December 12: Independence Day in Kenya (from Britain, 1963)

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December 12 is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining until the end of the year.


Events

* 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
* 1098 - First Crusade: Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan - Crusaders breach the town's walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.
* 1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in Mexico City.
* 1781 - American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.
* 1812 - French invasion of Russia comes to an end.
* 1862 - USS Cairo sank on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
* 1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.
* 1897 - Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is inaugurated.
* 1901 - Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
* 1911 - Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
* 1914 - The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 24.39%.
* 1915 - President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
* 1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
* 1925 - The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
* 1936 - Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
* 1937 - Panay incident: Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
* 1939 - Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
* 1940 - Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.
* 1941 - World War II: Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.
* 1941 - World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
* 1941 - World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
* 1942 - A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
* 1946 - A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
* 1948 - Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
* 1950 - Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
* 1956 - Commencement of the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign.
* 1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
* 1964 - Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
* 1969 - Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
* 1979 - Coup d'état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
* 1979 - Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
* 1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
* 1982 - Women's peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.
* 1984 - Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya become the third president of Mauritania after coup d'etat against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the later was attending a summit. Taya was ousted in March 2005 by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall in another coup.
* 1985 - Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
* 1988 - Clapham Junction rail crash killed 35 and injured 100's after two collisions of three commuter trains. One of the worst train crashes in Britain.
* 1991 - Russian Federation gains independance from the USSR.
* 2000 - The United States Supreme Court released its decision in Bush v. Gore
* 2006 - Peugeot produce their last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.

