Today in History – September 12 in History
What happened on this day in history – September 12 in History around the world
490 BC | Athenian and Plataean Hoplites commanded by General Miltiades drive back a Persian invasion force under General Datis at Marathon. | |
1213 | Simon de Montfort defeats Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France. | |
1609 | Henry Hudson sails into what is now New York Harbor aboard his sloop Half Moon. | |
1662 | Governor Berkley of Virginia is denied his attempts to repeal the Navigation Acts. | |
1683 | A combined Austrian and Polish army defeats the Turks at Kahlenberg and lifts the siege on Vienna, Austria. | |
1722 | The Treaty of St. Petersburg puts an end to the Russo-Persian War. | |
1786 | Despite his failed efforts to suppress the American Revolution, Lord Cornwallis is appointed governor general of India. | |
1836 | Mexican authorities crush the revolt which broke out on August 25. | |
1918 | British troops retake Havincourt, Moeuvres, and Trescault along the Western Front. | |
1919 | Adolf Hitler joins German Worker’s Party. | |
1939 | In response to the invasion of Poland, the French Army advances into Germany. On this day they reach their furthest penetration-five miles. | |
1940 | Italian forces begin an offensive into Egypt from Libya. | |
1940 | The Lascaux Caves in France, with their prehistoric wall paintings, are discovered. | |
1944 | American troops fight their way into Germany. | |
1945 | French troops land in Indochina. | |
1969 | President Richard Nixon orders a resumption in bombing North Vietnam. | |
1977 | Steve Biko, a South African activist opposing apartheid, dies while in police custody. | |
1980 | Military coup in Turkey. | |
1990 | East and West Germany, along with the UK, US and USSR—the Allied nations that had occupied post-WWII Germany—sign the final settlement for reunification of Germany. | |
1992 | Space Shuttle Endeavor takes off on NASA’s 50th shuttle mission; its crew includes the first African-American woman in space, the first married couple, and the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spacecraft. | |
2003 | UN lifts sanctions against Libya in exchange for that country accepting responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 and paying recompense to victims’ families. | |
2007 | Joseph Estrada, former president of the Philippines, is convicted of plunder. | |
2011 | In New York City, the 9/11 Memorial Museum opens to the public. | |
Born on September 12 | ||
1812 | Richard March Hoe, who built the first successful rotary printing press. | |
1829 | Charles Dudley Warner, essayist and novelist who, with Mark Twain, wrote The Guilded Age. | |
1880 | H.L. Mencken, jornalist and iconoclast known as the “Sage of Baltimore.” | |
1888 | Maurice Chevalier, singer, dancer and actor. | |
1892 | Alfred A. Knopf, American publisher. | |
1910 | Alexander D. Langmuir, epidemiologist, created and led the U.S. Epidemic Intelligence Service. | |
1913 | Jesse Owens, track and field athlete who won four medals at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. | |
1931 | Kristin Hunter, author (God Bless the Child, The Survivors). | |
1931 | George Jones, country singer. | |
1943 | Michael Ondaatje, Canadian novelist and poet (The English Patient). | |
1949 | Charles “Chic” Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, that was highjacked and flown into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, by terrorists. | |
1956 | Brian Robertson, singer, songwriter, musician (Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Wild Horses bands). | |
1956 | Richard “Ricky” Rudd, known as the “Iron Man” of NASCAR racing; he holds the record for the most consecutive NASCAR starts. | |
1981 | Jennifer Hudson, singer, actress; numerous awards include a Grammy (Jennifer Hudson, 2008), and Oscar, Golden Globe and British Academy awards (Dreamgirls, 2006). |