November 12

November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 49 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 764 – Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days.
• 1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe takes the throne as empress consort to Romanus Argyrus.
• 1330 – Battle of Posada, Wallachian Voievode Basarab I defeats the Hungarian army in an ambush
• 1439 – Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament.
• 1555 – The English Parliament re-establishes Catholicism.
• 1602 – Sebastian Viscaino lands at and names San Diego, California.
• 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first Mayor of Paris, is guillotined.
• 1892 – William "Pudge" Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
• 1893 – The treaty of the Durand Line is signed between present day Pakistan and Afghanistan; the Durand Line has gained international recognition as an international border between the two nations.
• 1905 – Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.
• 1912 – The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
• 1918 – Austria becomes a republic.
• 1920 – Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes sign the Treaty of Rapallo.
• 1927 – Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.
• 1928 – SS Vestris sinks approximately 200 miles (320 km) off Hampton Roads, Virginia, killing at least 110 passengers, mostly women and children who die after the vessel is abandoned.
• 1933 – Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster.
• 1936 – In California, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
• 1938 – Hermann Göring proposes plans to make Madagascar the "Jewish homeland", an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.
• 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Gabon ends as Free French Forces take Libreville, Gabon, and all of French Equatorial Africa from Vichy France forces.
• 1940 – World War II: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrives in Berlin to discuss the possibility of the Soviet Union joining the Axis Powers.
• 1941 – World War II: temperatures around Moscow drop to -12° C as the Soviet Union launches ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
• 1941 – World War II: The Soviet cruiser Chervona Ukraina is destroyed during the Battle of Sevastopol.
• 1942 – World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal between Japanese and American forces begins near Guadalcanal. The battle lasts for three days and ends with an American victory.
• 1944 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches 29 Avro Lancaster bombers and sinks the German battleship Tirpitz, with 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs off Tromsø, Norway.
• 1948 – In Tokyo, an international war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Hideki Tojo, to death for their roles in World War II.
• 1956 – Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.
• 1958 – A team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
• 1968 – Equatorial Guinea joins the United Nations.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre – Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.
• 1970 – The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting beached Sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now infamous "exploding whale" incident.
• 1970 – The 1970 Bhola cyclone makes landfall on the coast of East Pakistan becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone in history.
• 1971 – Vietnam War: as part of Vietnamization, US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
• 1975 – The Comoros joins the United Nations.
• 1978 – Pope John Paul II takes possession of his Cathedral Church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, as the Bishop of Rome.
• 1979 – Iran hostage crisis: in response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
• 1980 – The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings.
• 1981 – Space Shuttle program: mission STS-2, utilizing the Space Shuttle Columbia, marks the first time a manned spacecraft is launched into space twice.
• 1982 – In the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov becomes the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid I. Brezhnev.
• 1990 – Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.
• 1990 – Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.
• 1991 – Dili Massacre: Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor.
• 1996 – A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane collide in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349. The deadliest mid-air collision to date.
• 1997 – Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• 1999 – The Düzce earthquake strikes Turkey with a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale.
• 2001 – In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 en route to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.
• 2001 – Attack on Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, Afghanistan, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.
• 2003 – Iraq war: in Nasiriya, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.
• 2003 – Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record (501 kilometres per hour (311 mph)) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles.
• 2011 – Silvio Berlusconi resigns as Prime Minister of Italy due, in large part, to the European sovereign debt crisis.

