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Today September 12th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1213 – Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.
1229 – The Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Majorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River.
1683 – Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna – several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
1759 – British soldiers capture the town of Quebec.
1814 – Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.
1846 – Elizabeth Barrett elopes with Robert Browning.
1847 – Mexican-American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.
1848 – Switzerland becomes a Federal state.
1857 – The SS Central America sinks about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. The ship was carrying 13-15 tons of gold from the San Francisco Gold Rush.
1874 The District of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada is founded.
1890 – Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.
1897 – Tirah Campaign: Battle of Saragarhi
1906 – The Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, South Wales by Viscount Tredegar.
1910 – Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler s Symphony No. 8 in Munich (with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players. Mahler s rehearsal assistant conductor was Bruno Walter)
1919 – Adolf Hitler joins the German Workers Party
1930 – Wilfred Rhodes ends his 1110-game first-class career by taking 5 for 95 for H.D.G. Leveson Gower s XI against the Australians.
1933 – Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.
1938 – Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
1940 – Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France.
1940 – An explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Kenvil, New Jersey kills 51 people and injures over 200.
1942 – World War II: RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks.
1942 – World War II: First day of the Battle of Edson s Ridge during the Guadalcanal campaign. U.S. Marines protecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are attacked by Imperial Japanese Army forces.
1943 – World War II: Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, is rescued from house arrest on the Gran Sasso in Abruzzi, by German commando forces led by Otto Skorzeny.
1944 – World War II: The liberation of Serbia from Nazi Germany and the Chetniks continues. Bajina Bašta in western Serbia is among those liberated cities. Near Trier, American troops enter Germany for the first time.
1948 – Invasion of the State of Hyderabad by the Indian Army on the day after the Pakistani leader Jinnah s death.
1958 – Jack Kilby demonstrates the first integrated circuit.
1959 – Premiere of Bonanza, the first regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color.
1959 – The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the moon.
1960 – John F. Kennedy avers he does not speak for the Roman Catholic Church, and neither does the Church speak for him.
1964 – Canyonlands National Park is designated as a National Park.
1966 – Gemini 11, the penultimate mission of NASA s Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions)
1970 – Palestinian terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Jordan, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.
1974 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Messiah of the Rastafari movement, is deposed following a military coup by the Derg, ending a reign of 58 years.
1974 – Juventude Africana Amilcar Cabral is founded in Guinea-Bissau.
1977 – South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is killed in police custody.
1979 – Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter scale.
1980 – Military coup in Turkey.
1983 – A Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is robbed of approximately US$7 million by Los Macheteros.
1983 – The USSR vetoes a UN Security Council Resolution deploring the Soviet shooting down of a Korean civilian jetliner on September 1.
1990 – The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German re-unification.
1992 – NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-47 which marked the 50th shuttle mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space.
1992 – Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, is captured by Peruvian special forces; shortly thereafter the rest of Shining Path s leadership fell as well.
1994 – Frank Eugene Corder crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the White House s south lawn, striking the West wing and killing himself.
1999 – Indonesia announces it will allow international peace-keepers into East Timor.
2001 – Ansett Australia, Australia s first commercial interstate airline, collapses due to increased strain on the international airline industry leaving 10000 people unemployed.
2003 – The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
2003 – In Fallujah, US forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers.
2005 – The red-green coalition, led by Jens Stoltenberg, wins the Norwegian parliamentary election, taking 87 of 169 seats in the parliament.
2005 – Israel completes its withdrawal of all troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.
2005 – Hong Kong Disneyland opens in Penny s Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
2007 – Shinzo Abe announces his intention to resign as Prime Minister of Japan.
2007 – Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of the crime of plunder.
