November 12 facts for kids

November 12th is a day filled with many important events throughout history, from ancient kingdoms to modern space exploration. It's a day when leaders were crowned, major battles were fought, and new inventions changed the world. Many famous people, like artists, scientists, and athletes, were also born or passed away on this date. Let's explore some of the most interesting moments that happened on November 12th!

Historic Events on November 12

Early History and Kingdoms (Before 1600)

• 954 – A young boy named Lothair III, who was only 13 years old, became king of the West Frankish Kingdom. This happened at the Abbey of Saint-Remi.
• 1028 – Zoe, who would later become a powerful Byzantine empress, took her place as empress alongside Romanos III Argyros.
• 1330 – The Battle of Posada ended. In this battle, the Wallachian leader Basarab I cleverly defeated the Hungarian army using a surprise attack.
• 1439 – The town of Plymouth became the very first town to be officially recognized by the English Parliament.

Important Moments (1601–1900)

• 1835 – The Wilberforce Monument was finished in Kingston Upon Hull. This monument honors William Wilberforce, who worked to end slavery.
• 1892 – Pudge Heffelfinger made history as the first recorded professional American football player. He played his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association.
• 1893 – Abdur Rahman Khan agreed to the Durand Line. This line became the official border between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj (British rule in India).

Modern Times (1901–Present)

• 1905 – Norway held a special vote. People voted to approve the government's plan to offer the throne to a new king for their newly independent country.
• 1912 – During the First Balkan War, King George I of Greece proudly entered Thessaloniki. The city had been under Ottoman rule for 482 years and was now free.
• 1912 – The frozen bodies of explorer Robert Scott and his team were found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. They had been on a difficult journey to the South Pole.
• 1918 – After the end of a big empire, Austria officially became a republic. A small attempt by a group called the Red Guard to take over was stopped.
• 1927 – Leon Trotsky was removed from the Soviet Communist Party. This left Joseph Stalin in complete control of the Soviet Union.
• 1933 – Nazi Germany held a vote to confirm its decision to leave the League of Nations, an international organization for peace.
• 1936 – In California, the famous San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened for cars to drive on.
• 1938 – Nazi Germany passed a law that stopped Jewish people from selling goods or working in many jobs. This law separated Jewish people from the German economy.
• 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Gabon ended. Forces from Free France took control of Libreville, Gabon, and all of French Equatorial Africa from the Vichy French forces.
• 1940 – World War II: Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov visited Berlin to talk about the idea of the Soviet Union joining the Axis Powers.
• 1941 – World War II: Temperatures near Moscow dropped to a very cold -12°C. The Soviet Union used special ski troops for the first time against the freezing German soldiers.
• 1942 – World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal began near Guadalcanal. This important sea battle between Japanese and American forces lasted three days, and the Americans won.
• 1944 – World War II: The Royal Air Force used many bombers to sink the German battleship Tirpitz off Tromsø, Norway.
