http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Oct 12, 1492: Columbus reaches the New World
After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.
Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. Little is known of his early life, but he worked as a seaman and then a maritime entrepreneur. He became obsessed with the possibility of pioneering a western sea route to Cathay (China), India, and the gold and spice islands of Asia. At the time, Europeans knew no direct sea route to southern Asia, and the route via Egypt and the Red Sea was closed to Europeans by the Ottoman Empire, as were many land routes. Contrary to popular legend, educated Europeans of Columbus' day did believe that the world was round, as argued by St. Isidore in the seventh century. However, Columbus, and most others, underestimated the world's size, calculating that East Asia must lie approximately where North America sits on the globe (they did not yet know that the Pacific Ocean existed).
With only the Atlantic Ocean, he thought, lying between Europe and the riches of the East Indies, Columbus met with King John II of Portugal and tried to persuade him to back his "Enterprise of the Indies," as he called his plan. He was rebuffed and went to Spain, where he was also rejected at least twice by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. However, after the Spanish conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada in January 1492, the Spanish monarchs, flush with victory, agreed to support his voyage.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. On October 12, the expedition reached land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan. He established a small colony there with 39 of his men. The explorer returned to Spain with gold, spices, and "Indian" captives in March 1493 and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. He was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century.
During his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four expeditions to the New World, discovering various Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American mainlands, but he never accomplished his original goal—a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia. Columbus died in Spain in 1506 without realizing the great scope of what he did achieve: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.
Oct 12, 1810: The origin of Oktoberfest
Bavarian Crown Prince Louis, later King Louis I of Bavaria, marries Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The Bavarian royalty invited the citizens of Munich to attend the festivities, held on the fields in front of the city gates. These famous public fields were named Theresienwiese—"Therese's fields"—in honor of the crown princess; although locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the "Wies'n." Horse races in the presence of the royal family concluded the popular event, celebrated in varying forms all across Bavaria.
The decision to repeat the festivities and the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the annual Oktoberfest, which now begins in late September and lasts until the first Sunday in October. Alcohol consumption is an important part of the modern festival, and more than 1 million gallons of beer are consumed annually at Oktoberfest.
Oct 12, 2007: Al Gore wins Nobel Prize in the wake of An Inconvenient Truth
On this day in 2007, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to increase public knowledge about man-made climate change. In 2006, Gore had starred in the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which was credited with raising international awareness about the global warming crisis.
Gore, a former senator from Tennessee who served as President Bill Clinton’s vice president from 1993 to 2001, is considered one of the first politicians to recognize the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions, a cause of human-induced global warming. Gore became interested in the topic of global warming during a college course he took at Harvard University. As a congressman, he held hearings on climate change in the late 1970s, a time when most Americans had little or no knowledge of the issue. After losing the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, Gore embarked on a new campaign—the fight against man-made climate change—and gave slide-show presentations around the world in an effort to educate the public. An Inconvenient Truth chronicled Gore’s efforts to educate audiences with his “traveling global warming road show.” In the film, he details the facts and falsehoods surrounding this “planetary emergency” and describes the events in his own life that led him to become an environmental crusader.
An Inconvenient Truth debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2006, and opened in limited release across the United States in May of that same year. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the film went on to win numerous awards, including an Oscar for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards on February 25, 2007. Melissa Etheridge also received an Oscar for Best Original Song, for “I Need to Wake Up.”
One of the highest-grossing documentaries in U.S. history, An Inconvenient Truth played in theaters around the planet. It was credited with helping to spur the “green movement” that spread across the United States in 2007, as the media focused more attention on the problems associated with climate change. In Hollywood, actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio began driving hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and generally promoting a more eco-friendly lifestyle, while various film companies pledged to become “carbon-neutral.”
Oct 12, 1997: John Denver dies in an aircraft accident
To those who bought records like "Rocky Mountain High" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by the millions in the 1970s, John Denver was much more than just a great songwriter and performer. With his oversized glasses, bowl haircut and down vest, he was an unlikely fashion icon, and with his vocal environmentalism, he was the living embodiment of an outdoorsy lifestyle that many 20-something baby boomers would adopt as their own during the "Me" decade. There never was and there probably never will be a star quite like John Denver, who died on this day in 1997 when his experimental amateur aircraft crashed into Monterey Bay on the California coast.