Births

• 1528 – Qi Jiguang, Chinese general (d. 1588)
• 1547 – Claude of Valois (d. 1575)
• 1606 – Jeanne Mance, French nurse, founded Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (d. 1673)
• 1615 – Richard Baxter, English clergyman, theologian, and poet (d. 1691)
• 1651 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican nun, scholar, and poet (d. 1695)
• 1684 – Edward Vernon, English admiral (d. 1757)
• 1729 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1811)
• 1755 – Gerhard von Scharnhorst, Prussian general (d. 1813)
• 1790 – Letitia Christian Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 10th First Lady of the United States (d. 1842)
• 1793 – Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, Livonian physician and botanist (d. 1831)
• 1795 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (d. 1856)
• 1815 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American activist (d. 1902)
• 1817 – Bahá'u'lláh, Persian spiritual leader, founded the Bahá'í Faith (d. 1892)
• 1833 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and chemist (d. 1887)
• 1840 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor, created The Thinker (d. 1917)
• 1842 – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
• 1848 – Eduard Müller, Swiss politician, 51st President of Switzerland (d. 1919)
• 1850 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player (d. 1908)
• 1866 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (d. 1925)
• 1872 – William Fay, Irish actor and producer (d. 1947)
• 1881 – Olev Siinmaa, Estonian architect (d. 1948)
• 1881 – Maximilian von Weichs, German field marshal (d. 1954)
• 1886 – Günther Dyhrenfurth, German geologist, and mountaineer (d. 1975)
• 1886 – Ben Travers, English playwright (d. 1980)
• 1889 – DeWitt Wallace, American publisher, co-founded Reader's Digest (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Lily Kronberger, Hungarian figure skater (d. 1974)
• 1892 – Tudor Davies, Welsh tenor (d. 1958)
• 1896 – Salim Ali, Indian ornithologist (d. 1987)
• 1896 – Nima Yooshij, Iranian poet (d. 1960)
• 1897 – Karl Marx, German composer and conductor (d. 1985)
• 1898 – Leon Štukelj, Slovene gymnast (d. 1999)
• 1901 – James Luther Adams, American theologian (d. 1994)
• 1903 – Jack Oakie, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1908 – Harry Blackmun, American judge (d. 1999)
• 1910 – Dudley Nourse, South African cricketer (d. 1981)
• 1911 – Buck Clayton, American trumpet player (d. 1991)
• 1915 – Roland Barthes, French critic, theorist, and philosopher (d. 1980)
• 1916 – Rogelio de la Rosa, Filipino actor and politician (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Paul Emery, English race car driver (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Jean Papineau-Couture, Canadian composer (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Jo Stafford, American singer and actress (d. 2008)
• 1919 – Jackie Washington, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Richard Quine, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1922 – Kim Hunter, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Vicco von Bülow, German director (d. 2011)
• 1924 – Sam Jones, American bassist and composer (d. 1981)
• 1927 – František Šťastný, Czech motorcycle racer (d. 2000)
• 1927 – Yutaka Taniyama, Japanese mathematician (d. 1958)
• 1928 – Bob Holness, English radio and television host (d. 2012)
• 1928 – Marjorie W. Sharmat, American author
• 1929 – Anthony di Bonaventura, American pianist and academic (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Michael Ende, German author (d. 1995)
• 1929 – Grace Kelly, American actress (d. 1982)
• 1931 – Bob Crewe, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1933 – Jalal Talabani, Iraqi politician, 6th President of Iraq
• 1934 – Ann Flood, American actress
• 1934 – Charles Manson, American cult leader and murderer
• 1936 – Mills Lane, American boxer, referee, and judge
• 1936 – Mort Shuman, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1991)
• 1937 – Ina Balin, American actress
• 1937 – Jack Betts, American actor
• 1937 – Richard H. Truly, American pilot, admiral, and astronaut
• 1938 – Denis DeJordy, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1938 – Benjamin Mkapa, Tanzanian politician, 3rd President of Tanzania
• 1939 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American singer (Ruby & the Romantics)
• 1939 – Terry McDonald, English footballer
• 1939 – Lucia Popp, Slovakian soprano (d. 1993)
• 1940 – Michel Audet, Canadian economist and politician
• 1940 – Jürgen Todenhöfer, German politician and author
• 1941 – Carol Gluck, American academic
• 1943 – Julie Ege, Norwegian actress (d. 2008)
• 1943 – Brian Hyland, American singer
• 1943 – Wallace Shawn, American actor and playwright
• 1943 – Björn Waldegård, Swedish World Rally Champion (1979)
• 1943 – John Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Walker Brothers) (d. 2011)
• 1944 – Booker T. Jones, American musician, songwriter, and producer (Booker T and the MG's and The Mar-Keys)
• 1944 – Al Michaels, American sportscaster
• 1945 – Tracy Kidder, American journalist and author
• 1945 – Neil Young, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Squires, The Mynah Birds, Northern Lights, and The Ducks)
• 1946 – Krister Henriksson, Swedish actor
• 1947 – Ron Bryant, American baseball player
• 1947 – Buck Dharma, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Blue Öyster Cult)
• 1947 – Patrice Leconte, French director and screenwriter
• 1948 – Errol Brown, Jamaican-English singer-songwriter (Hot Chocolate)