Births
1492 – Lorenzo II de Medici, Duke of Urbino (d. 1519)
1494 – King Francis I of France (d. 1547)
1575 – Henry Hudson, English explorer (d. 1611)
1605 – William Dugdale, English antiquarian (d. 1686)
1688 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (d. 1731)
1690 – Peter Dens, Flemish Catholic theologian (d. 1775)
1725 – Guillaume Le Gentil, French astronomer (d. 1792)
1740 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German author (d. 1817)
1812 – Richard Hoe, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1886)
1818 – Richard Gatling, American weapons inventor (d. 1903)
1830 – William Sprague IV, American politician (d.1915)
1852 – H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1928)
1855 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Canadian politician (d. 1920)
1875 – Matsunosuke Onoe, Japanese actor (d. 1926)
1880 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and author (d. 1956)
1888 – Maurice Chevalier, French singer and actor (d. 1972)
1891 – Pedro Albizu Campos, advocate for Puerto Rican independence (d. 1965)
1892 – Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher (d. 1984)
1897 – Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1956)
1898 – Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer (d. 1963)
1898 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-born American artist (d. 1969)
1901 – Ben Blue, Canadian actor and comedian (d. 1975)
1902 – Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, President of Brazil (d. 1976)
1907 – Louis MacNeice, Irish poet (d. 1963)
1909 – Donald MacDonald, O.C., LL.D. former president of the Canadian Labour Congress and politician (d. 1986)
1913 – Jesse Owens, American athlete (d. 1980)
1914 – Rais Amrohvi, Pakistani poet and psychoanalyst (d. 1988)
1914 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (d. 1999)
1915 – Frank McGee, American journalist (d. 1974)
1916 – Tony Bettenhausen, American race car driver (d. 1961)
1917 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian politician (d. 2004)
1921 – Stanislaw Lem, Polish writer (d. 2006)
1922 – Ellen Demming, American actress (d. 2002)
1925 – Stan Lopata, American baseball player
1931 – Sir Ian Holm, English actor
1931 – George Jones, American singer
1933 – Tatiana Doronina, Russian actress
1934 – Glenn Davis, American athlete
1934 – Jaegwon Kim, Korean-born American philosopher
1937 – George Chuvalo, Canadian boxer
1938 – Claude Ruel, French Canadian ice hockey coach
1939 – Henry Waxman, American politician
1940 – Linda Gray, American actress
1940 – Mickey Lolich, American baseball player
1940 – Patrick Mower, English actor
1943 – Maria Muldaur, American singer
1943 – Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan-born writer
1944 – Leonard Peltier, American activist
1944 – Barry White, American singer (d. 2003)
1948 – Luis Lima, Argentinian tenor
1949 – Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater
1950 – Gustav Brunner, Austrian engineer
1951 – Bertie Ahern, Irish politician
1951 – Ray Gravell, Welsh rugby union player (d. 2007)
1951 – Joe Pantoliano, American actor
1951 – Gerald Stano, American serial killer (d. 1998)
1952 – Gerry Beckley, American musician (America)
1952 – Neil Peart, Canadian drummer and author (Rush)
1954 – Adrian Adonis, American professional wrestler (d. 1988)
1954 – Jeff Jarvis, American journalist
1954 – Peter Scolari, American actor
1956 – Barry Andrews, British musician
1956 – Sam Brownback, American politician
1956 – Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (???), Hong Kong artist, singer, actor, director (d. 2003)
1956 – Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
1957 – Rachel Ward, English actress
1957 – Hans Zimmer, German composer
1958 – Wilfredo Benitez, American boxer
1961 – Mylène Farmer, French singer and songwriter
1961 – Kathem Al Saher, Iraqi singer
1962 – Dino Merlin, Bosnian singer
1962 – Amy Yasbeck, American actress
1964 – Dieter Hecking, German footballer
1965 – Einstein Kristiansen, Norwegian cartoonist, designer and TV host
1965 – John Norwood Fisher, American musician
1965 – Vernon Maxwell, American basketball player
1966 – Ben Folds, American musician
1966 – Darren E. Burrows, American actor
1967 – Pat Listach, American baseball player
1967 – Louis C.K., American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, producer and director
1968 – Ler LaLonde, American guitarist (Primus)
1968 – Paul F. Tompkins, American comedian
1968 – Richard Snell, former South African cricketer
1969 – Ángel Cabrera, Argentine golfer
1969 – James Frey, American writer
1969 – Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer
1969 – André Heinz, American environmentalist; son of Teresa Heinz
1970 – Nathan Larson, American guitarist and composer (Shudder To Think, Hot One)
1972 – Jason Statham, English actor
1973 – Darren Campbell, British athlete
1973 – Ki-Jana Carter, American football player
1973 – Martin Lapointe, Canadian hockey player
1973 – Paul Walker, American actor
1974 – Caroline Aigle, First female French fighter pilot (d. 2007)
1974 – Nuno Valente, Portuguese footballer
1974 – Jennifer Nettles, American country singer, part of Sugarland
1976 – Bizzy Bone (Bryon Anthony McCane), American rapper, (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
1976 – Maciej Zurawski, Polish footballer
1977 – Nathan Bracken, Australian cricketer
1977 – Grant Denyer, Australian television personality and TV Host
1977 – Jeff Irwin, American musician
1977 – James McCartney, British musician and son of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney
1977 – Idan Raichel, Israeli musician
1977 – David Thompson, English footballer
1978 – Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and actress
1978 – Benjamin McKenzie, American actor
1978 – Ruben Studdard, American singer
1980 – Sean Burroughs, American baseball player
1980 – Fernando Cesar de Souza, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Gus G., Greek guitarist (Firewind, Dream Evil)
1980 – Joe Loeffler, American musician (former bassist for Chevelle)
1980 – Josef Vašícek, Czech ice hockey player
1980 – Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
1981 – Jennifer Hudson, American actress and singer
1981 – Noria Shiraishi, Singer and former member of BeForU.
