December 12 Historical Events

The following events took place on December 12. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 48 events. Showing 1 - 30.

• 627
  Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II’s Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.
• 1098
  First Crusade: Siege of Ma'arrat al-Numan – Crusaders breach the town’s walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they reportedly resort to cannibalism.
• 1388
  Mary of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.
• 1408
  The Order of the Dragon a monarchical chivalric order is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary.
• 1781
  American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant – A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet.
• 1787
  Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, five days after Delaware became the first.
• 1862
  American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks 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 second black U.S. congressman, the first being Hiram Revels.
• 1897
  Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is founded.
• 1901
  Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter “S” [***] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland.
• 1911
  Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
• 1911
  King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.
• 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.
• 1918
  The Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk Hermann for the first time.

• 1925
  The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Iran, starting the Pahlavi dynasty.
• 1935
  Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
• 1936
  Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
• 1937
  Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident – Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS 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.
• 1939
  HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
• 1940
  World War II: 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. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
• 1941
  World War II: USMC F4F “Wildcats” sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
• 1941
  World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
• 1941
  Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
• 1942
  World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
• 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 Malaya allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.