• 1948 – After World War II, a special court in Tokyo sentenced seven Japanese military and government officials to death. They were found guilty for their roles in the war.
• 1954 – Ellis Island, a famous entry point for immigrants to the United States, stopped operating.
• 1956 – Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia all joined the United Nations, an organization for countries to work together.
• 1958 – A group of rock climbers, led by Warren Harding, successfully climbed The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley for the first time.
• 1969 – During the Vietnam War, journalist Seymour Hersh revealed the story of the My Lai Massacre, a terrible event that shocked many people.
• 1970 – The Oregon Highway Division tried to get rid of a dead whale on a beach using explosives. This led to the now famous "exploding whale" incident, which didn't go as planned.
• 1970 – The 1970 Bhola cyclone hit the coast of East Pakistan. It became the deadliest tropical storm in history.
• 1971 – Vietnam War: As part of a plan to reduce American involvement, U.S. President Richard Nixon set a deadline for removing more American troops from Vietnam.
• 1975 – The Comoros joined the United Nations.
• 1979 – During the Iran hostage crisis, U.S. President Jimmy Carter stopped all oil imports from Iran into the United States.
• 1980 – The NASA space probe Voyager I flew closest to Saturn. It took the very first close-up pictures of its amazing rings.
• 1981 – Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Columbia launched into space for a second time. This was the first time a crewed spacecraft had flown twice.
• 1982 – In the USSR, Yuri Andropov became the new leader of the Communist Party.
• 1990 – Crown Prince Akihito officially became Emperor Akihito of Japan. He was the 125th Japanese monarch.
• 1990 – Tim Berners-Lee published a formal idea for what would become the World Wide Web.
• 1991 – The Santa Cruz massacre happened in Dili, East Timor. The Indonesian Army opened fire on a group of student protesters.
• 1995 – The Erdut Agreement was reached. This agreement aimed for a peaceful end to the Croatian War of Independence.
• 1996 – A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane and a Kazakh cargo plane crashed in mid-air near New Delhi. This terrible accident killed 349 people, making it the deadliest mid-air collision ever.
• 1997 – Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
• 1999 – The Düzce earthquake shook northwestern Turkey. It was a very strong earthquake that killed at least 845 people and injured almost 5,000.
• 2001 – In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed shortly after taking off. All 260 people on board and five on the ground died.
• 2001 – War in Afghanistan: Taliban forces left Kabul as Afghan Northern Alliance troops moved in.
• 2003 – The Shanghai Transrapid train set a new world speed record for commercial railway systems, reaching 501 km/h (311 mph). It's still the fastest for regular commercial trains.
• 2011 – Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Prime Minister of Italy. This was largely due to a big economic problem in Europe.
• 2014 – The Philae lander, sent by the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe, successfully landed on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
• 2017 – The Kermanshah earthquake hit the border between Iran and Iraq. It was a powerful earthquake that killed at least 410 people and injured over 7,000.
• 2021 – The Los Angeles Superior Court officially ended the 14-year legal arrangement that controlled pop singer Britney Spears's life.

