On This Day — 12 December

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

1937

Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China.

Second Sino-Japanese War

1936

The beginning of Xi'an incident. As a result, Chiang Kai Shek is captured.

Xi'an Incident

1935

The Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.

Lebensborn

1917

Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.

Edward J. Flanagan

1915

Yuan Shikai declares the establishment of the Empire of China and proclaims himself Emperor.

Yuan Shikai

1901

Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [•••] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.

Guglielmo Marconi

1870

Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman.

Joseph Rainey

1866

Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 361 miners and rescuers.

Oaks explosion

1862

American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River.

American Civil War

1787

Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the US Constitution.

Pennsylvania

1388

Maria of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.

Maria of Enghien, Lady of Argos and Nauplia

627

Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

Battle of Nineveh (627)