February 12
February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar . There are 322 days remaining until the end of the year (323 in leap years ).
Events
Up to 1900
881 – Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire .1354 – Treaty of Stralsund settles border disputes between the duchies of Mecklenburg and Pomerania .1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon on his second voyage to India .1541 – Santiago , Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia .1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea : Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by General Kwok Yul , successfully repel over 30,000 Japanese in the Siege of Haengju .1619 – The Diego Ramirez Islands to the southwest of Cape Horn and near Antarctica are discovered.1689 – The Convention Parliament convenes and declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II , the last Catholic British monarch , constitutes an abdication .1719 – The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a. , the oldest existing life insurance company in the Netherlands is founded.1733 – Englishman James Oglethorpe founds the 13th and final American colony of Georgia , and its first city at Savannah .1737 – The Teatro di San Carlo , the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated.1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden when his father Adolf Frederick "[eats] himself to death".1772 – Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Tremarec 's expedition discovers the Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean near Antarctica .1817 – The Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco .1818 – Bernardo O'Higgins signs the Independence of Chile near Concepción .1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government, and migrate west.1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands .1851 – The Australian gold rushes start, as Edward Hargreaves announces finding gold in Bathurst , New South Wales .1855 – Michigan State University is founded.1870 – Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory .1879 – At New York City 's Madison Square Garden the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.1892 – Former President Abraham Lincoln 's birthday is declared a national holiday in the United States .1894 – Anarchist Emile Henry hurls a bomb into Paris 's Cafe Terminus, killing one and wounding 20.– 20001909 – Inter–island ferry SS Penguin sinks and explodes in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand .1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.1912 – Xuantong Emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty , the last Emperor of China , abdicates .1912 – China adopts the Gregorian calendar .1914 – In Washington, DC , the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.1924 – Premiere of George Gershwin 's Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman's Palais Royal Orchestra in Aeolian Hall in New York City .1924 – Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President of the United States to deliver a political speech on radio .1934 – The Austrian Civil War begins.1934 – The Export-Import Bank of the United States is incorporated.1934 – In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista Falange Española 1935 – The helium –filled airship SS Macon crashes into the Pacific Ocean off California .1938 – Anschluss : German troops enter Austria .1941 – A police officer in London becomes the first person treated by penicillin .1944 – Japanese U–boat I-27 sinks British troop transporter Khedive Ismail in the Indian Ocean , killing 1,297 out of the 1,511 people on board. The Japanese U–boat itself is sunk later that day, killing all but one of the naval personnel on board.1946 – Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats .1947 – A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote–Alin, Soviet Union .1947 – Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its place as capital of the fashion world.1951 – Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari marries the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi at Golestan Palace in Teheran at age of 17.1961 – The Soviet Venera 1 