February 12

February 12 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Sunday)

2022 (Saturday)

2021 (Friday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Tuesday)

2018 (Monday)

2017 (Sunday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Thursday)

February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 322 days remain until the end of the year (323 in leap years).

Events

• 881 – Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat, the King of Italy: Emperor
• 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and Sir John Stewart of Darnley in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings).
• 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
• 1541 – Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
• 1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.
• 1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
• 1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
• 1733 – Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day).
• 1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
• 1816 – The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire.
• 1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops on the Battle of Chacabuco.
• 1818 – Bernardo O'Higgins formally approved the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
• 1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
• 1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
• 1851 – Edward Hargraves announces that he has found gold in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, starting the Australian gold rush.
• 1855 – Michigan State University is established.
• 1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into Paris's Cafe Terminus, killing one and wounding 20.
• 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
• 1909 – New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
• 1912 – The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
• 1914 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
• 1934 – The Austrian Civil War begins.
• 1934 – In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista decides to merge the movement with the Falange Española.
• 1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
• 1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
• 1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the Civil Rights Movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil.
• 1947 – A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
• 1961 – U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
• 1968 – Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat massacre.
• 1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
• 1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
• 1992 – The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
• 1994 – Four men break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edward Munch's iconic painting The Scream.
• 1999 – President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
• 2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
• 2002 – The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
• 2002 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
• 2004 – The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
• 2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.
• 2012 – A primary election is held in Venezuela to choose the contendent against Hugo Chávez, the then current president of Venezuela.

