June 12th. TODAY IN HISTORY

June 12 is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 202 days remaining until the end of the year.


1381 – Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath.

1418 – An insurrection delivers Paris to the Burgundians.

1429 – Hundred Years' War: 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 in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau.

1560 – Battle of Okehazama: Oda Nobunaga defeats Imagawa Yoshimoto.

1653 – First Anglo-Dutch War: the Battle of the Gabbard begins and lasts until June 13.

1665 – England installs a municipal government in New York City (the former Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam).

1758 – French and Indian War: Siege of Louisbourg – James Wolfe's attack at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia commences.

1775 – American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.

1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted.

1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Ballynahinch.

1860 – The State Bank of the Russian Empire is established.

1864 – American Civil War, Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – Ulysses S. Grant gives the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory when he pulls his Union troops from their positions at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.

1889 – 78 are killed in the Armagh rail disaster near Armagh in what is now Northern Ireland.

1898 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.

1899 – New Richmond Tornado: the eighth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.

1922 – At Windsor Castle, King George V receives the colours of the six Irish regiments that are to be disbanded – the Royal Irish Regiment, the Connaught Rangers, the South Irish Horse, the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

1939 – Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.

1939 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.

1940 – World War II: 13,000 British and French troops surrender to Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.

1942 – Holocaust: Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.

1943 – Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Berezhany, western Ukraine. 1,180 Jews are led to the city's old Jewish graveyard and shot.

1944 – American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division secure the town of Carentan.

1954 – Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him the youngest non-martyr saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

1963 – Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith.

1964 – Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.

1967 – The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

1967 – Venera program: Venera 4 is launched (it will become the first space probe to enter another planet's atmosphere and successfully return data).

1978 – David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" killer in New York City, is sentenced to 365 years in prison for six killings.

1979 – Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.

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.

1987 – Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

1990 – Russia Day – the parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.

1991 – Russians elect Boris Yeltsin as the president of the republic.

1991 – 1991 Kokkadichcholai massacre: the Sri Lankan Army massacres 152 minority Tamil civilians in the village Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town
of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

1993 – An election takes place in Nigeria which and is later annulled by the military Government led by Ibrahim Babangida.

1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are murdered outside her home in Los Angeles, California. O.J. Simpson is later acquitted of the killings, but is held liable in wrongful death civil suit.

1994 – The Boeing 777, the world's largest twinjet, makes its first flight.

1996 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a law against indecency on the internet.

1997 – Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London.

1999 – Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins when a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force (KFor) enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

2000 – Sandro Rosa do Nascimento takes hostages while robbing Bus #174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the highly-publicized standoff becomes a media circus and ends with the death of do Nascimento and a hostage.

2001 – Robert Edward Dyer is sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for attempting to extort money from a British supermarket chain through a letter bomb campaign.

2009 – A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to wide ranging protests in Iran and around the world.

