Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 19 days remaining. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh 1531 - Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City 1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the United States Constitution 1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman 1897 - The city of Belo Horizonte is founded. 1900 - US Steel formed 1901 - First radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean by Guglielmo Marconi 1913 - Mona Lisa recovered in Florence, two years after it was stolen 1917 - In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys (in 1979 it was opened to girls as well). 1925 - Reza Pahlavi takes control of Iran as Shah 1941 - United States seizes French ship Normandie 1963 - Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom 1969 - Strage di Piazza Fontana in Italy 1979 - Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe 1985 - An Arrow Air DC-8 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division 1996 - Uday Hussein is seriously injured in an assassination attempt 2003 - Paul Martin, Jr is sworn-in as the 21st Prime Minister of Canada Births 1574 - Anne of Denmark, consort of James I of England. 1745 - John Jay, United States Supreme Court justice. († 1829) 1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist. 1806 - Stand Watie, Confederate general, Cherokee leader († 1871) 1821 - Gustave Flaubert, French writer († 1880). 1863 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter († 1944). 1892 - Liesl Karlstadt, actress along with Karl Valentin († 1960). 1892 - Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovene pioneer of astronautics and cosmonautics, and rocket engineer († 1929). 1893 - Edward G. Robinson, actor († 1973) 1905 - Mànes Sperber, writer († 1984). 1914 - Patrick O'Brian, British author († 2000) 1915 - Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor († 1998) 1918 - Joe Williams, singer († 1999) 1919 - Hermann Neuberger, sports official († 1992). 1923 - Bob Barker, game show host, television personality 1924 - Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City. 1927 - Robert Noyce, American inventor. 1927 - Honor Blackman, actress 1929 - John Osborne, British dramatist († 1994). 1932 - Bob Pettit, basketball star 1934 - Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico 1938 - Connie Francis, American singer 1940 - Dionne Warwick, American singer. 1943 - Dickie Betts, musician (The Allman Brothers). 1943 - Grover Washington Jr, musician († 1999) 1952 - Cathy Rigby, gymnast, actress. 1957 - Sheila E, musician 1969 - Andrey Spasibozhko, web engineer (Chelyabinsk, Russia) Deaths 884 - Carloman, King of the West Franks 1894 - Sir John Thompson, fourth Prime Minister of Canada 1929 - Charles Goodnight, cattle baron 1939 - Douglas Fairbanks, American actor. 1968 - Tallulah Bankhead, actress 1971 - David Sarnoff, radio and television pioneer 1994 - Stuart Roosa, Apollo Astronaut 1996 - Vance Packard, American author on media manipulation 1999 - Joseph Heller, American author. 2001 - Jean Richard, French actor. 2003 - Geidar Aliev, former President of Azerbaijan (80 years) Holidays and observances Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Masá'il (Questions) - First day of the 15th month of the Bahá'í Calendar Roman Catholic - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe United Nations - Digital Solidarity Day See Also: December 11 - December 13 - November 12 - January 12 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December\n This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.