space probe is sent to Venus .1963 – Building work on the Gateway Arch , Saint Louis , Missouri , begins.1971 – Bhutan 's full sovereignty from India is gained.1973 – Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post distance in SI units on signs.1973 – Vietnam War : The first American prisoners of war are released by the NLF .1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is exiled from the Soviet Union .1990 – In Western Australia , Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier of an Australian state .1994 – 1994 Winter Olympics open in Lillehammer , Norway .1998 – The presidential line-item veto is declared unconstitutional by a United States federal judge.1999 – President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.From 2001
2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros , becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid .2001 – Google obtains Usenet , creating Google Groups . (press release )2002 – The trial of former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague .2002 – Nuclear waste : US Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States ' nuclear repository.2002 – An Iran Air Tupolev Tu-154 crashes prior to landing in Khorramabad, Iran , killing 119.2004 – Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, California , on National Freedom to Marry Day , orders his county clerk to revise marriage licenses to allow gay and lesbian couples to legally wed.2004 – Mattel Inc. announces the split of Barbara Millicent Roberts and Ken Carson (aka Barbie and Ken) after 43 years of dating .2005 – Former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean becomes chairman of the Democratic National Committee .2009 – A plane crash, of Colgan Air Flight 3407 , in Clarence Center, Buffalo , New York , kills all of the people on board and one on the ground.2010 – Georgian luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili dies after an accident that occurred while he was training for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , which open on the same day.2012 – The Zambia national football team wins the Africa Cup of Nations , defeating the Ivory Coast national football team in a penalty shoot–out.2013 – North Korea announces that it has carried out an underground nuclear test, at around a kilometer 's depth, despite criticism from around the world.2017 – North Korea announces that it has launched a rocket, leading to condemnation from the United States , Japan and South Korea .2017 – Frank-Walter Steinmeier is chosen to succeed Joachim Gauck as President of Germany on March 19 .2017 – People living near the Oroville Dam in California are told to evacuate over flooding fears.Births
Up to 1800
41 – Britannicus , Roman heir to the throne (d. 55 )712 – Du Fu , Chinese poet (d. 770 )1074 – Conrad II of Italy (d. 1101 )1218 – Kujo Yoritsune , Japanese shogun (d. 1256 )1322 – John Henry, Margrave of Moravia (d. 1375 )1567 – Thomas Campion , English composer and poet (d. 1620 )1584 – Caspar Berlaeus , Dutch theologian , poet and historian (d. 1648 )1606 – John Winthrop the Younger , Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676 )1637 – Jan Swammerdam , Dutch biologist (d. 1680 )1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius , German botanist and physician (d. 1721 )1752 – Josef Reicha , Czech cellist , composer and conductor (d. 1795 )1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek , Czech composer and conductor (d. 1812 )1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835 )1773 – Jacques Dupré , American politician , Governor of Louisiana (d. 1846 )1775 – Louisa Adams , First Lady of the United States (d. 1852 )1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué , German poet (d. 1843 )1788 – Carl Reichenbach , German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869 )1791 – Peter Cooper , American industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (d. 1883 )1794 – Alexander Petrov , Russian chess player (d. 1867 )1800 – John Edward Gray , English zoologist (d. 1875 )– 19001804 – Heinrich Lenz , German physicist (d. 1865 )1809 – Charles Darwin , English naturalist (d. 1882 )1809 – Abraham Lincoln , 16th President of the