# On this day: February 12

February 12 is the 43rd day of the year (43rd in leap years), with 322 days left until the end of the year (323 in a leap year).

## February 12 in one line

Headline entries for February 12, from Wikipedia: in 1994, Edvard Munch's painting The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery of Norway; born 1809: Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and statesman, 16th President of the United States (died 1865); died 1804: Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (born 1724). In 2026 it is a Thursday, in 2027 a Friday.

## Events on February 12

- 1059 Upon reaching Rome, Bruno of Toul is elected as pope Leo IX and starts initiating reforms. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_IX)
- 1502 Queen Isabella I issued an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_conversions_of_Muslims_in_Spain)
- 1502 Vasco da Gama sets sail with 15 ships and 800 men from Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to India. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama)
- 1691 A papal conclave convened to select a new pope after the death of Pope Alexander VIII. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1691_conclave)
- 1855 The precursor of Michigan State University in East Lansing was founded as the United States' first agricultural college. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_State_University)
- 1894 Ère des attentats: In one of the first acts of modern terrorism, Émile Henry threw a bomb into Café Terminus in Paris, France, killing one person and injuring 17 more. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_Terminus_attack)
- 1909 The ferry SS Penguin struck a rock in Wellington Harbour and sank, killing 75 people in New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Penguin)
- 1912 The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi)
- 1917 Mexican football club Toluca FC was founded by a group of local businessmen and sports enthusiasts. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluca_FC)
- 1924 George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue)
- 1935 USS Macon, one of the largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_(ZRS-5))
- 1942 The Imperial Japanese Army initiated the Battle of Pasir Panjang in Kent Ridge Park in Singapore. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Ridge_Park)
- 1945 A devistating tornado outbreak across Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_February_12%2C_1945)
- 1961 The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_1)
- 1968 Following the deaths of two employees on the job, black sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, began a strike that lasted more than two months. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_sanitation_strike)
- 1974 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn)
- 1983 One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zia-ul-Haq)
- 1988 While claiming the right of innocent passage through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea, the American cruiser USS Yorktown and destroyer USS Caron were bumped by Soviet warships. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown_(CG-48))
- 1993 Two-year-old James Bulger was led away from New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, England, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, who became the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger)
- 1994 Edvard Munch's painting The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery of Norway. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scream)
- 2001 The NASA space probe NEAR Shoemaker touched down on Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEAR_Shoemaker)
- 2003 Protesters in La Paz and the Bolivian government brokered a deal to end two days of rioting against a proposed salary tax. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_La_Paz_riots)
- 2009 Just before landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York, killing the house's occupant and all 49 people on board the aircraft. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407)
- 2016 In the first meeting between the leaders of the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow signed the Havana Declaration at José Martí International Airport in Cuba. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Declaration_of_Pope_Francis_and_Patriarch_Kirill)
- 2019 After being informed that its recently purchased coffin of Nedjemankh had been looted, the Metropolitan Museum of Art shuttered its ongoing exhibition Nedjemankh and His Gilded Coffin two months early and later returned the artifact to Egypt. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_of_Nedjemankh)
- 2026 In the first general election since the July Revolution in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, wins a landslide victory upon returning to power after almost 19 years. A referendum held alongside was also approved by the majority of voters. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Bangladeshi_general_election)

## Born on February 12

- 41 Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (died 55) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40s)
- 1768 Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1835) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
- 1804 Heinrich Lenz, German-Italian physicist and academic (died 1865) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Lenz)
- 1809 Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and statesman, 16th President of the United States (died 1865) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln)
- 1809 Charles Darwin, English naturalist, geologist, biologist and theorist (died 1882) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin)
- 1828 George Meredith, English novelist and poet (died 1909) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meredith)
- 1861 Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (died 1937) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Andreas-Salom%C3%A9)
- 1876 13th Dalai Lama (died 1933) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Dalai_Lama)
- 1881 Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina and actress (died 1931) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Pavlova)
- 1884 Max Beckmann, German painter and sculptor (died 1950) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Beckmann)
- 1885 Julius Streicher, German publisher, founded Der Stürmer (died 1946) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Streicher)
- 1893 Omar Bradley, American general (died 1981) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Bradley)
- 1918 Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Schwinger)
- 1923 Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director, producer, and politician (died 2019) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Zeffirelli)
- 1934 Bill Russell, American basketball player and coach (died 2022) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Russell)
- 1942 Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehud_Barak)
- 1968 Josh Brolin, American actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Brolin)
- 1969 Darren Aronofsky, American director, producer, and screenwriter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Aronofsky)
- 1980 Christina Ricci, American actress and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Ricci)
- 1980 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_Ferrero)
- 1988 Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Otamendi)
- 2001 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Georgian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khvicha_Kvaratskhelia)

## Died on February 12

- 1538 Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (born 1480) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Altdorfer)
- 1554 Lady Jane Grey, de facto monarch of England and Ireland for nine days (born 1537; executed) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Jane_Grey)
- 1763 Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (born 1688) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Marivaux)
- 1804 Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (born 1724) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant)
- 1834 Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (born 1768) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schleiermacher)
- 1916 Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (born 1831) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dedekind)
- 1942 Grant Wood, American painter and academic (born 1891) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Wood)
- 1949 Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (born 1906) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_al-Banna)
- 1954 Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (born 1896) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dziga_Vertov)
- 1979 Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1894) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Renoir)
- 1984 Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (born 1914) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Cort%C3%A1zar)
- 1989 Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (born 1931) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bernhard)
- 2000 Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (born 1922) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz)
- 2019 Gordon Banks, English footballer (born 1937) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Banks)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Benedict of Aniane [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Aniane)
- Christian feast day: Julian the Hospitaller [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_the_Hospitaller)
- Christian feast day: Martyrs of Abitinae [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Abitinae)
- Christian feast day: Meletius of Antioch [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meletius_of_Antioch)
- Christian feast day: February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_12_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Georgia Day (Georgia (U.S. state)) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Day)
- Lincoln's Birthday (United States) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln's_Birthday)
- Red Hand Day (United Nations) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hand_Day)
- Union Day (Myanmar) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Day_(Myanmar))

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “February 12”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_12) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/February 12”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/February_12) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“February 12”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_12) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_12?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for February 12 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## February 12 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Thursday | 2026-W07 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2027 | Friday | 2027-W06 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2028 | Saturday | 2028-W06 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2029 | Monday | 2029-W07 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2030 | Tuesday | 2030-W07 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on February 12

None of the 28 countries we track has a public holiday on February 12 in 2026 or 2027.

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← February 11](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/february-11/) · [February 13 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/february-13/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/february-12/