January 12

is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 353 days remaining (354 in leap years).

Events

1528 - Gustav I of Sweden crowned king of Sweden.
1592 - Titus Andronicus first staged at the Rose Theatre.
1773 - The first public Colonial American museum opens in Charleston, South Carolina.
1777 - Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California.
1838 - In order to avoid prosecution under laws banning polygamy, Joseph Smith, Jr. and his followers leave Ohio for Missouri.
1848 - The Palermo rising in Sicily rises against the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies
1866 - Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.
1872 - Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first imperial coronation in that city in over 200 years.
1875 - Kwang-su becomes emperor of China.
1898 - Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan.
1908 - A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.
1915 - The Rocky Mountain National Park is formed by an act of U.S. Congress.
1915 - United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote.
1926 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, a precursor to Amos 'n' Andy; possibly the first situation comedy.
1932 - Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
1940 - World War II: Russia bombs cities in Finland.
1942 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board.
1945 - World War II: The Soviets begin a large offensive in Eastern Europe against the Nazis.
1964 - Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaimed a republic.
1966 - Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
1966 - Batman the TV series debuts on ABC.
1967 - Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
1970 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
1971 - All in the Family debuts on CBS.
1971 - Harrisburg Six: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, DC.
1976 - UN Security Council votes 11-1 to allow the Palestinian Liberation Organization to participate in a Security Council debate (without voting rights).
1986 - Space Shuttle program: STS-61-C mission - Space Shuttle Columbia takes-off with the first Hispanic-American astronaut, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz. It was the last sucessful mission before STS-51-L.
1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
1992 - A new constitution, providing for freedom to form political parties, is approved by referendum in Mali.
1995 - Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, is arrested for conspiring to kill Louis Farrakhan.
1998 - Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
2005 - Deep Impact (space mission) launches from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 rocket.
2006 - The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council. (ABC)
2006 - A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims. (BBC)
2006 - Turkey releases Mehmet Ali Ağca from jail after serving 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II. (BBC)
2006 - The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship. (BBC)

Births

1483 - Henry III of Nassau-Breda, German nobleman (d. 1538)
1562 - Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (d. 1630)
1576 - Petrus Scriverius, Dutch writer (d. 1660)
1591 - Giuseppe Ribera, Spanish painter (d. 1652)
1597 - François Duquesnoy, French sculptor (d. 1643)
1628 - Charles Perrault, French folklorist (d. 1703)
1715 - Jacques Duphly, French composer (d. 1789)
1716 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (d. 1795)
1723 - Samuel Langdon, American President of Harvard University (d. 1797)
1729 - Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher (d. 1797)
1737 - John Hancock, American statesman (d. 1793)
1746 - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss pedagogue (d. 1827)
1751 - King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (d. 1825)
1786 - Sir Robert Inglis, Bt, English politician (d. 1855)
1797 - Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and writer (d. 1873)
1849 - Jean Béraud, French painter (d. 1935)
1856 - John Singer Sargent, American artist (d. 1925)
1863 - Swami Vivekananda, Indian philosopher (d. 1902)
1873 - Spiridon Louis, Greek runner (d. 1940)
1876 - Jack London, American author (d. 1916)
1876 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (d. 1948)
1877 - Frank J. Corr, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1934)
1878 - Ferenc Molnár, Hungarian writer (d. 1952)
1879 - Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d. 1968)
1882 - Milton Sills, American actor (d. 1930)
1884 - Texas Guinan, American actress (d. 1933)
1892 - Mikhail Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1976)
1893 - Hermann Göring, Nazi official (d. 1946)
1893 - Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi official (d. 1946)
1896 - Rex Ingram, Irish director and actor (d. 1950)
1899 - Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1965)
1902 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia (d. 1969)
1905 - Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (d. 1974)
1905 - James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (d. 1997)
1906 - Daniil Kharms, Russian playwright (d. 1942)
1907 - Patsy Kelly, American actress (d. 1981)
1907 - Sergei Korolev, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1966)
1908 - Jean Delannoy, French film director
1908 - Clement Hurd, American children's book illustrator (d. 1988)
1910 - Luise Rainer, German actress
1915 - Paul Jarrico, American writer (d. 1997)
1916 - Pieter Willem Botha, President of South Africa
1916 - Jay McShann, American musician
1917 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the TM Movement and the Global Country of World Peace
1920 - James L. Farmer, Jr., American civil rights activist (d. 1999)
1923 - Ira Hayes, American soldier (d. 1955)
1925 - Scottie MacGregor, American actress
1926 - Ray Price, American singer
1928 - Ruth Brown, American singer
1928 - Lloyd Ruby, American race car driver
1930 - Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player and entrepreneur (d. 1974)
1930 - Glenn Yarborough, American singer and songwriter
1932 - Des O'Connor, British television presenter
1935 - Kreskin, mentalist
1937 - Shirley Eaton, British actress
1944 - Hans Henning Atrott, German philosopher, critic of Christianity
1944 - Joe Frazier, American boxer
1944 - Vlastimil Hort, Czechoslovakian chess player
1946 - George Duke, American musician
1948 - Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman (d. 2001)
1948 - Kenny Allen, English footballer
1949 - Haruki Murakami, Japanese novelist
1949 - Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born film director
1950 - Sheila Jackson Lee, American politician
1950 - Bob McEwen, American politician
1951 - Kirstie Alley, American actress
1951 - Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality
1952 - Walter Mosley, American author
1954 - Howard Stern, American radio host
1955 - Rockne O'Bannon, writer and television producer
1957 - John Lasseter, American director, writer, and animator
1959 - Blixa Bargeld, German singer (Einstürzende Neubauten)
1959 - Per Gessle, Swedish songwriter
1960 - Oliver Platt, Canadian actor
1960 - Dominique Wilkins, American basketball player
1964 - Jeff Bezos, American entrepreneur
1966 - Rob Zombie, American musician, artist, and writer
1966 - Olivier Martinez, French actor
1967 - Vendela Kirsebom, Swedish supermodel
1968 - Heather Mills McCartney, estranged wife of Beatles' pop star Paul McCartney
1969 - Robert Prosinečki, Croatian footballer
1970 - Zack de la Rocha, American musician (Rage Against the Machine)
1970 - Raekwon, American rapper
1972 - Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
1974 - Melanie Chisholm, British singer
1974 - Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian cross-country skiier
1978 - Kris Roe, American rock singer and guitarist (The Ataris)
1978 - Luis Ayala, Baseball pitcher
1979 - Marián Hossa, Slovak ice hockey player
1979 - Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
1980 - Amerie, American singer and songwriter
1980 - Bobby Crosby, American baseball player, Oakland Athletics
1982 - Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
1982 - Justin Daniel Drummond, American humorist
1984 - Scott Olsen, American baseball player
1988 - Chris Casement, Irish footballer
1990 - Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian chess player