United States (d. 1865 )1813 – James Dwight Dana , American geologist , mineralogist and zoologist (d. 1895 )1813 – Otto Ludwig , German writer (d. 1865 )1814 – Jenny von Westphalen , German socialist and wife of Karl Marx (d. 1881 )1815 – Edward Forbes , British naturalist (d. 1854 )1817 – Conrad Baker , 15th Governor of Indiana (d. 1885 )1828 – George Meredith , English writer (d. 1909 )1837 – Thomas Moran , American painter (d. 1926 )1843 – John Graham Chambers , English race walker (d. 1883 )1865 – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer , Polish poet and writer (d. 1940 )1869 – Kien Phuc , Emperor of Vietnam (d. 1884 )1870 – Marie Lloyd , English music–hall performer (d. 1922 )1876 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama , Tibetan spiritual leader (d. 1933 )1877 – Louis Renault , French industrialist and automobile pioneer (d. 1944 )1881 – Anna Pavlova , Russian ballerina (d. 1931 )1882 – Walter Nash , 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1968 )1884 – Max Beckmann , German artist (d. 1950 )1884 – Marie Vassilieff , Russian artist (d. 1957 )1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth , daughter of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1980 )1885 – Julius Streicher , Nazi publisher (d. 1946 )1887 – Edelmiro Julian Farrell , President of Argentina (d. 1980 )1893 – Omar Bradley , American general (d. 1981 )1895 – Kristian Djurhuus , 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1984 )1900 – Vasily Chuikov , Soviet marshal and politician (d. 1982 )– 19501905 – Federica Montseny , Spanish anarchist , intellectual and politician (d. 1994 )1908 – Jacques Herbrand , French mathematician (d. 1931 )1909 – Sigmund Rascher , German Nazi physician (d. 1945 )1910 – Lee Byung-chull , Korean businessman (d. 1987 )1911 – Cearbhall O Dalaigh , President of Ireland (d. 1978 )1911 – Charles Mathiesen , Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994 )1914 – Tex Beneke , American singer , saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2000 )1914 – Arvid Pardo , Italian–Maltese diplomat (d. 1999 )1915 – Lorne Greene , Canadian actor (d. 1987 )1915 – Olivia Hooker , African–American sailor1916 – Joseph Alioto , Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998 )1917 – Al Cervi , American basketball player (d. 2009 )1917 – Dom DiMaggio , American baseball player (d. 2009 )1918 – Julian Schwinger , American physicist (d. 1994 )1918 – Norman Farberow , American psychologist (d. 2015 )1919 – Ferruccio Valcareggi , Italian footballer (d. 2005 )1920 – Pran , Indian actor (d. 2013 )1920 – Yoshiko Otaka , Japanese actress , singer and politician (d. 2014 )1923 – Franco Zeffirelli , Italian movie, opera director and designer (d. 2019 )1924 – Louis Zorich , American actor (d. 2018 )1925 – Joan Finney , Governor of Kansas (d. 2001 )1926 – Rolf Brem , Swiss sculptor , illustrator and graphic artist (d. 2014 )1926 – Joe Garagiola, Sr. , American baseball player (d. 2016 )1926 – Buddy Childers , American jazz trumpeter (d. 2007 )1926 – Charles Van Doren , American quiz show contestant1930 – Arlen Specter , United States Senator for Pennsylvania (d. 2012 )1932 – Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner , Norwegian royalty (d. 2026 )1932 – Maurice Filion , Canadian ice hockey coach 1932 – Julian Simon , American economist (d. 1998 )1933 – Costa-Gravas , Greek–French movie director and producer 1934 – Annette Crosbie , Scottish actress1934 – Bill Russell , American basketball player1934 – Anne Osborn Krueger , American professor and former deputy director of the International Monetary Fund 1936 – Fang Lizhi , Chinese activist (d. 2012 )1936 – Binyamin Ben-Eliezer , Iraqi–Israeli politician (d. 2016 )1936 – Joe Don Baker , American actor1939 – Ray Manzarek , American musician (The Doors ) (d. 2013 )1941 – Naomi Uemura , Japanese adventurer (d. 1984 )1941 – Dominguinhos , Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2013 )1942 – Lionel Grigson , English pianist , composer and educator (d. 1994 )1942 – Norma Major , English writer and charity worker, wife of John Major 1942 – Ehud Barak , former Prime Minister of Israel 1945 – Thilo Sarrazin , German politician1945 – David