October 12 facts for kids

October 12 is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 80 days remain until the end of the year.

October 12th is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history. From ancient empires falling to modern-day achievements, this date has seen a lot happen. People have been born and passed away on this day, and many special holidays are celebrated around the world. Let's explore some of the most important moments from October 12th!

Events

Important Moments in History

Key Events Before 1900

• 539 BC – The powerful army of Cyrus the Great from Persia took over the city of Babylon. This marked the end of the Babylonian Empire.
• 633 – A big battle called the Battle of Hatfield Chase happened. King Edwin of Northumbria was defeated and killed by an alliance led by Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of Gwynedd.
• 1279 – In Japan, the Nichiren Shōshū branch of Buddhism was officially started.
• 1406 – Chen Yanxiang, a person from Indonesia, arrived in Seoul, Korea. He was the only known person from Indonesia to visit dynastic Korea at that time, after a four-month journey from Java.
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus and his first expedition landed in the Caribbean. They arrived on an island now known as San Salvador Island.
• 1654 – A huge explosion in the city of Delft in the Netherlands caused a lot of damage and killed over 100 people.
• 1692 – The famous Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts came to an end. This happened after a letter from Governor William Phips stopped the trials.
• 1773 – America's first hospital for people with mental illness opened in Virginia.
• 1792 – The first celebration of Columbus Day was held in New York City.
• 1799 – Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse made history by becoming the first woman to jump from a hot air balloon using a parachute.
• 1810 – The very first Oktoberfest was held in Munich, Germany. It was a celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Louis of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
• 1822 – Pedro I of Brazil was officially declared the emperor of Brazil.
• 1849 – The city of Manizales, Colombia, was founded by a group known as 'The Expedition of the 20'.
• 1856 – A very strong earthquake (M 7.7–8.3) happened off the Greek island of Crete. It caused major damage as far away as Egypt and Malta.
• 1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance was recited for the first time by students in many public schools across the United States.

Key Events After 1900

• 1901 – President Theodore Roosevelt officially changed the name of the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
• 1915 – During World War I, British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad. She was helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium.
• 1917 – In World War I, the First Battle of Passchendaele took place. It resulted in the largest single-day loss of life in New Zealand's history.
• 1918 – A huge forest fire, known as the 1918 Cloquet fire, killed 453 people in Minnesota.
• 1928 – An iron lung respirator was used for the first time at Boston Children's Hospital. This device helped people breathe.
• 1933 – The military prison Fort Alcatraz became the civilian Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a famous federal prison.
• 1944 – During World War II, the Axis occupation of Athens ended.
• 1945 – Desmond Doss became the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor. He was a medic who refused to carry a weapon during World War II.
• 1960 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev famously pounded his shoe on a desk at the United Nations. He was protesting a statement from the Philippines.
• 1962 – The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 hit the U.S. Pacific Northwest. It brought record-breaking winds, causing about $230 million in damages and killing 46 people.
• 1964 – The Soviet Union launched the Voskhod 1 into space. It was the first spacecraft with more than one person on board and the first flight where astronauts didn't wear pressure suits.
• 1968 – Equatorial Guinea gained its independence from Spain.
• 1970 – During the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
• 1973 – President Nixon nominated Gerald R. Ford to become the new Vice President.
• 1979 – Typhoon Tip became the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded.
• 1983 – Japan's former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe. He was sentenced to four years in jail.
• 1984 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army tried to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet in the Brighton hotel bombing. The bomb killed five people and injured 31.
• 1992 – A 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit Cairo, Egypt, killing at least 510 people.
• 1994 – The Magellan spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere of Venus after completing its mission.
• 1999 – Pervez Musharraf took power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif in a peaceful military takeover.
• 2005 – China launched its second human spaceflight, Shenzhou 6. It carried two astronauts who stayed in orbit for five days.
• 2012 – The European Union was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.
• 2017 – The United States announced its decision to leave UNESCO, an organization that promotes peace and security through education and culture. Israel followed soon after.
• 2018 – Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
• 2019 – Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan, causing 10 deaths and forcing one million people to evacuate.
• 2019 – Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya became the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours. His time was 1:59:40 in Vienna.

Famous Birthdays

Born Before 1900

• 1008 – Go-Ichijō, an emperor of Japan.
• 1350 – Dmitri Donskoi, a Grand Duke of Moscow.
• 1537 – Edward VI, who became King of England.
• 1576 – Thomas Dudley, an English-American soldier and politician. He was the 3rd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• 1687 – Sylvius Leopold Weiss, a German lute player and composer.
• 1798 – Pedro I, who became the emperor of Brazil.
• 1860 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, an American engineer and businessman. He helped invent the gyrocompass.
• 1864 – Kamini Roy, British India's first female graduate. She was a Bengali poet, social activist, and feminist writer.
• 1865 – Arthur Harden, an English biochemist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1866 – Ramsay MacDonald, a Scottish journalist and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1868 – August Horch, a German engineer and businessman who founded the car company Audi.
• 1872 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, a famous English composer.
• 1875 – Aleister Crowley, an English magician and author.
• 1896 – Eugenio Montale, an Italian poet and translator who won a Nobel Prize.

