Who are famous people born on February 12?

Famous people born on February 12 include: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kim Ji-min, Kemal Bilmez.

What famous people died on February 12?

Notable historical figures who died on February 12 include: Ivan Reitman, Christie Blatchford, Geert Hofstede.

February 12 in History

Q: What happened on February 12 in history?

On February 12, 2019: The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece.

2019 — The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece

February 12 spans 50 recorded events across recorded history — from 1059 – 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · February 12 — Wikipedia

Historical Events 50 events 1059 – 2026

Did you know

In 2019, The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

The use of the country name "Macedonia" was disputed between the Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Macedonia between 1991 and 2019. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

The dispute was a source of instability in the Western Balkans for 25 years. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

It was resolved through negotiations between the two countries, mediated by the United Nations, resulting in the Prespa Agreement, which was signed on 17 June 2018. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

Pertinent to its background is an early 20th-century multifaceted dispute and armed conflict that formed part of the background to the Balkan Wars. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Upon reaching Rome, Bruno of Toul is elected as pope Leo IX and starts initiating reforms.

Head of the Catholic Church from 1049 to 1054

Pope Leo IX was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the Middle Ages; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the Great Schism of 1054, considered the turning point in which the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches formally separated.

1059

Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular.

Head of the Catholic Church from 1088 to 1099

Pope Urban II, otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermont, which ignited the series of Catholic military expeditions known as the Crusades.

1096

The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performs the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.

Italian physician and anatomist

Galeazzo di Santa Sofia was an Italian physician and anatomist.

1404

English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans in the Battle of the Herrings.

15th-century English knight

Sir John Fastolf was a late medieval English soldier, landowner, and knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War from 1415 to 1439, latterly as a senior commander against Joan of Arc, among others. He has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as the prototype, in some part, of Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff, although their careers are very different. Many historians argue, however, that he deserves to be famous in his own right, not only as a soldier, but as a patron of literature, a writer on strategy and perhaps as an early industrialist.

1429

Isabella I issues an edict outlawing Islam in the Crown of Castile, forcing virtually all her Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity.

Queen of Castile and León from 1474 to 1504

Isabella I, also known as Isabella the Catholic, was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs. Her reign marked the end of the Reconquista and also the start of the Spanish Empire, allowing Spain to dominate European politics for the next century.

1502

Vasco da Gama sets sail with 15 ships and 800 men from Lisbon, Portugal on his second voyage to India.

Portuguese explorer (c. 1460s – 1524)

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first direct maritime route between Europe and India via the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode was to open up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event and a turning point in world history.

1502

Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.

Capital and largest city of Chile

Santiago, also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. Located in the Chilean Central Valley within the Santiago Basin, between the Andes to the east and the Chilean Coastal Range to the west, it anchors the Santiago Metropolitan Region and its conurbation of Greater Santiago, which comprises more than forty communes and concentrates over a third of the national population and around 45% of Chile's GDP. Most of the city lies between 500 and 650 meters above sea level, with recent urban growth extending into the Andean foothills.

1541

Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwŏn Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.

1592–1598 Japanese invasions of Korea

The Imjin War was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596 between the conflicts, followed by a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War. The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea's southern provinces.

1593

The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.

Parliament of England held in 1689

The English Convention was an assembly of the Parliament of England which met between 22 January and 12 February 1689 and transferred the crowns of England and Ireland from James II to William III and Mary II.

1689

Georgia Day: Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, by settling at Savannah.

US state holiday recognizing its founding

Georgia Day is the holiday which the U.S. state of Georgia recognizes in honor of its colonial founding as the Province of Georgia. On February 12, 1733 [NS] James Oglethorpe landed the first settlers in the Anne, at what was to become Georgia's first city, Savannah. Not a public holiday, it was created by Georgia's General Assembly, which provided that Feb. 12, "the anniversary of the landing of the first colonists in Georgia under Oglethorpe"—be observed in the public schools as Georgia Day. The law was never repealed, but was not included in the code when it was officially compiled in 1981. Its official legal status is unclear.

1733

Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.

King of Sweden from 1771 to 1792

Gustav III, also called Gustavus III, was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden.

1771

An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops at the Battle of Chacabuco.

Country in South America

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern cone of South America. It covers an area of 2,780,085 km2 (1,073,397 mi2), making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and a part of Antarctica.

1817

Bernardo O'Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.

