Events
December
12
627
– Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor
Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian
forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
1098 – First 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.
1408 – The Order of the Dragon a monarchical chivalric
order is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then
King of Hungary.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle
of Ushant – A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by
Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt on HMS Victory,
defeats a French fleet.
1787 – Pennsylvania becomes the second state to
ratify the United States Constitution five days
after Delaware became the first.
1862 – USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming
the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically
detonated mine.
1870 – Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes
the second black U.S. congressman, the first one
being Hiram Revels.
1897 – Belo Horizonte, the first planned city
in Brazil, is founded.
1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic
radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
1911 – Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital
of India.
1911 – King George V of the United Kingdom and
Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress
of India.
1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan
Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the
monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
1917 – In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan
founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward
boys.
1918 – Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk
Hermann for the first time.
1925 – The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza
Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
1935 – Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction
program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
1936 – Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the
Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped
by Zhang Xueliang.
1937 – USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb
and sink US gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze River
in China.
1939 – Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi – Finnish
forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their
first major victory of the conflict.
1939 – HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with
HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the
loss of 124 men.
1940 – World War II: Approximately 70 people are
killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square,
Sheffield, as a result of a German air raid.
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.
1941 – World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats"
sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake
Island.
1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares
war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war
on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
1941 – Adolf Hitler announces extermination of
the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation
Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled
Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
1942 – A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland,
kills 100 people.
1946 – A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads
to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
1948 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre
– 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in
Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians
and set fire to the village.
1950 – Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed
to perform rabbinical functions in the United
States, leads the congregation in her first services.
1956 – Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's
"Border Campaign".
1958 – Guinea joins the United Nations.
1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United
Kingdom.
1964 – Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the
first President of the Republic of Kenya.
1969 – Strategy of tension: Piazza Fontana bombing
– The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura
in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
1979 – Coup 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.
1979 – President of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, confers
Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
1979 – The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
returns to British control and resumes using the
name Southern Rhodesia.
1979 – A major earthquake and tsunami kill 259
people in Colombia.
1984 – Maaouiya 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.
1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff
in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, including
236 members of the United States Army's 101st
Airborne Division.
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.
1991 – Russian Federation gains independence from
the USSR.
2000 – The United States Supreme Court releases
its decision in Bush v. Gore.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet
Feast of the Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe
(Mexico)
Vicelinus
Constitution Day (Russia)
Feast of Masá'il ("Questions"), the
first day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í calendar
(Bahá'í Faith)
Jamhuri Day, celebrates the independence of Kenya
from Britain in 1963.
Neutrality Day and Student Youth Day, celebrate
the status of permanent positive neutrality recognized
by the UN General Assembly Resolution on Permanent
Neutrality of Turkmenistan on December 12, 1995
(Turkmenistan)
Poinsettia Day (United States)
The International Day Of Heavy Metal, a celebration
of Heavy Metal & Hard Rock Music
For details, contact Datacentre
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