Births

• 1107 – Emperor Gaozong of China (d. 1187)
• 1519 – Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1574)
• 1577 – Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)
• 1771 – Patrick Gass, American sergeant in the Lewis and Clark Expedition (d. 1870)
• 1775 – Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (d. 1851)
• 1777 – Robert Clark, American politician (d. 1837)
• 1795 – John Marston, Served in the Union Navy during the Civil War
• 1802 – Harriet Martineau, controversial journalist, political economist, abolitionist and life-long feminist (d. 1876)
• 1806 – John A. Roebling, German-American civil engineer (Brooklyn Bridge) (d. 1869)
• 1812 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist (d. 1890)
• 1819 – Charles Kingsley, English writer (d. 1875)
• 1827 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss writer (d. 1901)
• 1841 – Watson Fothergill English Architect based in Nottingham (d. 1928)
• 1851 – Sir Oliver Lodge, English physicist and writer (d. 1940)
• 1858 – Harry Hamilton Johnston, British polymath (d. 1927)
• 1861 – William Attewell, English cricketer (d. 1927)
• 1864 – Frank Chapman, American ornithologist (d. 1945)
• 1875 – Sam De Grasse, Canadian actor (d. 1953)
• 1888 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician (d. 1920)
• 1890 – Egon Schiele, Austrian painter and graphic artist (d. 1918)
• 1892 – Djuna Barnes, American author (d. 1982)
• 1892 – Apostolos Grozos, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (d. 1981)
• 1897 – Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Fritz Albert Lipmann, American biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Hendrik Elias, Flemish politician (d. 1973)
• 1903 – Emmett Hardy, American musician (d. 1925)
• 1905 – Ray Barbuti, American athlete (d. 1988)
• 1906 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (d. 1977)
• 1908 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian TV pioneer and president of the CBC (d. 1988)
• 1908 – Marina Semyonova, Russian ballerina (d. 2010)
• 1908 – Otto Skorzeny, WWII German SS commando (d. 1975)
• 1910 – Bill Naughton, English playwright (d. 1992)
• 1912 – Carl Iver Hovland, American psychologist (d. 1961)
• 1913 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian army general (d. 1996)
• 1915 – Christopher Mayhew, British politician (d. 1997)
• 1915 – David Rockefeller, American banker
• 1916 – Irwin Allen, American film producer (d. 1991)
• 1916 – Raul Hector Castro, American politician
• 1918 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Uta Hagen, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Dave Berg, American cartoonist (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Peter Jones, English actor (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Jim Siedow, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Christopher Derrick, British writer (d. 2007)
• 1921 – James Archibald Houston, Canadian artist (d. 2005)
• 1921 – Luis García Berlanga, Spanish film director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
• 1922 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and science writer
• 1923 – Monty Westmore, American make-up artist (d. 2007)
• 1924 – George H. W. Bush, American politician, 11th Director of Central Intelligence, 40th Vice President of the United States and 41st President of the United States
• 1925 – Jaime Montestrela, Portuguese writer (d. 1975)
• 1926 – Jackie Pallo, English professional wrestler (d. 2006)
• 1928 – Vic Damone, American singer
• 1928 – Petros Molyviatis, Greek politician
• 1928 – Richard M. Sherman, American songwriter
• 1929 – Brigid Brophy, British writer (d. 1995)
• 1929 – Anne Frank, German-born Dutch Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim (d. 1945)
• 1929 – Jameel Jalibi, Pakistani scholar, writer, and Urdu linguist
• 1930 – Donald Byrne, American chess player (d. 1976)
• 1930 – Jim Nabors, American actor
• 1930 – Innes Ireland, Scottish racing driver (d. 1993)
• 1932 – Mimi Coertse, South African soprano
• 1932 – Rona Jaffe, American novelist (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian athlete (d. 2002)
• 1933 – Eddie Adams, American photographer, won Pulitzer Prize (d. 2004)
• 1934 – John A. Alonzo, American cinematographer (d. 2001)
• 1937 – Vladimir Arnold, Russian mathematician
• 1937 – Klaus Basikow, German football player and manager
• 1937 – Antal Festetics, Austrian biologist
• 1938 – Tom Oliver, Australian actor
• 1939 – Frank McCloskey, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1941 – Marv Albert, American sportscaster
• 1941 – Chick Corea, American musician
• 1941 – Roy Harper, English musician
• 1942 – Bert Sakmann, German physiologist, Nobel laureate
• 1942 – Len Barry, American singer and musician (The Dovells)
• 1943 – Reg Presley, English singer/songwriter (The Troggs)
• 1945 – Pat Jennings, Northern Irish footballer
• 1946 – Michel Bergeron, NHL head coach
• 1948 – Hans Binder, Austrian racing driver
• 1948 – Herbert Meyer, German footballer
• 1949 – Jens Böhrnsen, German politician
