September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 110 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 490 BC – Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies, defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece.
• 372 – Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin Xiaowudi, age 10, succeeds his father Jin Jianwendi as Emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
• 1213 – Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.
• 1229 – The Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Majorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.
• 1609 – Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River while aboard the Halve Maen.
• 1683 – Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna – several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
• 1814 – Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.
• 1846 – Elizabeth Barrett elopes with Robert Browning.
• 1847 – Mexican-American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.
• 1848 – Switzerland becomes a Federal state.
• 1857 – The SS Central America sinks about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. The ship was carrying 13–15 tons of gold from the San Francisco Gold Rush.
• 1874 – The District of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada is founded.
• 1885 – Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord, a world record scoreline in professional football.
• 1890 – Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.
• 1897 – Tirah Campaign: Battle of Saragarhi.
• 1906 – The Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, South Wales by Viscount Tredegar.
• 1910 – Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Munich (with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players. Mahler's rehearsal assistant conductor was Bruno Walter)
• 1919 – Adolf Hitler joins the German Workers Party.
• 1930 – Wilfred Rhodes ends his 1110-game first-class career by taking 5 for 95 for H.D.G. Leveson Gower's XI against the Australians.
• 1933 – Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.
• 1938 – Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
• 1940 – Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France.
• 1940 – An explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Kenvil, New Jersey kills 51 people and injures over 200.
• 1942 – World War II: RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks with a heavy loss of life.
• 1942 – World War II: First day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge during the Guadalcanal campaign. U.S. Marines protecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal are attacked by Imperial Japanese Army forces.
• 1943 – World War II: Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, is rescued from house arrest on the Gran Sasso in Abruzzi, by German commando forces led by Otto Skorzeny.
• 1944 – World War II: The liberation of Serbia from Nazi Germany and the Chetniks continues. Bajina Bašta in western Serbia is among those liberated cities. Near Trier, American troops enter Germany for the first time.
• 1948 – Invasion of the State of Hyderabad by the Indian Army on the day after the Pakistani leader Jinnah's death.
• 1952 – Strange occurrences, including a monster sighting, take place in Flatwoods, West Virginia.
• 1958 – Jack Kilby demonstrates the first integrated circuit.
• 1959 – Premiere of Bonanza, the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color.
• 1959 – The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the moon.
• 1961 – The African and Malagasy Union is founded.
• 1964 – Canyonlands National Park is designated as a National Park.
• 1966 – Gemini 11, the penultimate mission of NASA's Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions)
• 1970 – Palestinian terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Jordan, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.
• 1974 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, 'Messiah' of the Rastafari movement, is deposed following a military coup by the Derg, ending a reign of 58 years.
• 1974 – Juventude Africana Amilcar Cabral is founded in Guinea-Bissau.
• 1977 – South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is killed in police custody.
• 1979 – Indonesia is hit with an earthquake that measures 8.1 on the Richter scale.
• 1980 – Military coup in Turkey.
• 1983 – A Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is robbed of approximately US$7 million by Los Macheteros.
• 1983 – The USSR vetoes a UN Security Council Resolution deploring the Soviet shooting down of a Korean civilian jetliner on September 1.
• 1984 – Dwight Gooden sets the baseball record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 246, previously set by Herb Score in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts that season, pitched in 218 innings, set the current record.
• 1988 – Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula 2 days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
• 1990 – The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German re-unification.
• 1992 – NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-47 which marked the 50th shuttle mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space.
• 1992 – Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, is captured by Peruvian special forces; shortly thereafter the rest of Shining Path's leadership fell as well.
• 1994 – Frank Eugene Corder crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the White House's south lawn, striking the West wing and killing himself.
• 1999 – Indonesia announces it will allow international peace-keepers into East Timor.
• 2001 – Ansett Australia, Australia's first commercial interstate airline, collapses due to increased strain on the international airline industry, leaving 10,000 people unemployed.
• 2003 – The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
• 2003 – In Fallujah, US forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers.
• 2005 – Hong Kong Disneyland opens in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
• 2007 – Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of the crime of plunder.
• 2008 – The 2008 Chatsworth train collision in Los Angeles between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train kills 25 people.

