On This Day — 12 July

2024

Gazpromavia Flight 9608 crashes in Russia's Kolomensky District near Kolomna, killing three.

Gazpromavia Flight 9608

2013

Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.

Brétigny-sur-Orge train crash

2012

Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.

Syrian civil war

2012

A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.

List of tank truck fires and explosions

2007

U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

United States Army

2006

The 2006 Lebanon War begins.

2006 Lebanon War

2001

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

Space Shuttle program

1998

The Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.

Ulster Volunteer Force

1998

France win their first World Cup title, defeating defending champions Brazil 3–0.

France national football team

1995

Chinese seismologists successfully predict the 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake, reducing the number of casualties to 11.

Seismology

1979

The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

Kiribati

1975

São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

São Tomé and Príncipe

1973

A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.

National Personnel Records Center fire

1971

The Australian Aboriginal flag is flown for the first time.

Australian Aboriginal flag

1967

Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.

1967 Newark riots

1963

Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.

Gorton

1961

Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people.

India

1961

ČSA Flight 511 crashes at Casablanca–Anfa Airport in Morocco, killing 72.

ČSA Flight 511 (July 1961)

1960

Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.

Orlyonok

1948

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.

David Ben-Gurion

1943

World War II: Battle of Kursk: German and Soviet forces engage in the Battle of Prokhorovka, one of the largest armored engagements of all time.

World War II

1920

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania.

Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty

1918

The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.

Imperial Japanese Navy

1917

The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.

Bisbee Deportation

1913

Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.

Kingdom of Serbia

1913

The Second Revolution breaks out against the Beiyang government, as Li Liejun proclaims Jiangxi independent from the Republic of China.

Second Revolution (Republic of China)

1862

The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.

Medal of Honor

1847

A riot occurred in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and members of the Orange Order that resulted in up to ten deaths.

1847 Woodstock riot

1812

The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario.

Army of the Northwest (United States)

1806

At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.

Bavaria

1801

British ships inflict heavy damage on Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.

Second Battle of Algeciras

1799

Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).

Ranjit Singh

1790

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

1789

In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later.

Jacques Necker

1776

Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

James Cook

1691

Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar): The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland.

Battle of Aughrim

1580

The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.

Ostrog Bible

1576

Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal.

Mughal Empire

1562

Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred idols and books of the Maya.

Diego de Landa

1543

King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.

Henry VIII

1527

Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê dynasty and starting the Mạc dynasty.

Lê Cung Hoàng

1493

Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.

Hartmann Schedel

1488

Joseon Dynasty official Choe Bu returned to Korea after months of shipwrecked travel in China.

Joseon

1470

The Ottomans capture Euboea.

Ottoman Empire

1335

Pope Benedict XII issues the papal bull Fulgens sicut stella matutina to reform the Cistercian Order.

Pope Benedict XII

1191

Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.

Third Crusade

927

King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.

Constantine II of Scotland

70

The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.

AD 70