On this day: 12 April
Events, births and deaths on 12 April. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Pilita Corrales
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Anne Jackson
100 years ago1926
- Births · Jane Withers
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 959 · Births · En'yū
- 1125 · Deaths · Vladislaus I
- 1116 · Births · Richeza of Poland, Queen of Sweden
Events · 20
- 1796Battle of Montenotte — 1796 battle
- 1807Froberg mutiny — 1807 mutiny in Malta
- 1861American Civil War — 1861–1865 civil war in the United States between the North and the South over the enslavement of African-Americans
- 1861Battle of Fort Sumter — bombardment of Fort Sumter, immediate cause and first battle of the American Civil War
- 1862Great Locomotive Chase — 1862 Raid during the American Civil War
- 1864Battle of Fort Pillow — 1864 battle of the American Civil War
- 1927United Kingdom — island country in north-west Europe
- 1927Shanghai massacre of 1927 — mass arrests and executions of members of the Chinese Communist Party and some leftists of the Kuomintang by the Nationalist government (1927-1928)
- 1975Operation Eagle Pull — 1975 American rescue mission
- 1980Transbrasil Flight 303 — aviation accident
- 19801980 Liberian coup d'état — military overthrow and execution of President William Tolbert
- 1990Widerøe Flight 839 — 1990 aviation accident
- 1992Disneyland Park — Theme park in France in Disneyland Paris
- 1999Grdelica train bombing — 1999 US attack in the Kosovo War
- 20022002 Mahane Yehuda Market bombing — 2002 attack on civilians in Jerusalem
- 2010Merano derailment — 2010 railway accident in Italy
- 20122012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état — coup d'état
- 2013Kidal attack of April 2013 — civilian attack in Kidal, Mali
- 2014Great Fire of Valparaíso — natural disaster in Chile in 2014
- 20262026 Hungarian parliamentary election — parliamentary election in Hungary
Births · 60
- 811Muhammad al-Jawad — ninth of the Twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'ism
- 1577(Julian date)Christian IV of Denmark — king of Denmark and Norway (1577–1648)
- 1748Antoine Laurent de Jussieu — French botanist (1748–1836)
- 1777Henry Clay — American politician from Kentucky (1777-1852)
- 1852Ferdinand von Lindemann — German mathematician (1852–1939)
- 1871Ioannis Metaxas — Greek military officer and politician (1871–1941)
- 1884Otto Fritz Meyerhof — German biochemist (1884-1951)
- 1885Robert Delaunay — French painter (1885–1941)
- 1903Jan Tinbergen — Dutch economist (1903–1994)
- 1923Ann Miller — American actress and dancer (1923–2004)
- 1924Raymond Barre — 85th Prime Minister of France (1924-2007)
- 1928Hardy Krüger — German actor (1928–2022)
- 1933Montserrat Caballé — Spanish operatic soprano (1933–2018)
- 1937Igor Volk — Soviet test pilot, cosmonaut (1937-2017)
- 1940Herbie Hancock — American jazz pianist and composer (born 1940)
- 1941Bobby Moore — English association football player (1941–1993)
- 1942Jacob Zuma — 4th President of South Africa (2009–2018)
- 1942Carlos Reutemann — Argentine racing driver and politician
- 1946Ed O'Neill — American actor (born 1946)
- 1946George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen — British politician (born 1946)
- 1947David Letterman — American comedian and television host
- 1947Tom Clancy — American author (1947–2013)
- 1948Marcello Lippi — Italian association football player and manager
- 1948Joschka Fischer — German politician
- 1950Joyce Banda — 4th President of Malawi
Deaths · 60
- 45 BCEGnaeus Pompeius Magnus — eldest son of Pompey the Great
- 238(Julian date)Gordian II — Roman Emperor in 238 AD
- 434(Julian date)Archbishop Maximianus of Constantinople — Patriarch of Constantinople
- 1125(Julian date)Vladislaus I — Duke of Bohemia
- 1167Karl Sverkersson — King of Sweden (1130–1167)
- 1500Leonhard of Gorizia — Count of Gorz
- 1530(Julian date)Joanna la Beltraneja — Castillian infanta and queen, queen consort of Portugal
- 1550(Julian date)Claude of Lorraine, duke of Guise — Duke of Guise
- 1555(Julian date)Juana I of Castile — Queen of Castile from 1504 and of Aragon from 1516
- 1638Amakusa Shirō — leader of the Shimabara Rebellion
- 1684Nicola Amati — Italian luthier from Cremona
- 1704Jacques Bénigne Bossuet — French bishop and theologian (1627-1704)
- 1748William Kent — British painter, landscape architect (1685-1748)
- 1782Pietro Metastasio — Italian poet and librettist (1698–1782)
- 1814Charles Burney — English music historian (1726-1814)
- 1817Charles Messier — 18th- and 19th-century French astronomer
- 1850Adoniram Judson — American missionary (1788-1850)
- 1872Nikolaos Mantzaros — Greek composer (1795-1872)
- 1878William Magear Tweed — American politician (1823-1878)
- 1879Richard Taylor — Confederate general (1826-1879)
- 1898Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau — Catholic cardinal (1820–1898)
- 1902Marie Alfred Cornu — French physicist (1841–1902)
- 1912Clara Barton — American Civil War nurse (1821–1912)
- 1933Adelbert Ames — Union Army general and Medal of Honor recipient (1835-1933)
- 1938Feodor Chaliapin — Russian opera singer and actor (1873-1938)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.