Births[link]

• 1492 – Duke Lorenzo II de' Medici of Urbino (d. 1519)
• 1494 – King Francis I of France (d. 1547)
• 1605 – William Dugdale, English antiquarian (d. 1686)
• 1688 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (d. 1731)
• 1690 – Peter Dens, Flemish Catholic theologian (d. 1775)
• 1725 – Guillaume Le Gentil, French astronomer (d. 1792)
• 1736 – Hsinbyushin, Burmese king (d. 1776)
• 1740 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German author (d. 1817)
• 1768 – Benjamin Carr, American composer, singer, teacher, and music publisher (d. 1831)
• 1797 – Samuel Joseph May, American abolitionist (d. 1871)
• 1812 – Sir Edward Creasy, English historian (d. 1878)
• 1812 – Richard Hoe, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1886)
• 1818 – Richard Gatling, American firearms inventor (d. 1903)
• 1818 – Theodor Kullak, German pianist, composer, teacher (d. 1882)
• 1830 – William Sprague IV, American politician (d. 1915)
• 1852 – H. H. Asquith, British statesman (d. 1928)
• 1855 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Canadian politician (d. 1920)
• 1856 – Johann Heinrich Beck, American composer and conductor (d. 1924)
• 1866 – 1st Marquess of Willingdon, Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India (d. 1941)
• 1875 – Matsunosuke Onoe, Japanese actor (d. 1926)
• 1880 – H. L. Mencken, American journalist and author (d. 1956)
• 1885 – Heinrich Hoffmann, German photographer (d. 1957)
• 1888 – Maurice Chevalier, French singer and actor (d. 1972)
• 1891 – Pedro Albizu Campos, Puerto Rican independence advocate (d. 1965)
• 1891 – Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times 1935-61 (d. 1968)
• 1892 – Alfred A. Knopf Sr., American publisher (d. 1984)
• 1894 – Billy Gilbert, American actor and comedian (d. 1971)
• 1895 – Freymóður Jóhannsson, Icelandic artist (d. 1973)
• 1897 – Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1956)
• 1898 – Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer (d. 1963)
• 1898 – Alma Moodie, Australian classical violinist (d. 1943)
• 1898 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-born American artist (d. 1969)
• 1901 – Ben Blue, Canadian actor and comedian (d. 1975)
• 1901 – Shmuel Horowitz, Russian-born Israeli agronomist (d. 1999)
• 1902 – Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, Brazilian politician (d. 1976)
• 1905 – Linda Agostini, Australian murder victim known as the "Pyjama Girl" (d. 1934)
• 1907 – Louis MacNeice, Irish poet (d. 1963)
• 1909 – Donald MacDonald, Canadian politician (d. 1986)
• 1913 – Jesse Owens, American athlete (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Eiji Toyoda, Japanese industrialist
• 1914 – Rais Amrohvi, Pakistani poet and psychoanalyst (d. 1988)
• 1914 – Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (d. 1999)
• 1915 – Frank McGee, American journalist (d. 1974)
• 1915 – Billy Daniels, American singer with big bands and solo (d. 1988)
• 1916 – Tony Bettenhausen, American race car driver (d. 1961)
• 1916 – Edward Binns, American actor (d. 1990)
• 1917 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian politician (d. 2004)
• 1917 – Han Suyin, Eurasian novelist
• 1920 – Irene Dailey, American actress (d. 2008)
• 1921 – Stanisław Lem, Polish writer (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Ellen Demming, American actress (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Mark Rosenzweig, American brain researcher (d. 2009)
• 1922 – Jackson Mac Low, American poet, performance artist, composer and playwright(d. 2004)
• 1925 – Stan Lopata, American baseball player
• 1927 – Mathé Altéry, French singer
• 1927 – Freddie Jones, English character actor
• 1928 – Ernie Vandeweghe, Canadian-born American basketball player and physician
• 1929 – Harvey Schmidt, American composer for musical theatre
• 1930 – Larry Austin, American composer
• 1931 – Sir Ian Holm, English actor
• 1931 – George Jones, American country music singer
