/year

January 12 in history

203 sourced entries recorded on January 12, from 251 CE to 2024 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 1157March 16 – Caliph Al-Muqtafi successfully defends Baghdad against the coalition forces of Sultan Muhammad of Hamadan, and Atabeg Qutb-adin of Mosul.source
  • 1305The marriage of Bastam, the 8-year-old son (and eldest child) of the Ikhanate ruler of Iran, Oljaitu Khan, to Uljay Qutlugh Khatun, the 7-year-old daughter and the only surviving child of the previous Ikhanate, the late Ghazan Khan, takes place in Tabriz. The betrothal of the two children had been arranged by Ghazan and Öljaitü on September 17, 1303.source
  • 1368Zhu Yuanzhang declares himself as Emperor of China and forces Emperor Huizong of the Yuan dynasty to flee the capital, Yingtian (now Nanjing).source
  • 1401Emperor Hồ Quý Ly of Dai Ngu (now Vietnam) passes the throne to his son, Hồ Hán Thương.source
  • 1408Western Schism: King Charles VI of France sends a letter to the Antipope Benedict XIII at Avignon, giving an ultimatum to Benedict and the other Avignon Papacy proponents to end the schism in the Roman Catholic Church against the Roman Obedience, headed by Pope Gregory XII. King Charles VI threatens that unless the schism ends by Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter (in 1408, April 24, with Ascension Day on June 3), France will end its support of the Avignon Obedience.source
  • 1461John Neville, a Yorkist who betrayed Richard of York at the Battle of Wakefield and joined the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses, leads troops on raids in northern England, pillaging Beverleysource
  • 1500The Siege of Forlì ends. Franco-Papal victory by Cesare Borgia over Caterina Sforza.source
  • 1528Gustav I of Sweden is crowned king of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523.source
  • 1528Gustav I is crowned in Uppsala without taking the customary oath affirming the authority of the bishops.source
  • 1539Treaty of Toledo: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (aka Charles I of Spain) and Francis I of France agree to make no further alliances with England. The treaty comes after Henry VIII of England's split with Rome and Pope Paul III.source
  • 1539France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire agree to make no further alliances with England.source
  • 1554January 12 (10th waxing of Tabodwe 915 ME) – Bayinnaung is crowned king of the Burmese Taungoo Dynasty at his new capital at Pegu, after a previous coronation on January 11, 1551, and takes the regnal name of Thiri Thudhamma Yaza.source
  • 1602Juan del Águila surrenders the Spanish troops in Ireland.source
  • 1609The Basque witch trials are started in Spain as the court of the Inquisition at Logroño receives a letter from the commissioner of the village of Zugarramurdi, and orders the arrest of four women, including María de Jureteguía and María Chipía de Barrenetxea.source
  • 1616The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta, by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco, who had previously taken the city of São Luís in Maranhão from the French.source
  • 1619James I of England's Banqueting House, Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. Inigo Jones is commissioned to design a replacement.source
  • 1633Congregation of the Mission founded by Vincent de Paul is constituted as a congregation by the pope in the bull Salvatoris nostri.source
  • 1634After suspecting that he will be dismissed, Albrecht von Wallenstein, supreme commander of the Holy Roman Empire's Army, demands that his colonels sign a declaration of personal loyalty.source
  • 1640Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford.source
  • 1661The State College proposes a comprehensive codification of Danish law, later resulting in the Danish Code of 1683.source
  • 1666All the crown estates in Helgeland, Salten, Lofoten, Vesterålen, Andenes, Senja and Troms were given to Joachim Irgens von Westervick.source
  • 1682Scottish minister James Renwick, one of the Covenanters resisting the Scottish government's suppression of alternate religious views, publishes the Declaration of Lanark.source
  • 1689a powerful storm causes significant damage in London and southeast England.source
  • 1702In North America, ships from Fort Maurepas arrive at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff to build Fort Louis de la Mobile (future Mobile, Alabama), to become the capital of French Louisiana.source
  • 1708Shahu I becomes the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent.source
  • 1712The premiere of the opera Idoménée by André Campra takes place at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
  • 1712The première of the opera Idoménée by André Campra takes place at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Parissource
  • 1726Conventicle Act (Sweden)source
