Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on October 12th?

Persian king Cyrus (Achaemenid Empire), conquers Babylon, the ancient capital of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire covering modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Many consider Babylon, the ancient literary, religious an science center,

Christopher Columbus and his crew make landfall in the present day Bahamas, marking the European discovery of the Americas. More

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches India, opening the sea route to the East.

The new Russian Tsar, Michael Romanov, is elected, marking the beginning of the Romanov dynasty.

Kronprinz Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) marries Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen and the citizens of Munich were invited to attend the royal festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates.. The fields were named "Theresienwiese" ("Theresa's Meadow") in honor of the Crown Princess, and have kept that name ever since, although the locals have abbreviated the name simply to Wiesn. The precise origins of the festival and horse races remain a matter of controversy. However, the decision to repeat the horse races, spectacle, and celebrations in 1811 launched what is now the annual Oktoberfest tradition. More

The First Anglo-Boer War begins as British forces invade the South African Republic. (Transvaal) More

The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many U.S. public schools as part of the Columbus Day celebration.

USS Holland (SS-1) the first US Submersible Torpedo Boat, is commissioned by the Navy, Lt. Harry H. Caldwell in command in Newport, R.I. The USS Holland, was named for its designer John Philip Holland. It had been launched in 1898 by Crescent Shipyards, Elizabeth, N.J. More

Minnesota's Moose Lake and Cloquet Fires. Originally started miles away a couple of days earlier by a spark from a passing train during an extreme dry season. Over 1000 people lost their lives, thirty-eight communities were destroyed, 250,000 acres were burned, causing and economic loss of $73 million (over a billion in today's economy). More

US Army medic Private First Class Desmond Thomas Doss becomes the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor. More

Equatorial Guinea Independence Day from Spain.

The Kitty Hawk Race Riot - More than 100 sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk are involved in a race riot resulting in 46 sailors injured. in a race riot involving more than 100 sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk en route to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam. More

The USS Cole, on a refueling stop at Aden, Yemen. is attacked by two suicide pilots of a small bomb-laden boat, blasting a a 40-by-40-foot hole in the port side of the USS Cole, at midship. Seventeen sailors were killed and 38 wounded in the attack. Following investigations determined the attack had ben carried out by members of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terrorist network. More

Terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia, kill over 200 people and injure hundreds more. More

The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded to the European Union (EU) "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe." More