Born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., in 1943, not in the mountains of Colorado but in Roswell, New Mexico, John Denver rose to fame as a recording artist in 1971, when "Take Me Home, Country Roads" rose all the way to #2 on the Billboard pop chart. In fact, Denver already had a share in a #1 hit as the writer of "Leaving On A Jet Plane," a chart-topper for Peter, Paul and Mary in 1969. But it was his 1971 breakout as a performer of his own material that made him a household name. Over the course of the 1970s, John Denver earned five more top-10 singles, including the #1 hits "Sunshine On My Shoulders" (1974), "Annie's Song" (1974), "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" (1975) and "I'm Sorry" (1975). Even more impressive, he released an astonishing 11 albums that were certified Platinum by the RIAA, making him one of the most successful recording artists of the 70s, and launching him into a successful career in film and television as well.
By the 1990s, Denver was still a popular touring musician, though he was no longer recording new material with significant commercial success. Over the course of his career, he had become an accomplished private pilot with more than 2,700 hours on various single- and multi-engine aircraft, with both an instrument and a Lear Jet rating. On October 12, 1997, however, he was flying an aircraft with which he was relatively unfamiliar, and with which he had previously experienced control problems, according to a later investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. At approximately 5:30 pm local time, after a smooth takeoff from a Pacific Grove airfield and under ideal flying conditions, Denver apparently lost control of his Long-EZ aircraft several hundred feet over Monterey Bay, leading to the fatal crash.
A movie star and political activist as well as a musician, John Denver was one of the biggest stars of his generation, and is credited by the Recording Industry Association of America with selling more than 32 million albums in the United States alone.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes
Babylon.
638 - Honorius I ends his reign as Catholic Pope; Pope
Severinus elected
642 - John IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1165 - Rambam reaches Jerusalem
1216 - King John of England loses his crown jewels in The
Wash, probably near Fosdyke, perhaps near Sutton Bridge
1279 - Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of
Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon
1285 - 180 Jews refuse baptism in Munich Germany, they are
set on fire
1366 - King Frederick III of Siciliy forbids decorations on
synagogues
1398 - the Treaty of Salynas is signed between Grand Duke of
Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Teutonic Knights, who received Samogitia.
1459 - Battle at Ludford Bridge: Richard of York defeated
1492 - Flemish rebel leader Philip van Kleef surrenders
1492 - Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall on
Caribbean island he names San Salvador (likely Watling Island, Bahamas). The
explorer believes he has reached East Asia (OS 21 Oct)
1504 - Queen Isabella I of Spain signs her testament
1509 - Emperor Maximilian leaves Italy
1518 - Pontifical ambassador interrogates Martin Luther
1549 - John Dudley earl of Warwick becomes English premier
1576 - Rudolf II succeeds Maximilian II as Holy Roman
Emperor
1609 - Children's rhyme "Three Blind Mice,"
published in London
1654 - The Delft Explosion (gunpowder) devastates the city
in the Netherlands, killing more than 100.
Founder of Protestanism Martin LutherFounder of Protestanism
Martin Luther 1659 - English Rump-government fires John Lambert & other
generals
1692 - Massachusetts Bay discontinues witch trials
1702 - Battle of Bay of Vigo: Dutch & English fleet
destroy & occupy Spanish silver fleet & French squadron
1711 - Karel VI Habsburg crowned Roman Catholic emperor
1729 - Willem KH Friso installed as viceroy of Gelderland
1730 - Christian VI succeeds Frederik IV as king of Denmark
1773 - America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of
Insane and Disordered Minds' in Virginia
1775 - US Navy forms
1776 - British Brigade begins guarding Throgg Necks Road in
Bronx
1792 - First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in
New York
1798 - Flemish uprising against French occupied Boerenkrijg
1798 - Friedrich von Schillers "Wallensteins
Lager," premieres in Weimar
1815 - Ex-king Joachim Murat van Naples sentenced to death
1822 - 2nd eruption of Galunggung (Java) destroys summit of
mountain
1823 - Charles Macintosh of Scotland begins selling raincoats
(Macs)
Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1833 -
Charles Darwin begins return trip to Buenos Aires
1836 - 18" of snow falls in Bridgewater NY
1850 - 1st women's medical school (Women's Medical College
of Penns), opens
1853 - John Morrissey wins boxing title, when Yankee
Sullivan leaves ring after 36th round to slug Morrissey's fans
1854 - Lincoln University founded as Ashmun Institute
1860 - British & French troops capture Beijing
1861 - Confederate ironclad Manassas attack Union's Richmond
on Mississippi
1862 - JEB Stuart completes his "2nd ride around
McClellan"
1862 - Maj Gen Earl Van Dorn assumes command of Conf troops
in Missisippi
1862 - Skirmish at Monocacy, Maryland
1871 - Pres Grant condemns Ku Klux Klan
1872 - Montreal Foot Ball Club 1st game playing Quebec City
to 0-0 tie
1879 - British troops occupy Kabul Afghanistan
1881 - Henry M Stanley signs contract with Congo monarch
1886 - Hurricane & sea surge kills 250 at Indianola
Texas
1886 - Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of 2nd
Stain" (BG)
1891 - Astronomical Society of France is inaugurated
1892 - US Pledge of Allegiance 1st recited in public schools
during Columbus Day
1898 - Establishment of the first town council in Mateur.
