On This Day: 12 November

12 November in Indian history

• 1996A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 collided in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 people, the deadliest such collision in history.India

12 November in world history

• 2015Two suicide bombers detonate explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, Beirut, killing 43 people and injuring over 200 others.
• 2014The Philae lander, deployed from the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe, reaches the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
• 2003Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base.
• 2001War in Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.
• 2001In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 en route to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.
• 1982USSR: Yuri Andropov becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid I. Brezhnev.
• 1980The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings.
• 1979Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.
• 1977France conducts the Oreste nuclear test as 14th in the group of 29, 1975–78 French nuclear tests series.
• 1973The first episode of Last of the Summer Wine, the longest-running television sitcom in history, premiered on the BBC.
• 1956Suez Crisis: During an invasion of Rafah, Israeli soldiers shot and killed an estimated 111 Palestinian refugees and local inhabitants.
• 1956Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations.
• 1944Second World War: In Operation Catechism, the Royal Air Force sank the German battleship Tirpitz (video featured) near Tromsø, Norway, killing about 1,000 sailors on board.
• 1942World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the decisive engagement in a series of sea battles between Allied and Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands, began.
• 1940World War II: Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov arrived in Berlin to discuss the possibility of the Soviet Union joining the Axis powers.
• 1940World War II: Free French forces captured Gabon from Vichy France.
• 1920The Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes signed the Treaty of Rapallo to establish national borders east of the Adriatic Sea.

Born on 12 November

• 1988Russell Westbrook, American basketball player
• 1973Ethan Zohn, American pro soccer player and Survivor: Africa winner
• 1948Hassan Rouhani, Iranian lawyer and politician; 7th President of Iran
• 1940Amjad Khan, Indian actor & director (died 1992)India
• 1896Salim Ali, Indian ornithologist and author (died 1987)India
• 1606Jeanne Mance, French-Canadian nurse, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (died 1673)

Died on 12 November

• 2010Henryk Górecki, Polish composer (born 1933)
• 1965Taher Saifuddin, Indian spiritual leader, 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq (born 1888)India
• 1946Madan Mohan Malaviya, Indian academic and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (born 1861)India
• 1567Anne de Montmorency, French general and diplomat (born 1493)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 12 November in history?

2015: Two suicide bombers detonate explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, Beirut, killing 43 people and injuring over 200 others. 2014: The Philae lander, deployed from the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe, reaches the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. 2003: Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base. 2001: War in Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops.

What happened on 12 November in Indian history?

1996: A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 collided in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 people, the deadliest such collision in history.

Which famous people were born on 12 November?

Russell Westbrook, American basketball player (1988); Ethan Zohn, American pro soccer player and Survivor: Africa winner (1973); Hassan Rouhani, Iranian lawyer and politician; 7th President of Iran (1948); Amjad Khan, Indian actor & director (died 1992) (1940).

Which day is observed on 12 November?

Birth of Sun Yat-Sen, also Doctors' Day and Cultural Renaissance Day. (Republic of China); Constitution Day (Azerbaijan); Father's Day (Indonesia); National Health Day (Indonesia); National Youth Day (East Timor).