• 1931 – Bill McKinney, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1933 – Tatiana Doronina, Russian actress
• 1934 – Glenn Davis, American football player (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Jaegwon Kim, Korean-born American philosopher
• 1937 – George Chuvalo, Canadian boxer
• 1938 – Claude Ruel, French Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1938 – Tatiana Troyanos, American mezzo-soprano (d. 1993)
• 1939 – Henry Waxman, American politician
• 1939 – Phillip Ramey, American composer, pianist, and writer on music
• 1940 – Linda Gray, American actress
• 1940 – Skip Hinnant, American actor
• 1940 – Mickey Lolich, American baseball player
• 1940 – Patrick Mower, English actor
• 1940 – Stephen J. Solarz, American politician (d. 2010)
• 1942 – Michel Drucker, French journalist and television host
• 1942 – François Tavenas, Canadian academic (d. 2004)
• 1942 – Tomás Marco, Spanish/Basque composer
• 1943 – Maria Muldaur, American singer
• 1943 – Michael Ondaatje, Sri Lankan writer
• 1944 – Fred Fay, American disability rights activist
• 1944 – Leonard Peltier, American activist
• 1944 – Vladimir Spivakov, Russian violinist and conductor
• 1944 – Barry White, American singer (d. 2003)
• 1944 – Colin Young, American singer
• 1945 – John Mauceri, American conductor
• 1946 – Tony Bellamy, American guitarist, pianist and vocalist
• 1947 – Bjørn Floberg, Norwegian actor
• 1948 – Luis Lima, Argentinian tenor
• 1948 – Bruce Mahler, American actor
• 1948 – Max Walker, Australian cricketer
• 1949 – Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater
• 1950 – Marguerite Blais, Canadian journalist, radio host and politician
• 1950 – Gustav Brunner, Austrian engineer
• 1950 – Cynthia Myers, American model
• 1950 – Mike Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1951 – Bertie Ahern, Irish politician
• 1951 – Norm Dubé, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1951 – Ray Gravell, Welsh rugby union player (d. 2007)
• 1951 – Joe Pantoliano, American actor
• 1951 – Gerald Stano, American serial killer (d. 1998)
• 1951 – Ali-Ollie Woodson, American singer & musician (The Temptations) (d. 2010)
• 1952 – Gerry Beckley, American musician (America)
• 1952 – Neil Peart, Canadian drummer, lyricist and author (Rush)
• 1954 – Adrian Adonis, American professional wrestler (d. 1988)
• 1955 – Peter Scolari, American actor
• 1956 – Barry Andrews, British musician
• 1956 – Sam Brownback, American politician
• 1956 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong artist and director (d. 2003)
• 1956 – Ricky Rudd, American race car driver
• 1956 – Walter Woon, Singaporean attorney and politician
• 1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish rock guitarist
• 1957 – Rachel Ward, English actress
• 1957 – Hans Zimmer, German composer
• 1958 – Wilfredo Benitez, American boxer
• 1958 – Gregg Edelman, American actor
• 1959 – Scott Brown, American politician
• 1960 – Stefanos Korkolis, Greek songwriter and pianist
• 1961 – Mylène Farmer, French singer and songwriter
• 1961 – Kathem Al Saher, Iraqi singer
• 1962 – Dino Merlin, Bosnian singer
• 1962 – Amy Yasbeck, American actress
• 1963 – Paul Bellini, Canadian screenwriter, comedian
• 1964 – Dieter Hecking, German footballer
• 1964 – Simon Bowthorpe, British businessman
• 1965 – John Norwood Fisher, American musician
• 1965 – Einstein Kristiansen, Norwegian cartoonist, designer and TV host
• 1965 – Vernon Maxwell, American basketball player
• 1966 – Darren E. Burrows, American actor
• 1966 – Ben Folds, American musician
• 1966 – Vezio Sacratini, Italian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Pat Listach, American baseball player
• 1967 – Jason Statham, English actor
• 1967 – Louis C.K., American comedian
• 1968 – Ler LaLonde, American guitarist (Primus)
• 1968 – Richard Snell, South African cricketer
• 1968 – Paul F. Tompkins, American comedian
• 1969 – Ángel Cabrera, Argentine golfer
• 1969 – James Frey, American writer
