September 12 in History

64 events 490 BC – 2021

September 12 spans 64 recorded events across recorded history — from 490 BC – 2021. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

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NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to en

2013 — NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space

Did you know

Voyager 1 was launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Did you know

The heliopause is the boundary between the heliosphere and interstellar space, marking the edge of the Solar System.

Did you know

NASA's Voyager program was designed to study the outer Solar System and beyond, with Voyager 1 and its twin Voyager 2.

Did you know

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is another NASA mission that has studied the heliopause and interstellar space.

Did you know

Voyager 1 is expected to continue traveling through interstellar space, carrying a Golden Record with sounds and images of Earth.


Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon.
The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece.
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia under King Darius I to subjugate Greece. The Greek army inflicted a crushing defeat on the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars.
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-490
Sixteen Kingdoms: Sima Yao, age 10, succeeds his father Emperor Jianwen as Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
Period of Chinese history from 304 to 439
The Sixteen Kingdoms, less commonly the Sixteen States, was a period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when the political order of the Jin dynasty (266–420) in northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. Most of these states were founded by the "Five Barbarians" – Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, Qiang – non-Han peoples from northern and western China who launched the rebellions that toppled the Jin court in Luoyang in 311 and Chang'an in 316, ending the Western Jin dynasty (266–316). Some of these peoples, notably the Xiongnu of Shanxi and the Di of Guanzhong had lived in China for generations and were highly sinicized. Others such as the Tuoba and Murong Xianbei tribes migrated from China's periphery into Central Plains in the ensuing decades to compete for political supremacy over northern China. All of these states took on Han-style dynastic names and most claimed as having the Mandate of Heaven to rule all of China. They frequently fought against one another and the Jin, which continued to rule southern China from Jiankang as the Eastern Jin dynasty (317-420).
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372
Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.
13th-century crusade against Catharism in southern France
The Albigensian Crusade, also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect. It resulted in the significant reduction of practicing Cathars and a realignment of the County of Toulouse with the French crown. The distinct regional culture of Languedoc was also diminished.
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1213
Battle of Portopí: The Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Mallorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.
1229 battle during the Almohad conquest of Majorca
The Battle of Portopí was an open field military conflict between the Almohad troops that occupied the island of Majorca and the Christian army led by King James I the Conqueror with the aim of annexing it to the Crown of Aragon in order to expand their domain and return it back to Christiandom. It was carried out at various points in the current Sierra de Na Burguesa, approximately halfway between the current resort town of Santa Ponsa and the City of Majorca. It was the second major battle in the campaign for the conquest of the island of Majorca initiated by the Aragonese king.
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1229
The Treaty of Alcañices, mediated by the pope, between the king Denis of Portugal and king Ferdinand IV of Castile defines the border between the two countries and establishes an alliance of friendship.
1297 treaty between Portugal and Castile
The Treaty of Alcañices or Treaty of Alcanises was made in Alcañices between King Denis of Portugal and King Fernando IV of Castile in 1297.
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1297
The First siege of Gibraltar takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Kingdom of Castile against the Emirate of Granada resulting in a Castilian victory.
1309 Reconquista battle
The first siege of Gibraltar was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista that took place in 1309. The battle pitted the forces of the Crown of Castile under the command of Juan Núñez II de Lara and Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, against the forces of the Emirate of Granada who were under the command of Sultan Muhammed III and his brother, Abu'l-Juyush Nasr.
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1309
Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River while aboard the Halve Maen.
English explorer (c. 1565 – after 1611)
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.
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1609
A gunpowder factory explodes in Valletta, Malta, killing 22 people and damaging several buildings.
Gunpowder factory explosion in Malta
On 12 September 1634, a Hospitaller gunpowder factory in Valletta, Malta accidentally blew up, killing 22 people and causing severe damage to a number of buildings. The factory had been built at some time in the late 16th or early 17th centuries, replacing an earlier one in Fort St. Angelo in Birgu. It was located in the lower part of Valletta, close to the Slaves' Prison.
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1634
Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna: Several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.
Conflicts between Ottomans and Holy League (1683–1699)
The Great Turkish War or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years, was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, the Republic of Venice, the Tsardom of Russia, and the Kingdom of Hungary. Intensive fighting began in 1683 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. The war was a resounding defeat for the Ottoman Empire, which for the first time lost substantial territory, in Hungary and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in part of the western Balkans. The war was significant also for being the first instance of Russia joining an alliance with Western Europe. Historians have labeled the war as the Fourteenth Crusade launched against the Turks by the papacy.
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1683
Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.
Battle of the War of 1812
The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, between General John Stricker's Maryland Militia and a British force led by Major-General Robert Ross. Although the Americans were driven from the field, they were able to do so in good order having inflicted significant casualties on the British, killing Ross and demoralizing the troops under his command. Some of Ross's units became lost among woods and swampy creeks during the battle, with others in similar states of confusion.
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1814
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Born on September 12

