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The Swedish labour movement gained significant momentum in the early 20th century, with the Social Democratic Party becoming a major force in Swedish politics.
October 12 in History
66 events
539 BC – 2022
Today in history
October 12 spans 66 recorded events across recorded history, from 539 BC to 2022. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1890 — Uddevalla Suffrage Association is formed
More major events on October 12
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1996 New Zealand holds its first general election under the new mixed-member proportional representation system, which led to Jim Bolger's National Party forming a coalition government with Winston Peters's New Zealand First. Source
- 1810 The citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest in celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Louis of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Source
- 1492 Christopher Columbus's first expedition makes landfall on San Salvador Island in the Caribbean. (Julian calendar) Source
-539
The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia conquer Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire.
(Julian calendar)
633
Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by an alliance under Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of Gwynedd.
Battle between the kingdoms of Northumbria, Gwynedd and Mercia (633 AD)
1279
The Nichiren Shōshū branch of Buddhism is founded in Japan.
Branch of Nichiren Buddhism
1398
In the Treaty of Salynas, Lithuania cedes Samogitia to the Teutonic Knights.
1398 treaty between Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights
1406
Chen Yanxiang, the only person from Indonesia known to have visited dynastic Korea, reaches Seoul after having set out from Java four months before.
14/15th-century Chinese merchant
1492
Christopher Columbus's first expedition makes landfall on San Salvador Island in the Caribbean.
(Julian calendar)
1654
The Delft Explosion devastates the city in the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people.
City and municipality in South Holland, Netherlands
1692
The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Province of Massachusetts Bay Governor William Phips.
Legal proceedings in Massachusetts (1692–93)
1748
War of Jenkins' Ear: A British squadron wins a tactical victory over a Spanish squadron off Havana.
1739–1748 conflict between Britain and Spain
1792
The first celebration of Columbus Day is held in New York City.
National holiday in the Americas
1793
The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Historic residence hall at UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
1798
Flemish and Luxembourgish peasants launch the rebellion against French rule known as the Peasants' War.
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
1799
Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse becomes the first woman to jump from a balloon with a parachute.
French balloonist and parachutist (1775–1847)
1810
The citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest in celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Louis of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Capital of Bavaria, Germany
1822
Pedro I of Brazil is proclaimed the emperor.
Emperor of Brazil (1822–31) and King of Portugal (1826)
1849
The city of Manizales, Colombia, is founded by 'The Expedition of the 20'.
Municipality and city in Andean Region, Colombia
1856
An M 7.7–8.3 earthquake off the Greek island of Crete cause major damage as far as Egypt and Malta.
Earthquake affecting the Ottoman Empire (present-day Crete, Greece)
1871
The British in India enact the Criminal Tribes Act, naming many local communities "Criminal Tribes".
Legislation in British India
1892
The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools.
Loyalty oath to the flag and republic of the U.S.
1901
President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
President of the United States from 1901 to 1909
1915
World War I: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1917
World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single-day loss of life in New Zealand history.
1917 battle during World War I in Belgium
1918
A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Minnesota.
1918 forest fire in Minnesota, US
1928
An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Boston Children's Hospital.
Negative-pressure mechanical respirator
1933
The military Alcatraz Citadel becomes the civilian Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.
United States Army coastal fortification
1944
World War II: The Axis occupation of Athens comes to an end.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
1945
World War II: Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S.
Medal of Honor.
1945
The Lao Issara took control of Laos' government and reaffirmed the country's independence.
Laotian anti-French movement (1945–1949)
1959
At the national congress of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance in Peru, a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party who later form APRA Rebelde.
Splinter group of the Peruvian APRA
1960
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at the United Nations to protest a Philippine assertion.
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964
1962
The Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S.
Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities. There was at least U.S. $230 million in damages and 46 people died.
1963
After nearly 23 years of imprisonment, Reverend Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit missionary, was released from the Soviet Union.
Polish-American Jesuit priest and missionary in the Soviet Union (1904–1984)
1964
The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew, and the first flight without pressure suits.
First multi-crew spaceflight
1967
A bomb explodes on board Cyprus Airways Flight 284 while flying over the Mediterranean Sea, killing 66.
1967 airliner bombing
1970
Vietnam War: Vietnamization continues as President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War
1971
The 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire begins.
1971 national event in Iran
1973
President Nixon nominates House Minority Leader Gerald R.
Ford as the successor to Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.
1976
Indian Airlines Flight 171 crashes at Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India, killing 95.
1976 aviation accident
1977
Hua Guofeng succeeds Mao Zedong as paramount leader of China.
Leader of China from 1976 to 1978
1979
Typhoon Tip becomes the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded.
Pacific typhoon in 1979
1983
Japan's former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from the Lockheed Corporation, and is sentenced to four years in jail.
Prime Minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974
1984
The Provisional Irish Republican Army fail to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet.
The bomb kills five people and wounds at least 31 others.
1988
Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down execution-style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.
Police service of Victoria, Australia
1994
The Magellan spacecraft burns up in the atmosphere of Venus.
NASA orbiter mission to Venus (1989–1994)
1994
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 746 crashes near Natanz, Iran, killing all 66 people on board.
1994 aviation accident
1996
New Zealand holds its first general election under the new mixed-member proportional representation system, which led to Jim Bolger's National Party forming a coalition government with Winston Peters's New Zealand First.
Island country in the Pacific Ocean
1997
The Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria kills 43 people at a fake roadblock.
1999
Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.
President of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008
1999
The former Autonomous Soviet Republic of Abkhazia declares its independence from Georgia.
Partially recognised state in the South Caucasus
2000
The USS Cole, a US Navy destroyer, is badly damaged by two al-Qaeda suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
2002
Terrorists detonate bombs in two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, killing 202 and wounding over 200.
Terrorist attacks in Indonesia
2005
The second Chinese human spaceflight, Shenzhou 6, is launched, carrying two cosmonauts in orbit for five days.
2005 Chinese crewed spaceflight
2010
The Finnish Yle TV2 channel's Ajankohtainen kakkonen current affairs program airs controversial Homoilta episode (literally "gay night"), which leads to the resignation of almost 50,000 Finns from the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Finnish television channel
2012
The European Union wins the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.
Supranational political and economic union
2013
An apartment building collapse in Medellín, Colombia results in the deaths of twelve people.
2013 building collapse in Colombia
2017
The United States announces its decision to withdraw from UNESCO.
Israel immediately follows.
2018
2019
Typhoon Hagibis makes landfall in Japan, killing 10 and forcing the evacuation of one million people.
Pacific typhoon in 2019
2019
Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna.
Kenyan long-distance runner (born 1984)
2019
The Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans, which is under construction, collapses, killing three workers and injuring 30 others.
Partially collapsed high-rise building in New Orleans
2022
2022 Bratislava shooting, killing 3 (including the perpetrator) and injuring one.
The shooting occurred outside of a gay bar in Bratislava known as Tepláreň. Two people (excluding the perpetrator) died as a result of the shooting: Juraj Vankulič, a non-binary person, and Matúš Horváth, a bisexual man. The perpetrator (Juraj Krajčík) was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot the morning after the attack.