1899 - South Africa Boer Republic declares war on England
26th US President Theodore Roosevelt26th US President
Theodore Roosevelt 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt renames "Executive
Mansion," "The White House"
1903 - Lyric Theater opens at 213 W 42nd St NYC
1907 - Cubs beat Tigers 4 games to 0 with 1 tie in 4th World
Series
1913 - John McGraw, after drinking, blames Wilbert
Robinson's coaching mistakes for World Series lose, Robertson blames McGraw
& is fired
1914 - 1st battle at Ypres, begins
1915 - Ford Motor Company manufactures its 1 millionth Model
T automobile
1915 - Theodore Roosevelt criticizes US citzens who identify
themselves, with dual nationalities
1916 - Boston Red Sox beat Bkln Dodgers, 4 games to 1 in
13th World Series
1917 - The First Battle of Passchendaele, now Passendale
1918 - Cloquet fire kills 453 and injures or displaces
52,000 people
1920 - Cleve Indians beat Bkln Dodgers, 5 games to 2 in 17th
World Series
1920 - Construction begins on Holland Tunnel connecting NJ
& NYC
1920 - Man O'War's last race & win
1920 - Soccer team Quick '20 forms
1923 - NY Giant's Casey Stengel HR beats Yanks 1-0 in World
Series
1924 - Sokolnicheskaya Radio begins broadcasting from Moscow
1925 - Albert Michelsen runs world record marathon
(2:19:01.8)
1925 - German-Russian trade agreement signed
1927 - Hermann Goerner of Germany raises 24 men weighing
4,123 lbs on a plank with soles of his feet
1928 - 1st use of iron lung (Boston's Children Hospital)
1929 - Cubs blow 8-0 World Series lead, A's score 10 in 1
inning
1931 - 1st International Conference on Calendar Reform
1933 - Alcatraz becomes a federal prison (unofficially)
1933 - John Dillinger escapes from Allen County, OH, jail
1935 - Cole Porters musical "Jubilee," premieres
in NYC
1941 - Russian government moves from Moscow to Volga as
Nazis close in on Moscow
1942 - Successful Russian counter attack through 37th Guard
division
1942 - US navy defeats Japanese in WW II Battle of Cape
Esperance
1943 - US bombs Rabaul, New Britain
1944 - German army retreats from Athens
1948 - Casey Stengel takes over as Yankee manager
1950 - "Call Me Madam" opens at Imperial Theater
NYC for 644 performances
1952 - Hanif Mohammad scores twin 100s v N Zone (Ind) his
1st fc cricket tons
1952 - KBTV (now KUSA) TV channel 9 in Denver, CO (ABC)
begins broadcasting
1953 - US & Greece signs peace treaty (US bases)
1955 - -13] Hurricane Hazel, kills 68 in Haiti
1956 - Marga Klompe becomes 1st Dutch women elected minister
1957 - "Mask & Gown" closes at John Golden
Theater NYC after 39 performances
1957 - "Simply Heavenly" closes at Playhouse
Theater NYC after 62 perfs
1957 - 1st coml flight between California & Antartica
1957 - Canadian Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson wins
Nobel Peace Prize
1958 - CVP wins municipal elections in Belgium
1958 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1958 - WJRT TV channel 12 in Flint, MI (ABC) begins
broadcasting
1959 - At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of
leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA
Rebelde.
37th US President Richard Nixon37th US President Richard
Nixon 1960 - JFK & Richard Nixon's 3rd presidential debate
1960 - Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at UN General
Assembly session
1960 - Inejiro Asanuma is assassinated in Japan by Otoya
Yamaguchi, a 17-year-old. The camera was rolling at that time.
