October 12

October 12 in recent years

2024 (Saturday)

2023 (Thursday)

2022 (Wednesday)

2021 (Tuesday)

2020 (Monday)

2019 (Saturday)

2018 (Friday)

2017 (Thursday)

2016 (Wednesday)

2015 (Monday)

October 12 is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 80 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
• 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by the British under Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of Gwynedd.
• 1113 – The first documented mention under the Latin name Varadinum ("vár" means fortress in Hungarian) and the celebration day of the city Oradea while its bishopric was founded during the 11th century by King Ladislaus I of Hungary
• 1216 – King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash, probably near Fosdyke, perhaps near Sutton Bridge.
• 1279 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon.
• 1398 – The Treaty of Salynas is signed between Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Teutonic Knights, who received Samogitia.
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean, specifically in The Bahamas. The explorer believes he has reached India.
• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1654 – The Delft Explosion devastates the city in the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people.
• 1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips.
• 1748 – British and Spanish naval forces engage at the Battle of Havana during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
• 1773 – America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds' in Virginia.
• 1792 – First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York CIty.
• 1793 – The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
• 1799 – Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse was the first woman to jump from a balloon with a parachute, from an altitude of 900 meters.
• 1810 – First Oktoberfest: The Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
• 1822 – Peter I of Brazil is proclaimed the emperor of the Brazil.
• 1823 – Charles Macintosh of Scotland sells the first raincoat.
• 1871 – Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) enacted by British rule in India, which named over 160 local communities 'Criminal Tribes', i.e. hereditary criminals. Repealed in 1949, after Independence of India.
• 1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools, as part of a celebration marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage.
• 1901 – President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
• 1915 – World War I: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium
• 1917 – World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single day loss of life in New Zealand history.
• 1918 – A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Minnesota.
• 1928 – An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston
• 1933 – The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island, is acquired by the United States Department of Justice
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Gotō dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.
• 1944 – World War II: The Liberation of Athens from the German invaders.
• 1945 – World War II: Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor.
• 1953 – "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" opens at Plymouth Theatre, New York City
• 1959 – At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
• 1960 – Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at United Nations General Assembly meeting to protest a Philippine assertion of Soviet Union colonial policy being conducted in Eastern Europe
• 1960 – Television viewers in Japan unexpectedly witness the assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, leader of the Japan Socialist Party, when he is stabbed and killed during a live broadcast.
• 1962 – Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million in damages
• 1964 – The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits
• 1967 – Vietnam War: US Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile because of North Vietnam's opposition
• 1968 – Equatorial Guinea becomes independent from Spain
• 1970 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas
• 1979 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published.
• 1979 – The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.
• 1983 – Japan's former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed and is sentenced to 4 years in jail.
• 1984 – Brighton hotel bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Thatcher escapes but the bomb kills five people and wounds 31.
• 1986 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China
• 1988 – Jaffna University Helidrop: Commandos of Indian Peace Keeping Force raided the Jaffna University campus to capture the LTTE chief and walked into a trap.
• 1988 – Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down executional style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.
• 1988 – Birchandra Manu massacre in Tripura, India
• 1991 – Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by republic's Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
• 1992 – 5.8 earthquake occurred in Cairo, Egypt. At least 510 died.
• 1994 – NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).
• 1997 – Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock.
• 1999 – Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.
• 1999 – The former Autonomous Soviet Republic of Abkhazia declares its independence from Georgia
• 2000 – The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
• 2002 – Terrorists detonate bombs in the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and wounding over 300.
• 2005 – The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched carrying Fèi Jùnlóng and Niè Hǎishèng for five days in orbit.

