What happened on December 12? There are more than 300 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 12
December 12 is the 346th day of the year 2025. There are 19 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 50th week of the year 2025.
On this day in El Paso, Texas 88553 sunrise will occur at 06:54 AM and sunset will occur at 05:03 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Sagittarius. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 67 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (February 17, 2026).
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Historical Events For December 12
- 627Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II’s Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
- 1098First 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.
- 1408The Order of the Dragon a monarchical chivalric order is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary.
- 1781American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant – A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt on HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.
- 1787Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution five days after Delaware became the first.
- 1862USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
- 1870Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman, the first one being Hiram Revels.
- 1897Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is founded.
- 1901Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland.
- 1911Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
- 1911King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.
- 1915President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
- 1917In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
- 1918Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk Hermann for the first time.
- 1925The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
- 1935Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
- 1936Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
- 1937USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink US gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
- 1939HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
- 1939Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi – Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
- 1940World War II: Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, as a result of a German air raid.
- 1941Adolf Hitler announces extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
- 1941World 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.
- 1941World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
- 1941World War II: USMC F4F “Wildcats” sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
- 1942A fire in a hostel in St. John’s, Newfoundland, kills 100 people.
- 1942World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
- 1946A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
- 1948Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre – 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
- 1950Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
- 1956Beginning of the Irish Republican Army’s “Border Campaign”.
- 1958Guinea joins the United Nations.
- 1963Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1964Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
- 1969Strategy of tension: Piazza Fontana bombing – The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
- 1979A major earthquake and tsunami kill 259 people in Colombia.
- 1979Coup d'état 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.
- 1979President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
- 1979The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
- 1982Women’s peace protest at Greenham Common – 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km perimeter fence.
- 1984Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya becomes the third president of Mauritania after a coup d'état against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter is attending a summit.
- 1985Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, including 236 members of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
- 1988The 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.
- 1991Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.
- 2000The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
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Who Were Born On December 12?
- 1298Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)
- 1526Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, Spanish admiral.
- 1574Anne of Denmark, queen consort of James I of England (d. 1619)
- 1610Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)
- 1659Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
- 1712Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)
- 1724Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)
- 1745John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
- 1779Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)
- 1783Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1865)
- 1786William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
- 1791Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, wife of Napoleon (d. 1847)
- 1792Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek prince (d. 1828)
- 1799Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
- 1805Henry Wells, American banking executive (d. 1878)
- 1805William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
- 1806Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)
- 1812John Sandfield Macdonald, Canadian premier of Ontario (d. 1872)
- 1821Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
- 1845Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)
- 1849William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)
- 1862Joseph Bruce Ismay, British ocean liner executive and Titanic survivor (d. 1937)
- 1863Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
- 1864Paul Elmer More, American essayist (d. 1937)
- 1866Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1919)
- 1870Walter Benona Sharp, American oil industry executive (d. 1912)
- 1875Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
- 1876Alvin Kraenzlein, American athlete (d. 1928)
- 1887Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
- 1892Milko Kos, Slovenian historian (d. 1972)
- 1893Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1900Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)
- 1902Koloman Sokol, Slovak painter (d. 2003)
- 1903Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer (d. 1976)
- 1903Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (d. 1963)
- 1904Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor (d. 1981)
- 1905Manès Sperber, Austrian writer (d. 1984)
- 1907Roy Douglas, English composer and orchestrator
- 1908Gustav Ernesaks, Estonian composer and conductor (d. 1993)