• 1949 – Marc Tardif, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1949 – John Wetton, English musician (Asia)
• 1951 – Andranik Margaryan, 14th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 2007)
• 1951 – Bun E. Carlos, American musician (Cheap Trick)
• 1951 – Brad Delp, American singer (Boston) (d. 2007)
• 1951 – Hans Niessl, Austrian politician
• 1952 – Pete Farndon, English musician (The Pretenders) (d. 1983)
• 1952 – Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy under George W. Bush
• 1953 – Allan Weiner, American radio station owner
• 1953 – Rocky Burnette, American Rockabilly musician
• 1953 – David Thornton, American actor
• 1954 – Neil Oatley, English engineer
• 1956 – Terry Alderman, Australian cricketer
• 1957 – Timothy Busfield, American actor
• 1957 – Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer and coach
• 1958 – Rebecca Holden, American actress and singer
• 1958 – Rory Sparrow, American basketball player
• 1959 – Jenilee Harrison, American actress
• 1959 – John Linnell, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
• 1959 – Scott Thompson, Canadian comedian (The Kids in the Hall)
• 1959 – Jervis Johnson, Games Designer for Games Workshop, Nottingham
• 1961 – Jim Goad, American author
• 1961 – Kira Roessler, American musician (Black Flag) and dialogue editor
• 1962 – Paul Clark, English musician (The Bolshoi)
• 1962 – John Enos III, American actor
• 1963 – Warwick Capper, Australian rules footballer
• 1963 – Tim DeKay, American actor
• 1963 – Jerry Lynn, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Johnny Weiss, American professional wrestler
• 1963 – Philippe Bugalski, French rally driver
• 1964 – Kent Jones, American journalist (The Rachel Maddow Show)
• 1964 – Paula Marshall, American actress
• 1964 – Derek Higgins, Irish racing driver
• 1965 – Rob Collins, English keyboard player (Charlatans) (1996)
• 1965 – Filip Topol, Czech musician and writer
• 1965 – Vicky Vette, Norwegian-born adult film actress
• 1967 – Frances O'Connor, Australian actress
• 1967 – Icíar Bollaín, Spanish actress, director and writer
• 1968 – Scott Aldred, American baseball player
• 1968 – Bobby Sheehan, American musician (Blues Traveler) (d. 1999)
• 1968 – Htay Kywe, Burmese democracy activist
• 1969 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (Omen, Bikini) (d. 2007)
• 1969 – Mathieu Schneider, American ice hockey player
• 1969 – Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician
• 1970 – Rick Hoffman, American actor
• 1970 – Gordon Michael Woolvett, Canadian actor
• 1971 – Arman Alizad, Finnish tailor, columnist and TV personality
• 1971 – Mark Henry, American professional wrestler
• 1971 – Ryan Klesko, American baseball player
• 1972 – Bounty Killer, Jamaican deejay
• 1973 – Jason Caffey, American basketball player
• 1973 – Takis Fyssas, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Darryl White, Australian rules footballer
• 1974 – Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
• 1974 – Jason Mewes, American actor
• 1974 – Kerry Kittles, American basketball player
• 1975 – Michael Muhney, American actor
• 1975 – Bryan Alvarez, American professional wrestler
• 1976 – Thomas Sørensen, Danish footballer
• 1976 – Antawn Jamison, American basketball player
• 1977 – Richard Ayoade, English actor and writer
• 1977 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, American blues-rock guitarist
• 1977 – Wade Redden, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – DJ Qualls, American actor
• 1979 – Dallas Clark, American football player
• 1979 – Wil Horneff, American actor
• 1979 – Robyn, Swedish musician
• 1979 – Earl Watson, American basketball player
• 1979 – Diego Milito, Argentinian football player
• 1980 – Marco Bortolami, Italian rugby union player
• 1980 – Larry Foote, American football player
• 1980 – Ifet Taljević, German footballer
• 1981 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian supermodel
• 1981 – Nora Tschirner, German television presenter
• 1982 – Ben Blackwell, American musician
• 1982 – Jason David, American football player
• 1982 – Loïc Duval, French racing driver
• 1983 – Bryan Habana, South African rugby player
• 1983 – Alexander Pipa, German rugby player
• 1983 – Christine Sinclair, Canadian footballer
• 1985 – Blake Ross, American software developer
• 1985 – Kendra Wilkinson, American television personality and glamour model
• 1985 – Sam Thaiday, Australian professional rugby league player
• 1985 – Chris Young, American musician
• 1986 – Stanislava Komarova, Russian swimmer
• 1986 – Sergio Rodriguez, Spanish basketball player
• 1986 – Carla Abellana, Filipina actress
• 1986 – Erik Ainge, American football player
• 1987 – Seyi Ajirotutu, American football player
• 1987 – Antonio Barragán, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Abbey Lee Kershaw, Australian model
• 1988 – Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
• 1990 – Kevin Wu, American comedian
• 1992 – Allie DiMeco, American actress and musician
• 2001 – John Bigelow IV, American golf prodigy