20 people 1986 – 2001
Ziaire Williams
Ziaire Williams
American basketball player
Ziaire Williams Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal.
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2001
Jerome Ford
Jerome Ford
American football player
Jerome Ford is an American professional football running back for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and Cincinnati Bearcats and was…
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1999
Sydney Sweeney
Sydney Sweeney
American actress
Sydney Bernice Sweeney is an American actress. She gained early recognition for her roles in Everything Sucks!, The Handmaid's Tale, and Sharp Objects in 2018. She received wider acclaim for her performances in the…
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1997
Almida de Val
Almida de Val
Swedish curler
Almida Winquist de Val is a Swedish curler from Sundbyberg. She currently plays third and is vice skip on Team Isabella Wranå, also known as Team Panthera. With this team, she won a gold medal at the 2017 World Junior…
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1997
Colin Ford
Colin Ford
American actor
Colin Lee Ford is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Wheeler in Daybreak; Joe McAlister in Under the Dome; the voice of Jake on Jake and the Never Land Pirates; Mikey on Can You Teach My Alligator…
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1996
Steven Gardiner
Steven Gardiner
Bahamian sprinter
Steven Gardiner is a Bahamian track and field sprinter competing in the 400 metres and 200 metres. He is the 2020 Olympic and 2019 world champion in the 400 m, and also won the silver medal at the 2017 World…
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1995
Druski
Druski
American comedian and actor
Drew Desbordes, known professionally as Druski, is an American comedian, actor, and influencer. He is known for his sketch comedy, Coulda Been Records, and collaborations with various musicians in their music videos,…
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1994
RM
RM
South Korean rapper, songwriter and record producer
Kim Nam-joon, known professionally as RM, is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is the leader of South Korean boy band BTS, under Big Hit Music. Born in Seoul and raised in Ilsan, RM began his…
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1994
Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina
Ukrainian tennis player
Elina Svitolina is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and No. 108 in doubles by the WTA. Svitolina has won 19 WTA Tour singles titles, including the 2018 WTA…
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1994
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini
American country pop singer
Kelsea Nicole Ballerini is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. A five-time Grammy Award nominee, she began having success in the 2010s, being honored with the Gene Weed Milestone Award at the Academy of…
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1993
Alexia Fast
Alexia Fast
Canadian actress
Alexia Fast is a Canadian actress who began her career at the age of seven when she wrote, directed and starred in the short film The Red Bridge, which premiered at the 2002 Atlantic and Reel to Reel Film Festivals. She…
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1992
Sviatlana Pirazhenka
Belarusian tennis player
Sviatlana Aliaksandrauna Pirazhenka is a Belarusian former tennis player.
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1992
Mike Towell
Scottish professional boxer (died 2016)
Mike Towell was a Scottish professional boxer.
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1991
Scott Wootton
Scott Wootton
English footballer
Scott James Wootton is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Perth Glory in the A-League.
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1991
Freddie Freeman
Freddie Freeman
American-Canadian baseball player
Frederick Charles Freeman is a Canadian and American professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Freeman made his MLB debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2010 and played…
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1989
Andrew Luck
Andrew Luck
American football player
Andrew Austen Luck is an American football executive and former professional quarterback who is the general manager of the Stanford Cardinal football team. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for…
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1989
Amanda Jenssen
Amanda Jenssen
Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
Jenny Amanda Katarina Jenssen is a Swedish singer and songwriter who first rose to prominence as the Swedish Idol 2007 runner-up. Her first album, Killing My Darlings (2008), became one of that year's best-selling…
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1988
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson
Icelandic politician
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson is an Icelandic politician and member of the Althing. A member of the Social Democratic Alliance, he has represented the Southwest constituency since November 2024.
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1988
Alfie Allen
Alfie Allen
English actor
Alfie Evan Allen is an English actor. He portrayed Theon Greyjoy on all eight seasons of the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for…
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1986
Joanne Jackson
Joanne Jackson
English swimmer
Joanne Amy Jackson is an English freestyle swimmer. She is the sister of retired Olympic swimmer Nicola Jackson. She was born in Northallerton and went to Richmond School, North Yorkshire.
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1986
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Died on September 12