Chilean independence leader (1778–1842)

Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean military officer, statesman and a major leader of Chile's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire. He was the second Supreme Director of Chile from 1817 to 1823, the first holder of the title to head a fully independent Chilean state, and is considered one of Chile's founding fathers.

1818

The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.

Indigenous people from Southeastern Woodlands

The Muscogee, Mvskoke or Mvskokvlke, also known as Muscogee Creek or just Creek, are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands in the United States. Their historical homelands are in what now comprises southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, western Georgia and parts of northern Florida.

1825

Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.

Country in South America

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contains the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito and its largest city is Guayaquil.

1832

Antonín Dvořák's Jakobín is premiered at the National Theater in Prague.

Czech composer (1841–1904)

Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák's style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them", and Dvořák has been described as "arguably the most versatile... composer of his time".

1889

Café Terminus bombing by Émile Henry during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).

This is considered one of the first acts of modern terrorism.

On 12 February 1894, anarchist Émile Henry carried out a bomb attack against the people gathered in the Café Terminus in Paris, France. Undertaken during the period known as the Ère des attentats (1892–1894), it was one of the first acts of modern and mass terrorism in history and is also known for Henry's statement at his trial, which is considered a foundational element of this form of terrorism.

1894

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.

American civil rights organization

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Wald, Emil G. Hirsch and Henry Moskowitz. Over the years, leaders of the organization have included Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins. The NAACP is the largest and oldest civil rights group in America.

1909

New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.

19th and 20th-century New Zealand ferry

SS Penguin was a New Zealand inter-island ferry steamer that sank off the southwest coast of Wellington after striking a rock near Sinclair Head in poor weather on 12 February 1909. Penguin's sinking caused the deaths of 75 people, leaving only 30 survivors. This was New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century.

1909

The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.

Emperor of China (1908–1912) and of Manchukuo (1934–1945)

Puyi was the last emperor of China, having reigned as the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing dynasty and later as the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state during World War II. After the war, he was held as a war criminal in the Soviet Union and China until 1959, when the Chinese Communist Party granted him amnesty and presented him as a model of successful reeducation.

1912

The Second Regional Congress of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents is held by the Makhnovshchina at Huliaipole.

Congress of Makhnovshchina

The Regional Congresses of Peasants, Workers and Insurgents represented the "highest form of democratic authority" within the political system of the Makhnovshchina. They brought together delegates from the region's peasantry, industrial workers and insurgent soldiers, which would discuss the issues at hand and take their decisions back with them to local popular assemblies.

1919

Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.

Faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolshevik party, formally established in 1912, seized power in Russia in the October Revolution of 1917 and was later renamed the Russian Communist Party, All-Union Communist Party, and ultimately the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Its ideology, based on Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist principles, became known as Bolshevism.

1921

USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.

United States historic airship

USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", carrying up to five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk parasite biplanes for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1s for training. In service for less than two years, the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast in February 1935, though most of the crew were rescued. The wreckage is listed as the USS Macon Airship Remains on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

1935

A devastating tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.

1945 tornado outbreak in the Southeastern U.S.

On February 12, 1945, a devastating tornado outbreak occurred across the Southeastern United States. The storms killed 45 people and injured 427 others. The outbreak included a devastating tornado that struck Montgomery, Alabama, killing 26 people. The United States Weather Bureau described this tornado as "perhaps the most officially observed one in history" as it reached within five miles (8 km) of the U.S. Weather Bureau's office. Tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis estimated the intensity of the Montgomery tornado to be F3 on the Fujita scale. The Montgomery storm destroyed around 100 houses, as well as two warehouses and a freight train. This is the deadliest tornado to ever impact the city of Montgomery.

1945

World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.

1939–1945 global conflict

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

1946

African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes.

The incident later galvanizes the civil rights movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil.

African Americans or Black Americans, also formerly called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group who, as defined by the United States census, consists of Americans who have ancestry from "any of the Black racial groups of Africa". African Americans constitute the third-largest racial and ethnic group in the U.S., following White Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Africans enslaved in the United States. According to annual estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2024, the overall Black population was estimated at 42,951,595, representing approximately 12.63% of the total U.S. population.

1946

The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.

1947 meteorite impact in southeastern Russia

In the southeastern Russian SFSR, part of the Soviet Union, an iron meteorite fell on the Sikhote-Alin mountains in 1947. Large iron meteorite falls have been witnessed, and fragments have been recovered, but never before in recorded history has a fall of this magnitude occurred. An estimated 23 tonnes of fragments survived the fiery passage through the atmosphere and reached the Earth.

1947

Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.