Deaths

• 816 – Pope Leo III (b. 750)
• 918 – Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians
• 1020 – Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1036 – Tedald, Bishop of Arezzo (b. 990)
• 1418 – Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, Constable of France (b. 1360)
• 1435 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, English military leader (b. 1408)
• 1560 – Imagawa Yoshimoto, Japanese daimyo (b. 1519)
• 1560 – Ii Naomori, Japanese warrior (b. 1506)
• 1565 – Adrianus Turnebus, French classical scholar (b. 1512)
• 1567 – Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1490)
• 1647 – Thomas Farnaby, English grammarian (b. 1575)
• 1675 – Duke Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy (b. 1634)
• 1734 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French military commander (b. 1670)
• 1758 – Augustus William, Prince of Prussia (b. 1722)
• 1772 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (b. 1724)
• 1778 – Philip Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1716)
• 1816 – Pierre Augereau, Marshal of France and duc de Castiglione (b. 1757)
• 1818 – Egwale Seyon, Emperor of Ethiopia
• 1904 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach, Belgian Count (b. 1836)
• 1912 – Frédéric Passy, French economist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1822)
• 1917 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (b. 1853)
• 1932 – Theo Heemskerk, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1852)
• 1937 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1893)
• 1957 – Jimmy Dorsey, American musician (b. 1904)
• 1962 – John Ireland, English composer (b. 1879)
• 1963 – Medgar Evers, American civil rights activist (b. 1925)
• 1966 – Hermann Scherchen, German conductor (b. 1891)
• 1969 – Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (b. 1899)
• 1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese writer (b. 1892)
• 1980 – Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
• 1980 – Billy Butlin, Founder of the brand of holiday venues known as Butlins (b. 1899)
• 1980 – Masayoshi Ohira, Prime minister of Japan (b. 1910)
• 1982 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
• 1982 – Ian McKay, British soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1953)
• 1983 – Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (b. 1902)
• 1989 – Lou Monte, American singer (b. 1917)
• 1990 – Terence O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1914)
• 1994 – Toma Bebić, Dalmatian musician, writer, actor, painter, poet (b. 1935)
• 1994 – Ronald Goldman, American waiter (b. 1968)
• 1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson, American ex-wife of O.J. Simpson (b. 1959)
• 1994 – Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Lubavitcher Rebbe (b. 1902)
• 1994 – Christopher Collins, American actor and comedian (b. 1949)
• 1995 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (b. 1920)
• 1997 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian writer and musician (b. 1924)
• 2000 – P. L. Deshpande, Marathi writer (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer (b. 1922)
• 2003 – Gregory Peck, American actor (b. 1916)
• 2005 – Scott Young, Canadian sportswriter, novelist, and journalist (b. 1918)
• 2006 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Kenneth Roy Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Nijiro Tokuda, Japanese supercentenarian (b. 1895)
• 2006 – Anna Lee Aldred, American first licenced female jockey (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Don Herbert aka "Mr. Wizard", American television host (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer (b. 1932)