  • 1727Abd el-Sayed of Egypt is enthroned, as Pope John XVII of Alexandria becomes the leader of the Coptic Christian Church, as the 105th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Holy See of St. Mark. He will serve until his death on April 20, 1745.source
  • 1736George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, becomes the Second Field Marshal of Great Britain.source
  • 1743The Verendryes, and two members of the Mandan Indian tribe, reach the foot of the mountains, near the site of what is now Helena, Montana.source
  • 1743An earthquake strikes the Philippinessource
  • 1748Ahmad Shah Durrani captures Lahore.source
  • 1757Koca Ragıp Pasha becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, and administers the office for seven years until his death in 1763.source
  • 1773The first museum in the American colonies is established in Charleston, South Carolina; in 1915, it is formally incorporated as the Charleston Museum.source
  • 1777Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what becomes Santa Clara, California.source
  • 1777Mission Santa Clara de Asís founded in what is now Santa Clara, California.source
  • 1785The first public library in Norway is opened.source
  • 1791Holy Roman troops reenter Liège, heralding the end of the Liège Revolution, and the restoration of its Prince-Bishops.source
  • 1808John Rennie's scheme to defend St Mary's Church, Reculver in south east England, founded in 669, from coastal erosion is abandoned in favour of demolition, despite the church being an exemplar of Anglo-Saxon architecture and sculpture.source
  • 1810The marriage of Napoleon I and Joséphine is annulled.source
  • 1818The Dandy horse (Laufmaschine bicycle) is patented by Karl Drais in Mannheim.source
  • 1818The Dandy horse (Laufmaschine bicycle) was invented by Karl Drais in Mannheim.source
  • 1830January 12–27 – Webster–Hayne debate: In the United States Congress, Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina debates against Daniel Webster of Massachusetts about the question of states' rights vs. federal authority.source
  • 1830January 12–27 – Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina debates the question of states' rights vs. federal authority with Daniel Webster of Massachusetts in the United States Congress.source
  • 1830The last executions take place in Iceland at Þrístapi, Vatnsdalur, with Agnes Magnúsdóttir and Friðrik Sigurðsson being beheaded for murder the murder of two men, including Nathan Ketilsson.source
  • 1836HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, reaches Sydney.source
  • 1838January 12–13: War of the Confederation: Battle of Islaysource
  • 1838January 12 and 13 - War of the Confederation: Battle of Islaysource
  • 1842January 6–13 – First Anglo-Afghan War – Massacre of Elphinstone's army (Battle of Gandamak): British East India Company troops are destroyed by Afghan forces on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, by Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammad Khan.source
  • 1848Sicilian revolution of 1848: The Palermo rising erupts in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.source
  • 1849General conscription is introduced in Denmark a few weeks after the First Schleswig War has been resumed after a winter break.source
  • 1853Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping army occupies Wuchang.source
  • 1863January 10–12 – 1st Battle of Acapulcosource
  • 1866British auxiliary steamer SS London sinks in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, on passage from the Thames to Australia, with the loss of 244 people, and only 19 survivors.source
  • 1866Auxiliary steamer SS London sinks in a storm in the Bay of Biscay on passage from Gravesend to Australia with the loss of 244 people and only 19 survivors.source
  • 1866The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed as The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in London, the world's oldest such society.source
  • 1872Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years.source
  • 1875Guangxu becomes the 11th Qing dynasty Emperor of China at the age of 3. He succeeds his cousin, the Tongzhi Emperor, who had no sons of his own.source
  • 1882Holborn Viaduct power station in the City of London, the world's first coal-fired public electricity generating station, begins operation.source
  • 1883January 8 — January 19 – Trial of the 66 in Lyon, targeting the Black International in France.source
  • 1888The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Texas, leaving 235 dead, many of them children on their way home from school.source
  • 1891Mahatma Gandhi passes the Bar examination in England.source
  • 1891Canada brings suit before the United States Supreme Court in re seizures of vessels in the Bering Sea.source
  • 1891St. Mary's Cathedral is dedicated in San Francisco.source
  • 1895Britain's National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is founded by Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley.source