Famous Births on November 12

Notable People Born Before 1900

• 1492 – Johan Rantzau, a German general.
• 1528 – Qi Jiguang, a famous Chinese general.
• 1606 – Jeanne Mance, a French-Canadian nurse who helped found the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal hospital.
• 1651 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, a Mexican nun, poet, and scholar.
• 1729 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, a French admiral and explorer.
• 1755 – Gerhard von Scharnhorst, a Prussian general and politician.
• 1815 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an important American activist who fought for women's rights.
• 1817 – Bahá'u'lláh, a Persian spiritual leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith.
• 1833 – Alexander Borodin, a Russian composer and chemist.
• 1840 – Auguste Rodin, a famous French sculptor who created "The Thinker".
• 1842 – John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, an English physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1866 – Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese physician and politician who became the first President of the Republic of China.
• 1896 – Salim Ali, a well-known Indian expert on birds and author.
• 1898 – Leon Štukelj, a Slovenian gymnast.

Notable People Born After 1900

• 1908 – Harry Blackmun, an American lawyer and judge.
• 1915 – Roland Barthes, a French philosopher and critic.
• 1929 – Michael Ende, a German author who wrote fantasy stories.
• 1929 – Grace Kelly, a famous American actress who later became Princess Grace of Monaco.
• 1934 – Vavá, a Brazilian footballer and manager.
• 1938 – Benjamin Mkapa, a Tanzanian journalist and politician who became the 3rd President of Tanzania.
• 1943 – Wallace Shawn, an American actor and playwright.
• 1944 – Booker T. Jones, an American musician and songwriter.
• 1944 – Al Michaels, a well-known American sportscaster.
• 1945 – Neil Young, a famous Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1948 – Hassan Rouhani, an Iranian lawyer and politician who became the 7th President of Iran.
• 1953 – Baaba Maal, a Senegalese singer-songwriter.
• 1958 – Megan Mullally, an American actress and singer.
• 1961 – Nadia Comăneci, a legendary Romanian gymnast and coach.
• 1961 – Enzo Francescoli, a Uruguayan footballer.
• 1962 – Neal Shusterman, an American author and poet.
• 1968 – Sammy Sosa, a Dominican-American baseball player.
• 1970 – Tonya Harding, an American figure skater.
• 1973 – Radha Mitchell, an Australian actress.
• 1975 – Jason Lezak, an American swimmer.
• 1976 – Tevin Campbell, an American R&B singer.
• 1977 – Benni McCarthy, a South African footballer.
• 1978 – Alexandra Maria Lara, a Romanian-German actress.
• 1979 – Cote de Pablo, a Chilean actress.
• 1980 – Ryan Gosling, a famous Canadian actor and producer.
• 1982 – Anne Hathaway, a well-known American actress.
• 1987 – Jason Day, an Australian golfer.
• 1988 – Russell Westbrook, an American basketball player.
• 1990 – Florent Manaudou, a French swimmer.
• 1994 – Guillaume Cizeron, a French ice dancer.
• 1998 – Elias Pettersson, a Swedish ice hockey player.
• 1999 – Choi Yoo-jung, a South Korean singer and actress.
• 2002 – Paolo Banchero, an Italian-American basketball player.

Notable Deaths on November 12

Important Figures Who Passed Away Before 1900

• 1035 – Cnut the Great, a powerful Danish-English king.
• 1094 – Duncan II of Scotland, a Scottish king.
• 1202 – Canute VI of Denmark, a Danish king.
• 1555 – Stephen Gardiner, an English bishop and politician.
• 1595 – John Hawkins, an English admiral and shipbuilder.
• 1793 – Jean Sylvain Bailly, a French astronomer and the first Mayor of Paris.
• 1865 – Elizabeth Gaskell, a famous English author.

Important Figures Who Passed Away After 1900

• 1916 – Percival Lowell, an American astronomer and mathematician.
• 1939 – Norman Bethune, a Canadian physician and humanitarian.
• 1946 – Madan Mohan Malaviya, an Indian academic and politician.
• 1948 – Umberto Giordano, an Italian composer.
• 1955 – Alfréd Hajós, a Hungarian swimmer and architect.
• 1969 – Liu Shaoqi, a Chinese politician who was the 2nd Chairman of the People's Republic of China.
• 1976 – Mikhail Gurevich, a Russian engineer who helped create the Mikoyan aircraft company.
• 1981 – William Holden, a well-known American actor.
• 1990 – Eve Arden, an American actress and comedian.
• 1994 – Wilma Rudolph, a famous American sprinter and educator.
• 2001 – Tony Miles, an English chess player.
• 2003 – Jonathan Brandis, an American actor.
• 2008 – Mitch Mitchell, an English drummer.
• 2010 – Henryk Górecki, a Polish composer.
• 2013 – Aleksandr Serebrov, a Russian engineer and astronaut.
• 2014 – Warren Clarke, an English actor and producer.
• 2018 – Stan Lee, a legendary American comic book writer, editor, and publisher.

Holidays and Observances

• Birth of Sun Yat-Sen, also Doctors' Day and Cultural Renaissance Day. (Republic of China)
• Christian feast day:
  • Arsatius
  • Astrik (or Anastasius) of Pannonhalma
  • Cumméne Fota
  • Cunibert
  • Emilian of Cogolla
  • Imerius of Immertal
  • Josaphat Kuntsevych (Roman Catholic Church, Greek Catholic Church)
  • Lebuinus (Liafwine)
  • Livinus of Ghent
  • Machar
  • Margarito Flores García
  • Nilus of Sinai
  • Patiens
  • René d'Angers
  • Theodore the Studite
  • Ymar
  • November 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Azerbaijan)
• Father's Day (Indonesia)
• National Health Day (Indonesia)
• National Youth Day (East Timor)
• World Pneumonia Day

Images for kids

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