• 1969 – Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer
• 1970 – Josh Hopkins, American actor
• 1970 – Nathan Larson, American musician (Shudder To Think, Hot One)
• 1971 – Ahn Jae Wook, South Korean actor and composer
• 1972 – Sidney, Brazilian footballer
• 1973 – Darren Campbell, British athlete
• 1973 – Ki-Jana Carter, American football player
• 1973 – Martin Lapointe, Canadian hockey player
• 1973 – Paul Walker, American actor
• 1974 – Caroline Aigle, French fighter pilot (d. 2007)
• 1974 – Jennifer Nettles, American country singer (Sugarland)
• 1974 – Nuno Valente, Portuguese footballer
• 1975 – Luis Castillo, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 – Bizzy Bone, American rapper, (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
• 1976 – Maciej Żurawski, Polish footballer
• 1977 – Nathan Bracken, Australian cricketer
• 1977 – Grant Denyer, Australian television personality and TV Host
• 1977 – Jeff Irwin, American musician
• 1977 – James McCartney, British musician, son of Paul McCartney
• 1977 – Idan Raichel, Israeli musician
• 1977 – David Thompson, English footballer
• 1978 – Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and actress
• 1978 – Benjamin McKenzie, American actor
• 1978 – Ruben Studdard, American singer
• 1980 – Sean Burroughs, American baseball player
• 1980 – Fernando Cesar de Souza, Brazilian footballer
• 1980 – Gus G., Greek musician
• 1980 – Joe Loeffler, American musician (Chevelle)
• 1980 – Josef Vašíček, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2011)
• 1980 – Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
• 1980 – Roda Antar, Lebanese football player
• 1981 – Marty Adams, Canadian actor and comedian
• 1981 – Alan Arruda, Brazilian footballer
• 1981 – Jennifer Hudson, American actress and singer
• 1981 – Staciana Stitts, American swimmer
• 1981 – Hosea Chanchez, American actor
• 1982 – Nana Ozaki, Japanese model
• 1982 – Zoran Planinic, Croatian basketball player
• 1983 – Tom Geißler, German footballer
• 1983 – Rami Haikal, Jordanian guitarist
• 1983 – Sebastian Hofmann, German footballer
• 1983 – Daniel Muir, American football player
• 1983 – Sergio Parisse, Argentina-born Italian rugby player
• 1983 – Clayton Richard, American baseball player
• 1983 – Carly Smithson, Irish singer
• 1984 – September, Swedish singer
• 1985 – Jonatan Cerrada, Belgian singer and actor
• 1986 – Joanne Jackson, English swimmer
• 1986 – Yuto Nagatomo, Japanese footballer
• 1986 – Dimitrios Regas, Greek sprinter
• 1986 – Emmy Rossum, American actress and singer
• 1988 – Amanda Jenssen, Swedish singer
• 1989 – Freddie Freeman, American baseball player
• 1989 – Andrew Luck, American football player
• 1996 – Colin Ford, American actor

Deaths[link]

• 1185 – Andronikos I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1118)
• 1213 – King Peter II of Aragon (b. 1174)
• 1362 – Pope Innocent VI
• 1369 – Blanche of Lancaster, English noblewoman (b. 1345)
• 1500 – Albert, Duke of Saxony (b. 1443)
• 1612 – Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (b. 1552)
• 1642 – Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars, French conspirator (b. 1620)
• 1660 – Jacob Cats, Dutch poet, jurist, and politician (b. 1577)
• 1665 – Jean Bolland, Belgian writer (b. 1596)
• 1672 – Tanneguy Lefebvre, French classical scholar (b. 1615)
• 1683 – King Afonso VI of Portugal (b. 1643)
• 1691 – John George III, Elector of Saxony (b. 1647)
• 1695 – Jacob Abendana, Spanish scholar (b. 1630)
• 1712 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter (b. 1637)
• 1764 – Jean-Philippe Rameau, French composer (b. 1683)
• 1779 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician (b. 1711)
• 1810 – Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English merchant banker (b. 1740)
• 1814 – Robert Ross, English Army officer (b. 1766)
• 1819 – Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general (b. 1742)
• 1836 – Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German writer (b. 1801)