Births

• 1006 – Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (d. 1036)
• 1350 – Dmitry Donskoy, Russian prince (d. 1389)
• 1490 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (d. 1548)
• 1537 – Edward VI of England (d. 1553)
• 1558 – Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (d. 1618)
• 1558 – Jacques Sirmond, French scholar (d. 1651)
• 1576 – Thomas Dudley, English-American politician (d. 1653)
• 1602 – William Chillingworth, English religious leader (d. 1644)
• 1687 – Sylvius Leopold Weiss, German composer and lutenist (d. 1750)
• 1710 – Jonathan Trumbull, American politician, 16th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1785)
• 1725 – Étienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist (d. 1810)
• 1792 – Christian Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1860)
• 1798 – Pedro I of Brazil (d. 1834)
• 1801 – Friedrich Frey-Herosé, Swiss politician (d. 1873)
• 1815 – William J. Hardee, American general (d. 1873)
• 1826 – Jules Charles Victurnien de Noailles, French son of Paul, 6th duc de Noailles (d. 1895)
• 1840 – Helena Modjeska, Polish actress (d. 1909)
• 1855 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor (d. 1922)
• 1860 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor, co-invented the gyrocompass (d. 1930)
• 1865 – Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
• 1866 – Ramsay MacDonald, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1937)
• 1868 – August Horch, German engineer and automobile pioneer, founder of Audi (d. 1951)
• 1872 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (d. 1958)
• 1874 – Jimmy Burke, American baseball player (d. 1942)
• 1875 – Aleister Crowley, English magician and author (d. 1947)
• 1878 – Truxton Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (d. 1956)
• 1880 – Louis Hémon, French author (d. 1913)
• 1887 – Paula von Preradović, Croatian-Austrian poet (d. 1951)
• 1891 – Edith Stein, German nun, philosopher, and saint (d. 1942)
• 1892 – Gilda Dalla Rizza, Italian soprano (d. 1975)
• 1893 – Velvalee Dickinson, American spy (d. 1980)
• 1894 – Elisabeth of Romania (d. 1956)
• 1896 – Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Lester Dent, American author (d. 1959)
• 1904 – Ding Ling, Chinese author (d. 1986)
• 1906 – Joe Cronin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1984)
• 1906 – John Murray, American playwright (d.1984)
• 1908 – Paul Engle, American poet and critic (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Ann Petry, American author (d. 1997)
• 1910 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and critic (d. 1985)
• 1912 – Alice Childress, American playwright, actor and author (d. 1994)
• 1913 – T. Ahambaram, Ceylon Tamil politician (d. 1962)
• 1913 – Alice Chetwynd Ley, English author (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Alice Childress, American actress and playwright (d. 1994)
• 1917 – Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Gilles Beaudoin, Canadian politician, 34th Mayor of Trois-Rivières (d. 2007)
• 1919 – Doris Miller, First African-American Navy seaman to receive Navy Cross (d. 1943)
• 1920 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (d. 1979)
• 1920 – Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, English politician, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (d. 1987)
• 1921 – Art Clokey, American animator (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Jaroslav Drobný, Czech-English tennis player (d. 2001)
• 1921 – Logie Bruce Lockhart, Scottish rugby player and journalist
• 1923 – Goody Petronelli, American boxing trainer and manager (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Doris Grau, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Leonidas Kyrkos, Greek politician (d. 2011)
• 1924 – Mimis Plessas, Greek composer