French fashion designer (1905–1957)

Christian Ernest Dior was a French fashion designer and founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE. His fashion house is known all around the world, having gained prominence "on five continents in only a decade."

1947

The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.

Soviet space probe launched in 1961; first spacecraft to fly by Venus

Venera 1, also known as Venera-1VA No.2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 8, was the first spacecraft to perform an interplanetary flight and the first to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme. Launched in February 1961, it was intended as an impactor, but flew past Venus on 19 May of the same year; however, radio contact with the probe was lost before the flyby, resulting in returning only some data and only from interplanetary space.

1961

Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St.

Louis, Missouri.

The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot-tall (192 m) monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch, Missouri's tallest accessible structure, and no building can be taller than the arch in the St. Louis area. Some sources consider it the tallest human-made monument in the Western Hemisphere. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States and officially dedicated to "the American people", the Arch, commonly referred to as "The Gateway to the West", is a National Historic Landmark in Gateway Arch National Park and has become a popular tourist destination, as well as an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis.

1963

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes into the Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing all 45 people on board.

1963 aviation accident in Florida

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 was a scheduled passenger flight operated on February 12, 1963, that broke up in midair and crashed into the Florida Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport in a severe thunderstorm. The plane was destined for Portland, Oregon, via Chicago, Spokane, and Seattle.

1963

Malcolm X visits Smethwick near Birmingham following the racially-charged 1964 United Kingdom general election.

American civil rights activist (1925–1965)

Malcolm X was an African American revolutionary and Black nationalist leader who came from a background of poverty, family disruption, and criminal activity, to a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. He discovered the religious organization the Nation of Islam while in prison and served as its spokesperson from 1952 until 1964. He was also a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the African American community. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure with Black people and Muslims worldwide for his pursuit of racial justice.

1965

Rabbi Morris Adler is fatally shot by a disgruntled congregant at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, United States.

Murder-suicide involving prominent Michigan rabbi in 1966

On February 12, 1966, Richard Wishnetsky entered Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, during weekly Shabbat services and, brandishing a firearm, ordered everyone except Rabbi Morris Adler off the synagogue's bimah. After condemning the congregation, Wishnetsky shot Adler and himself.

1966

Vietnam War: The Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre occurs, allegedly by South Korean troops.

1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

1968

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.

Soviet-Russian author and dissident (1918–2008)

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature". His nonfiction work The Gulag Archipelago "amounted to a head-on challenge to the Soviet state" and sold tens of millions of copies.

1974

One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence.

The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.

Lahore is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and 27th largest in the world, with a population of over 14 million. Lahore is one of Pakistan's major industrial, educational and economic hubs. It has been the historic capital and cultural centre of the wider Punjab region, and is one of Pakistan's most socially liberal, progressive, and cosmopolitan cities.

1983

Cold War: The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S.

missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48) is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy in the Soviet territorial waters, while Yorktown claims innocent passage.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

1988

Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.

Australian politician and academic (born 1948)

Carmen Mary Lawrence is an Australian academic and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. To date she is the only female premier of Western Australia. A member of the Labor Party, she later entered federal politics as a member of the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2007, and served as a minister in the Keating government.

1990

The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.

The Constitution of Mongolia was adopted on 13 January 1992, put into force on 12 February, with amendments made in 1999, 2000, 2019, 2022, and 2023. The constitution established a representative democracy in Mongolia, enshrining core functions of the government, including the separation of powers and election cycle, and guaranteeing human rights, including freedom of religion, travel, expression, and private property. The document was written after the Mongolian Revolution of 1990, effectively dissolving the Mongolian People's Republic and ending the one-party rule.

1992

Two-year-old James Bulger is abducted from New Strand Shopping Centre by two ten-year-old boys, who later torture and murder him.

1993 child murder in Liverpool, England

On 12 February 1993 in Merseyside, England, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted, tortured, and murdered a two-year-old boy, James Patrick Bulger. Thompson and Venables led Bulger away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, where Bulger was visiting shops with his mother. His mutilated body was found on a railway line 2+1⁄2 miles away in Walton, Liverpool, two days later.

1993

Four thieves break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream.

Art gallery in Oslo, Norway

The National Gallery is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.

1994

United States President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.

President of the United States from 1993 to 2001

William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979 and as the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992. His centrist "Third Way" political philosophy became known as Clintonism, which dominated his presidency and the succeeding decades of Democratic Party history.