Births

• 41 – Britannicus, Roman son of Emperor Claudius {d. 55}
• 1074 – Conrad, King of Germany and Italy (d. 1101)
• 1218 – Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)
• 1567 – Thomas Campion, English composer and poet (d. 1620)
• 1584 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch polymath and Renaissance humanist, a theologian, poet, and historian (d. 1648)
• 1606 – John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)
• 1637 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist (d. 1680)
• 1663 – Cotton Mather, New England minister (d. 1728)
• 1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
• 1704 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer (d. 1772)
• 1728 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)
• 1752 – Dorothea Ackermann, German actress (d. 1821)
• 1752 – Josef Reicha, Czech cellist, composer and conductor (d. 1795)
• 1753 – François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
• 1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech composer and pianist (d. 1812)
• 1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)
• 1775 – Louisa Adams, First Lady of the United States (1825–1829), widow of John Quincy Adams (d. 1852)
• 1777 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist (d. 1838)
• 1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German poet (d. 1843)
• 1785 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist (d. 1838)
• 1787 – Joseph-Norbert Provencher, Canadian clergyman and missionary (d. 1853)
• 1788 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
• 1791 – Peter Cooper, American Industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (d. 1883)
• 1794 – Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player (d. 1867)
• 1804 – Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (d. 1865)
• 1809 – Charles Darwin, English naturalist (d. 1882)
• 1809 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (1861-his death) (d. 1865)
• 1828 – George Meredith, English writer (d. 1909)
• 1843 – John Graham Chambers, English athlete who wrote the Queensberry rules for boxing (d. 1883)
• 1857 – Eugène Atget, French photographer (d. 1927)
• 1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d. 1943)
• 1861 – Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born author (d. 1937)
• 1865 – Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (d. 1940)
• 1869 – Emperor Kien Phuc, the 7th emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1884)
• 1870 – Marie Lloyd, English music-hall performer (d. 1922)
• 1872 – Oscar Stribolt, Danish actor (d. 1927)
• 1872 – Guillermo Hayden Wright, Mexican polo player (d. 1949)
• 1874 – Edward Marsh, American rower (death date unknown)
• 1876 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (1879-his death) (d. 1933)
• 1877 – Louis Renault, French industrialist, one of the founders of Renault and a pioneer of the automobile industry. (d. 1944)
• 1880 – John L. Lewis, American labor union leader (d. 1969)
• 1881 – Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)
• 1884 – Max Beckmann, German artist (d. 1950)
• 1884 – Johan Laidoner, Estonian military commander (d. 1953)
• 1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, elder daughter of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1980)
• 1884 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (d. 1957)
• 1885 – Julius Streicher, Nazi German publisher (d. 1946)
• 1889 – Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk and supercentenarian (d. 1999)
• 1893 – Omar Bradley, American general, the last surviving five-star general in the United States and the 1st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (d. 1981)
• 1895 – Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1984)
• 1897 – Vola Vale, American actress (d. 1970)
• 1898 – Wallace Ford, English-born actor (d. 1966)
• 1900 – Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1983)
• 1902 – William Collier, American stage and film actor (d. 1987)
• 1903 – Joseph F. Biroc, American cinematographer (d. 1996)
• 1903 – Chick Hafey, baseball player (d. 1973)
• 1904 – Ted Mack, American television host (d. 1976)
• 1907 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (d. 1962)
• 1907 – Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Jean Effel, French painter and journalist (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Jacques Herbrand, French logician and mathematician (d. 1931)
• 1908 – August Neo, Estonian wrestler (d. 1982)
• 1909 – Sigmund Rascher, German SS doctor (d. 1945)
• 1911 – Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994)
• 1911 – Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (d. 1968)
• 1912 – R. F. Delderfield, English author (d. 1972)
• 1914 – Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000)
• 1914 – Arvid Pardo, Maltese diplomat, a.k.a. "Father of the Law of the Sea Conference" (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Andrew Goodpaster, American army general (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian actor (d. 1987)
• 1916 – Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)
• 1917 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 2009)
• 1917 – Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)
• 1918 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
• 1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1920 – William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Pran, Indian actor
• 1922 – Hussein Onn, Malaysian politician, Prime Minister (1976–1981) (d. 1990)
• 1923 – Chaskel Besser, Orthodox rabbi (d. 2010)
• 1923 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director
• 1925 – Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (d. 1984)
• 1926 – Joe Garagiola, American baseball player and announcer
• 1926 – Charles Van Doren, American quiz show contestant
• 1930 – John Doyle, Irish hurler (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Arlen Specter, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1931 – Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Maurice Filion, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager
• 1932 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)
• 1933 – Costa-Gavras, Greek filmmaker
• 1934 – Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress
• 1934 – Anne Krueger, American economist
• 1934 – Bill Russell, American basketball player