• 1925 – Denis Lazure, Canadian politician (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Essie Mae Washington-Williams, American educator (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Nappy Brown, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Brian Cobby, English actor (d. 2012)
• 1929 – Robert Coles, American psychologist and author
• 1929 – Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic-Scottish journalist (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Denis Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player and photographer
• 1930 – Milica Kacin Wohinz, Slovenian historian
• 1931 – Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist, co-developed Simula (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Dick Gregory, American comedian, author, and activist
• 1932 – Ned Jarrett, American race car driver
• 1933 – Guido Molinari, Canadian painter (d. 2004)
• 1934 – James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Richard Meier, American architect, designed the Getty Center and City Tower
• 1934 – Albert Shiryaev, Russian mathematician
• 1935 – Don Howe, English footballer and manager
• 1935 – Tony Kubek, American baseball player
• 1935 – Samuel David Moore, American singer-songwriter (Sam & Dave)
• 1935 – Shivraj Patil, Indian politician
• 1935 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor (d. 2007)
• 1937 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (d. 1969)
• 1937 – Robert Mangold, American painter
• 1938 – Bob Miller, American sportscaster
• 1941 – Frank Alamo, French singer (d. 2012)
• 1941 – Michael Mansfield, English lawyer
• 1942 – Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1995)
• 1942 – Bunchy Carter, American activist (d. 1969)
• 1942 – Daliah Lavi, Israeli actress and singer
• 1944 – Angela Rippon, English journalist
• 1945 – Aurore Clément, French actress
• 1945 – Dusty Rhodes, American wrestler
• 1947 – George Lam, Hong Kong singer and actor
• 1947 – Chris Wallace, American journalist
• 1948 – Rick Parfitt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Status Quo)
• 1948 – Hans Sprenger, German footballer
• 1949 – Stan Hansen, American wrestler
• 1949 – Dave Lloyd, English cyclist
• 1949 – Carlos the Jackal, Venezuelan murderer
• 1949 – Paul Went, English footballer
• 1950 – Susan Anton, American actress
• 1950 – Robin Askwith, English actor
• 1950 – Caroline Ellis, English actress
• 1950 – Dave Freudenthal, American politician, 31st Governor of Wyoming
• 1950 – Kaga Takeshi, Japanese actor
• 1951 – Sally Little, South African-American golfer
• 1951 – Ed Royce, American politician
• 1952 – Béla Csécsei, Hungarian educator and politician (d. 2012)
• 1952 – Danielle Proulx, Canadian actress
• 1953 – Les Dennis, English comedian and actor
• 1953 – Serge Lepeltier, French politician
• 1954 – Linval Thompson, Jamaican singer and producer
• 1955 – Einar Jan Aas, Norwegian footballer
• 1955 – Ante Gotovina, Croatian general
• 1955 – Brigitte Lahaie, French talk show host and actress
• 1955 – Aggie MacKenzie, Scottish television host
• 1955 – Jane Siberry, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and poet
• 1956 – Emilio Charles, Jr., Mexican wrestler (d. 2012)
• 1956 – David Vanian, English singer-songwriter (The Damned)
• 1957 – Kristen Bjorn, English porn actor, director, and producer
• 1958 – Steve Austria, American politician
• 1958 – Maria de Fátima Silva de Sequeira Dias, Portuguese historian, author, and academic (d. 2013)
• 1958 – Bryn Merrick, Welsh bass player (The Damned)
• 1959 – Anna Escobedo Cabral, American politician, 42nd Treasurer of the United States
• 1960 – Carlo Perrone, Italian footballer and manager
• 1960 – Hiroyuki Sanada, Japanese actor
• 1962 – Carlos Bernard, American actor
• 1962 – Chris Botti, American trumpet player and composer
• 1962 – Amanda Castro, Honduran poet
• 1962 – John Coleman, English footballer and manager
• 1962 – Branko Crvenkovski, Macedonian politician, 3rd President of the Republic of Macedonia