1999

NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

American space probe to asteroid (1996–2001)

Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker, renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit over a period of a year. It was the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid and land on it successfully. In February 2000, the mission closed in on the asteroid and orbited it. On February 12, 2001, Shoemaker touched down on the asteroid and was terminated just over two weeks later.

2001

The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands.

He dies four years later before its conclusion.

The war crimes trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) lasted for just over four years from 2002 until his death in 2006. Milošević faced 66 counts of crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

2002

An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.

Airline in Iran

Iran Airtour is a privately owned Iranian airline that was launched in 1973. Its main base is Mashhad Airport.

2002

The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

City and county in California, US

San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 200,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, second by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2024. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States. Around 9.2 million live in the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest in the United States.

2004

Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 on board and one on the ground.

2009 aviation accident in New York

Colgan Air Flight 3407 was a scheduled passenger flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009. Approaching Buffalo, the Bombardier Q400, entered an aerodynamic stall from which it did not recover and crashed into a house at 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, New York, at 10:17 pm EST, about 5 miles from the end of the runway, killing all 49 passengers and crew on board and one person inside the house.

2009

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.

Head of the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025

Pope Francis was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first pope born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.

2016

In the first general election since the July Revolution in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, wins a landslide victory upon returning to power after almost 19 years.

A referendum held alongside was also approved by the majority of voters.

General election was held in Bangladesh on 12 February 2026 to elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad, as well as the proposed Senate. It was the first general election since the July Uprising of 2024 that ended the 15-year-long rule of Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, won a landslide victory in the election, securing two-thirds of seats; Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secured the second most seats and a constitutional referendum on the July Charter was held alongside the election.

2026

Born on February 12

20 people 1987 – 2001

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Georgian footballer

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Georgia national team. Regarded as one of the best players in the world and as…

2001

Kim Ji-min

South Korean actress

Kim Ji-min is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her roles in Goddess of Fire (2013) and Pluto Secret Society (2014). Since January 2020, she is part of SM C&C.

2000

Kemal Bilmez

Belgian politician

Kemal Bilmez is a Belgian politician and member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of the Workers' Party of Belgium, he has represented Flemish Brabant since June 2024.

1994

Arman Hall

American sprinter

Arman "Gino" Hall is an American sprinter specializing in the 400 m. He is a World and Olympic gold medalist as a member of USA's 2014 and 2016 4 × 400 m relay teams.

1994

Paxton Lynch

American football player

Paxton James Lynch is an American professional football quarterback for the Colorado Spartans of the National Arena League (NAL). He played college football for the Memphis Tigers, and was selected in the first round of…

1994

Bud Dupree

American football player

Alvin "Bud" Dupree Jr. is an American professional football linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, and was selected in the…

1993

Rafinha

Brazilian footballer

Rafael Alcântara do Nascimento, commonly known as Rafinha, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

1993

Jennifer Stone

American actress

Jennifer Stone is an American podcaster, social media personality, nurse, and actress. As a child actor, she became known for playing Harper Finkle on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). She…

1993

Magda Linette

Polish tennis player

Magda Linette is a Polish professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19, achieved in March 2023. She has reached eight finals on the WTA Tour, winning three titles, and the semifinals…

1992

Patrick Herrmann

German footballer

Patrick Herrmann is a German former professional footballer who played as a right winger.

1991

Kane Richardson

Australian cricketer

Kane William Richardson is a former Australian international cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia and Queensland and played in the Big Bash League for the Adelaide Strikers, Melbourne Renegades, and…

1991

Katherine Barrell

Canadian actress, director, writer, and producer

Katherine Barrell is a Canadian actress, writer, producer, and director. She is best known for her role as Sheriff Nicole Haught in the Syfy supernatural weird West television series Wynonna Earp. In 2020, she joined…

1990

Robert Griffin III

American football player

Robert Lee Griffin III, nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He…

1990

Josh Harrellson

American basketball player

Josh Douglas Harrellson is an American professional basketball player for Saga Ballooners of the Japanese B.League. Standing 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), he played center for the Kentucky Wildcats from 2008 to 2011. He was…

1989

DeMarco Murray

American football player

DeMarco Murray is an American football coach and former professional player who is currently the running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). A running back in the National…

1988

Nicolás Otamendi

Argentine footballer

Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Benfica, which he captains, and the Argentina national team. He will formally join AFA Liga…

1988

Josh Phegley

American baseball player

Joshua Aaron Phegley is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs.