1961 - "Let It Ride" opens at Eugene O'Neill
Theater NYC for 68 performances
1961 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1962 - US/USSR sign joint space effort in telecommunications
& meteorology
1962 - Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific
Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million
in damages
1963 - "Student Gypsy" closes at 84th St Theater
NYC after 16 performances
1963 - Archaeological digs begin at Masada, Israel
1963 - At 4 AM, traffic on Bay Bridge is 1-way on each deck
1964 - 1st time 3 people in space
1964 - KCSM TV channel 60 in San Mateo-SF, CA (PBS) begins
1964 - Launch of Voskhod 1, 1st 3 man crew (Komarov,
Feokistov, Yegorov)
1964 - Voskhod 1 launched: 1st flight with 3 cosmonauts
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita KhrushchevFirst Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev 1964 - WSBK TV channel 38 in Boston, MA (IND/ABC/CBS/NBC)
begin
1964 - WUCM TV channel 19 in University Center, MI (PBS)
begins broadcasting
1966 - Jimi Henrix Experience fors with Noel Redding &
Mitch Mitchell
1967 - St Louis Cards beat Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3 in
64th World Series as Lou Brock steals a record 7 bases in 1 World Series
1968 - "Noel Coward's Sweet Potato" closes at
Barrymore NYC after 17 perfs
1968 - 19th Olympic games open at Mexico City, Mexico
1968 - Equatorial Guinea (Spanish Guinea) declares
independence from Spain
1968 - Norma Enriqueta Basilio Satelo is 1st woman to light
Olympic flame
1969 - 1st time 5 people in space
1969 - KDB-AM in Santa Barbara CA changes call letters to
KAPN
1969 - KHOF (now KAGL) TV ch 30 in San Bernardino/Glenda, CA
(IND) begins
1969 - Soyuz 7 is launched
1970 - Rock Memorabilia Auction at Filmore East
1971 - "Jesus Christ Superstar" opens at Mark
Hellinger NYC for 711 perfs
1972 - "Hurry, Harry" opens at Ritz Theater NYC
for 2 performances
1972 - 46 sailors injured in race riot on aircraft carrier
Kitty Hawk
1972 - Billy Harris failed in 1st Islander penalty shot
1972 - Mariner 9 takes pictures of Martian north pole
1973 - Israeli counter offensive in southern Syria
1973 - Juan Peron elected president of Argentina
38th US President Gerald Ford38th US President Gerald Ford
1973 - Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as VP
1974 - 1st time Wash Caps are shutout as they are beat 6-0
by Minnesota
1975 - Archbishop Oliver Plunkett became 1st Irish-born
saint in 7 centuries
1975 - Jacqueline Hansen runs women's world record marathon
(2:38:19)
1975 - NASA launches space vehicle S-195
1976 - 4th Space Shuttle Enterprise, approach & land
test (ALT) flight
1976 - Hua Guo-feng succeeds Mao Tse-tung as chairman of
Communist Party
1977 - "Throwaway Game" Catfish Hunter loses WS
6-1 resting Yank pitchers
1977 - 4th test of space shuttle Enterprise
1977 - Psychic Romark attempts to drive blindfolded, smashed
into cop van
1977 - US Supreme Court heard arguments in "reverse
discrimination" case of
1977 - Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to
University of California Med School
1978 - Representatives of Israel & Egypt open talks in
Washington
1978 - Sid Vicious charged in murder of girlfriend Nancyh
Spungen
1979 - Pressure in nucleus of tropical cyclone at Guam hits
record 870 hpa
Musician Sid ViciousMusician Sid Vicious 1979 - The lowest
recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg),
occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.