• 1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer (d. 2011)
• 1936 – Joe Don Baker, American actor
• 1936 – Paul Shenar, American actor
• 1936 – Richard Lynch, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Charles Dumas, American athlete (d. 2004)
• 1938 – Judy Blume, American author
• 1938 – Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris, British politician
• 1939 – Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (The Doors)
• 1940 – Ralph Bates, English actor (d. 1991)
• 1941 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese adventurer (d. 1984)
• 1942 – Ehud Barak, Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel
• 1942 – Pat Dobson, American baseball player (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Moe Bandy, American singer
• 1945 – Maud Adams, Swedish actress
• 1945 – David D. Friedman, American economist
• 1946 – Cliff DeYoung, American actor and musician (Clear Light)
• 1946 – Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Prime Minister of Gabon
• 1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer
• 1947 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Indian leader of Damdami Taksal (d. 1984)
• 1947 – Jim Durham, American sportscaster
• 1948 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author
• 1948 – Mike Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1949 – Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, Canadian politician and victim's rights activist
• 1949 – Joaquín Sabina, Spanish singer and songwriter
• 1950 – Angelo Branduardi, Italian singer and composer
• 1950 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor
• 1950 – Steve Hackett, English guitarist (Genesis)
• 1951 – Steven Parent, Manson murder victim (d. 1969)
• 1952 – Simon MacCorkindale, British actor (d. 2010)
• 1952 – Michael McDonald, American musician
• 1953 – Joanna Kerns, American actress
• 1953 – Nabil Shaban, British actor
• 1953 – Robin Thomas, American actor
• 1954 – Joseph Jordania, Australian/Georgian evolutionary musicologist
• 1954 – Tzimis Panousis, Greek musician and stand-up comedian
• 1954 – Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
• 1955 – Bill Laswell, American bassist and record producer
• 1955 – Chet Lemon, American baseball player
• 1956 – Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
• 1956 – Ad Melkert, Dutch politician
• 1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish musician (Thin Lizzy and Motörhead)
• 1957 – Willie Smits, Dutch trained forester, microbiologist, conservationist, animal rights activist and social entrepreneur
• 1958 – Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens) (d. 2006)
• 1958 – Bobby Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1959 – Larry Nance, American basketball player
• 1959 – Dan Puric, Romanian actor, director and writer
• 1959 – Sigrid Thornton, Australian actress
• 1960 – George Gray, American professional wrestler
• 1961 – Tonnie Dirks, Dutch long distance runner
• 1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian politician
• 1961 – Michel Martelly, Haitian musician, businessman and politician
• 1962 – Jimmy Kirkwood, Irish-born field hockey player
• 1963 – Ed Lover, American radio personality
• 1964 – Michel Petit, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player
• 1965 – Christine Elise, American actress
• 1965 – John Michael Higgins, American actor
• 1967 – Chris McKinstry, Canadian computer scientist
• 1967 – Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Indian composer and musician
• 1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor
• 1968 – Grégory Charles, Canadian singer, dancer, pianist, radio and television host
• 1968 – Christopher McCandless, American nomad, subject of biography Into the Wild (d. 1992)
• 1968 – Chynna Phillips, American singer (Wilson Phillips)
• 1969 – Darren Aronofsky, American director and writer
• 1969 – Dean Bergeron, Canadian paralympic athlete
• 1969 – Hong Myung-Bo, Korean footballer
• 1969 – Meja, Swedish singer
• 1969 – Brad Werenka, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Jim Creeggan, Canadian bassist (Barenaked Ladies)
• 1970 – Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer
• 1970 – Judd Winick, writer and artist
• 1971 – Scott Menville American voice actor
• 1972 – Ajay Naidu, Indian-American actor
• 1972 – Owen Nolan, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sophie Zelmani, Swedish singer/songwriter
• 1973 – Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
• 1973 – Tara Strong, Canadian voice actress
• 1974 – Toranosuke Takagi, Japanese race car driver
• 1975 – Cliff Blezinski, Design director for Epic Games
• 1975 – Scot Pollard, American basketball player
• 1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby union footballer
• 1976 – Silvia Saint, Czech pornographic actress
• 1977 – Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player
• 1978 – Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1978 – Gethin Jones, Welsh television presenter
• 1978 – Silver Meikar, Estonian politician
• 1979 – Antonio Chatman, American football player
• 1979 – Matt Mauck, American football player
• 1979 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor
• 1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
• 1980 – Sarah Lancaster, American actress
• 1980 – Christina Ricci, American actress
• 1981 – Lisa Hannigan, Irish singer
• 1981 – Loren Kreiss, American artist
• 1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
• 1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand All Black rugby player
• 1983 – Carlton Brewster, American football player
• 1984 – Lolly Badcock, English pornographic actress
• 1984 – Alexandra Dahlström, Swedish actress
• 1984 – Brad Keselowski, American racing car driver
• 1984 – Aylar Lie, Norwegian model
• 1984 – Tobias Schlauderer, German footballer
• 1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
• 1985 – Saskia Burmeister, Australian actress
• 1988 – Nana Eikura, Japanese actress
• 1988 – Mike Posner, American singer, composer and producer
• 1990 – Moussa Koné, Ivorian footballer
• 1991 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
• 1991 – Michael Schimpelsberger, Austrian footballer
• 1992 – Faisal ibn Hamad Al Khalifah, prince of Bahrain (d. 2006)
• 1993 – Jennifer Stone, American actress
• 1997 – Callum Langford, English footballer

