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This day in history

This day in history: 12 April

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

410 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 12 April.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2026: The Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar wins the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, defeating Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party, which had ruled the country for 16 years, marking the first change in government in Hungary for over a decade.

Holidays and observances

Children's Day (Bolivia)

Christian feast day: Adoniram Judson (Episcopal Church)

Christian feast day: Alferius

Christian feast day: April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso

Christian feast day: Erkembode

Christian feast day: Pope Julius I

Christian feast day: Sabbas the Goth

Christian feast day: Teresa of the Andes

Christian feast day: Zeno of Verona

Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Cosmonautics Day (Russia)

Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: International Day of Human Space Flight

Events

2026The Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar wins the 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election, defeating Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party, which had ruled the country for 16 years, marking the first change in government in Hungary for over a decade.

2014The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying more than 2,500 homes.

2013Two suicide bombers kill three Chadian soldiers and injure dozens of civilians at a market in Kidal, Mali.

2010Merano derailment: A rail accident in South Tyrol kills nine people and injures a further 28.

2009Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency.

2007A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.

2002A suicide bomber blows herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, killing seven people and wounding 104.

1999During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, an American McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle shoots a passenger train, killing between 20 and 60 people.

1999United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred.

1992The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland; the resort and its park's name are subsequently changed to Disneyland Resort Paris.

1990Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He is the only sculptor ever invited to present a solo exhibition there.

1990Widerøe Flight 839 crashes after takeoff from Værøy Airport in Norway, killing five people.

1985Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-51D to deploy two communications satellites.

1983Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago.

1981The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.

1980Canadian runner and athlete Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope Run in St. John's, NF

1980The Americo-Liberian government of Liberia is violently deposed.

1980Transbrasil Flight 303, a Boeing 727, crashes on approach to Hercílio Luz International Airport in Florianópolis, Brazil. Fifty-five out of the 58 people on board are killed.

1970Soviet submarine K-8, carrying four nuclear torpedoes, sinks in the Bay of Biscay four days after a fire on board.

1963The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.

1961Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1.

1955The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.

1945U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman succeeds him.

1945World War II: The U.S. Ninth Army under General William H. Simpson crosses the Elbe River astride Magdeburg, and reaches Tangermünde—only 80 kilometres from Berlin.

1937Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.

1934The strongest surface wind gust in the world at the time of 231 mph, is measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. It has since been surpassed.

1934The U.S. Auto-Lite strike begins, culminating in a five-day melee between Ohio National Guard troops and 6,000 strikers and picketers.

1928The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.

1927Rocksprings, Texas is hit by an F5 tornado that destroys 235 of the 247 buildings in the town, kills 72 townspeople, and injures 205; third deadliest tornado in Texas history.

1927Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Chinese Communist Party members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.

1917World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.

1910SMS Zrínyi, one of the last pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, is launched.

1900One day after its enactment by the Congress, President William McKinley signs the Foraker Act into law, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.

1877The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.

1865American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.

1864American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

1862American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).

1861American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

1831Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse.

1820Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece.

Born on this day

1996Jan Bednarek, Polish footballer

1996Matteo Berrettini, Italian tennis player

1995Pedro Cachin, Argentine tennis player

1994Eric Bailly, Ivorian professional footballer

1994Guido Rodríguez, Argentine footballer

1994Isabelle Drummond, Brazilian actress and singer

1994Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress

1994Sehun, South Korean musician

1993Robin Anderson, American tennis player

1993Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Canadian ice hockey player

1992Chad le Clos, South African swimmer

1992The Vivienne, Welsh drag queen (died 2025)

1991Jazz Richards, Welsh international footballer

1991Lionel Carole, French professional footballer

1991Magnus Pääjärvi, Swedish ice hockey player

1991Oliver Norwood, English-born Northern Irish international footballer

1990Hiroki Sakai, Japanese footballer

1989Ádám Hanga, Hungarian basketball player

1989Bethan Dainton, Welsh rugby union player

1989Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian-American ice dancer

1989Miguel Ángel Ponce, American-Mexican footballer

1989Valentin Stocker, Swiss footballer

1988Amedeo Calliari, Italian footballer

1988Jessie James Decker, American singer-songwriter

1988Moamen Zakaria, Egyptian footballer

1988Ricky Álvarez, Argentinian footballer

1988Stephen Brogan, English footballer

1987Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist

1987Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress

1987Luiz Adriano, Brazilian professional footballer

1987Shawn Gore, Canadian football player

1986Blerim Džemaili, Swiss footballer

1986Jonathan Pitroipa, Burkinabé footballer

1986Marcel Granollers, Spanish tennis player

1985Brennan Boesch, American baseball player

1985Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer

1984Aleksey Dmitrik, Russian high jumper

1983Jelena Dokic, Serbian-Australian tennis player

1983Luke Kibet, Kenyan runner

1981Grant Holt, English footballer and professional wrestler

Died on this day

2026Asha Bhosle, Indian playback singer, businesswoman, actress and television personality (born 1933)

2026Chris Payton-Jones American football player (born 1995)

2025Pilita Corrales, Filipino singer-songwriter and actress (born 1939)

2024Eleanor Coppola, American filmmaker (born 1936)

2024Robert MacNeil, Canadian-American journalist and author (born 1931)

2024Roberto Cavalli, Italian fashion designer and inventor (born 1940)

2022Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (born 1955)

2021Joseph Siravo, American actor and producer (born 1955)

2020Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (born 1983)

2017Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (born 1959)

2016Anne Jackson, American actress (born 1925)

2016Mohammad Al Gaz, Emirati politician & diplomat (born 1930)

2015Alfred Eick, German commander (born 1916)

2015André Mba Obame, Gabonese politician (born 1957)

2015Patrice Dominguez, Algerian-French tennis player and trainer (born 1950)

2015Paulo Brossard, Brazilian jurist and politician (born 1924)

2014Billy Standridge, American race car driver (born 1953)

2014Hal Smith, American baseball player and coach (born 1931)

2014Maurício Alves Peruchi, Brazilian footballer (born 1990)

2014Pierre Autin-Grenier, French author and poet (born 1947)

2014Pierre-Henri Menthéour, French cyclist (born 1960)

2013Annamária Szalai, Hungarian journalist and politician (born 1961)

2013Brennan Manning, American priest and author (born 1934)

2013Johnny du Plooy, South African boxer (born 1964)

2013Michael France, American screenwriter (born 1962)

2013Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (born 1928)

2013Ya'akov Yosef, Israeli rabbi and politician (born 1946)

2012Mohit Chattopadhyay, Indian poet and playwright (born 1934)

2012Rodgers Grant, American pianist and composer (born 1935)

2011Karim Fakhrawi, Bahraini journalist, co-founded Al-Wasat (born 1962)

Quote of the day

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Lao Tzu

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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