1981 – Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
1982 – Nana Ozaki, Japanese model
1983 – Carly Smithson, Irish singer
1983 – Daniel Muir, football player
1985 – Jack Wilkinson, English footballer
1986 – Emmy Rossum, American actress and singer
1986 – Yang Mi, Chinese actress
1988 – Aaron Sidwell, English actor
1988 – Amanda Jenssen, Swedish singer
Deaths
413 – Marcellinus of Carthage, Christian saint
1185 – Andronikos I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1118)
1213 – King Peter II of Aragon (b. 1174)
1362 – Pope Innocent VI
1369 – Blanche of Lancaster, wife of John of Gaunt (b. 1345)
1500 – Albert, Duke of Saxony (b. 1443)
1612 – Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (b. 1552)
1642 – Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars, French conspirator (b. 1620)
1660 – Jacob Cats, Dutch poet, jurist, and politician (b. 1577)
1665 – Jean Bolland, Flemish Jesuit writer (b. 1596)
1672 – Tanneguy Lefebvre, French classical scholar (b. 1615)
1683 – King Afonso VI of Portugal (b. 1643)
1691 – John George III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1647)
1695 – Jacob Abendana, Spanish scholar (b. 1630)
1712 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter (b. 1637)
1764 – Jean-Philippe Rameau, French composer (b. 1683)
1779 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician (b. 1711)
1819 – Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general (b. 1742)
1836 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German writer (b. 1801)
1869 – Peter Roget, British lexicographer (b. 1779)
1870 – Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author (b. 1836)
1874 – François Guizot, French historian and statesman (b. 1787)
1912 – Pierre-Hector Cardinal Coullie, Cardinal-Archbishop of Lyon
1918 – George Reid, fourth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1845)
1919 – Leonid Andreyev, Russian writer (b. 1871)
1923 – Jules Violle, French physicist and inventor (b. 1841)
1927 – Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (b. 1847)
1929 – Rainis, Latvian poet and playwright (b. 1865)
1945 – Hajime Sugiyama, Japanese general (b. 1880)
1953 – Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer (b. 1884)
1956 – Hans Carossa, German writer (b. 1878)
1956 – Sándor Graf Festetics, Hungarian politician (b. 1882)
1961 – Carl Hermann, German physicist (b. 1898)
1968 – Tommy Armour, Scottish golfer (b. 1894)
1972 – William Boyd, American actor (b. 1895)
1977 – Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (b. 1946)
1977 – Robert Lowell American poet (b. 1917)
1981 – Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
1986 – Jacques Henri Lartigue, French photographer (b. 1894)
1992 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (b. 1932)
1993 – Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (b. 1917)
1993 – Willie Mosconi, American billiards player (b. 1913)
1994 – Tom Ewell, American actor (b. 1909)
1994 – Boris Yegorov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1937)
1995 – Jeremy Brett, English actor (b. 1933)
2000 – Stanley Turrentine, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1934)
2001 – Victor Wong, Chinese-American actor (b. 1927)
2003 – Johnny Cash, American singer and guitarist (b. 1932)
2008 – Bob Quinn, Australian rules footballer (b. 1915)
2008 – David Foster Wallace, American author and essayist (b. 1962)
Holidays and observances
RC Saints – Holy Name of Mary, Sacerdos of Lyon, Guy of Anderlecht
Also see September 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics).
Cape Verde – National Day.
Ethiopia – National Revolution Day (1974).
Maryland (United States) – Defenders Day.
Mexico – Commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick s Battalion.
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