Deaths

• 1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter
• 1554 – Lord Guilford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (b. 1536)
• 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the English throne (b. 1537)
• 1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician (b. 1515)
• 1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (b. 1524)
• 1612 – Christopher Clavius, German astronomer (b. 1538)
• 1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (b. 1563)
• 1630 – Fynes Moryson, English traveler and writer (b. 1566)
• 1692 – Hendrick Hamel, Dutch sailor and writer (b. 1630)
• 1700 – Aleksei Shein, Russian general and statesman (b. 1662)
• 1724 – Elkanah Settle, English writer (b. 1648)
• 1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat and composer (b. 1653)
• 1762 – Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)
• 1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (b. 1688)
• 1771 – King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (b. 1710)
• 1789 – Ethan Allen, American patriot (b. 1738)
• 1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (b. 1729)
• 1804 – Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (b. 1724)
• 1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher (b. 1768)
• 1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (b. 1830)
• 1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French opera composer (b. 1811)
• 1915 – Émile Waldteufel, French composer (b. 1837)
• 1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (b. 1831)
• 1920 – Aurore Gagnon, Victim of child abuse (b. 1909)
• 1929 – Lillie Langtry, British singer and actress (b. 1853)
• 1931 – Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (b. 1855)
• 1933 – Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)
• 1935 – Georges Auguste Escoffier, French chef (b. 1846)
• 1942 – Eugene Esmonde, British pilot and recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1909)
• 1942 – Grant Wood, American painter (b.1891)
• 1943 – Claude Jameson, American soccer player (b. 1886)
• 1945 – Walraven van Hall, a Dutch banker and resistance leader during the occupation of the Netherlands in World War II (b. 1906)
• 1945 – Antonio Villa-Real, Filipino jurist (b. 1880)
• 1947 – Moses Gomberg, Russian-born American chemist (b. 1866)
• 1949 – Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
• 1954 – Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)
• 1957 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American folklorist (b. 1872)
• 1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematical physicist (b. 1897)
• 1960 – Jean-Michel Atlan, French painter (b. 1913)
• 1961 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet (b. 1934)
• 1969 – Paltiel Daykan, Russian-born Israeli jurist (b. 1885)
• 1970 – Ishman Bracey, American blues musician (b. 1901)
• 1971 – James C. Penney, American department store founder (b. 1875)
• 1976 – Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
• 1977 – Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher (b. 1894)
• 1979 – Jean Renoir, French director (b. 1894)
• 1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
• 1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian actor (b. 1902)
• 1983 – Eubie Blake, American musician and songwriter (b. 1887)
• 1983 – Jan Klaassens, Dutch footballer (b. 1931)
• 1984 – Anna Anderson, claimant to the throne of Russia (b. 1896)
• 1984 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (b. 1914)
• 1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and novelist (b. 1931)
• 1991 – Roger Patterson, American death metal bass player (Atheist) (b. 1968)
• 1992 – Roy Slemon, Canadian military officer (b. 1904)
• 1992 – Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
• 1993 – James Bulger, English murder victim (b. 1990)
• 1994 – Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate (b. 1950)
• 1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (Iron Butterfly) (b. 1952)
• 1996 – Bob Shaw, Northern Irish novelist (b. 1931)
• 1998 – Hugh Gardner Ackley, American economist (b.1915)
• 1999 – Toni Fisher, American pop singer (b. 1931)
• 2000 – Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Andy Lewis, Australian musician (b. 1967)
• 2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American comics author (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Oliver, American pop singer (b. 1945)
• 2001 – Tiberio Mitri, Italian boxer (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Kristina Söderbaum, German actress (b. 1912)
• 2002 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
• 2003 – Vali Myers, Australian painter (b. 1930)
• 2005 – Sammi Smith, American country music singer (b. 1943)
• 2005 – Dorothy Stang, Brazilian nun (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964)
• 2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
• 2007 – Randy Stone, American actor and casting director (b. 1958)
• 2007 – Eldee Young, American jazz player (Ramsey Lewis Trio) (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (b. 1907)
• 2009 – notable victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407:
  • Alison Des Forges, American investigator of the Rwanda genocide (b. 1942)
  • Beverly Eckert, American co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee (b. 1951)
  • Mat Mathews, Dutch jazz accordionist (b. 1924)
  • Coleman Mellett, American musician (b. 1974)
  • Gerry Niewood, American musician (b. 1943)
  • Claude Nollier, French actress (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
• 2011 – Peter Alexander, Austrian singer, actor, entertainer (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Mato Damjanović, Croatian chess grandmaster (b. 1927)
• 2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress and dancer (b. 1919)
• 2011 – Fedor den Hertog, Dutch racing cyclist (b. 1946)
• 2012 – David Kelly, Irish actor (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Damian of Alexandria
  • Julian the Hospitaller
  • February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Darwin Day (International)
• Georgia Day (Georgia (U.S. state))
• Lincoln's Birthday (United States)
• National Freedom to Marry Day, unofficial (United States)
• Red Hand Day (United Nations)
• Union Day (Myanmar)
• Youth Day (Venezuela)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

---