1980 - "Your Arm's Too Short to Box" closes at
Ambassador NYC after 149 perfs
1980 - 7 stabbed at Blood, Sweat & Tears concert in LA
1980 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Inamori Golf Classic
1981 - "Marlowe" opens at Rialto Theater NYC for
48 performances
1981 - 15th Country Music Association Award:
1982 - 38.6 cm (15.2") of rainfall, Angoon Alaska
(state record)
1982 - Milwaukee Brewer Paul Molitor getrs world sereis
record 5 hits
1983 - 5225 Loral & 5424 Covington
1984 - IRA bombs hotel where British PM Margaret Thatcher is
staying, 5 die
1985 - Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS
61A mission
1985 - Intl Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War
receives Nobel Prize
1985 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 - California Angels within 1 pitch of pennant victory
lose to Red Sox
1986 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China
Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth IIQueen of the United
Kingdom Elizabeth II 1987 - 21st Country Music Association Award: Hank William
Jr wins
1987 - George Harrison releases "Got My Mind Set On
You"
1987 - Minnesota Twins beat Detroit Tigers for AL pennant
1987 - Oscar Arias (Costa Rican Pres) wins Nobel Peace Prize
1988 - George W H Bush & Michael Dukakis meet in 2nd
debate
1988 - Israel & China sign trade deal, plan diplomatic
relations
1989 - Herschel Walker is traded from Cowboys to Vikings for
12 players
1989 - Musical "Buddy" with Paul Hipp premieres in
London
1990 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1991 - Boxer Hector Comacho arrested for driving while
getting oral sex
1991 - Mike Lerch of Princeton ties NCAA record with 370
receiving yards
1991 - Statler Brothers Show premieres on TNN
1991 - Wrestler Rip Oliver forced to retire after being
injured by Crush
1991 - Doug Flutie of BC Lions sets CFL passing record of
582 yards despite losing to Edmonton 45-38 in overtime
1992 - 5.8 earthquake at Cairo (at least 510 die)
1992 - Arecibo radio telescope begins Microwave search for
occupied planets
1992 - Brett "Hitman" Hart beats Ric Flair for WWF
Heavyweight title
1992 - Expo '92 closes in Seville Spain
1992 - Howard Stern radio show premieres in Albany NY (WQBK
103.5 & 103.9 FM)
1992 - Microwave Observing Project begins (seeking alien
life)
1992 - Wash Redskin Art Monk sets NFL record with 820th
reception
1993 - "Mixed Emotions" opens at John Golden
Theater NYC for 48 performances
1994 - Contact with Venus orbitter Magellan broken
1994 - Iranian Fokker's F28 explode between Isfahan &
Teheran: 66 killed
1995 - "Patti LuPone on Broadway" opens at Walter
Kerr NYC for 46 perfs
1997 - David Duval wins Michelob Championship at Kingsmill
Golf Club
1997 - Juli Inkster wins LPGA Samsung World Championship
1997 - Transamerica Senior Golf
1997 - Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake
roadblock.
1999 - Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz
Sharif through a bloodless coup.
1999 - The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth
living human in the world is born.
2000 - The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two
suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39
2002 - Terrorists explode two bombs in Bali's nightclub
district killing 202 and injuring 209 mostly foreign tourists
2005 - The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6
launched carrying Fèi Jùnlóng and Niè Hǎishèng for five days in orbit.
2012 - The United Nations Security Council unanimously
approves of an African-led force to oust Islamist militants in northern Mali
2012 - The European Union wins the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize,
sparking a series of critical commentary
1492 - Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain. 1792 - The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated in Baltimore, MD. 1810 - Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest. 1860 - Inventor Elmer Sperry was born on this day. He held patents on more than 400 inventions. The most important being the Sperry Automatic Pilot. 1892 - In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Columbus landing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in public schools. 1895 - In Newport, RI, the first amateur golf tournament was held. 1915 - Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities. 1915 - British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium during World War I. 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 - John Dillinger, bank robber, escaped from a jail in Allen County, OH. The sheriff was killed by his gang as they helped Dillinger escape. 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 - Filming 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. 1950 - The Kefauver Crime Commission convened in New York to investigate interstate organized crime. 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 space suits. 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 Guo-feng was named to succeed the late Mao Tse-tung as chairman of the Communist Party. 1984 - An attempt on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's life was unsuccessful, but did take the lives of five people. The bomb had been planted by the I.R.A. 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. 2000 - In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole, a U.S. Navy destroyer, experienced a large explosion while refueling. The explosion was the result of a terrorist attack using a small boat. 17 crewmembers were killed and at least 39 were injured. 2000 - In Denver, CO, the U.S. District Court denied Timothy McVeigh's request for a new trial. 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. 2001 - A car bomb exploded in Madrid, Spain, that injured 17 people. Basque separatists claimed responsibility. 2002 - In Bali, Indonesia, over 180 people were killed and over 300 were injured when a bomb was detonated in a nightclub district. 2006 - The Dow Jones industrial average advanced over 11,900 for the first time.
1492 Columbus landed in present-day Bahamas. 1870 Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63. 1960 Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev created a disturbance at the U.N. General Assembly by pounding his desk with his shoe. 1964 The Soviets launched Voskhod I, the first space capsule to carry three people into orbit. 1999 NBA Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain died at his Bel Air home at age 63. 2000 17 U.S. sailors killed with the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. 2002 A bomb destroyed a nightclub in Bali, killing 202, mostly tourists.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/oct12.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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