• 1869 – Peter Mark Roget, British lexicographer (b. 1779)
• 1870 – Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author (b. 1836)
• 1874 – François Guizot, French historian and statesman (b. 1787)
• 1903 – Duncan Gillies, Australia politician (b. 1834)
• 1907 – Prince Ilia Chavchavadze, Georgian noble (b. 1837)
• 1912 – Pierre-Hector Coullie, French Archbishop (b. 1829)
• 1918 – George Reid, Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1845)
• 1919 – Leonid Andreyev, Russian writer (b. 1871)
• 1923 – Jules Violle, French physicist and inventor (b. 1841)
• 1927 – Sarah Frances Whiting, American physicist and astronomer (b. 1847)
• 1929 – Rainis, Latvian poet and playwright (b. 1865)
• 1938 – Prince Arthur of Connaught (b. 1883)
• 1945 – Hajime Sugiyama, Japanese general (b. 1880)
• 1953 – Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer (b. 1884)
• 1953 – Lewis Stone, American character actor (b. 1879)
• 1956 – Hans Carossa, German writer (b. 1878)
• 1956 – Sándor Graf Festetics, Hungarian politician (b. 1882)
• 1960 – Dino Borgioli, Italian lyric tenor (b. 1891)
• 1961 – Carl Hermann, German physicist (b. 1898)
• 1962 – Spot Poles, American baseball player b. 1887
• 1967 – Vladimir Bartol, Slovene writer (b. 1903)
• 1968 – Tommy Armour, Scottish golfer (b. 1894)
• 1972 – William Boyd, American actor (b. 1895)
• 1977 – Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (b. 1946)
• 1977 – Les Haylen, Australian politician and novelist (b. 1898)
• 1977 – Robert Lowell, American poet (b. 1917)
• 1978 – Sir William Hudson, Australian engineer (b. 1896)
• 1981 – Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
• 1982 – Federico Moreno Torroba, Spanish composer (b. 1891)
• 1986 – Jacques Henri Lartigue, French photographer (b. 1894)
• 1990 – Athene Seyler, English actress and centenarian (b. 1889)
• 1991 – Bruce Matthews, Canadian Army officer and businessman (b. 1909)
• 1992 – Anthony Perkins, American actor (b. 1932)
• 1993 – Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (b. 1917)
• 1993 – Willie Mosconi, American billiards player (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Tom Ewell, American actor (b. 1909)
• 1994 – Boris Yegorov, Russian cosmonaut (b. 1937)
• 1995 – Jeremy Brett, English actor (b. 1933)
• 1996 – Ernesto Geisel, President of Brazil (b. 1907)
• 1999 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Konrad Kujau, German illustrator and forger (b. 1938)
• 2000 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist (b. 1934)
• 2001 – Victor Wong, Chinese-American actor (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Johnny Cash, American singer and guitarist (b. 1932)
• 2004 – Kenny Buttrey, American drummer, b. 1945
• 2008 – Bob Quinn, Australian footballer (b. 1915)
• 2008 – David Foster Wallace, American author and essayist (b. 1962)
• 2009 – Norman Borlaug, American agronomist (b. 1914)
• 2009 – Jack Kramer, American tennis player (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Willy Ronis, French photographer (b. 1910)
• 2010 – Claude Chabrol, French director and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 2010 – Giulio Zignoli, Italian footballer (b. 1946)
• 2011 – Alexander Galimov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1985)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Ailbe of Emly
  • Guy of Anderlecht
  • Holy Name of Mary
  • Laisrén mac Nad Froích
  • Sacerdos of Lyon
  • September 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Commemoration of the mass hanging of the Saint Patrick's Battalion. (Mexico)
• Defenders Day (Maryland)
• Earliest date on which Programmers' Day can fall, while September 13 is the latest, celebrated on the 256th day of the year. (Russia and programmers around the world)
• National Day (Cape Verde)
• National Revolution Day (Ethiopia)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: September 12

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada