On this day: June 12

Events on June 12

• 1429 Hundred Years' War: On the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Wikipedia
• 1550 The city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden. Wikipedia
• 1772 French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne and 25 of his men are killed by Māori in New Zealand. Wikipedia
• 1798 Following the successful French invasion of Malta, the Knights Hospitaller surrendered Malta to Napoleon, initiating two years of occupation. Wikipedia
• 1817 The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais. Wikipedia
• 1821 Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Isma'il Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain. Wikipedia
• 1899 New Richmond tornado: The ninth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200. Wikipedia
• 1914 As part of the Ottoman Empire's policies of ethnic cleansing, Turkish irregulars began a six-day massacre in the predominantly Greek town of Phocaea. Wikipedia
• 1914 Massacre of Phocaea: Turkish irregulars slaughter 50 to 100 Greeks and expel thousands of others in an ethnic cleansing operation in the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1935 A ceasefire is negotiated between Bolivia and Paraguay, ending the Chaco War. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux. Wikipedia
• 1943 The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine). Around 1,180 Jews are led to the city's old Jewish graveyard and shot. Wikipedia
• 1954 Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him at the time the youngest unmartyred saint in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged ten and nine at the time of their deaths, are declared as saints. Wikipedia
• 1964 Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela's original 5-year sentence is extended to life sentence for high treason together with Denis Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi and Walter Sisulu in the Rivonia Trial for sabotage in South Africa. Wikipedia
• 1975 State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain: Judge Jagmohanlal Sinha rules against Indira Gandhi in a case on her election to the Indian Parliament, and that she should be banned from holding any public office, triggering a political crisis. Wikipedia
• 1982 A nuclear disarmament rally and concert is held in New York City. Wikipedia
• 1987 Cold War: During a speech at the Brandenburg Gate by the Berlin Wall, US president Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" (speech featured). Wikipedia
• 1987 Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Wikipedia
• 1987 The Central African Republic's former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule. Wikipedia
• 1990 Russia Day: The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty. Wikipedia
• 1999 Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins when a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force, Kosovo Force (KFor), enters the province of Kosovo in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Wikipedia
• 1999 In the aftermath of the bombing of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo War, the NATO-led Kosovo Force entered the territory with a mandate of establishing a secure environment. Wikipedia
• 2010 Sixteen-year-old Abby Sunderland was rescued after her boat was dismasted in the Indian Ocean while trying to become the youngest sailor around the world. Wikipedia
• 2018 United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea hold the first meeting between leaders of their two countries in Singapore. Wikipedia
• 2026 South African-American businessman Elon Musk becomes the first US$ trillionaire with the initial public offering of SpaceX. Wikipedia

Born on June 12

• 1802 Harriet Martineau, English sociologist and author (died 1876) Wikipedia
• 1806 John A. Roebling, German-American engineer, designed the Brooklyn Bridge (died 1869) Wikipedia
• 1827 Johanna Spyri, Swiss author, best known for Heidi (died 1901) Wikipedia
• 1873 Jacques Pellegrin, French zoologist (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1890 Egon Schiele, Austrian soldier and painter (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1892 Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1897 Anthony Eden, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1899 Fritz Albert Lipmann, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1908 Otto Skorzeny, German SS officer (died 1975) Wikipedia
• 1914 Go Seigen, Chinese-Japanese Go player (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1915 David Rockefeller, American banker and businessman (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1924 George H. W. Bush, American lieutenant and politician, 41st President of the United States (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1929 Anne Frank, German-Dutch diarist; victim of the Holocaust (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1937 Vladimir Arnold, Russian-French mathematician and academic (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1941 Chick Corea, American pianist and composer (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1942 Bert Sakmann, German physiologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1962 Jordan Peterson, Canadian psychologist, professor and cultural critic Wikipedia
• 1979 Diego Milito, Argentine footballer Wikipedia
• 1981 Adriana Lima, Brazilian model and actress Wikipedia
• 1985 Blake Ross, American computer programmer, co-created Mozilla Firefox Wikipedia
• 1985 Dave Franco, American actor Wikipedia
• 1992 Philippe Coutinho, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on June 12

• 796 Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757) Wikipedia
• 816 Pope Leo III (born 750) Wikipedia
• 918 Æthelflæd, Mercian daughter of Alfred the Great (born 870) Wikipedia
• 1912 Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1822) Wikipedia
• 1937 Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Russian general (born 1893) Wikipedia
• 1980 Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime minister of Japan (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 1982 Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1886) Wikipedia
• 1983 Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 1994 Nicole Brown Simpson, ex-wife of O. J. Simpson (born 1959) and Ron Goldman, restaurant employee (born 1968) Wikipedia
• 2003 Gregory Peck, American actor and political activist (born 1916) Wikipedia
• 2006 György Ligeti, Romanian-Hungarian composer and educator (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2012 Elinor Ostrom, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1933) Wikipedia
• 2023 Silvio Berlusconi, Italian businessman and politician, Prime Minister of Italy (born 1936) Wikipedia
• 2024 Jerry West, American basketball player and executive (born 1938) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Chaco Armistice Day (Paraguay) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: 108 Martyrs of World War II Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Basilides Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Hildegard Burjan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Enmegahbowh (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eskil Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Florida Cevoli Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: First Ecumenical Council (Lutheran) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gaspar Bertoni Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Candida of the Eucharist Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Mercedes de Jesús Molina Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Onuphrius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Leo III Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ternan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: June 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Dia dos Namorados (Brazil) Wikipedia
• Helsinki Day (Finland) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898. Wikipedia
• June 12 Commemoration (Lagos State) Wikipedia
• Loving Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Russia Day (Russia) Wikipedia
• Women Veterans Recognition Day (United States) Wikipedia
• World Day Against Child Labour, and its related observances: Children's Day (Haiti) Wikipedia

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