Calendar date · February

What happened on February 12

On February 12, 1059: Upon reaching Rome, Bruno of Toul is elected as pope Leo IX and starts initiating reforms.

Events

50

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Aquarius

Featured moment · 1059

Upon reaching Rome, Bruno of Toul is elected as pope Leo IX and starts initiating reforms.

Pope Leo IX was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the Middle Ages; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the Great Schism of 1054, considered the turning point in which the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches formally separated.

People

Born on February 12

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia 2001– Georgian footballer (born 2001)
Kim Ji-min 2000– South Korean actress (born 2000)
Kemal Bilmez 1994– Belgian politician (born 1994)
Arman Hall 1994– American sprinter
Paxton Lynch 1994– American football player (born 1994)
Bud Dupree 1993– American football player (born 1993)
Rafinha 1993– Brazilian footballer
Jennifer Stone 1993– American podcaster and social media personality (born 1993)
Magda Linette 1992– Polish tennis player (born 1992)
Show 9 more — notable births on February 12
Patrick Herrmann 1991– German footballer (born 1991)
Kane Richardson 1991– Australian cricketer (born 1991)
Katherine Barrell 1990– Canadian actress
Robert Griffin III 1990– American football player (born 1990)
Josh Harrellson 1989– American basketball player (born 1989)
DeMarco Murray 1988– American football player and coach (born 1988)
Nicolás Otamendi 1988– Argentine footballer (born 1988)
Josh Phegley 1988– American baseball player (born 1988)
Mike Posner 1988– American singer (born 1988)

People

Died on February 12

Ivan Reitman Canadian filmmaker (1946–2022)
Christie Blatchford Canadian journalist
Geert Hofstede Dutch psychologist (1928–2020)
Gordon Banks English footballer (1937–2019)
Lyndon LaRouche American political activist (1922–2019)
Pedro Morales Puerto Rican professional wrestler (1942–2019)
Bill Crider American novelist
Al Jarreau American singer (1940–2017)
Anna Marguerite McCann American art historian and archaeologist (1933–2017)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on February 12
Dominique D'Onofrio Belgian footballer, coach, and chairman (1953-2016)
Yannis Kalaitzis Greek comics artist and costume designer (1945–2016)
Yan Su Musical artist
Movita Castaneda American actress (1916–2015)
Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat Malaysian politician (1931–2015)
Gary Owens American DJ and radio personality (1934–2015)
Steve Strange Welsh singer and nightclub host (1959–2015)
Sid Caesar American comic actor and writer (1922–2014)
John Pickstone British historian (1944–2014)

Timeline

Every February 12 on record

  1. 1059 Upon reaching Rome, Bruno of Toul is elected as pope Leo IX and starts initiating reforms.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1049 to 1054

    Pope Leo IX was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the Middle Ages; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the Great Schism of 1054, considered the turning point in which the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches formally separated.

  2. 1096 Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1088 to 1099

    Pope Urban II, otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermont, which ignited the series of Catholic military expeditions known as the Crusades.

  3. 1404 The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performs the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.

    Italian physician and anatomist

    Galeazzo di Santa Sofia was an Italian physician and anatomist.

  4. 1429 English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings.

    15th-century English knight

    Sir John Fastolf was a late medieval English soldier, landowner, and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War from 1415 to 1439, latterly as a senior commander against Joan of Arc, among others. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff, although their careers are very different. Many historians argue, however, that he deserves to be famous in his own right, not only as a soldier, but as a patron of literature, a writer on strategy and perhaps as an early industrialist.

  5. 1502 Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.

    Queen of Castile and León from 1474 to 1504

    Isabella I, also known as Isabella the Catholic, was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs.

  6. 1502 Vasco da Gama sets sail with 15 ships and 800 men from Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to India.
  7. 1541 Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
  8. 1593 Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwŏn Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
  9. 1689 The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
  10. 1733 Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.
  11. 1771 Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
  12. 1817 An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.
  13. 1818 Bernardo O'Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
  14. 1825 The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
  15. 1832 Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
Show 15 earlier entries from February 12
  1. 1889 Antonín Dvořák's Jakobín is premiered at the National Theater in Prague.
  2. 1894 Café Terminus bombing by Émile Henry during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894). This is considered one of the first acts of modern terrorism.
  3. 1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
  4. 1909 New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
  5. 1912 The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
  6. 1919 The Second Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held by the Makhnovshchina at Huliaipole.
  7. 1921 Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.
  8. 1935 USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
  9. 1945 A devastating tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.
  10. 1946 World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
  11. 1946 African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the civil rights movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil.
  12. 1947 The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
  13. 1947 Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
  14. 1961 The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
  15. 1963 Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

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