd Owusu, Ghanaian footballer
• 1977 – Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet models
• 1977 – Bridget Hall, American supermodel
• 1977 – Orlando Hudson, American baseball player
• 1977 – Colin White, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress
• 1978 – Jennifer Rovero, American model
• 1979 – Garrett Atkins, American baseball player
• 1979 – Nate Clements, American football player
• 1979 – John Salmons, American basketball player
• 1980 – Gus G, Greek musician
• 1980 – Nicolae Dorin Goian, Romanian footballer
• 1981 – Ronnie Brown, American football player
• 1981 – Shane Costa, American baseball player
• 1981 – Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier
• 1981 – Pedro Rνos, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
• 1981 – Stephen Warnock, English footballer
• 1982 – Lim Jae-Duk, South Korean gamer
• 1982 – Ai Kato, Japanese actress
• 1982 – Jeremiah Riggs, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
• 1982 – Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player
• 1983 – Katrina Elam, American singer
• 1984 – Daniel Agger, Danish footballer
• 1984 – Daniel Merrett, Australian football player
• 1984 – Sohail Tanvir,Pakistani cricketer
• 1985 – Pat Calathes, Greek-American basketball player
• 1985 – Chris Jennings, American football player
• 1985 – Erika Van Pelt, American singer
• 1985 – David Veikune, American football player
• 1985 – Giannis Zaradoukas, Greek footballer
• 1986 – Pλrparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer
• 1986 – Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Japanese singer (AAA (band))
• 1986 – Nina Kolarič, Slovenian athlete
• 1986 – Thomas Wansey, English actor
• 1986 – T. J. Ward, American football player
• 1986 – Lee Qri, Korean singer and actress (T-ara)
• 1988 – Ham Eun-jeong, Korean singer and actress (T-ara)
• 1990 – Victor Moses, Nigerian footballer
• 1990 – Seungri, Member of South Korean boygroup Big Bang (South Korean band)
• 1991 – Daniel Magder, Canadian actor

[edit] Deaths

• 884 – Carloman, King of the West Franks
• 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)
• 1817 – Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia, (b. about 1751)
• 1843 – King William I of the Netherlands, (b. 1772)
• 1858 – Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)
• 1889 – Robert Browning, English poet (b. 1812)
• 1889 – Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
• 1894 – Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
• 1913 – Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)
• 1923 – Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
• 1926 – Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)
• 1929 – Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)
• 1934 – Oscar Goerke, American cyclist (b. 1883)
• 1934 – Thorleif Haug, Norwegian Nordic skier (b. 1894)
• 1939 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
• 1941 – Cιsar Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)
• 1951 – Mildred Bailey, American jazz singer (b. 1907)
• 1952 – Bedřich Hroznύ, Czech orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
• 1958 – Albert Walsh, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1900)
• 1963 – Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)
• 1966 – Karl Ruberl, Austrian swimmer (b. 1880)
• 1968 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
• 1970 – Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
• 1971 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Israeli philologist and Hebrew linguist (b. 1909)
• 1971 – David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)
• 1976 – Jack Cassidy, American actor (b. 1927)
• 1976 – Vinko Žganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
• 1977 – Baroness Spencer-Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
• 1978 – Fay Compton, English actress (b. 1894)
• 1980 – Jean Lesage, Canadian politician (b. 1912)
• 1983 – Amza Pellea, Romanian actor (b. 1931)
• 1985 – Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
• 1985 – Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)
• 1987 – Enrique Jorrνn, Cuban musician and composer (b. 1926)
• 1988 – Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, American Mafia figure (b. 1917)
• 1992 – Suzanne Lilar, Belgian essayist, novelist and playwright (b. 1901)
• 1993 – Jσzsef Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)
• 1994 – Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
• 1994 – Donna J. Stone, American poet (b. 1933)
• 1996 – Vance Packard, American author (b. 1914)
• 1997 – Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
• 1998 – Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)
• 1998 – Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (b. 1922)
• 1998 – Mo Udall, American politician (b. 1922)
• 1999 – Paul Cadmus, American artist (b. 1904)
• 1999 – Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
• 2000 – George Montgomery, American actor (b. 1916)
• 2000 – Ndabaningi Sithole, Zimbabwean Nationalist politician (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Ardito Desio, Italian explorer, geologist and leader of the 1954 K2 expedition (b. 1897)
• 2001 – Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)
• 2002 – Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)
• 2003 – Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)
• 2003 – Gangodawila Soma Thero, Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka(b. 1948)
• 2003 – Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Robert Newmyer, American film producer (b. 1956)
• 2005 – Gebran Tueni, Lebanese politician (b. 1957)
• 2005 – Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)
• 2006 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
• 2006 – Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)
• 2006 – Al Shugart, pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Ike Turner, American musician (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Francois Hajj, Lebanese Army's chief of operations (b. 1953)
• 2008 – Avery Dulles, Roman Catholic Cardinal, theologian (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Van Johnson, American actor (b. 1916)
• 2008 – Tassos Papadopoulos, President of Cyprus (b. 1934)
• 2010 – Peter Pagel, German footballer (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Tom Walkinshaw, former racing driver and Formula One team owner (b. 1946)

[edit] Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet
  • Feast of the Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico)
  • Vicelinus
• Constitution Day (Russia)
• Feast of Masα'il ("Questions"), the first day of the 15th month of the Bahα'ν calendar (Bahα'ν Faith)
• Jamhuri Day, celebrates the independence of Kenya from Britain in 1963.