On this day: April 12

Events on April 12

• 1782 American Revolution: A Royal Navy fleet led by Admiral George Rodney defeats a French fleet led by the Comte de Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea. Wikipedia
• 1796 War of the First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte wins his first victory as an army commander at the Battle of Montenotte, splitting the Austrian and Piedmontese armies away from each other, and marking the beginning of the Piedmontese surrender in the war. Wikipedia
• 1807 The Froberg mutiny on Malta ends when the remaining mutineers blow up the magazine of Fort Ricasoli. Wikipedia
• 1820 Alexander Ypsilantis is declared leader of Filiki Eteria, a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece. Wikipedia
• 1822 Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began a massacre of tens of thousands of Greeks on the island of Chios. Wikipedia
• 1831 The Broughton Suspension Bridge near Manchester, England, collapsed reportedly because of mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step across it. Wikipedia
• 1831 Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse. Wikipedia
• 1861 Confederate forces began a bombardment of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, starting the American Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1877 The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal. Wikipedia
• 1900 One day after its enactment by the Congress, President William McKinley signs the Foraker Act into law, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans. Wikipedia
• 1927 Rocksprings, 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. Wikipedia
• 1934 The 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. Wikipedia
• 1945 World 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. Wikipedia
• 1945 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office; Vice President Harry S. Truman succeeds him. Wikipedia
• 1961 Space Race: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1. Wikipedia
• 1961 Aboard Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin performed the first human spaceflight, completing one orbit of Earth in 108 minutes. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits. Wikipedia
• 1973 About 1,700 gravediggers in New York City began a 12-week strike, causing a delay in the burial of roughly 1,400 bodies in the city. Wikipedia
• 1983 Harold Washington is elected as the first black mayor of Chicago. Wikipedia
• 1990 Widerøe Flight 839 crashes after takeoff from Værøy Airport in Norway, killing five people. Wikipedia
• 1993 Bosnian War: NATO forces began Operation Deny Flight to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered by the United Nations Security Council. Wikipedia
• 1999 United 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. Wikipedia
• 2009 Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwean dollar as its official currency. Wikipedia
• 2014 The Great Fire of Valparaíso ravages the Chilean city of Valparaíso, killing 16 people, displacing nearly 10,000, and destroying more than 2,500 homes. Wikipedia
• 2014 A fire broke out near Valparaíso, Chile, eventually destroying at least 2,500 homes and leaving approximately 11,000 people homeless (damage pictured). Wikipedia

Born on April 12

• 1484 Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter's Basilica (died 1546) Wikipedia
• 1577 Christian IV of Denmark (died 1648) Wikipedia
• 1777 Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (died 1852) Wikipedia
• 1823 Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright and translator (died 1886) Wikipedia
• 1884 Otto Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1951) Wikipedia
• 1903 Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1933 Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano and actress (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1942 Jacob Zuma, South African politician, 4th President of South Africa Wikipedia
• 1946 Ed O'Neill, American actor and comedian Wikipedia
• 1947 Tom Clancy, American historian and author (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1947 David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host Wikipedia
• 1948 Marcello Lippi, Italian footballer, manager, and coach Wikipedia
• 1948 Joschka Fischer, German academic and politician Wikipedia
• 1950 Joyce Banda, Malawian politician, 4th president of Malawi Wikipedia
• 1956 Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer Wikipedia
• 1971 Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1978 Guy Berryman, Scottish bassist (Coldplay) Wikipedia
• 1979 Claire Danes, American actress Wikipedia
• 1979 Jennifer Morrison, American actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Tulsi Gabbard, American politician Wikipedia
• 1990 Hiroki Sakai, Japanese footballer Wikipedia
• 1994 Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress Wikipedia

Died on April 12

• 352 Julius I, pope of the Catholic Church Wikipedia
• 901 Eudokia Baïana, Byzantine empress and wife of Leo VI Wikipedia
• 1555 Joanna, Queen of Castile and Aragon (born 1479) Wikipedia
• 1782 Metastasio, Italian-Austrian poet and composer (born 1698) Wikipedia
• 1817 Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (born 1730) Wikipedia
• 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (born 1882) Wikipedia
• 1975 Josephine Baker, French actress, activist, and humanitarian (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1981 Little River attacks in Durham, North Carolina Wikipedia
• 1981 Joe Louis, American boxer and wrestler (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 1997 George Wald, American neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 2001 Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the smiley (born 1921) Wikipedia
• 2008 Patrick Hillery, Irish physician and politician, 6th President of Ireland (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2022 Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian, actor, and singer (born 1955) Wikipedia
• 2026 Asha Bhosle, Indian playback singer, businesswoman, actress and television personality (born 1933) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (Bolivia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Adoniram Judson (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Alferius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Angelo Carletti di Chivasso Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Erkembode Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Julius I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sabbas the Goth Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Teresa of the Andes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Zeno of Verona Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Cosmonautics Day (Russia) Wikipedia
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: International Day of Human Space Flight Wikipedia
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Yuri's Night (International observance) Wikipedia
• Halifax Day (North Carolina) Wikipedia
• National Redemption Day (Liberia) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 12” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.