Calendar date · December

What happened on December 12

On December 12, 627: Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

Events

32

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Sagittarius

People

Born on December 12

Michael Olise 2001– English-French footballer (born 2001)
Ed Oliver 1997– American football player (born 1997)
Lucas Hedges 1996– American actor (born 1996)
Otto Warmbier 1994– American imprisoned in North Korea (1994–2017)
Zeli Ismail 1993– Albanian-born English footballer
Shohjahon Ergashev 1991– Uzbekistani boxer (born 1991)
Joseph Leilua 1991– Samoa international rugby league footballer
Nixon Chepseba 1990– Kenyan middle distance runner
Dawin 1990– American musician (born 1990)
Show 9 more — notable births on December 12
Victor Moses 1990– Nigerian footballer (born 1990)
Tyron Smith 1990– American football player (born 1990)
Isaac John 1988– Cook Islands & NZ international rugby league footballer
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter 1988– Israeli long-distance runner (born 1988)
Daddy Birori 1986– Footballer (born 1986)
Përparim Hetemaj 1986– Finnish footballer (born 1986)
Nina Kolarič 1986– Slovenian long jumper
T. J. Ward 1986– American football player (born 1986)
Pat Calathes 1985– Greek-American basketball player

People

Died on December 12

Vicente Fernández Mexican actor and ranchera singer (1940–2021)
Bernie Fowler American politician (1924–2021)
Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi Tongan politician and noble (1955–2021)
John le Carré Irish-British novelist and former spy (1931–2020)
Ann Reinking American actress, dancer, and choreographer (1949–2020)
Danny Aiello American actor (1933–2019)
Ed Lee 43rd Mayor of San Francisco
Pat DiNizio American musician (1955–2017)
Shirley Hazzard Australian-born American writer (1931–2016)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on December 12
Frans Geurtsen Dutch international footballer (1942–2015)
Evelyn S. Lieberman American public affairs professional
Norman Bridwell American author and cartoonist
Ivor Grattan-Guinness British historian of mathematics (1941–2014)
Herb Plews American baseball player (1928–2014)
Tom Laughlin American actor and filmmaker (1931–2013)
Abdul Quader Molla Executed Islamist Bangladeshi politician, writer, and war criminal (1948–2013)
Audrey Totter American actress (1917–2013)
Joe Allbritton American banker, publisher and philanthropist

Timeline

Every December 12 on record

  1. 627 Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

    Battle during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

    The Battle of Nineveh was the climactic battle of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628.

  2. 1388 Maria of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.

    14th-century Greek noblewoman

    Maria of Enghien, also known as Marie of Enghien or d'Enghien, was the Lady of Argos and Nauplia in Frankish Greece from 1376 or 1377 to 1388. She inherited the estate from her father, Guy of Enghien, when she was a minor. Her paternal uncle, Louis of Enghien, served as her regent.

  3. 1787 Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the US Constitution.

    U.S. state

    Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, forming the Mason-Dixon Line, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio to its west, the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie, New York to its north, and the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east. Pennsylvania's most populous city is Philadelphia, and the state capital is Harrisburg.

  4. 1862 American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River.

    1861–1865 conflict in the United States

    The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

  5. 1866 Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 361 miners and rescuers.

    1866 British mining disaster

    The Oaks explosion, which happened at a coal mine in South Yorkshire on 12 December 1866, remains the worst mining disaster in England. A series of explosions caused by firedamp ripped through the underground workings at the Oaks Colliery at Hoyle Mill near Stairfoot in Barnsley killing 361 miners and rescuers. It was the worst mining disaster in the United Kingdom until the 1913 Senghenydd explosion in Wales.

  6. 1870 Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman.
  7. 1901 Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [•••] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
  8. 1915 Yuan Shikai declares the establishment of the Empire of China and proclaims himself Emperor.
  9. 1917 Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
  10. 1935 The Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
  11. 1936 The beginning of Xi'an incident. As a result, Chiang Kai Shek is captured.
  12. 1937 Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China.
  13. 1939 HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
  14. 1939 Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins.
  15. 1941 World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
Show 15 earlier entries from December 12
  1. 1941 The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.
  2. 1945 The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
  3. 1946 United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted.
  4. 1956 United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.
  5. 1963 Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.
  6. 1969 The Piazza Fontana bombing; a bomb explodes at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, three more bombs are detonated in Rome and Milan, and another is found unexploded.
  7. 1979 The 8.2 Mw  Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
  8. 1979 Coup d'état of December Twelfth occurs in South Korea.
  9. 1985 Arrow Air Flight 1285R, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
  10. 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.
  11. 1999 A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the Philippines's main island of Luzon, killing six people, injuring 40, and causing power outages that affected the capital Manila.
  12. 2000 The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
  13. 2001 Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
  14. 2012 North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2.
  15. 2015 The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted.

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