• 1948 – Cliff Harris, American football player
• 1949 – Ron Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey coach (d. 1992)
• 1949 – Jack Reed, American politician
• 1950 – Barbara Fairchild, American singer-songwriter
• 1952 – Ronald Burkle, American businessman, co-founded the Yucaipa Companies
• 1953 – Vasilis Karras, Greek singer
• 1953 – Baaba Maal, Senegalese singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1954 – Rob Lytle, American football player (d. 2010)
• 1954 – Rhonda Shear, American model and actress, Miss Louisiana USA 1975
• 1955 – Katharine Weber, American author
• 1955 – Les McKeown, Scottish singer (Bay City Rollers)
• 1958 – Megan Mullally, American actress and singer
• 1958 – Nick Stellino, Italian-American chef and author
• 1959 – Vincent Irizarry, American actor
• 1959 – Toshihiko Sahashi, Japanese composer
• 1960 – Maurane, Belgian singer
• 1960 – Ismo Alanko, Finnish singer-songwriter (Hassisen Kone, Sielun Veljet, and Ismo Alanko Säätiö)
• 1961 – Nadia Comăneci, Romanian gymnast
• 1961 – Enzo Francescoli, Uruguayan footballer
• 1961 – Jonathan Nossiter, American director
• 1961 – Michaela Paetsch, American violinist
• 1962 – Mariella Frostrup, Norwegian journalist
• 1962 – Mark Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 – Neal Shusterman, American author
• 1962 – Brix Smith, American singer and guitarist (The Fall and The Adult Net)
• 1962 – Naomi Wolf, American author and activist
• 1963 – Sam Lloyd, American actor and singer (The Blanks)
• 1963 – Michael Rogers, American journalist and activist
• 1963 – Susumu Terajima, Japanese actor
• 1964 – Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (brute. and The Undertow Orchestra) (d. 2009)
• 1964 – David Ellefson, American bass player and songwriter (Megadeth, Avian, F5, Killing Machine)
• 1964 – Wang Kuang-hui, Taiwanese baseball player and coach
• 1965 – Lex Lang, American voice actor and producer
• 1967 – Iryna Khalip, Belarusian journalist
• 1967 – Michael Moorer, American boxer
• 1967 – Grant Nicholas, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (Feeder and Raindancer)
• 1968 – Glenn Gilbertti, American wrestler
• 1968 – Kathleen Hanna, American singer-songwriter (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin)
• 1968 – Aya Hisakawa, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1968 – Sharon Shannon, Irish accordion player
• 1968 – Sammy Sosa, Dominican baseball player
• 1968 – Aaron Stainthorpe, English-German singer-songwriter (My Dying Bride)
• 1969 – Ian Bremmer, American political scientist and author
• 1969 – Jason Cundy, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1969 – Johnny Gosch, American kidnap victim
• 1970 – Elektra, American wrestler
• 1970 – Tonya Harding, American figure skater
• 1970 – Sarah Harmer, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Weeping Tile and The Saddletramps)
• 1970 – Craig Parker, Fijian-New Zealand actor
• 1970 – Harvey Spencer Stephens, English actor
• 1972 – Vassilis Tsiartas, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Mayte Garcia, American dancer, singer, and actress (The New Power Generation)
• 1973 – Radha Mitchell, Australian actress
• 1973 – Ethan Zohn, American soccer player
• 1974 – Tamala Jones, American actress
• 1975 – Nina Brosh, Israeli model and actress
• 1975 – Jason Lezak, American swimmer
• 1975 – Angela Watson, American actress
• 1976 – Tevin Campbell, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1976 – Judith Holofernes, German singer-songwriter (Wir sind Helden)
• 1976 – Richelle Mead, American author
• 1976 – Mirosław Szymkowiak, Polish footballer
• 1977 – Dalene Kurtis, American model
• 1977 – Benni McCarthy, South African footballer
• 1977 – Lee Murray, English mixed martial artist
• 1978 – Aaron Heilman, American baseball player
• 1978 – Alexandra Maria Lara, Romanian-German actress
• 1978 – Ashley Williams, American actress
• 1978 – Lena Yada, American actress, model, surfer and wrestler
• 1979 – Matt Cappotelli, American wrestler
• 1979 – Cote de Pablo, Chilean actress
• 1979 – Lucas Glover, American golfer
• 1979 – Corey Maggette, American basketball player
• 1979 – Matt Stevic, Australian umpire
• 1980 – Trent Acid, American wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1980 – Shaun Cooper, American bass player (Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run, and Destry)
• 1980 – Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor and singer (Dead Man's Bones)
• 1980 – Ricky Sinz, American porn actor
• 1981 – Annika Becker, German pole vaulter
• 1981 – D. J. Campbell, English footballer
• 1981 – Sergio Floccari, Italian footballer
• 1982 – Anne Hathaway, American actress
• 1982 – Mikele Leigertwood, English footballer
• 1983 – Carlton Cole, English footballer
• 1983 – Charlie Morton, American baseball player
• 1984 – Omarion, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (B2K)
• 1984 – Sepp De Roover, Belgian footballer
• 1984 – Sandara Park, South Korean singer and actress (2NE1)
• 1984 – Conrad Rautenbach, Zimbabwean race car driver
• 1985 – Arianny Celeste, American model
• 1986 – Robert Müller, German footballer
• 1986 – Evan Yo, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Nedum Onuoha, English footballer
• 1987 – Bryan Little, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Russell Westbrook, American basketball player
• 1990 – Florent Manaudou, French swimmer
• 1990 – Harmeet Singh, Norwegian footballer
• 1992 – Giulietta, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1992 – Trey Burke, American basketball player
