December 12

What happened that day?

• 2012: North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2, using an Unha-3 carrier rocket.
• 2001: Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
• 2000: The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
• 1991: The Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.
• 1988: The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.
• 1985: Arrow Air Flight 1285, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
• 1984: Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya becomes the third president of Mauritania after a coup d'état against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the latter is attending a summit.
• 1983: The Australian Labor government led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating floats the Australian dollar.
• 1979: The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300-600, and generating a large tsunami.
• 1979: The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.
• 1979: President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq confers Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
• 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.
• 1969: Years of Lead: Piazza Fontana bombing: The offices of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
• 1964: Prime Minister Jomo [Kenya](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya)tta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
• 1963: Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1956: Beginning of the Irish Republican Army's "Border Campaign".
• 1950: Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
• 1948: Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali massacre: Fourteen members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaya allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
• 1946: A fire at an ice plant in Hudson Heights, Manhattan spreads to an adjacent tenement, killing 37 people.
• 1942: World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad.
• 1941: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery
• 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: World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, [Philippine](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine)s. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
• 1940: World War II: Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, [Fitzalan Square](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzalan_Square), Sheffield, as a result of a German air raid.
• 1939: HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
• 1939: Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi: Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
• 1937: Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China.
• 1936: Xi'an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
• 1935: Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler.
• 1925: The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Iran, starting the Pahlavi dynasty.
• 1918: The Flag of Estonia is raised atop the Pikk Hermann for the first time.
• 1917: In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
• 1915: President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
• 1911: King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck are enthroned as Emperor and Empress of India.
• 1911: Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
• 1901: Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [*] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland.
• 1897: Belo Horizonte, the first planned city in Brazil, is founded.
• 1870: Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman, the first being Hiram Revels.
• 1866: Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 361 miners and rescuers.
• 1862: American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by a controlled mine.
• 1787: Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, five days after Delaware became the first.
• 1781: American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant: A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet.
• 1408: The Order of the Dragon, a monarchical chivalric order, is created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then king of Hungary.
• 1388: Mary of Enghien sells the lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.
• 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.
• 884: King Carloman II dies after a hunting accident. He is succeeded by his cousin, emperor Charles the Fat, who for the last time reunites the Frankish Empire.
• 627: Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.