Deaths

1321 - Maria of Brabant, wife of Philip III of France (b. 1256)
1519 - Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1459)
1583 - Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (b. 1508)
1665 - Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician and lawyer (b. 1601)
1674 - Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (b. 1605)
1705 - Luca Giordano, Italian artist (b. 1634)
1732 - John Horsley, British archaeologist
1735 - John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668)
1759 - Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, (b. 1709)
1777 - Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer (mortally wounded in battle)
1781 - Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (b. 1691)
1817 - Juan Andres, Spanish Jesuit (b. 1740)
1909 - Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician (b. 1864)
1940 - Edward Smith (VC), Youngest First World War VC recipient, b.1899
1943 - Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and writer (b. 1902)
1944 - Lance C. Wade, American pilot (b. 1915)
1956 - Norman Kerry, American actor (b. 1894)
1960 - Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899)
1962 - Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, Russian writer and feminist (b. 1869)
1965 - Lorraine Hansberry, American writer (b. 1936)
1976 - Agatha Christie, English writer (b. 1890)
1983 - Nikolai Podgorny, President of the USSR (b. 1903)
1991 - Keye Luke, Chinese-born actor (b. 1904)
1997 - Charles B. Huggins, Canadian-born cancer researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1901)
1999 - Betty Lou Gerson, American voice actress (b. 1914)
2000 - Marc Davis, American animator (b. 1913)
2000 - Bobby Phills, American basketball player (b. 1969)
2001 - Affirmed, American racehorse (b. 1975)
2001 - William Hewlett, American engineer and businessman (b. 1913)
2002 - Stanley Unwin, South African comedian (b. 1911)
2002 - Cyrus Vance, 57th U.S. Secretary of State (b. 1917)
2003 - Kinji Fukasaku, Japanese director (b. 1930)
2003 - Leopoldo Galtieri, dictator of Argentina (b. 1926)
2003 - Maurice Gibb, British singer, songwriter, and musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)
2003 - Brandon Vedas, Internet drug abuser. (b. 1981)
2005 - Amrish Puri, Indian actor (b. 1932)
2005 - Edmund S. Valtman, Estonian-born cartoonist (b. 1914)

Holidays and observances

Tanzania - Zanzibar Revolution Day

Fiction

In A Space Odyssey, the fictional computer HAL becomes operational on January 12. In the movie by Stanley Kubrick, HAL was "born" in 1992, while in the book by Arthur C. Clarke the same event occurs in 1997.
In the television series The X-Files, the third season episode Syzygy, has two girls, Terri & Magi, both born on January 12, 1979. Strange astrological properties with 3+ celestial bodies in alignment gives them great power which they use to kill off several of their high school classmates on their birthday in 1996.
In USA's Monk, the 4th season episode of MR. MONK AND MRS. MONK (#T-2351) indicates that Monk spilt something on January 12, 1999 during an earthquake. He stated "Earthquakes count, I don't make the rules."

External links

January 11 - January 13 - December 12 - February 12 — listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: January 12

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Fiction

External links