- 1909Hans Keilson, German-born Dutch writer and child psychologist (d. 2011)
- 1909Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1910Richard Sagrits, Estonian painter (d. 1968)
- 1914Patrick O'Brian, English author (d. 2000)
- 1915Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
- 1917James Wall, American actor and stage manager (d. 2010)
- 1918Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)
- 1919Dan DeCarlo, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
- 1919Olivia Barclay, English astrologer (d. 2001)
- 1920Fred Kida, American comics artist
- 1922Christian Dotremont, Belgian painter and writer (d. 1979)
- 1923Bob Barker, American television game show host
- 1923Bob Dorough, American jazz pianist/vocalist
- 1923Ken Kavanagh, Australian racing driver
- 1924Ed Koch, American politician
- 1924Ray Cordeiro, Hong Kong radio personality
- 1924Robert Coogan, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1925Ahmad Shamlou, Iranian poet (d. 2000)
- 1925Vladimir Shainsky, Russian composer
- 1927Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
- 1928Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer (d. 2008)
- 1928Helen Frankenthaler, American artist (d. 2011)
- 1929John Osborne, English dramatist (d. 1994)
- 1929Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician
- 1930Bill Beutel, American journalist (d. 2006)
- 1930Silvio Santos, Brazilian TV show host
- 1931Lionel Blair, English actor and choreographer
- 1932Bob Pettit, American basketball player
- 1934Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican politician
- 1937Buford Pusser, American law enforcement official (d. 1974)
- 1938Connie Francis, American singer
- 1940Dionne Warwick, American singer
- 1940Frances Willard, American magician
- 1940Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
- 1942Peter Sarstedt, British musician
- 1943Dickey Betts, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
- 1943Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
- 1943Vassilis Alexakis, Greek-French writer
- 1944Jean Doré, Canadian politician
- 1944Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
- 1944Rob Tyner, American Singer, Songwriter and activist (The MC5) (d. 1991)
- 1944Zoe Laskari, Greek actress
- 1945Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (d. 1997)
- 1946Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian race car driver
- 1946Paula Wagner, American film executive
- 1947Wings Hauser, American actor
- 1949Bill Nighy, English actor
- 1950Billy Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1950Pedro Ferriz de Con, Mexican radio and TV news anchor
- 1950Rajinikanth, Indian actor
- 1952Brenton Broadstock, Australian composer and academic
- 1952Cathy Rigby, American gymnast and actress
- 1952Herb Dhaliwal, Canadian politician
- 1952Sarah Douglas, English actress
- 1953Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad)
- 1953Dave Meniketti, American guitarist
- 1953Rafael Septien, Mexican placekicker and convicted sex offender
- 1955Eddy Schepers, Belgian cyclist
- 1955Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek businesswoman
- 1956Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
- 1957Robert Lepage, French Canadian playwright
- 1957Sheila E., American musician
- 1957Susan Powter, Australian author and motivational speaker
- 1958Dag Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian musician
- 1958Lucie Guay, Canadian canoer
- 1958Monica Attard, Australian journalist
- 1958Sheree J. Wilson, American actress
- 1962Mike Golic, American football player
- 1962Tracy Austin, American tennis player
- 1963Ai Orikasa, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1963Liz Claman, American television anchor
- 1964Haywood Jeffries, American football player
- 1964Sabu, American professional wrestler
- 1965Will Carling, English rugby union footballer
- 1966Último Dragón, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1966Kouichi Nagano, Japanese voice actor
- 1966Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
- 1967Deke Sharon, American musician
- 1967John Randle, American football player
- 1967Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Japanese composer
- 1967Yuzo Koshiro, Japanese composer
- 1968Kate Humble, English television presenter
- 1968Laurie Williams, Jamaican cricketer (d. 2002)
- 1968Rory Kennedy, American documentarian
- 1969Carrie Westcott, American model and actress
- 1970Jennifer Connelly, American actress
- 1970Mädchen Amick, American actress
- 1970Regina Hall, American actress
- 1972Brandon Teena, American murder victim (d. 1993)
- 1972Georgios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter
- 1972Hank Williams III, American musician
- 1972Kevin Parent, French Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1972Nicky Eaden, English footballer
- 1972Wilson Kipketer, Danish middle-distance runner
- 1973Gary Breen, Republic of Ireland footballer
- 1973Walter Otta, Argentine footballer
- 1974Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer
- 1975Craig Moore, Australian footballer
- 1975Mayim Bialik, American actress
- 1975Wesley Charles, Vincentian footballer
- 1976Dan Hawkins, English guitarist (The Darkness)
- 1976Lloyd Owusu, Ghanaian footballer
- 1977Bridget Hall, American supermodel
- 1977Colin White, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet models
- 1977Orlando Hudson, American baseball player
- 1978Jennifer Rovero, American model
- 1978Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress
- 1979Garrett Atkins, American baseball player
- 1979John Salmons, American basketball player
- 1979Nate Clements, American football player
- 1979Sharin Foo, Danish singer and bassist
- 1980Gus G, Greek musician
- 1980Nicolae Dorin Goian, Romanian footballer
- 1981Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier
- 1981Pedro Ríos Maestre, Spanish footballer
- 1981Ronnie Brown, American football player
- 1981Shane Costa, American baseball player
- 1981Stephen Warnock, English footballer
- 1981Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- 1982Ai Kato, Japanese actress
- 1982Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player
- 1983Katrina Elam, American singer
- 1984Daniel Agger, Danish footballer
- 1984Daniel Merrett, Australian football player
- 1984Sohail Tanvir,Pakistani cricketer
- 1985Chris Jennings, American football player
- 1985David Veikune, American football player
- 1985Giannis Zaradoukas, Greek footballer
- 1985Pat Calathes, Greek-American basketball player
- 1986Lee Qri, Korean singer and actress
- 1986Mitsuhiro Hidaka, Japanese singer (AAA (band))
- 1986Perparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer
- 1986T. J. Ward, American football player
- 1986Thomas Wansey, English actor
- 1988Ham Eun-jeong, Korean singer and actress
- 1990Seungri, Korean singer
- 1990Victor Moses, Nigerian-born British footballer
- 1991Daniel Magder, Canadian actor
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Who Died On December 12?
