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What happened in history on this day: April 12?
On April 12 in ...
- 1776 - Halifax resolution for independence adopted by North Carolina.
- 1811 - First US colonists on Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, Washington.
- 1844 - Texas became a US territory.
- 1861 - Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard open fire on USA-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Bay, beginning the War Between the States (US Civil War, War of Southern Insurrection, War of Northern Aggression).
- 1862 - James Andrews steals Confederate train (General) at Kennesaw, Georgia, CSA.
- 1862 - US troops occupy Fort Pulaski, Georgia.
- 1863 - Gunboat battle at Bayou Teche, Louisiana.
- 1864 - Battle of Blair's Landing, Louisiana.
- 1864 - Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest captures Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
- 1866 - US Congress passes the Contraction Act, calling for the retiring of greenback paper money.
- 1869 - North Carolina legislature passes anti-Klan Law.
- 1872 - Jesse James gang robs bank in Columbia, Kentucky (one dead, $1,500 taken).
- 1898 - US Army transfers Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay to Navy.
- 1902 - US Congress passes the Congressional Act, creating the Third Charter Period, allowing bank charters to be renewed another 20 years.
- 1905 - Hippodrome arena opens (New York City, New York).
- 1908 - Fire makes 17,000 homeless in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA.
- 1929 - US President Herbert Hoover signs a bill creating Arches National Monument.
- 1933 - Exchange of gold scrap for gold coins at the US Mint is no longer allowed.
- 1934 - Highest velocity wind ever recorded on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, 231 mph.
- 1938 - First US law requiring medical tests (syphilis test) for marriage licenses (New York).
- 1945 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1933-1945, Democrat), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, USA, at age 63.
- 1945 - Harry Truman sworn in as 33rd US President.
- 1955 - Researchers announce results of year-long polio vaccine trials, that the vaccine is safe and effective.
- 1959 - 13th Tony Awards: J B and Redhead win.
- 1963 - Birmingham, Alabama, police use dogs and cattle prods on peaceful demonstrators.
- 1966 - First B-52 bombing on North Vietnam.
- 1968 - In Schenectady, New York, USA a house is hit by a falling meteorite.
- 1981 - Space Shuttle Columbia (John Young, Robert Crippen) launches on the maiden Space Transit System-1 mission.
- 1982 - Three CBS-TV employees are shot to death in New York City parking lot.
- 1985 - 16th Shuttle Mission (51D)-Discovery 4 launched-with Senator Jake Garn.
- 1987 - Texaco files for bankruptcy.
- 1988 - Harvard University patents genetically engineered mouse (first for animal life).
- 1988 - Former pop singer Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.
- 1989 - Third Soul Train Music Awards: Anita Baker wins.
- 1990 - Greyhound Bus hires new drivers to replace strikers.
- 1991 - 2,500th episode of Entertainment Tonight airs on US TV.
- 1991 - US announces closing of 31 major US military bases.
- 1992 - Lynn Gunther of California threatens to blow herself up in front of United Nations.
- 1992 - Trump Shuttle becomes US Air Shuttle.
- 1996 - Jessica Dubroff, aged 7, is killed in a crash near Cheyenne, Wyoming, while attempting to set a record as the youngest person to pilot an airplane across the United States.
- 2007 - In the USA, Don Imus is fired by CBS for making controversial comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.
- 2020 - U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the U.S. will suspend funding towards the World Health Organization pending an investigation of its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship with the People's Republic of China.
- 2022 - In New York City, USA, a man on a train pulling into a Brooklyn subway station sets off a smoke canister and shoots ten people.
Births on April 12
- 1917 - Birth of M Marie Widlow in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; softball pitcher (Hall of Fame 1957).
- 1919 - Birth of Billy Vaughn in Glasgow, Kentucky, USA; singer/bandleader ("Melody of Love", "A Swingin' Safari", "Blue Hawaii", "Blue Velvet", "Chapel By The Sea", "Cimarron (Roll On)", "Hawaiian War Chant", "La Paloma", "Look For A Star", "Orange Blossom Special", "Sail Along Silvery Moon", "The Shifting Whispering Sands", "Wheels").
- 1920 - Birth of Robert Fizdale in Chicago, Illinois, USA; pianist (Misia).
