History of 12 October
1915 – Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities.
1920 – Construction of the Holland Tunnel began. It opened on November 13, 1927. The tunnel links Jersey City, NJ and New York City, NY.
1933 – The U.S. Department of Justice acquired Alcatraz Island from the U.S. Army.
1937 – “Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons” debuted on radio.
1938 – Production began on “The Wizard of Oz.”
1942 – During World War II, Attorney General Francis Biddle announced that Italian nationals in the United States would no longer be considered enemy aliens.
1945 – Private First Class Desmond T. Doss was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman. He was the first conscientious objector in American history to win the award.
1960 – Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a U.N. General Assembly.
1961 – The first video memoirs by a U.S. president were made. Walter Cronkite interviewed Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1964 – The Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1 into orbit around the Earth. It was the first space flight to have a multi-person crew and the first flight to be performed without spacesuits.
1972 – During the Vietnam War, a racial brawl broke out aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Nearly 50 sailors were injured.
1976 – China announced that Hua Guofeng was named to succeed the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Communist Party.
1988 – Federal prosecutors announced that the Sundstrand Corp. would pay $115 million dollars to settle with the Pentagon for overbilling airplane parts over a five-year period.
1989 – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a statutory federal ban on the destruction of the American flag.
1993 – The play “Mixed Emotions” opened at the John Golden Theatre.
1994 – Haitian military leader Raoul Cedras was granted political asylum by Panama.
1994 – The Magellan space probe ended its four-year mission to Venus for the purpose of mapping.
1997 – The St. Francis Basilica and 15th-century bell tower above Foligno city hall in Italy were damaged by 3 earthquakes.
1998 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Online Copyright Bill.
1999 – Rob Reiner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1999 – In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup that toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court ruled that the coup was legal but insisted that a civilian government be restored within three years.
2001 – A special episode of America’s Most Wanted was aired that focused on 22 wanted terrorists. The show was specifically requested by U.S. President George W. Bush.
2006 – The Dow Jones industrial average advanced over 11,900 for the first time.
2015 – It was announced that Dell was buying EMC for around $67 billion.
2017 – The United States announces its decision to withdraw from UNESCO and is immediately followed by Israel.
2018 – Princess Eugenie marries Jack Brooksbank at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
2019 – Typhoon Hagibis makes landfall in Japan, killing 10 and forcing the evacuation of 1,000,000 people.
2019 – Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Tom Guiry, American actor
- 1981 – Brian Kerr, Scottish footballer, and manager
- 1981 – Giuseppe Lanzone, American rower
- 1981 – Conrad Smith, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981 – Sun Tiantian, a Chinese tennis player
- 1983 – Alex Brosque, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Carlton Cole, English footballer
- 1983 – Mariko Yamamoto, Japanese cricketer
- 1985 – Michelle Carter, American shot putter
- 1985 – Mike Green, Canadian hockey player
- 1985 – Anna Iljustsenko, Estonian high jumper
- 1986 – Ioannis Maniatis, Greek footballer
- 1986 – Sergio Peter, German footballer
- 1986 – Tyler Blackburn, American actor
- 1987 – Marvin Ogunjimi, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Sam Whitelock, New Zealand rugby player
- 1988 – Calum Scott, British singer
- 1989 – Anna Ohmiya, Japanese curler
- 1990 – Henri Lansbury, English footballer
- 1991 – Nicolao Dumitru, Italian footballer
- 1992 – Josh Hutcherson, American actor, and producer
- 1994 – Alex Katz, American baseball player
- 1994 – Sean Monahan, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1994 – Olivia Smoliga, American swimmer
- 1996 – James Graham, British singer
- 1997 – Curtis Scott, Australian rugby league player
- 2002 – Iris Apatow, American actress
- 2004 – Darci Lynne, American ventriloquist