- 884Carloman, King of the West Franks
- 1212Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
- 1569Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (b. 1507)
- 1574Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)
- 1586Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
- 1685John Pell, English mathematician (b. 1610)
- 1751Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (b. 1678)
- 1754Wu Jingzi, Chinese writer (b. 1701)
- 1766Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)
- 1789John Ponsonby, Irish politician (b. 1713)
- 1790Mikhail Shcherbatov, Russian philosopher and writer (b. 1733)
- 1817Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia, (b. about 1751)
- 1843King William I of the Netherlands, (b. 1772)
- 1858Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)
- 1889Robert Browning, English poet (b. 1812)
- 1889Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
- 1894Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
- 1913Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)
- 1923Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
- 1926Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)
- 1929Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)
- 1934Thorleif Haug, Norwegian Nordic skier (b. 1894)
- 1939Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
- 1941César Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)
- 1951Mildred Bailey, American jazz singer (b. 1907)
- 1952Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
- 1958Albert Walsh, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1900)
- 1963Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)
- 1968Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
- 1970Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
- 1971David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)
- 1971Yechezkel Kutscher, Israeli philologist and Hebrew linguist (b. 1909)
- 1976Jack Cassidy, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1976Vinko Žganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
- 1977Baroness Spencer-Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
- 1978Fay Compton, English actress (b. 1894)
- 1980Jean Lesage, Canadian politician (b. 1912)
- 1983Amza Pellea, Romanian actor (b. 1931)
- 1985Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1985Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)
- 1987Enrique Jorrín, Cuban musician and composer (b. 1926)
- 1988Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, American Mafia figure (b. 1917)
- 1992Suzanne Lilar, Belgian essayist, novelist and playwright (b. 1901)
- 1993József Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)
- 1994Donna J. Stone, American poet (b. 1933)
- 1994Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
- 1996Vance Packard, American author (b. 1914)
- 1997Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
- 1998Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)
- 1998Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (b. 1922)
- 1998Mo Udall, American politician (b. 1922)
- 1999Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
- 1999Paul Cadmus, American artist (b. 1904)
- 2000George Montgomery, American actor (b. 1916)
- 2000Ndabaningi Sithole, Zimbabwean Nationalist politician (b. 1920)
- 2001Ardito Desio, Italian explorer, geologist and leader of the 1954 K2 expedition (b. 1897)
- 2001Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
- 2002Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2002Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)
- 2002Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)
- 2003Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan (b. 1923)
- 2003Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)
- 2005Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)
- 2005Gebran Tueni, Lebanese politician (b. 1957)
- 2005Robert Newmyer, American film producer (b. 1956)
- 2006Al Shugart, pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology (b. 1930)
- 2006Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist (b. 1935)
- 2006Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
- 2006Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2006Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)
- 2007Francois Hajj, Lebanese Army’s chief of operations (b. 1953)
- 2007Ike Turner, American musician (b. 1931)
- 2008Avery Dulles, Roman Catholic Cardinal, theologian (b. 1918)
- 2008Tassos Papadopoulos, President of Cyprus (b. 1934)
- 2008Van Johnson, American actor (b. 1916)
- 2010Peter Pagel, German footballer (b. 1956)
- 2010Tom Walkinshaw, former racing driver and Formula One team owner (b. 1946)
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