History of the Day for:
January 12
- 1519: Maximilian I, German king and Holy Roman Emperor, died. He was responsible for making the Habsburg family dominant in 16th century Europe.
- 1580: Jean Baptiste van Helmont, Belgian chemist, born. He invented the word gas and was the first chemist to take the melting point of ice and the boiling point of water as standards for temperature.
- 1729: Edmund Burke, British politician, political thinker and author of "Reflections on the Revolution in France," born.
- 1737: John Hancock, American Revolutionary leader and first signer of the Declaration of Independence, born.
- 1773: The first public museum in America was organized in Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1816: France decreed that the Bonaparte family should be excluded from the country forever.
- 1879: The Zulu War began between the British of the Cape Colony and the natives of Zululand.
- 1893: Nazi leader Hermann Wilhelm Goering born; a First World War fighter ace, Goering was Hitler's chief lieutenant until the Battle of Britain. He committed suicide after being sentenced to death at Nuremberg in October, 1946.
- 1932: Hattie W. Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
- 1950: The Soviet Union re-introduced the death penalty for treason, espionage and sabotage.
- 1950: A Swedish tanker struck the British submarine Truculent during the submarine's trials in the River Thames. Only 15 of 70 men on the submarine survived.
- 1954: Queen Elizabeth opened a special session of the New Zealand parliament - the first time the Queen opened a Commonwealth parliament outside the United Kingdom.
- 1960: Nevil Shute, British novelist and author of "On the Beach" and "A Town Like Alice," died.
- 1964: One month after Zanzibar became independent, the ruling Zanzibar National Party government was overthrown in a coup.
- 1970: A Boeing 747 Jumbo jet arrived at London's Heathrow airport after its first proving flight from New York.
- 1974: Libya and Tunisia announced they were to merge under the combined name of the "Islamic Arab Republic."
- 1976: Dame Agatha Christie, queen of the detective story and creator of detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, died.
- 1977: Anti-French demonstrations took place in Israel after Paris released Abu Daoud, responsible for leading the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes.
- 1990: Romania outlawed the Communist Party, the first East European state and Warsaw Pact member to do so.
- 1991: Both houses of Congress voted to authorize President Bush to use force to compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
- 1992: The second round of Algeria's general elections was canceled after strong gains by the Islamic Salvation Front in the first round.
- 1996: Russian troops arrived in Bosnia at the start of the first joint operation with U.S. forces in a potential combat zone since World War II.
- 1998: Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
- 2004: The world's largest ocean liner (at the time), RMS Queen Mary 2, makes its maiden voyage.
- 2005: Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta 2 rocket.
- 2006: The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany declare that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have reached a dead end and recommend that Iran be referred to the United Nations Security Council.
- 2006: A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.
- 2006: Turkey releases Mehmet Ali Agca from jail after he served 25 years for shooting Pope John Paul II.
- 2006: The French warship Clemenceau reaches Egypt and is barred access to the Suez Canal. Greenpeace activists board the ship.
- 2007: Comet McNaught reaches perihelion becoming the brightest comet in more than 40 years.