What Happened Today in History on April 12

The Battle of Cynwit takes place between the Wessex Saxons and the Vikings.

The Battle of Towton takes place during the Wars of the Roses in England, resulting in a decisive Yorkist victory.

The Union Flag, combining the flags of England and Scotland, is adopted for the first time.

The Confederate Forces attack Fort Sumter, South Carolina, marking the official beginning of the The American Civil War. The war lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage. More

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes president. More

Bill Haley and His Comets record "Rock Around The Clock" It may not have been the first rock’n’roll record but it is an event often referred to as marking the beginning of the Rock and Roll era. Bill Haley, a square-looking country singer from the suburbs of Philadelphia, nearly 30 years old at the time, was an unlikely hero of the Rock era.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into space and orbit the Earth. More

The space shuttle Columbia lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and becomes the first reusable manned spacecraft to travel into space. Carrying the two-person crew of John Young and Robert Crippen., Columbia proved the operational concept of a winged, reusable spaceship. The flight lasted 54 hours in space, with 36 orbits before successfully touching down at California’s Edwards Air Force Base on April 14. Columbia went on to have a total of 27 successful flights. On 2/1/2003, on its 28th flight, Columbia and Crew were lost During reentry. More