D. Friedman , American economist 1946 – Ajda Pekkan , Turkish singer1946 – Jean Eyeghé Ndong , Prime Minister of Gabon 1948 – Bernd Franke , German footballer1948 – Raymond Kurzweil , American inventor and writer1948 – Mike Robitaille , Canadian ice hockey player1949 – Fergus Slattery , Irish rugby player1950 – Angelo Branduardi , Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1950 – Michael Ironside , Canadian actor , screenwriter and director 1950 – Steve Hackett , English guitarist – 19751951 – Steven Parent , American murder victim (d. 1969 )1952 – Simon MacCorkindale , British actor (d. 2010 )1952 – Michael McDonald , American singer and musician1956 – Arsenio Hall , American television host1956 – Ad Melkert , Dutch politician1956 – Brian Robertson , Scottish guitarist and songwriter 1961 – Michel Martelly , Haitian musician, businessman, politician and President of Haiti 1964 – Michel Petit , Canadian ice hockey player1965 – John Michael Higgins , American actor1968 – Josh Brolin , American actor1968 – Christopher McCandless , American nomad (d. 1992 )1968 – Gregory Charles , Canadian singer , dancer , pianist and actor 1969 – Meja , Swedish singer–songwriter1969 – Steve Backley , British javelin thrower1969 – Alemayehu Atomsa , Ethiopian politician (d. 2014 )1971 – Scott Menville, American actor, voice actor and musician1973 – Tara Strong , Canadian–American actress 1973 – Gianni Romme , Dutch speed skater1975 – Scott Pollard , American basketball playerFrom 1976
1976 – Christian Cullen , New Zealand rugby player1977 – Jimmy Conrad , American soccer player1978 – Gethin Jones , Welsh television presenter1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero , Spanish tennis player1980 – Christina Ricci , American actress 1980 – Sarah Lancaster , American actress1981 – Lisa Hannigan , Irish singer1982 – Anthony Tuitavake , New Zealand rugby player1984 – Brad Keselowski , American racing driver1984 – Peter Utaka , Nigerian footballer 1984 – Andrei Sidorenkov , Estonian footballer 1985 – Saskia Burmeister , Australian swimmer1987 – Jérémy Chardy , French tennis player1988 – Mike Posner , American singer1988 – Nicolas Otamendi , Argentine footballer 1989 – Ron-Robert Zieler , German footballer 1990 – Moussa Koné , Ivory Coast footballer 1991 – Patrick Herrmann , German footballer 1991 – Casey Abrams , American singer1993 – Jennifer Stone , American actress1994 – Alex Galchenyuk , American ice hockey playerDeaths
Up to 1900
821 – Benedict of Ariane , French monk and saint (b. 747 )991 – Emperor En'yu of Japan (b. 959 )1242 – Henry (VII) of Germany (b. 1211 )1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer , German painter (b. 1480 )1554 – Lady Jane Grey , Queen of England for nine days (b. 1537 )1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton , English diplomat and politician (b. 1515 )1612 – Christopher Clavius , German astronomer (b. 1538 )1692 – Hendrick Hamel , Dutch sailor and bookkeeper (b. 1630 )1700 – Aleksei Shein , Russian general and statesman (b. 1662 )1724 – Elkanah Settle , English writer (b. 1648 )1763 – Pierre Carlet de Marivaut , French writer (b. 1688 )1771 – King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (b. 1710 )1787 – Rugjer Josip Boskovic , mathematician and physicist (b. 1711 )1789 – Ethan Allen , American patriot (b. 1738 )1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani , Italian biologist (b. 1729 )1804 – Immanuel Kant , German philosopher (b. 1724 )1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher , German philosopher (b. 1768 )1886 – Horatio Seymour , American politician, Governor of New York (b. 1810 )1896 – Ambroise Thomas , French composer (b. 1811 )– 20001912 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen , Norwegian doctor and scientist (b. 1841 )1916 – Richard Dedekind , mathematician (b. 1831 )1929 – Lillie Langtry , singer and actress (b. 1853 )1933 – Henri Duparc , French composer (b. 1848 )1935 – Auguste Escoffier , French chef (b. 1846 )1936 – Ibra Charles Blackwood , Governor of South Carolina (b. 1878 )1942 – Grant Wood , American painter (b. 1891 )1949 – Imam Hassan al Banna , founder of the Muslim brotherhood (b. 1906 )1951 – Choudhary Rahmat Ali , founding father of Pakistan (b. 1897 )1954 – Dziga Vertov , Russian movie maker (b. 1896 )1960 – Jean-Michel Atlan , French painter (b. 1913 )1968 – Maria Caspar-Filser , German artist (b. 1878 )1970 – Ishman Bracey , American blues musician (b. 1901 )1971 – James C. Penney , American department store founder (b. 1875 )1976 – Sal Mineo , actor (b. 1939 )1979 – Jean Renoir , director (b. 1894 )1982 – Victor Jory , Canadian actor (b. 1902 )1983 – Eubie Blake , American musician and songwriter (b. 1883 or 1887 )1984 – Anna Anderson , claimant to the Russian throne (b. 1896 )1984 – Julio Cortázar , writer , intellectual (b. 1914 )1985 – Nicholas Colasanto , American actor (b. 1924 )1985 – Leslie Sarony , English entertainer and songwriter (b. 1897 )1992 – María Elena Moyano , Peruvian activist (b. 1960 )1993 – James Bulger , murder victim (b. 1990 )1995 – Robert Bolt , writer (b. 1924 )1996 – Bob Shaw , writer (b. 1931 )1998 – Gardner Ackley , American economist and diplomat (b. 1915 )2000 – Screamin' Jay Hawkins , American musician (b. 1929 )2000 – Tom Landry , American football coach (b. 1924 )2000 – Charles Schulz , American comics writer (b. 1922 )From 2001
2001 – Kristina Söderbaum , German actress and photographer (b. 1912 )2002 – John Eriksen , Danish footballer (b. 1957 )2005 – Rafael Vidal , Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964 )2007 – Georg Buschner , East German footballer and manager (b. 1925 )2008 – Badri Patarkatsishvili , Georgian businessman (b. 1955 )2009 – Giacomo Bulgarelli , Italian footballer (b. 1940 )2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili , Georgian luger (b. 1988 )2010 – Leroy Nash , American death row inmate (b. 1915 )2011 – Peter Alexander , Austrian singer and actor (b. 1926 )2011 – Betty Garrett , American actress (b. 1919 )2011 – Kenneth Mars , American actor (b. 1935 )2012 – David Kelly , Irish actor (b. 1929 )2013 – Christopher Dorner , American former police officer, and spree killer (b. 1979 )2014 – Sid Caesar , American actor and writer (b. 1922 )2014 – John Pickstone , English historian and writer (b. 1944 )2015 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat , Malaysian politician (b. 1931 )2015 – David Carr , American journalist (b. 1956 )2015 – Tomie Ohtake , Japanese–Brazilian artist (b. 1913 )2015 – Steve Strange , British musician (b. 1959 )2015 – Cornelis Pieter van den Hoek , Dutch resistance fighter (b. 1921 )2015 – Oliver Rackham , English landscape ecologist (b. 1939 )2015 – Gary Owens , American actor and television announcer (b. 1934 )2015 – Movita Castaneda , American actress (b. 1916 )2015 – Richie Pratt , American jazz drummer (b. 1943 )2015 – Ernest J. Sternglass , American physicist and professor (b. 1923 )2016 – Dominique D'Onofrio , Italian–Belgian football coach (b. 1953 )2016 – Eddie Barry , American ice hockey player (b. 1919 )2016 – Robert Frederick Froehlke , American lawyer (b. 1922 )2016 – Johnny Lattner , American football player (b. 1932 )2017 – Sione Lauaki , Tongan–New Zealand rugby player (b. 1981 )2017 – Dave Adolph , American football coach (b. 1937 )2017 – Damian , British pop singer (b. 1964 )2017 – Al Jarreau , American jazz and R&B singer (b. 1940 )2017 – Yitzhak Livni , Polish–born Israeli media executive and writer (b. 1924 )2017 – Quentin Moses , American football player (b. 1983 )2017 – Bobby Murdoch , English footballer (b. 1936 )2017 – Ren Xinmin , Chinese rocket scientist and engineer (b. 1915 )2017 – Clint Roberts , American politician (b. 1935 )2017 – Krystyna Sienkiewicz , Polish actress and singer (b. 1935 )2018 – Marty Allen , American actor and comedian (b. 1923 )2018 – Martin van der Borgh , Dutch racing cyclist (b. 1934 )2018 – Giuseppe Galasso , Italian historian and politician (b. 1929 )2018 – Luo Haocai , Chinese politician (b. 1934 )2018 – Grant McBride , Australian politician (b. 1949 )2018 – Fethia Mzali , Tunisian educator and politician (b. 1927 )2018 – Daryle Singletary , American country music singer (b. 1971 )Trivia
Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were both born on this date in 1809 , in a very rare occasion of two highly influential and famous people being born on exactly the same day as each other.