  • 1896H. L. Smith takes the first X-ray photograph.source
  • 1898Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister.source
  • 1899The French government passes a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, 423 to 124.source
  • 1904The Herero Wars in German South West Africa begin.source
  • 1904The Herero of Deutsch–Südwestafrika, under the leadership of Samuel Maharero, rise against German colonial rule. The rising marks the beginning of what has become known as the Herero and Namaqua Genocide.source
  • 1904Melbourne businessman Alfred Felton leaves a large bequest to the Art Gallery of Victoria.source
  • 1906Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, and establish a national assembly, the Majlis.source
  • 1906Sogi Electronic Company, as predecessor of Asahi Kasei was founded in Isa region, Kagoshima Prefecture.source
  • 1910Great January Comet of 1910 first observed (perihelion: January 17).source
  • 1911Blagoje Bersa's opera Oganj (Der Eisenhammer) premiered at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.source
  • 1912In the 1912 German federal election the Social Democrats for the first time becomes the party with the most seats.source
  • 1912German federal election, 1912source
  • 1915The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote.source
  • 1915A Fool There Was premières in the United States, starring Theda Bara as a femme fatale; she quickly becomes one of early cinema's most sensational stars.source
  • 1916The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, part of the British Empire, is established in modern-day Tuvalu and Kiribati.source
  • 1918Galileo Circle is bannedsource
  • 1919January 7–14 - Tragic Week (Argentina)source
  • 19221922 seamen's strike, Chinese sailors from Hong Kong and Guangzhou went on strike for higher wagessource
  • 1924Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after.source
  • 1924Gopinath Saha shoots a man he erroneously thinks is a Police commissioner of Calcutta, Charles Augustus Tegart – he is arrested soon after.source
  • 1926Toray (then Toyo Rayon) was founded.source
  • 1929The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company broadcasts its first program for children, Children's Hour (Ora copiilor).source
  • 1932Hattie W. Caraway of Arkansas becomes the first woman to be elected to the United States Senate, succeeding her late husband, Thaddeus Caraway, in a special election,source
  • 1935Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to successfully complete a solo flight from Hawaii to California, a distance of 2,408 mi.source
  • 1940Transvaal: Crown to Langlaagte, 3 mi 18 ch.source
  • 1945WWII: The Soviet Union begins the Vistula–Oder Offensive in Eastern Europe, against the German Army.source
  • 1948Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop communal violence during the Partition of India.source
  • 1950British submarine HMS Truculent collides with Swedish oil tanker Divina in the Thames Estuary and sinks; 64 die.source
  • 1953Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.source
  • 1954Vuelta a Colombia 1954:The 4th Vuelta a Colombia begins in Bogotá.source
  • 1954Jan-Olav Ingvaldsen, politician (died 2021).source
  • 1954Avalanches in Austria kill more than 200.source
  • 1955A law is passed granting amnesty for crimes committed against the state and laxening denazification.source
  • 1957Over 100 Irish republican suspects are arrested under the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland).source
  • 1959In the largest mass execution of former officials since Castro's victory, Cuban communists shot 71 supporters of Fulgencio Batista over a seven-hour period, then buried them in a mass grave.source
  • 1959The Motown record label is founded as Tamla by Berry Gordy in Detroit.source
  • 1962The Indonesian Army confirms that it has begun operations in West Irian.source
  • 1969The New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts 16–7 in Super Bowl III.source
  • 1971The landmark United States television sitcom All in the Family, starring Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, debuts on CBS.source
  • 1976Nobel Prize winning chemist John Cornforth is proclaimed as the Australian of the Year for 1975.source
  • 1980The annual Hahnenkamm downhill ski race is won by Canada's Ken Read, the event's first non-European winner.source
  • 1991Gulf War: The 102nd U.S. Congress passes a resolution authorizing the use of military force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.source
  • 1992Lahore-Islamabad motorway project launched.source
  • 1993January 6–20 – The Bombay riots take place in Mumbai.source
  • 1993January 8–17 – The Braer Storm of January 1993, the most intense extratropical cyclone on record for the northern Atlantic Ocean, occurs.source
  • 1993Avalanche in Bayburt Provincesource
  • 1994Major General Nehemiah Tamari's helicopter crashed near Central Command headquarters, killing both him and three other officers.source
  • 1995January 12–16 – Second pastoral and state visit of Pope John Paul II in the country, coinciding with the 10th World Youth Day (WYD) and marking the fourth centenary of the Archdiocese of Manila and the Dioceses of Cebu, Caceres and Nueva Segovia. On Jan 15, the Mass he led in Luneta, marking the end of WYD, draws a crowd of an estimated 4-million, the largest gathering at such papal Mass at that time. —"Pope John Paul II to visit the Philippines in 1995" UCA News. July 14, 1993.source
  • 1995January 10–15 – The World Youth Day 1995 festival is held in Manila, Philippines, culminating in 5 million people gathering for John Paul II's concluding mass in Quirino Grandstand.source
  • 1998Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.source
  • 2005Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral with the purpose of studying the comet Tempel 1.source
  • 2006A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 pilgrims.source
  • 2010A 7.0-magnitude earthquake occurs in Haiti, devastating the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince.source
  • 2012South Sudan deposited the instruments of ratification for both the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and Montreal Protocol, for ratification to take effect April 11.source
  • 2012Peaceful protests begin in the Romanian city of Târgu Mureș, protesters expressing solidarity towards certain figures in the medical field and calling for the resignation of president Traian Băsescu. The protests would soon spread through all of the country, marking the start of a long civil unrest in Romania, lasting up to November 2015.source
  • 2012Winger Balázs Dzsudzsák signed from FC Anzhi Makhachkala to FC Dynamo Moscow for a fee of €19 million thus becoming the most expensive Hungarian footballer ever.source
  • 2015A Boko Haram and Islamic State assault on Kolofata in the Far North Region of Cameroon is repelled by the Cameroonian Army, who kill 143 Boko Haram and Islamic State insurgents.source
  • 2015The death toll from the poisoned beer rises to at least 69, with 169 in hospital. Reports also question whether the poison involved was actually crocodile bile; several studies have indicated that the substance is relatively harmless. The competing theory is that the actual poison may have been cardiac glycosides found in local plants.source
  • 2015The eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano disrupts flights to and from Tonga.source
  • 2016Iranian naval forces seize and detain two small U.S. vessels which "allegedly drifted into Iranian territorial waters." The 10 American sailors are held at an Iranian military base on Farsi Island and released the following day with their boats.source
  • 2019The 2019 Marrakesh ePrix, a Formula E electric car race, was held at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan in the Agdal district of Marrakesh.source
  • 2020The Taal Volcano in the Philippines has had its first major eruption since 1977.source
  • 2021Egypt reopens its airspace to Qatari aircraft, and will allow the resumption of direct flights between the countries, which have been suspended since 2017.source
  • 2021Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz denies corruption or forgery linked to mining rights for Beny Steinmetz Group Resources (BSGR). Swiss prosecutors allege Steinmetz won the mining rights by bribing the wife of former president Lansana Conté (2006–2010).source
  • 2021A barge travelling from Kisangani to the town of Basoko in Tshopo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, sinks in the Congo River. Local authorities report that at least six people were killed and 19 others are missing.source
  • 2023January 10–17 – A cold snap in Afghanistan kills 166 people and nearly 80,000 livestock.source
  • 2024Operation Prosperity Guardian: A U.S.-led coalition launches airstrikes at Houthi militant locations in Yemen, marking a retaliation to the Houthis' attacks on ships in the Red Sea.source

Births

  • 251Anthony the Great, Christian monk and saint (died 356)source
  • 1483Henry III of Nassau-Breda, Baron of Breda (died 1538)source
  • 1505Louis, Count of Stolberg, German nobleman (died 1574)source
  • 1562Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy (died 1630)source
  • 1580Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (died 1644)source
  • 1587John Winthrop, English Puritan lawyer (died 1649)source
  • 1591Jusepe de Ribera, Spanish Tenebrist painter and printmaker (died 1652)source
  • 1597François Duquesnoy, Flemish Baroque sculptor in Rome (died 1643)source
  • 1598Jijabai, mother of Shivaji, (died 1674)source
  • 1628Charles Perrault, French folklorist (died 1703)source
  • 1631Hasanuddin of Gowa, 16th Ruler of The Sultanate of Gowa (died 1670)source
  • 1636Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, painter (died 1699)source
  • 1662Samuel Shute, Governor of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire (died 1742)source
  • 1674Alexis Simon Belle, French portrait painter (died 1734)source
  • 1697Knud Leem, linguist (d.1774).source
  • 1716Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and scientist (died 1795)source
  • 1724Frances Brooke, English writer (died 1789)source
  • 1729Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (died 1799)source
  • 1729Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher (died 1797)source
  • 1746Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss pedagogue (died 1827)source
  • 1751Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (died 1825)source
  • 1809Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan (died 1867)source
  • 1856John Singer Sargent, American artist (died 1925)source
  • 1863Swami Vivekananda, Indian Hindu religious leader (died 1902)source
  • 1876Jack London, American author (died 1916)source
  • 1882José Luis Tejada Sorzano, President 1934-1936source
  • 1893Hermann Göring, German Nazi official (suicide 1946)source
  • 1893Alfred Rosenberg, German Nazi official (executed 1946)source
  • 1899Paul Hermann Müller, chemist (died 1965)source
  • 1916P. W. Botha, 9th President of South Africa (died 2006)source
  • 1951Rush Limbaugh, American conservative radio personality (died 2021)source
  • 1964Jeff Bezos, American Internet entrepreneursource
  • 1973Hande Yener, Turkish singersource
  • 1974Melanie C, English pop singer (Spice Girls)source
  • 1987Naya Rivera, American actress and singer (died 2020)source

Deaths

  • 914Ahmad Samani, emir of the Samanid Empire, is murdered (decapitation) while sleeping in his tent at Bukhara (modern Uzbekistan) by some of his slaves. He is succeeded by his 8-year-old son, Nasr II, under the regency of Vizier Abu Abdallah al-Jayhani. The Abbasids try, in vain, to benefit from the turmoil to reconquer Sistan.source
  • 914Ahmad Samani, Samanid emirsource
  • 947Sang Weihan, Chinese chief of staff (born 898)source
  • 1049Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr, Persian Sufi poet (born 967)source
  • 1140Louis I, German noblemansource
  • 1167Aelred of Rievaulx, English abbot (born 1110)source
  • 1175Yi Ui-bang, Korean military leader (born 1121)source
  • 1202Fujiwara no Tashi, Japanese empress (born 1140)source
  • 1203Martin of León, Spanish priest (born 1130)source
  • 1319Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, Persian scientist (born 1267)source
  • 1322Marie of Brabant, queen dowager of France, dies.source
  • 1405Eleanor Maltravers, English noblewoman (born 1345)source
  • 1519Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (born 1475)source
  • 1519Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1459)source
  • 1537Lorenzo di Credi, Florentine painter and sculptor (born 1459)source
  • 1550Andrea Alciato, Italian jurist and writer (born 1492)source
  • 1573William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, English Lord High Admiral (born 1510)source
  • 1621Şehzade Mehmed, the 15-year old half-brother of Ottoman Sultan Osman II, is put to death by hanging on Osman's orders. Before dying, Mehmed prays aloud that Osman's reign as Sultan be ruined.source
  • 1665Pierre de Fermat, French mathematician (born 1607)source
  • 1700Marguerite Bourgeoys, French founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal, in the colony of New France (born 1620)source
  • 1700Marguerite Bourgeoys (born Troyes, France on April 17, 1620), a first school teacher in Montreal and founder of the congregation of Notre Dame (the first order of uncloistered nuns in North America).source
  • 1705Luca Giordano, Italian artist (born 1634)source
  • 1720William Ashhurst, Lord Mayor of London (1693–1694) (born 1647)source
  • 1726Hercule-Louis Turinetti, marquis of Prié (born 1658)source
  • 1759Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, regent of Friesland (born 1709)source
  • 1773Jacob von Eggers, Military engineer (born 1704)source
  • 1777Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer, mortally wounded in battle (born 1726)source
  • 1777Hugh Mercer, Continental Army brigadier general and physician, mortally wounded at Battle of Princeton (born 1726 in Scotland)source
  • 1781Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (born 1691)source
  • 1830Friðrik Sigurðsson, murderersource
  • 1834William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1759)source
  • 1963Tun Leong Yew Koh, 1st Governor of Malacca and former Minister of Justice.source
  • 1976Agatha Christie, English detective fiction writer (born 1890)source
  • 2010Humanitarian and aid worker, Zilda Arns is killed by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She was there carrying out humanitarian activities on behalf of Pastoral da Criança.source
  • 2016Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.source