HISTORY OF 12th APRIL

 Historical Events For April 12

238

Gordian II lost the Battle of Carthage against the Numidian forces loyal to Maximinus Thrax and is killed. Gordian I, his father, commits suicide.

467

Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

1065

Pilgrims under bishop Gunther of Bamberg reach Jerusalem.

1204

The Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade breach the walls of Constantinople and enter the city, which they completely occupy the following day.

1229

Queen Blanche of Castile & Earl Raymond VII of Toulouse sign peace.

1545

French King Francois I orders protestants of Vaudois to be killed.

1557

Cuenca is founded in Ecuador.

1606

The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain.

1633

The formal inquest of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition begins.

1648

University of Harderwijk Neth solemn opens.

1654

Ordinance of Union between England and Scotland passed by the Council of State.

1770

British parliament repeals the Townshend Revenue Acts, which had fueled opposition to British rule in colonial America.

1776

American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.

1820

Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.

1826

Weber's opera "Oberon" premieres in London.

1831

Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England cause it to collapse.

1844

Texan envoys sign Treaty of Annexation with the United States.

1857

French novelist Gustave Flaubert's first novel and masterpiece "Madame Bovary" is published in book form.

1861

American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

1862

American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurred, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).

1864

American Civil War: The Fort Pillow massacre: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

1865

American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.

1869

North Carolina legislature passes anti-Ku Klux Klan Law.

1872

Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (1 dead/$1,500)

1877

The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.

1877

Catcher's mask 1st used in a baseball game

1892

George C Blickensderfer patents portable typewriter.

1896

Stamasia Portrisi is 1st woman to win a marathon (5:30 in Athens)

1898

US Army transfers Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay to Navy.

1905

French Dufaux brothers test helicopter.

1907

Belgium government of De Stain de Naeyer resigns.

1907

In Switzerland, parliament passes a new army bill reorganizing the nation's forces into a standing militia, with training required for all males.

1910

The SMS Zrinyi, one of the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.

1911

1st non-stop London-Paris flight (Pierre Prier in 3h56m).

1917

World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.

1927

April 12 Incident: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.

1934

The U.S. Auto-Lite Strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.

1934

The strongest surface wind gust in the world at 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

1935

First flight of the Bristol Blenheim.

1937

Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.

1945

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies while in office; vice-president Harry Truman is sworn in as the 33rd President.

1954

Bill Haley & His Comets record “Rock Around the Clock” in New York City.

1955

The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.

1961

The Russian (Soviet) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1).

1963

The Soviet nuclear powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.

1968

Nerve gas accident at Skull Valley, Utah.

1970

Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.

1980

Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'état, ending over 130 years of minority Americo-Liberian rule over the country.

1980

Terry Fox begins his “Marathon of Hope” at St. John’s, Newfoundland.

1981

The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) launches on the STS-1 mission.

1990

Jim Gary’s “Twentieth Century Dinosaurs” exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

1992

The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland. The resort and its park’s name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Paris.

1994

Canter & Siegel post the first commercial mass Usenet spam.

1998

An earthquake in Slovenia, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale occurs near the town of Bovec.

1999

US President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.

2002

A female suicide bomber detonated at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda open-air market, killing 7 and wounding 104.

2007

A suicide bomber penetrated the Green Zone and detonated in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.

2009

Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwe Dollar as their official currency.

2010

A train derails near Merano, Italy, after running into a landslide, causing nine deaths and injuring 28 people.