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On this dayOctober 12

Through history68 events, 256 births and 133 deaths in Wikipedia's lists for the date

Today

A hundred years before

The front pages of October 12, 1926

What 29 American newspapers printed that day, as the Library of Congress keeps them.

MEDIA
The front page of The Washington times, Washington [D.C.], October 12, 1926The Washington timesWashington [D.C.]Read it, zoom in, mark it →
20 more front pages that day

All 29 front pages at the Library of Congress ↗From Chronicling America. Public domain: in the Library's words, newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.

What happened

On October 12

The anniversaries Wikipedia's editors chose for the date, oldest first.

REFERENCE
  1. 1406620 years ago

    Chen Yanxiang, the only person from Indonesia known to have visited dynastic Korea, reached Seoul four months after leaving Java.

  2. 1492534 years ago

    Believing he had reached the East Indies, Christopher Columbus made landfall on an island in the Caribbean, sparking a series of events that led to the European colonization of the Americas.

    Photo: Jodocus Hondius IPublic domain
  3. 1798228 years ago

    The Peasants' War began in Overmere, Southern Netherlands, with peasants taking up arms against the French occupiers. · Berlare

    Photo: Theophile Marie Francois LybaertPublic domain
  4. 1799227 years ago

    Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin became the first woman to make a parachute descent, falling 900 metres (3,000 ft) in the gondola of a hot air balloon.

    Photo: Christoph Haller von HallersteinPublic domain
  5. 1890136 years ago

    The Uddevalla Suffrage Association was founded in Uddevalla, Sweden, with the purpose of bringing about universal suffrage.

  6. 1892134 years ago

    The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States was first used in public schools to coincide with the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

    Photo: Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) photographerPublic domain
  7. 1898128 years ago

    A statue of Austin Blair (pictured) was dedicated in a ceremony that attracted up to 30,000 people to Lansing, Michigan.

    Photo: w_lemayCC BY-SA 2.0
  8. 1917109 years ago

    First World War: New Zealand troops suffered more than 2,000 casualties, including more than 800 deaths, in the First Battle of Passchendaele, making it the nation's largest loss of life in one day. · World War I

    Photo: Collection DocAnciens/docpix.frPublic domain
  9. 192898 years ago

    The iron lung (example pictured), a type of medical ventilator, was used for the first time at the Boston Children's Hospital to treat an eight-year-old girl paralyzed by polio.

    Photo: Photo Credit: Content Providers(s): CDC/GHO/Mary HilpertshauserPublic domain
  10. 193393 years ago

    The United States Department of Justice acquired a military prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, to be transformed into the last-resort Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

  11. 194680 years ago

    Il Canto degli Italiani is adopted as national anthem by the newly formed Italian Republic. · History of the Italian Republic

    Photo: Goffredo MameliPublic domain
  12. 196066 years ago

    Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev reportedly pounded his shoe on a desk during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in protest at a speech by Philippine delegate Lorenzo Sumulong. · Shoe-banging incident

    Photo: TASSPublic domain
  13. 196066 years ago

    Japan Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma was assassinated during a live television recording by a far-right ultra-nationalist using a short sword. · Assassination of Inejirō Asanuma · Uyoku dantai

  14. 197848 years ago

    While in prison for murder, boxer James Scott defeated Eddie "The Flame" Gregory, a leading light heavyweight. · Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

  15. 197947 years ago

    Typhoon Tip, the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded, reached a worldwide record-low sea-level pressure of 870 mbar (25.69 inHg) in the western Pacific Ocean. · Atmospheric pressure

  16. 198442 years ago

    The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, in a failed attempt to assassinate British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. · Brighton hotel bombing · Grand Brighton Hotel

  17. 199234 years ago

    An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 or 5.9 struck south of Cairo, Egypt, killing 545 people. · Seismic magnitude scales · 1992 Cairo earthquake

  18. 201313 years ago

    Twelve people were killed in an apartment-building collapse (pictured) in Medellín, leading to new construction laws being passed in Colombia. · Collapse of the Space Building

    Photo: TecsieCC BY-SA 4.0
All 68 events Wikipedia lists for October 12, by year

Reading the list…

Born

On October 12

The best-known first, counted by the Wikipedia languages with an article on each.

