On This Day: 12 April

12 April in world history

• 2007A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people.
• 1999During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, an American McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle shoots a passenger train, killing between 20 and 60 people.
• 1993Bosnian War: NATO forces began Operation Deny Flight to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered by the United Nations Security Council.
• 1990Widerøe Flight 839 crashes after takeoff from Værøy Airport in Norway, killing five people.
• 1985Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-51D to deploy two communications satellites.
• 1980Canadian athlete Terry Fox embarked on an east-to-west "Marathon of Hope" from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a prosthetic leg to raise funds for cancer research.
• 1961Aboard Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin performed the first human spaceflight, completing one orbit of Earth in 108 minutes.
• 1945World 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.
• 1917World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
• 1900One day after its enactment by the Congress, President William McKinley signs the Foraker Act into law, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
• 1877The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
• 1864American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
• 1861Confederate forces began a bombardment of Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, starting the American Civil War.
• 1822Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began a massacre of tens of thousands of Greeks (depicted) on the island of Chios.
• 1807The Froberg mutiny of Greek and Albanian troops in British service ended with the explosion of the gunpowder magazine at Fort Ricasoli, Malta.
• 1782American 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.
• 1776American Revolution: The North Carolina Provincial Congress passed the Halifax Resolves, the first official action in the American colonies calling for independence from Great Britain.
• 1204Troops of the Fourth Crusade entered Constantinople and began a sack of the city, temporarily dissolving the Byzantine Empire.

Born on 12 April

• 1943Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok SabhaIndia
• 1936Charles Napier, American actor (died 2011)
• 1917Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (died 1978)India
• 1913Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (died 2013)
• 1869Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (died 1922)
• 811Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth Imam of Shia Islam (died 835)

Died on 12 April

• 2026Asha Bhosle, Indian playback singer, businesswoman, actress and television personality (born 1933)India
• 2014Pierre Autin-Grenier, French author and poet (born 1947)
• 1906Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar, academic, and philanthropist (born 1836)India
• 1866Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded Fleetwood (born 1801)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 12 April in history?

2007: A suicide bomber penetrates the Green Zone and detonates in a cafeteria within a parliament building, killing Iraqi MP Mohammed Awad and wounding more than twenty other people. 1999: During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, an American McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle shoots a passenger train, killing between 20 and 60 people. 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. 1990: Widerøe Flight 839 crashes after takeoff from Værøy Airport in Norway, killing five people.

Which famous people were born on 12 April?

Sumitra Mahajan, Indian politician, 16th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1943); Charles Napier, American actor (died 2011) (1936); Vinoo Mankad, Indian cricketer (died 1978) (1917); Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (died 2013) (1913).

Which day is observed on 12 April?

Children's Day (Bolivia); Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Cosmonautics Day (Russia); Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: International Day of Human Space Flight; Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: Yuri's Night (International observance); Halifax Day (North Carolina).