Births

* 1298 - Albert II of Austria (d. 1358)
* 1418 - Albert VI of Austria (d. 1463)
* 1574 - Anne of Denmark, queen consort of James I of England (d. 1619)
* 1610 - Saint Vasilije (d. 1671)
* 1659 - Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
* 1712 - Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, Austrian military leader (d. 1780)
* 1724 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (d. 1816)
* 1745 - John Jay, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1829)
* 1779 - Madeleine Sophie Barat, French saint (d. 1865)
* 1783 - Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (d. 1865)
* 1786 - William L. Marcy, American statesman (d. 1857)
* 1791 - Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, second wife of Napoleon (d. 1847)
* 1799 - Karl Briullov, Russian painter (d. 1852)
* 1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
* 1806 - Stand Watie, American Confederate general (d. 1871)
* 1821 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer (d. 1880)
* 1845 - Bruce Price, American architect (d. 1903)
* 1849 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (d. 1920)
* 1863 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)
* 1864 - Paul Elmer More, American essayist (d. 1937)
* 1866 - Alfred Werner, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
* 1870 - Walter Benona Sharp, American oil baron (d. 1912)
* 1875 - Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (d. 1953)
* 1876 - Alvin Kraenzlein, Olympic gold medalist (d. 1928)
* 1887 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (d. 1974)
* 1892 - Herman Potočnik aka Hermann Noordung, Slovenian rocket engineer (d. 1929)
* 1893 - Edward G. Robinson, American actor (d. 1973)
* 1900 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)
* 1902 - Koloman Sokol, Slovak painter (d. 2003)
* 1903 - Dagmar Nordstrom, American composer (d. 1976)
* 1903 - Yasujirō Ozu, Japanese film director (d. 1963)
* 1904 - Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor and socialite (d. 1981)
* 1905 - Manès Sperber, Austrian-born writer (d. 1984)
* 1907 - Roy Douglas, British composer and orchestrator
* 1909 - Karen Morley, American actress (d. 2003)
* 1914 - Patrick O'Brian (Richard Patrick Russ), British author (d. 2000)
* 1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
* 1918 - Joe Williams, American singer (d. 1999)
* 1919 - Olivia Barclay, British astrologer (d. 2001)
* 1919 - Dan DeCarlo, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
* 1920 - Fred Kida, American comics artist
* 1923 - Bob Barker, American television game show host
* 1923 - Ken Kavanagh, Australian racing driver
* 1924 - Ed Koch, Mayor of New York City
* 1925 - Vladimir Shainsky, Soviet and Russian composer
* 1925 - Ahmad Shamlou, Iranian poet (d. 2000)
* 1927 - Honor Blackman, British actress
* 1927 - Robert Noyce, American inventor (d. 1990)
* 1928 - Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-born Kyrgyz writer
* 1929 - John Osborne, British dramatist (d. 1994)
* 1929 - Toshiko Akiyoshi, Japanese musician
* 1930 - Bill Beutel, American Journalist (d. 2006)
* 1931 - Lionel Blair, British actor and choreographer
* 1932 - Bob Pettit, American basketball player
* 1934 - Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico
* 1938 - Connie Francis, American singer
* 1940 - Sharad Pawar, Indian politician
* 1940 - Dionne Warwick, American singer
* 1943 - Dickey Betts, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band)
* 1943 - Grover Washington, Jr., American saxophonist (d. 1999)
* 1944 - Kenneth Cranham, Scottish born actor
* 1944 - Jean Doré, Canadian politician, mayor of Montreal
* 1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing driver
* 1946 - Paula Wagner, American film executive
* 1948 - Tom Wilkinson, English actor
* 1949 - Bill Nighy, English actor
* 1949 - Rajnikanth, Indian actor
* 1950 - Billy Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1952 - Herb Dhaliwal, Canadian politician
* 1952 - Cathy Rigby, American gymnast and actress
* 1953 - Bruce Kulick, American guitarist (Kiss)
* 1954 - Liz Claman, American television anchor
* 1955 - Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Greek businesswoman
* 1956 - Johan van der Velde, Dutch cyclist
* 1957 - Sheila E., American musician
* 1957 - Robert Lepage, French Canadian playwright
* 1962 - Tracy Austin, American tennis player
* 1962 - Mike Golic, American football player
* 1964 - Sabu, American professional wrestler
* 1966 - Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
* 1967 - Yuzo Koshiro, Japanese composer
* 1967 - Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Japanese composer
* 1967 - John Randle, American football player
* 1968 - Kate Humble, English television presenter
* 1968 - Rory Kennedy, American documentarian
* 1968 - Laurie Williams, Jamaican West Indies cricketer (d. 2002)
* 1970 - Mädchen Amick, American actress
* 1970 - Jennifer Connelly, American actress
* 1970 - Regina Hall, American actress
* 1972 - Nicky Eaden, English footballer
* 1972 - Wilson Kipketer, Danish middle-distance runner
* 1972 - Kevin Parent, French Canadian singer and songwriter
* 1972 - Brandon Teena, American hate crime victim (d. 1993)
* 1972 - Yeoryios Theodoridis, Greek sprinter
* 1972 - Hank Williams III, grandson of Hank Williams
* 1973 - William Hutton, American engineer
* 1973 - Walter Otta, Argentine footballer
* 1974 - Nolberto Solano, Peruvian footballer
* 1975 - Mayim Bialik, American actress
* 1975 - Craig Moore, Australian soccer player
* 1976 - Dan Hawkins, British guitarist (The Darkness)
* 1977 - Orlando Hudson, American baseball player
* 1977 - Bridget Hall, American supermodel
* 1977 - Colin White, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1977 - Nicole, Erica and Jaclyn Dahm, American triplet Playboy models
* 1978 - Monica Barladeanu, Romanian actress
* 1978 - Evren Genis, Turkish composer
* 1979 - Garrett Atkins, American baseball player
* 1979 - Nate Clements, American football player
* 1979 - Sharin Foo, Danish singer and bassist
* 1981 - Ronnie Brown, American football player
* 1981 - Pedro Ríos, Spanish footballer
* 1981 - Jeret Peterson, American aerial skier
* 1981 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricket player
* 1981 - Stephen Warnock, British footballer
* 1982 - Dmitry Tursunov, Russian tennis player
* 1983 - Katrina Elam, American singer
* 1984 - Daniel Agger, Danish footballer
* 1986 - Perparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer
* 1986 - Thomas Wansey, English television actor
* 1987 - Kate Todd, Canadian actress
* 1989 - Harry Eden, British actor
* 1991 - Daniel Magder, Canadian actor

Deaths

* 884 - Carloman, King of the West Franks
* 1212 - Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
* 1569 - Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (b. 1507)
* 1574 - Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1524)
* 1586 - Stefan Batory, King of Poland (b. 1533)
* 1685 - John Pell, English mathematician (b. 1610)
* 1751 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (b. 1678)
* 1754 - Wu Jingzi, Chinese writer (b. 1701)
* 1766 - Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)
* 1789 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (b. 1713)
* 1790 - Mikhail Shcherbatov, Russian philosopher and writer (b. 1733)
* 1817 - Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia, (b. about 1751)
* 1843 - King William I of the Netherlands, (b. 1772)
* 1858 - Jacques Viger, antiquarian and archeologist, first mayor of Montreal (b. 1787)
* 1889 - Robert Browning, British poet (b. 1812)
* 1889 - Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
* 1894 - Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1845)
* 1913 - Emperor Menelek II of Ethiopia (b. 1844)
* 1923 - Raymond Radiguet, French author (b. 1903)
* 1926 - Jean Richepin, French poet (b. 1849)
* 1929 - Charles Goodnight, American cattle baron (b. 1836)
* 1934 - Thorleif Haug, Norwegian nordic skier (b. 1894)
* 1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor (b. 1883)
* 1941 - Cesar Basa, Philippine Air Force and World War II hero (b. 1915)
* 1951 - Mildred Bailey, American jazz singer (b. 1907)
* 1952 - Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (b. 1879)
* 1963 - Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese film director (b. 1903)
* 1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (b. 1902)
* 1970 - Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
* 1971 - David Sarnoff, Russian-born American General Manager of RCA (b. 1891)
* 1976 - Vinko Zganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
* 1977 - Lady Spencer Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill (b. 1885)
* 1980 - Jean Lesage, politician, premier of Quebec (b. 1912)
* 1985 - Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
* 1985 - Ian Stewart, Scottish musician (b. 1938)
* 1987 - Enrique Jorrín, Cuban musician and composer (b. 1926)
* 1992 - Suzanne Lilar, Belgian esssayist, novelist and playwright (b. 1901)
* 1993 - József Antall, Hungarian politician (b. 1932)
* 1994 - Stuart Roosa, American astronaut (b. 1933)
* 1996 - Vance Packard, American author (b. 1914)
* 1997 - Yevgeniy Landis, Russian mathematician (b. 1921)
* 1998 - Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida and Governor of Florida (b. 1930)
* 1999 - Joseph Heller, American author (b. 1923)
* 2000 - George Montgomery, American actor (b. 1916)
* 2001 - Jean Richard, French actor (b. 1921)
* 2002 - Dee Brown, American author (b. 1908)
* 2002 - Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted murderer (b. 1965)
* 2002 - Brad Dexter, American actor (b. 1917)
* 2003 - Heydar Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
* 2003 - Keiko (orca), star of the first Free Willy movie (b. 1976)
* 2003 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (b. 1926)
* 2005 - Gebran Tueni, Lebanese politician (b. 1957)
* 2005 - Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)
* 2005 - Robert F. Newmyer, American film producer (b. 1946)
* 2006 - Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)
* 2006 - Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)
* 2006 - Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)
* 2006 - Al Shugart, pioneering American computer engineer and co-founder of Seagate Technology (b. 1930)
* 2006 - Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist (b. 1935)

Holidays and Observances

* Saints - optional memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe
* Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Masá'il (Questions) - First day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í Calendar
* Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe Day
* Kenya - Jamhuri Day: Independence Day (from Britain, 1963)