12 December
Notable Births
Michael Olise
b. 2001
French footballer (born 2001)
Ed Oliver (American football)
b. 1997
American football player (born 1997)
Lucas Hedges
b. 1996
American actor (born 1996)
Otto Warmbier
b. 1994
American imprisoned in North Korea (1994–2017)
Zeli Ismail
b. 1993
Albanian-born English footballer
Shohjahon Ergashev
b. 1991
Uzbekistani boxer (born 1991)
Joseph Leilua
b. 1991
Samoa international rugby league footballer
Nixon Chepseba
b. 1990
Kenyan middle distance runner
Victor Moses
b. 1990
Nigerian footballer (born 1990)
Tyron Smith
b. 1990
American football player (born 1990)
Isaac John
b. 1988
Cook Islands & NZ international rugby league footballer
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter
b. 1988
Israeli long-distance runner (born 1988)
Përparim Hetemaj
b. 1986
Finnish footballer (born 1986)
Nina Kolarič
b. 1986
Slovenian long jumper
T. J. Ward
b. 1986
American football player (born 1986)
Pat Calathes
b. 1985
Greek-American basketball player
Andrew Ladd
b. 1985
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1985)
Daniel Agger
b. 1984
Danish footballer (born 1984)
Ervin Santana
b. 1982
Dominican baseball player (born 1982)
Dmitry Tursunov
b. 1982
Russian tennis coach and player (born 1982)
Notable Deaths
Vicente Fernández
d. 2021
Mexican actor and ranchera singer (1940–2021)
Bernie Fowler
d. 2021
American politician (1924–2021)
Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi
d. 2021
Tongan politician and noble (1955–2021)
John le Carré
d. 2020
Irish-British novelist and former spy (1931–2020)
Ann Reinking
d. 2020
American actress, dancer, and choreographer (1949–2020)
Danny Aiello
d. 2019
American actor (1933–2019)
Ed Lee
d. 2017
43rd Mayor of San Francisco
Pat DiNizio
d. 2017
American musician (1955–2017)
Shirley Hazzard
d. 2016
Australian-born American writer (1931–2016)
Frans Geurtsen
d. 2015
Dutch international footballer (1942–2015)
Evelyn S. Lieberman
d. 2015
American public affairs professional
Norman Bridwell
d. 2014
American author and cartoonist
Ivor Grattan-Guinness
d. 2014
British historian of mathematics and logic
Herb Plews
d. 2014
American baseball player (1928–2014)
Tom Laughlin
d. 2013
American actor and filmmaker (1931–2013)
Abdul Quader Mollah
d. 2013
Executed Islamist Bangladeshi politician, writer, and war criminal (1948–2013)
Audrey Totter
d. 2013
American actress (1917–2013)
David Tait
d. 2012
Scotland international rugby union player
Tom Walkinshaw
d. 2010
British racing driver (1946–2010)
Maimonides
d. 1204
Medieval Jewish philosopher (1135/1138–1204)
On This Day in History
All 32 ›2024
Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju became the undisputed World Chess Champion in a tournament held in Singapore, making him the 18th and the youngest champion in chess history.
Grandmaster (chess)
2021
Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands.
Formula One
2015
The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted.
Paris Agreement
2012
North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2.
North Korea
2001
Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
Prime Minister of Vietnam
2000
The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
Supreme Court of the United States
1999
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the Philippines's main island of Luzon, killing six people, injuring 40, and causing power outages that affected the capital Manila.
1999 Luzon earthquake
1988
The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.
Clapham Junction rail crash
1985
Arrow Air Flight 1285R, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
Arrow Air Flight 1285R
1979
The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
1979 Tumaco earthquake
1979
Coup d'état of December Twelfth occurs in South Korea.
1979 South Korean coup d'état
1969
The Piazza Fontana bombing; a bomb explodes at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, three more bombs are detonated in Rome and Milan, and another is found unexploded.
Piazza Fontana bombing
1963
Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.
Kenya
1956
United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 121
1946
United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 13
1945
The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea.
People's Republic of Korea
1941
World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
World War II
1941
The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery.
The Holocaust
1939
HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
HMS Duchess (H64)
1939
Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins.
Winter War