• 1962 – Deborah Foreman, American actress
• 1963 – Raimond Aumann, German footballer
• 1963 – Lane Frost, American bull rider (d. 1989)
• 1963 – Satoshi Kon, Japanese animator and screenwriter (d. 2010)
• 1963 – Alan McDonald, Irish footballer (d. 2012)
• 1963 – Luis Polonia, Dominican baseball player
• 1965 – J. J. Daigneault, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Scott O'Grady, American captain and pilot
• 1966 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian actor
• 1966 – Wim Jonk, Dutch footballer
• 1966 – Brenda Brathwaite, American game designer and developer in the video game industry
• 1966 – Brian Kennedy, Irish singer-songwriter and author
• 1967 – Paul Laine Canadian singer-songwriter (Danger Danger)
• 1968 – Bill Auberlen, American race car driver
• 1968 – Paul Harragon, Australian rugby player
• 1968 – Hugh Jackman, Australian actor and producer
• 1968 – Adam Rich, American actor
• 1969 – Martie Maguire, American singer-songwriter, violinist, and producer (Dixie Chicks and Court Yard Hounds)
• 1969 – Judit Mascó, Spanish model and actress
• 1969 – Željko Milinovič, Slovenian footballer
• 1969 – Olaf Renn, German footballer
• 1969 – Dwayne Roloson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – José Valentín, American baseball player
• 1970 – Julian, Chilean-American porn actor
• 1970 – Kirk Cameron, American actor
• 1970 – Tanyon Sturtze, American baseball player
• 1970 – Charlie Ward, American basketball player
• 1970 – Patrick Musimu, Belgian freediver (d. 2011)
• 1971 – Tony Fiore, American baseball player
• 1971 – Steve Johnston, Australian motorcycle racer
• 1972 – Neriah Davis, American model and actress
• 1972 – Juan Manuel Silva, Argentine race car driver
• 1972 – Tom Van Mol, Belgian footballer
• 1973 – Lesli Brea, Dominican baseball player
• 1973 – Martin Corry, English rugby player
• 1974 – Kate Beahan, Australian actress
• 1974 – Stephen Lee, English snooker player
• 1974 – Marie Wilson, Canadian actress
• 1975 – Ahmad, American rapper (4th Avenue Jones)
• 1975 – Marion Jones, American basketball player and runner
• 1976 – Sarah Lane, American television host
• 1977 – Jessica Barker, Canadian actress
• 1977 – Bode Miller, American skier
• 1977 – Javier Toyo, Venezuelan footballer
• 1978 – Stefan Binder, German footballer
• 1978 – Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist
• 1979 – Steven Agnew, Irish politician
• 1979 – Jordan Pundik, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (New Found Glory and International Superheroes of Hardcore)
• 1980 – Ledley King, English footballer
• 1981 – Sneha, Indian actress
• 1981 – Shola Ameobi, English footballer
• 1981 – Tom Guiry, American actor
• 1981 – Brian Kerr, Scottish footballer
• 1981 – Janar Kiivramees, Estonian poker player
• 1981 – Giuseppe Lanzone, American rower
• 1981 – Brian J. Smith, American actor
• 1981 – Conrad Smith, New Zealand rugby player
• 1981 – Sun Tiantian, Chinese tennis player
• 1983 – Alex Brosque, Australian footballer
• 1983 – Carlton Cole, English footballer
• 1983 – Katie Piper, English model and television host
• 1985 – Mike Green, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Tyler Blackburn, American actor and singer
• 1986 – Ioannis Maniatis, Greek footballer
• 1986 – Emmanuel Nwachi, Nigerian footballer
• 1986 – Sergio Peter, German footballer
• 1987 – Marvin Ogunjimi, Belgian footballer
• 1988 – Sam Whitelock, New Zealand rugby player
• 1988 – Aggro Santos, Brazilian-English rapper
• 1990 – Henri Lansbury, English footballer
• 1990 – Melodía Ruiz, Spanish singer
• 1991 – Nicolao Dumitru, Italian footballer
• 1992 – Kyron Duke, Welsh weightlifter
• 1992 – Taylor Horn, American singer and actress
• 1992 – Josh Hutcherson, American actor
• 1992 – Cüneyt Köz, German footballer
• 1995 – Jordan Howe, Welsh sprinter
• 1996 – Riechedly Bazoer, Dutch footballer