- 1923 - Birth of Ann Miller [Lucille Ann Collier] in Houston, Texas, USA; dancer/actress (On the Town).
- 1927 - Birth of Jane Withers in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; actress (All Together Now, Josephine the Plumber).
- 1930 - Birth of Betty Clooney in Maysville, Kentucky, USA; singer (Clooney Sisters, Robert Q. Lewis Show TV show, Jack Paar Show).
- 1931 - Birth of Billy Vaughn in Glasgow, Kentucky, USA; singer ("Chapel by the Sea").
- 1932 - Birth of Tiny Tim [Herbert Butros Khaury] in New York City, New York, USA; singer ("Tip Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me").
- 1940 - Birth of Herbie Hancock in Chicago, Illinois, USA; pianist ("I Thought it was You").
- 1942 - Birth of Frank Bank in Hollywood, California, USA; actor (Lumpy - Leave it to Beaver).
- 1943 - Birth of Charles Ludlam in New York City, New York, USA; playwright/actor (Big Easy).
- 1946 - Birth of Ed[ward] O'Neill in Youngstown, Ohio, USA; actor (Michael Mooney - Big Apple, Al Bundy - Married With Children, Modern Family).
- 1947 - Birth of David Letterman in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; comedian (Late Night).
- 1947 - Birth of Wayne Northrop in Sumner, Washington, USA; actor (Michael - Dynasty).
- 1950 - Birth of David Cassidy in New York City, New York, USA; singer/actor (Keith - The Partridge Family).
- 1952 - Birth of Fred McCarren in Butler, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Free Country, Amanda's).
- 1959 - Birth of Elissa Leeds in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Cissy - Dorothy).
- 1964 - Birth of Mike Macfarlane in Stockton, California, USA; catcher (Kansas City Royals).
- 1965 - Birth of Elaine Zayak in New Jersey, USA; figure skater (Olympics-6th-1984).
- 1967 - Birth of Donna Andrews in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA; LPGA golfer (1994 Nabisco Dinah Shore).
- 1967 - Birth of Kirk Everist in Houston, Texas, USA; water polo driver (Olympics-1996).
- 1971 - Birth of Shannen Doherty in Memphis, Tennessee, USA; actress (Little House on the Prairie, Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed, North Shore).
- 1973 - Birth of Claudia Jordan; Miss Rhode Island-USA (1997, top 10).
- 1973 - Birth of Pamela Polk in Berlin, Wisconsin, USA; Miss Wisconsin-America (1996).
- 1979 - Birth of Claire Danes in New York City, New York; actress (Angela - My So Called Life, Romeo and Juliet).
Deaths on April 12
- 1864 - Thomas Green, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 50.
- 1878 - William M "Boss" Tweed, New York politician, dies.
- 1910 - William G Sumner, US sociologist/politicologist (Folkways), dies at age 69.
- 1945 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1933-1945, Democrat), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, USA, at age 63.
- 1965 - Linda Darnell, US actress (Dakota Incident), dies at age 43.
- 1972 - C W Ceram [Kurt Marek], German/US writer (first American), dies at age 57.
- 1975 - Joséphine Baker, US/French revue artist (Folies-Bergère), dies at age 68.
- 1981 - Joe Louis [Brown bomber], US heavyweight champion (1937-49), dies at age 66.
- 1989 - Abbie Hoffman, yippie peace activist of the 1960s, dies at age 52.
- 1989 - Death of Herbert Mills at age 77 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; singer (Mills Brothers - "Tiger Rag" (1931), "Cab Driver" (1968), "My Shy Violet" (1968), "Paper Doll" (1943)).
- 1991 - James Schuyler, US poet (Pulitzer 1980), dies.
- 1997 - Death of George Wald, American scientist (recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), at age 90 (born 1903).
- 1999 - Death of Boxcar Willie AKA Lecil Martin at age 67 of leukemia at his home in Branson, Missouri, USA; country singer ("Bad News" (1982)).
- 2016 - Death of Balls Mahoney, American professional wrestler (born 1972).
- 2022 - Death of Gilbert Gottfried at age 67 from a heart condition; actor (Beverley Hills Cop II movie, Problem Child movie), comedian (Hollywood Squares TV show), voice actor (Iago - Aladdin movie (1992), Aflac commercials).
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