20 people 2010 – 2024
Sitaram Yechury
Sitaram Yechury
Indian politician and leader of CPI(M) (born 1952)
Sitaram Yechury was an Indian Marxist politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who was a member of the Politburo of the CPI(M) from 1992 until his death in September 2024.…
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2024
ʻAkilisi Pōhiva
ʻAkilisi Pōhiva
Tongan politician and activist, Prime Minister of Tonga (born 1941)
Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva was a Tongan pro-democracy activist and politician. A key leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI), he served as the Prime Minister of Tonga from 2014 to his death in 2019.…
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2019
Shen Chun-shan
Shen Chun-shan
Taiwanese academic (born 1932)
Shen Chun-shan was a Taiwanese physicist who served as president of National Tsing Hua University from 1994 to 1997. He was known as one of the "four princes of Taiwan" along with Chen Li-an, Fredrick Chien, and Lien…
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2018
Allan MacEachen
Allan MacEachen
Canadian economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (born 1921)
Allan Joseph MacEachen was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as a senator and several times as a Cabinet minister. He was the first deputy prime minister of Canada and served from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to…
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2017
Edith Windsor
Edith Windsor
American LGBT rights activist and technology manager at IBM (born 1929)
Edith Windsor was an American LGBT rights activist and a technology manager at IBM. She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor, which overturned Section 3 of…
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2017
Claudia Card
Claudia Card
American philosopher and academic (born 1940)
Claudia Falconer Card was the Emma Goldman (WARF) Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with teaching affiliations in Women's Studies, Jewish Studies, Environmental Studies, and LGBT Studies.
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2015
Atef Ebeid
Atef Ebeid
Egyptian academic and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Egypt (born 1932)
Atef Muhammad Ebeid was an Egyptian politician who served in various capacities in the governments of Egypt. He was the 47th prime minister of Egypt from 1999 to 2004.
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2014
John Gustafson
English singer-songwriter and bass player (born 1942)
John Frederick "Johnny" Gustafson was an English bass guitar player and singer, who had a lengthy recording and live performance career. During his career, he was a member of the bands The Big Three, The Merseybeats,…
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2014
Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Northern Irish evangelical pastor (Free Presbyterian Church) and politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland (born 1926)
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First Minister…
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2014
Joe Sample
Joe Sample
American pianist and composer (born 1939)
Joseph Leslie Sample was an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, whose name was shortened to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a part of the group…
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2014
Ray Dolby
Ray Dolby
American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (born 1933)
Ray Milton Dolby was an American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR, which has been said to have "transformed sound reproduction".
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2013
Warren Giese
Warren Giese
American football player, coach, and politician (born 1924)
Warren Kenneth Giese was an American state legislator in South Carolina and a college football coach. He served as the head football coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks for five years at the University of South…
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2013
Erich Loest
Erich Loest
German author and screenwriter (born 1926)
Erich Loest was a German writer born in Mittweida, Saxony. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Hans Walldorf, Bernd Diksen and Waldemar Naß.
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2013
Candace Pert
Candace Pert
American neuroscientist and pharmacologist (born 1946)
Candace Beebe Pert was an American neuroscientist and pharmacologist who discovered the opioid receptor, the cellular binding site for endorphins in the brain.
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2013
Arkadii Dragomoshchenko
Arkadii Dragomoshchenko
Russian poet and author (born 1946)
Arkadii Trofimovich Dragomoshchenko was a Russian poet, writer, translator, and lecturer. He is considered the foremost representative of language poetry in contemporary Russian literature.
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2012
Jon Finlayson
Jon Finlayson
Australian actor and screenwriter (born 1938)
Jon Douglas Finlayson was an Australian stage and screen character actor, radio performer, writer, director, producer and singer
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2012
Tom Sims
American skateboarder and snowboarder, founded Sims Snowboards (born 1950)
Tom Sims was an American athlete, inventor, and entrepreneur. Sims was World Snowboarding Champion (1983), World Champion Skateboarder (1975), and founder of SIMS Snowboards and SIMS Skateboards. He lived in Santa…
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2012
Alexander Galimov
Alexander Galimov
Russian ice hockey player (born 1985)
Alexander Saidgereyevich Galimov was a Russian professional ice hockey player. At the time of his death, he was a member of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) whose team plane crashed on 7…
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2011
Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol
French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1930)
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues and contemporaries Jean-Luc Godard,…
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2010
Giulio Zignoli
Giulio Zignoli
Italian footballer (born 1946)
Giulio Zignoli was an Italian professional footballer, who played as a defender. He made 108 appearances in Serie A, most notably for Cagliari and Milan, during the late 1960s and 1970s. He died in Cantù, aged 64.
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2010
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Related questions

More questions about September 12

What happened on September 12?

A featured event on this date is 2013: NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space. This page also lists 64 events from other years on the same day.

Why is September 12 remembered in history?

September 12 brings together events, births, and deaths across many eras, which makes it useful for seeing how one calendar date connects different historical turning points.

Who was born on September 12?

Notable birthdays on this date include Ziaire Williams, Jerome Ford, Sydney Sweeney.

See birthdays

Who died on September 12?

Notable deaths on this date include Sitaram Yechury, ʻAkilisi Pōhiva, Shen Chun-shan.

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Short answer

What happened on September 12 in history?

On September 12, one notable event in history was 2013: NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space..

This date currently highlights 64 recorded events on thisDay.info, spanning 490 BC – 2021.

DateSeptember 12
Featured year2013
LocationHistorical Location
Events listed64

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