Born After 1900

• 1906 – Joe Cronin, an American baseball player and manager.
• 1921 – Art Clokey, an American animator who created the popular character Gumby.
• 1929 – Robert Coles, an American psychologist and author.
• 1932 – Dick Gregory, an American comedian, actor, and author.
• 1935 – Luciano Pavarotti, a world-famous Italian tenor (opera singer).
• 1942 – Melvin Franklin, an American soul bass singer, known for being in The Temptations.
• 1944 – Angela Rippon, an English journalist and author.
• 1948 – Hugh Jackman, a famous Australian actor, singer, and producer.
• 1950 – Susan Anton, an American actress and model.
• 1953 – Les Dennis, an English comedian and actor.
• 1955 – Jane Siberry, a Canadian singer-songwriter.
• 1960 – Hiroyuki Sanada, a Japanese actor and martial artist.
• 1962 – Chris Botti, an American trumpet player and composer.
• 1968 – Leon Lett, an American football player.
• 1969 – Martie Maguire, an American singer-songwriter and violinist, known from The Chicks.
• 1970 – Kirk Cameron, an American actor.
• 1975 – Marion Jones, an American basketball player and runner.
• 1977 – Bode Miller, an American skier, known for his Olympic medals.
• 1980 – Ledley King, an English footballer.
• 1981 – Josh Hutcherson, an American actor and producer.
• 1992 – Josh Hutcherson, an American actor and producer.
• 2002 – Iris Apatow, an American actress.
• 2004 – Darci Lynne, an American ventriloquist who won America's Got Talent.

People Who Passed Away

Before 1900

• 322 BC – Demosthenes, an important Athenian statesman.
• 638 – Honorius I, a pope of the Catholic Church.
• 642 – John IV, another pope of the Catholic Church.
• 1492 – Piero della Francesca, an Italian mathematician and painter.
• 1576 – Maximilian II, a Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1654 – Carel Fabritius, a Dutch painter.
• 1845 – Elizabeth Fry, an English prison reformer and philanthropist.
• 1858 – Hiroshige, a famous Japanese painter.
• 1870 – Robert E. Lee, an American general during the Civil War.

After 1900

• 1915 – Edith Cavell, the English nurse mentioned earlier who was executed during World War I.
• 1924 – Anatole France, a French journalist, novelist, and poet who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1940 – Tom Mix, an American actor and director, famous for his roles in silent Western films.
• 1965 – Paul Hermann Müller, a Swiss chemist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1969 – Sonja Henie, a Norwegian figure skater and actress. She won three Olympic gold medals.
• 1971 – Dean Acheson, an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st United States Secretary of State.
• 1971 – Gene Vincent, an American musician.
• 1985 – Johnny Olson, an American radio host and game show announcer.
• 1987 – Alf Landon, an American politician who was the 26th Governor of Kansas.
• 1996 – René Lacoste, a French tennis player and fashion designer who co-founded the brand Lacoste.
• 1997 – John Denver, a beloved American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1999 – Wilt Chamberlain, a legendary American basketball player and coach.
• 2011 – Dennis Ritchie, an American computer scientist who created the C programming language.

Special Days and Holidays

• Christian feast day:
  • Our Lady of the Pillar (celebrated in Spain)
  • Our Lady of Aparecida (celebrated in Brazil)
  • Edith Cavell and Elizabeth Fry (honored by the Church of England)
• Children's Day (Brazil) – A day dedicated to celebrating children.
• Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances:
  • Columbus Day (in Honduras)
  • Fiesta Nacional de España, also Armed Forces Day (Spain) – Spain's National Day.
  • Día de la Raza (in El Salvador, Uruguay) – Day of the Race, celebrating the mix of cultures.
  • Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Venezuela) – Day of Indigenous Resistance, honoring native peoples.
  • Día de las Américas (Belize) – Day of the Americas.
  • Día de las Culturas (Costa Rica) – Day of the Cultures.
  • Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural (Argentina) – Day of respect for cultural diversity.
• Discovery Day (The Bahamas, Colombia) – Celebrates the discovery of the Americas.
• Independence Day (Equatorial Guinea) – Celebrates Equatorial Guinea becoming independent from Spain in 1968.
• International Day Against DRM – A day to raise awareness about Digital Rights Management. In Spanish: 12 de octubre para niños