REFERENCE
  1. 1935Luciano PavarottiItalian tenor and actor (died 2007)117 languagesPhoto: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USACC BY-SA 2.0
  2. 1968Hugh JackmanAustralian actor, singer, and producer106 languagesPhoto: Gage SkidmoreCC BY-SA 3.0
  3. 1537Edward VIking of England (died 1553)95 languagesPhoto: Circle of William ScrotsPublic domain
  1. 1896Eugenio Montale, Italian poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1981)94
  2. 1798Pedro I, emperor of Brazil (died 1834)83
  3. 1875Aleister Crowley, English magician and author (died 1947)78
  4. 1866Ramsay MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1937)77
  5. 1891Edith Stein, Polish nun and martyr; later canonized (died 1942)77
  6. 1865Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1940)67
  7. 1992Josh Hutcherson, American actor and producer66
  8. 1350Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Duke of Moscow (died 1389)61
  9. 1962Branko Crvenkovski, Macedonian engineer and politician, 3rd President of the Republic of Macedonia55
  10. 1934Richard Meier, American architect, designed the Getty Center and City Tower54
  11. 1872Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer and educator (died 1958)50
  12. 1891Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese soldier and politician, 39th Prime Minister of Japan (died 1945)50
  13. 1975Marion Jones, American basketball player and runner50
  14. 1949Carlos the Jackal, Venezuelan terrorist48
  15. 1977Bode Miller, American skier46
  16. 1986Cristhian Stuani, Uruguayan footballer46
  17. 1983Alex Brosque, Australian footballer45
  18. 1963Satoshi Kon, Japanese animator and screenwriter (died 2010)43
  19. 1980Ledley King, English footballer43
  20. 1960Hiroyuki Sanada, Japanese actor and martial artist42
  21. 1969Željko Milinovič, Slovenian footballer42
Everyone else born on October 12: 232 more, by year

Reading the list…

Died

On October 12

The best-known first, counted by the Wikipedia languages with an article on each.

REFERENCE
  1. 1924Anatole FranceFrench journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1844)161 languages
  2. 322 BCDemosthenesAthenian statesman, (born 384 BC)112 languagesPhoto: PolyeuctusCC BY 2.5
  3. 1870Robert E. LeeAmerican general (born 1807)103 languagesPhoto: Julian VannersonPublic domain
  1. 2011Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist, created the C programming language (born 1941)93
  2. 638Honorius I, pope of the Catholic Church83
  3. 642John IV, pope of the Catholic Church77
  4. 1999Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player and coach (born 1936)71
  5. 1492Piero della Francesca, Italian mathematician and painter (born 1415)68
  6. 1858Hiroshige, Japanese painter (born 1797)68
  7. 1576Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1527)66
  8. 1987Fahri Korutürk, Turkish commander and politician, 6th President of Turkey (born 1903)66
  9. 1997John Denver, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1943)65
  10. 2024Alex Salmond, Scottish economist and politician, First Minister of Scotland (born 1954)65
  11. 1969Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater and actress (born 1912)60
  12. 1915Edith Cavell, English nurse (born 1865)57
  13. 1965Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)56
  14. 2006Carlo Acutis, Italian programmer, known for his devotion to the Eucharist (born 1991)56
  15. 1971Dean Acheson, American lawyer and politician, 51st United States Secretary of State (born 1893)54
  16. 1730Frederick IV, king of Denmark and Norway (born 1671)51
  17. 1320Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1277)46
  18. 1991Arkady Strugatsky, Russian author and translator (born 1925)46
  19. 1996René Lacoste, French tennis player and fashion designer, co-founded Lacoste (born 1904)44
  20. 2026RJ Mitte, American actor and producer (born 1992)41
  21. 1926Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian and author (born 1838)39
Everyone else died on October 12: 109 more, by year

Reading the list…

Observed

On October 12

Holidays, feast days and observances, as Wikipedia lists them for the date.

REFERENCE

Christian feast day

  • Children's Day (Brazil)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Columbus Day (Honduras)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España, also Armed Forces Day (Spain)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día de la Raza (El Salvador, Uruguay)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día de la Resistencia Indígena, "Day of Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día de las Américas (Belize)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)
  • Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8): Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural, "Day of respect for cultural diversity" (Argentina)
  • Discovery Day (The Bahamas)
  • Feast for Life of Aleister Crowley, celebrated as "Crowleymas" (Thelema)
  • Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)
  • Hafez Day (Iran) 1
  • Independence Day (Equatorial Guinea), celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968.
  • International Day Against DRM

Events, births, deaths and observances are Wikipedia's On this day for October 12, in its editors' words (CC BY-SA 4.0); the counts of languages are Wikidata's (CC0). Dates are the UTC day, as Wikipedia keeps them. Discover brings one of these at a time.