1988

Mike Posner

American singer-songwriter and producer

Michael Robert Henrion Posner is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, poet, and record producer from Detroit. He signed with J Records in 2009 and released his debut single "Cooler Than Me" the following year. The…

1988

Jérémy Chardy

French tennis player

Jérémy Chardy is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013…

1987

Gabriela Mărginean

Romanian basketball player

Gabriela Mărginean is a Romanian professional women's basketball player who plays for the Turkey club İzmit Belediyespor.

1987

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Died on February 12

20 people 2013 – 2022

Ivan Reitman

Slovak-Canadian actor, director, and producer (born 1946)

Ivan Reitman was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.

2022

Christie Blatchford

Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (born 1951)

Christie Marie Blatchford was a Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster. She published four non-fiction books.

2020

Geert Hofstede

Dutch social psychologist (born 1928)

Gerard Hendrik (Geert) Hofstede was a Dutch social psychologist, IBM employee, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, well known…

2020

Gordon Banks

English footballer (born 1937)

Gordon Banks was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional career, and won 73…

2019

Lyndon LaRouche

American political activist (born 1922)

Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization, the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy theorist and…

2019

Pedro Morales

Puerto Rican professional wrestler and commentator (born 1942)

Pedro Antonio Morales was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).

2019

Bill Crider

American author (born 1941)

Bill Crider was an American author of crime fiction among other work.

2018

Al Jarreau

American singer (born 1940)

Alwin Lopez Jarreau was an American singer. His 1981 album Breakin' Away spent two years on the Billboard 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the…

2017

Anna Marguerite McCann

first female American underwater archaeologist (born 1933)

Anna Marguerite McCann was an American art historian and archaeologist. She is known for being an early influencer—and the first American woman—in the field of underwater archaeology, beginning in the 1960s. McCann…

2017

Dominique D'Onofrio

Italian-Belgian footballer and coach (born 1953)

Dominique Nicolas D'Onofrio was an Italian football coach, later chairman. He was born in Castelforte, Italy.

2016

Yannis Kalaitzis

Greek cartoonist (born 1945)

Giannis Kalaitzis was a Greek cartoonist known for his editorial cartoons in various Greek daily newspapers.

2016

Yan Su

Chinese general and composer (born 1930)

Yan Su was a Chinese playwright and lyricist who served as vice-president of China Theatre Association. He held the civilian rank equivalent to general in the PLA Air Force Political Department Song and Dance Troupe. He…

2016

Movita Castaneda

American actress and singer (born 1916)

Maria Luisa Castaneda was an American actress and the second wife of actor Marlon Brando. In films, she played exotic women and singers, such as in Flying Down to Rio (1933) and Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). She was the…

2015

Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat

Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (born 1931)

Nik Abdul Aziz bin Nik Mat was a Malaysian politician and Muslim cleric. He was the Menteri Besar of Kelantan from 1990 to 2013 and the Mursyidul Am or Spiritual Leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) from 1991…

2015

Gary Owens

American radio host and voice actor (born 1934)

Gary Owens was an American disc jockey, voice actor, announcer and radio personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the…

2015

Steve Strange

Welsh singer (born 1959)

Stephen John Harrington, known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer and nightclub host and promoter. Strange began his career in several short-lived punk bands of the late 1970s. Quickly becoming…

2015

Sid Caesar

American actor and comedian (born 1922)

Isaac Sidney Caesar was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), which was a 90-minute…

2014

John Pickstone

English historian and author (born 1944)

John Victor Pickstone was a British historian of science and the Wellcome Research Professor in the Centre for the History of science, Technology and Medicine, in the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of…

2014

Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Saudi Arabian prince (born 1941)

Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a Saudi royal and politician who served as the governor of Riyadh Province from November 2011 until his death in February 2013. Before that he was the deputy governor of the province.

2013

Reginald Turnill

English journalist and author (born 1915)

Reginald George Turnill was the BBC's aviation correspondent for twenty years during the beginnings of crewed space exploration and the early jet age in aviation, including the breakthrough in supersonic passenger…

2013

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What happened on February 12 in history?

On February 12, one notable event in history was 2019: The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece..

This date currently highlights 50 recorded events on thisDay.info, spanning 1059 – 2026.

DateFebruary 12

Featured year2019

Locationaccordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece

Events listed50

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February 12 in History

2019 — The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece

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February 12 in History

2019 — The country known as the Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia in accordance with the Prespa agreement, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece

Born on February 12

Died on February 12

More questions about February 12

What happened on February 12?

Why is February 12 remembered in history?

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Who died on February 12?

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What happened on February 12 in history?

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