On this day: December 12

Events on December 12

• 627 At the Battle of Nineveh, the Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated the forces of Sasanian emperor Khosrow II, commanded by Rhahzadh, near present-day Mosul, Iraq. Wikipedia
• 627 Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh. Wikipedia
• 1787 Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the US Constitution. Wikipedia
• 1862 American Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River. Wikipedia
• 1870 Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second black U.S. congressman. Wikipedia
• 1901 Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter "S" [•••] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland. Wikipedia
• 1935 The Lebensborn Project, a Nazi reproduction program, is founded by Heinrich Himmler. Wikipedia
• 1936 Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang, a former warlord of Manchuria. Wikipedia
• 1936 The beginning of Xi'an incident. As a result, Chiang Kai Shek is captured. Wikipedia
• 1937 Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze river in China. Wikipedia
• 1939 Winter War: The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1941 The Holocaust: At a Nazi Party meeting in the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler declared the imminent destruction of the Jewish people. Wikipedia
• 1941 The Holocaust: Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad. Wikipedia
• 1945 The People's Republic of Korea is outlawed in the South, by order of the United States Army Military Government in Korea. Wikipedia
• 1946 United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted. Wikipedia
• 1956 United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted. Wikipedia
• 1963 Kenya declares independence from Great Britain. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1979 A magnitude-8.2 earthquake struck just off the shore of Tumaco, Colombia, causing at least 300 deaths, mostly by the resulting tsunami. Wikipedia
• 1999 A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the Philippines's main island of Luzon, killing six people, injuring 40, and causing power outages that affected the capital Manila. Wikipedia
• 2000 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bush v. Gore that the recount of ballots cast in Florida for the presidential election be stopped, effectively making George W. Bush the winner. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2012 North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2. Wikipedia
• 2021 Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands. Wikipedia

Born on December 12

• 1786 William L. Marcy, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (died 1857) Wikipedia
• 1799 Karl Bryullov, Russian painter (died 1852) Wikipedia
• 1805 Henry Wells, American businessman, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (died 1878) Wikipedia
• 1821 Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (died 1880) Wikipedia
• 1863 Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1866 Alfred Werner, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1893 Edward G. Robinson, American actor (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1915 Frank Sinatra, American singer, actor, and producer (died 1998) Wikipedia
• 1927 Robert Noyce, American inventor and businessman, co-founded the Intel Corporation (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1937 Connie Francis, American singer, musician, and actress (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1940 Dionne Warwick, American singer Wikipedia
• 1946 Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazilian racing driver Wikipedia
• 1949 Bill Nighy, English actor Wikipedia
• 1949 Marc Ravalomanana, Malagasy businessman and politician, President of Madagascar Wikipedia
• 1950 Rajinikanth, Indian actor Wikipedia
• 1962 Tracy Austin, American tennis player and sportscaster Wikipedia
• 1970 Jennifer Connelly, American actress Wikipedia
• 1975 Mayim Bialik, American actress, neuroscientist, and author Wikipedia
• 1984 Daniel Agger, Danish footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Victor Moses, Nigerian footballer Wikipedia
• 1994 Otto Warmbier, American student imprisoned in North Korea (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 2001 Michael Olise, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on December 12

• 884 King Carloman II of the Franks (born c.866; hunting accident) Wikipedia
• 1204 Maimonides, Jewish physician, philosopher, and scholar (born 1135 or 1138) Wikipedia
• 1894 John Sparrow David Thompson, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1845) Wikipedia
• 1913 Menelik II, Ethiopian emperor (born 1844) Wikipedia
• 1921 Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer and academic (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1923 Raymond Radiguet, French author and poet (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 1939 Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1883) Wikipedia
• 1968 Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 1985 Anne Baxter, American actress (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 1999 Joseph Heller, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright(born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2003 Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijani general and politician, 3rd President of Azerbaijan (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2007 Ike Turner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2019 Danny Aiello, American actor (born 1933) Wikipedia
• 2020 John le Carré, English author (born 1931) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Corentin of Quimper Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jane Frances de Chantal Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Finnian of Clonard Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas Holland Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ida of Nivelles Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Peter the Aleut Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Vicelinus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Our Lady of Guadalupe Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Russia) Wikipedia
• Day of Neutrality (Turkmenistan) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 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.