History of 12 January
- 1986 – Space shuttle Columbiablasted off with a crew that included the first Hispanic-American in space, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz.
- 1991 – The U.S. Congress passed a resolution authorizing President Bush to use military power to force Iraq out of Kuwait.
- 1995 – Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew announced that as of January 16 British troops would no longer carry out daylight street patrols in Belfast.
- 1998 – Tyson Foods Inc. pled guilty to giving $12,000 to former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. Tyson was fined $6 million.
- 1998 – 19 European nations agreed to prohibit human cloning.
- 1998 – Linda Tripp provided Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr’s office with taped conversations between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
- 1999 – Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball was sold at auction in New York for $3 million to an anonymous bidder.
- 2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, gave police broad authority to stop and question people who run at the sight of an officer.
- 2000 – Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills was killed in a crash during a drag race.
- 2005 – NASA launched “Deep Impact”. The spacecraft was planned to impact on Comet Tempel 1 after a six-month, 268 million-mile journey
- 2006 – The U.S. Mint began shipping new 5-cent coins to the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. The coin has an image of Thomas Jefferson taken from a 1800 Rembrandt Peale portrait in which the president is looking forward. Since 1909, when presidents were first depicted on circulating coins, all presidents had been shown in profile.
- 2010– An earthquake in Haiti occurs, killing over 100,000 people and destroying much of the capital Port-au-Prince.
- 2012– Violent protests occur in Bucharest, Romania, as two-day-old demonstrations continue against President Traian Băsescu’s economic austerity measures. Clashes are reported in numerous Romanian cities between protesters and law enforcement officers.
- 2015– Government raids kill 143 Boko Haram fighters in Kolofata, Cameroon.
- 2016– Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Amerie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1981 – João Paulo Daniel, Brazilian footballer
- 1981 – Dan Klecko, American football player
- 1981 – Angus Macdonald, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981 – Luis Ernesto Pérez, Mexican footballer
- 1982 – Paul-Henri Mathieu, French tennis player
- 1982 – Hans Van Alphen, Belgian decathlete
- 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
- 1982 – Dontrelle Willis, American baseball player
- 1984 – Daniel Sepulveda, American football player
- 1984 – Jonathan Zydko, French footballer
- 1985 – Artem Milevskiy, Ukrainian footballer
- 1985 – Issa Rae, American actress, writer, director, producer and web series creator
- 1985 – Borja Valero, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Kehoma Brenner, German rugby player
- 1986 – Miguel Ángel Nieto, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Naya Rivera, American actress and singer
- 1987 – Salvatore Sirigu, Italian footballer
- 1988 – Claude Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Thiemo-Jérôme Kialka, German footballer
- 1989 – Axel Witsel, Belgian footballer
- 1991 – Pixie Lott, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1991 – Matt Srama, Australian rugby league player
- 1992 – Ishak Belfodil, Algerian footballer
- 1992 – Samuele Longo, Italian footballer
- 1993 – Zayn Malik, English singer-songwriter
- 1993 – Simone Pecorini, Italian footballer
- 1993 – Do Kyungsoo, South Korean singer and member of boy band EXO
- 1995 – Alessio Romagnoli, Italian footballer