Deaths

• 632 – Edwin of Northumbria (b. 586)
• 638 – Pope Honorius I
• 642 – Pope John IV
• 1095 – Leopold II, Margrave of Austria (b. 1050)
• 1320 – Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1277)
• 1491 – Fritz Herlen, German painter (b. 1449)
• 1492 – Piero della Francesca, Italian painter (b. 1415)
• 1565 – Jean Ribault, French naval officer (b. 1520)
• 1576 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1527)
• 1590 – Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (b. 1543)
• 1600 – Luis de Molina, Spanish priest (b. 1535)
• 1632 – Kutsuki Mototsuna, Japanese commander (b. 1549)
• 1646 – François de Bassompierre, French courtier (b. 1579)
• 1678 – Edmund Berry Godfrey, English judge (b. 1621)
• 1679 – William Gurnall, English author and clergyman (b. 1617)
• 1685 – Christoph Ignaz Abele, Austrian jurist (b. 1628)
• 1730 – Frederick IV of Denmark (b. 1671)
• 1758 – Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, Irish-English military officer and politician (b. 1680)
• 1812 – Juan José Castelli, Argentinian lawyer and politician (b. 1764)
• 1845 – Elizabeth Fry, English social reformer and philanthropist (b. 1780)
• 1870 – Robert E. Lee, American general (b. 1807)
• 1875 – Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (b. 1827)
• 1896 – Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish politician, 9th Council President of Denmark (b. 1817)
• 1898 – Calvin Fairbank, American minister (b. 1816)
• 1915 – Edith Cavell, English nurse (b. 1865)
• 1920 – Yu Gwan-sun, Korean independence leader (b. 1904)
• 1924 – Anatole France, French author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
• 1926 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian and author (b. 1838)
• 1932 – Ioannis Chrysafis, Greek gymnast (b. 1873)
• 1933 – John Lister, English politician (b. 1847)
• 1940 – Tom Mix, American actor (b. 1880)
• 1946 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (b. 1883)
• 1948 – Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English psychologist (b. 1885)
• 1954 – George Welch, American pilot (b. 1918)
• 1956 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
• 1957 – Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist (b. 1865)
• 1958 – Gordon Griffith, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
• 1960 – Inejiro Asanuma, Japanese politician (b. 1898)
• 1965 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1967 – Ram Manohar Lohia, Indian activist and politician (b. 1910)
• 1969 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912)
• 1970 – Feodor Rojankovsky, Russian émigré illustrator (b. 1891)
• 1970 – Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet (b. 1930)
• 1971 – Dean Acheson, American lawyer and politician, 51st United States Secretary of State (b. 1893)
• 1971 – Gene Vincent, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1935)
• 1972 – Robert Le Vigan, French actor (b. 1900)
• 1973 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1899)
• 1978 – Nancy Spungen, American murder victim, girlfriend of Sid Vicious (b. 1958)
• 1983 – Ernie Roth, American wrestling manager (b. 1929)
• 1984 – Anthony Berry, English politician (b. 1925)
• 1985 – Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (b. 1910)
• 1985 – Ricky Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The B-52's) (b. 1953)
• 1987 – Alf Landon, American politician, 26th Governor of Kansas (b. 1887)
• 1988 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, Welsh poet and author (b. 1886)
• 1988 – Coby Whitmore, American painter and illustrator (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Jay Ward, American animator and producer (b. 1920)
• 1990 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (b. 1926)
• 1990 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian mountaineer and author (b. 1899)
• 1991 – Sheila Florance, Australian actress (b. 1916)
• 1991 – Arkady Strugatsky, Russian author (b. 1925)
• 1991 – Regis Toomey, American actor (b. 1898)
• 1993 – Leon Ames, American actor (b. 1902)
• 1993 – Tofiq Bahramov, Soviet-Azerbaijani football referee (b. 1926)
• 1994 – Gérald Godin, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1938)
• 1996 – René Lacoste, French tennis player (b. 1904)
• 1996 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (b. 1911)
• 1997 – John Denver, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Chad Mitchell Trio) (b. 1943)
• 1998 – Mario Beaulieu, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
• 1998 – Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (b. 1976)
• 1999 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (b. 1936)
• 1999 – Robert Marsden Hope, Australian judge (b. 1919)
• 2001 – Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, English politician (b. 1907)
• 2002 – Ray Conniff, American bandleader and composer (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Audrey Mestre, French diver (b. 1974)
• 2003 – Jim Cairns, Australian politician (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Joan Kroc, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Bill Shoemaker, American jockey (b. 1931)
• 2005 – C. Delores Tucker, American politician and activist (b. 1927)
• 2006 – Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian director (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Noel Coleman, English actor (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower (b. 1934)
• 2008 – Karl Chircop, Maltese politician (b. 1965)
• 2009 – Dickie Peterson American singer-songwriter and bass player (Blue Cheer) (b. 1948)
• 2009 – Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian cyclist (b. 1974)
• 2010 – Woody Peoples, American football player (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Belva Plain, American author (b. 1919)
• 2011 – Heinz Bennent, German actor (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (b. 1931)
• 2011 – Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist, created the C programming language (b. 1941)
• 2012 – James Coyne, Canadian banker, 2nd Governor of the Bank of Canada (b. 1910)
• 2012 – William C. Friday, American academic (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Norm Grabowski, American actor (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Jean-Pierre Hautier, Belgian television host (b. 1955)
• 2012 – Sukhdev Singh Kang, Indian jurist and politician, 14th Governor of Kerala (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Ervin Kassai, Hungarian basketball referee (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Torkom Manoogian, Iraqi-Armenian archbishop (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Tony Pawson, English cricketer (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Břetislav Pojar, Czech animator and director (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Heribert of Cologne (private feast day)
  • Wilfrid of York
  • October 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Children's Day or Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida (Brazil)
• Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances:
  • Columbus Day (United States)
  • Descubrimiento de América (Mexico)
  • Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)
  • Día de la Raza, "Day of the Race" (Latin America)
  • Día de la Resistencia Indígena, "Day of Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela)
  • Día de las Américas, "Day of the Americas" (Uruguay)
  • Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)
  • Discovery Day (the Bahamas)
• Freethought Day (United States)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968.
• Mother's Day (Malawi)
• UN Spanish Language Day (United Nations)

External links

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

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