• 1992 – Adam Larsson, Swedish ice hockey player

Deaths

• 607 – Pope Boniface III
• 1035 – Cnut the Great, Danish king (b. 985)
• 1094 – Duncan II of Scotland (b. 1060)
• 1434 – Louis III of Naples (b. 1403)
• 1555 – Stephen Gardiner, English bishop (b. 1497)
• 1567 – Anne de Montmorency, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1493)
• 1595 – John Hawkins, English navy officer and shipbuilder (b. 1532)
• 1667 – Hans Nansen, Danish politician (b. 1598)
• 1671 – Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (b. 1612)
• 1742 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
• 1757 – Colley Cibber, English poet (b. 1671)
• 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, French astronomer, mathematician, and politician, 1st Mayor of Paris (b. 1736)
• 1836 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician, 6th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (b. 1773)
• 1865 – Elizabeth Gaskell, English author (b. 1810)
• 1902 – William Henry Barlow, English engineer (b. 1812)
• 1916 – Percival Lowell, American astronomer, mathematician, and author (b. 1855)
• 1933 – John Cady, American golfer (b. 1866)
• 1933 – F. Holland Day, American photographer and publisher (b. 1864)
• 1939 – Norman Bethune, Canadian physician and humanitarian (b. 1890)
• 1941 – Abe Reles, American mobster (b. 1907)
• 1944 – Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (b. 1876)
• 1945 – Jaro Fürth, Austrian actor (b. 1871)
• 1946 – Albert Bond Lambert, American golfer (b. 1875)
• 1946 – Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian activist and politician, founded Banaras Hindu University (b. 1861)
• 1948 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer (b. 1867)
• 1950 – Lesley Ashburner, American hurdler (b. 1883)
• 1955 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (b. 1878)
• 1958 – Gustaf Söderström, Swedish tug of war competitor (b. 1865)
• 1965 – Taher Saifuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq (b. 1888)
• 1969 – Iskander Mirza, Pakistani politician, 1st President of Pakistan (b. 1899)
• 1969 – Liu Shaoqi, Chinese politician, 2nd Chairman of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)
• 1972 – Rudolf Friml, Czech composer (b. 1879)
• 1976 – Mikhail Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer, co-founded Mikoyan (b. 1893)
• 1976 – Walter Piston, American composer (b. 1894)
• 1981 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1984 – Chester Himes, American author (b. 1909)
• 1987 – Cornelis Vreeswijk, Dutch-Swedish singer-songwriter, poet, and actor (b. 1937)
• 1990 – Eve Arden, American actress (b. 1908)
• 1993 – H. R. Haldeman, American diplomat, 4th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1926)
• 1994 – Wilma Rudolph, American runner (b. 1940)
• 1997 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish composer (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Franck Pourcel, French orchestra leader (b. 1913)
• 2000 – Leah Rabin, German-Israeli wife of Yitzhak Rabin (b. 1928)
• 2001 – Albert Hague, German-American actor and composer (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Tony Miles, English chess player (b. 1955)
• 2003 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (b. 1976)
• 2003 – Cameron Duncan, New Zealand director (b. 1986)
• 2003 – Kay E. Kuter, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Penny Singleton, American actress (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Tony Thompson, American drummer (Chic and Power Station) (b. 1954)
• 2005 – William G. Adams, Canadian politician (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Jacob E. Smart, American general (b. 1909)
• 2007 – Khanmohammad Ibrahim, Indian cricketer (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Ira Levin, American author (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Catherine Baker Knoll, American politician, 30th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1930)
• 2008 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Riot Squad, The Dirty Mac, and Ramatam) (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Henryk Górecki, Polish composer (b. 1933)
• 2010 – Karl Plutus, Estonian lawyer and jurist (b. 1904)
• 2012 – Anthony di Bonaventura, American pianist and academic (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Angela Cropper, Trinidadian diplomat and politician (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Bob French, American drummer and radio host (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Hans Hammarskiöld, Swedish photographer (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Michel Hrynchyshyn, Canadian-French bishop (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Sergio Oliva, Cuban-American bodybuilder (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Fred Ridgeway, Irish actor (b. 1953)
• 2012 – Daniel Stern, American psychologist (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Ronald Stretton, English cyclist (b. 1930)
• 2012 – John Winter, English architect (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, celebration started at sunset the day before. (Bahá'í Faith)
• Birth of Sun Yat-Sen, also Doctors' Day and Cultural Renaissance Day. (Republic of China)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Cumméne Fota
  • Emilian of Cogolla
  • Josaphat Kuntsevych
  • Nilus of Sinai
  • Patiens
  • Arsatius
  • November 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Constitution Day (Azerbaijan)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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