April 12
1861 - The U.S. Civil War began when Fort Sumter in South Carolina was attacked by Confederate forces.
1862 - James J. Andrews led the raiding party that stole the Confederate locomotive "The General," inspiring the 1926 Buster Keaton movie.
1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt died from a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.
1955 - The polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk was called "safe, effective and potent."
1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human in space and also the first human to orbit the Earth in a spacecraft.
1963 - Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit. (During his time behind bars, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”)
1981 - NASA's first space shuttle, Columbia, took its first test flight.
1983 - Harold Washington was elected the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
1985 - Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off.
1988 - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to Harvard University for a genetically engineered mouse, the first time a patent was granted for an animal life form.
1990 - In its first meeting, East Germany's first democratically elected parliament acknowledged responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust and asked for the forgiveness of Jews and others who had suffered.
1992 - After five years in the making, Euro Disneyland (now called Disneyland Paris) opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France, amid controversy as French intellectuals bemoaned the invasion of American pop culture.
1999 - Arkansas federal judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for lying about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
2015 - Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics, announcing in a video her much-awaited second campaign for the White House.
2018 - The Screen Actors Guild issued new guidelines calling for an end to auditions and professional meetings in private hotel rooms and residences in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
2020 - Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday isolated in their homes by the coronavirus. St. Peter’s Square was barricaded to keep out crowds. Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely vacant basilica, calling for global solidarity in the face of the pandemic.
Birthdays
30 - Saoirse Ronan (actress)
36 - Jessie James Decker (singer)
37 - Brendon Urie (singer)
37 - Brooklyn Decker (actress/model)
37 - Jackie Redmond (sportscaster)
38 - Matt McGorry (actor)
45 - Jennifer Morrison (actress)
45 - Claire Danes (actress)
46 - Riley Smith (actor)
47 - Jordana Spiro (actress)
47 - Sarah Jane Morris (actress)
50 - Marley Shelton (actress)
51 - Christina Moore (actress)
51 - Claudia Jordan (model)
53 - Shannen Doherty (actress)
53 - Nicholas Brendon (actor)
56 - Alicia Coppola (actress)
60 - Amy Ray (singer)
67 - Vince Gill (singer)
68 - Andy Garcia (actor)
73 - Tom Noonan (actor)
77 - David Letterman (talk show host)
77 - Dan Lauria (actor)
78 - Ed O'Neill (actor)
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Today in Sports History - April 12
1877 - A catcher's mask was used in a baseball game for the first time by James Alexander Tyng.
1938 - The Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
1941 - The Boston Bruins defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1954 - Sam Snead wins his third and final Masters title.
1954 - The Minneapolis Lakers defeat the Syracuse Nationals in seven games to win the NBA championship.
1958 - The St. Louis Hawks defeat the Boston Celtics in six games to win the NBA championship.
1964 - Arnold Palmer become the first four-time winner of the Masters, which was also his seventh and final career major victory.
1981 - Tom Watson wins his second Masters.
1981 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1992 - The Detroit Pistons defeat the New York Knicks 72-61 in the second-lowest scoring game in NBA history.
1992 - Fred Couples wins the Masters, his first and only career major.
2004 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 660th home run, tying Willie Mays for third place on the all-time list.
2007 - The Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks played 138 minutes and 6 seconds before the Canucks were able to score an overtime goal and win the game. It was the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
2015 - Jordan Spieth wins the Masters.
1861 - The U.S. Civil War began when Fort Sumter in South Carolina was attacked by Confederate forces.
1862 - James J. Andrews led the raiding party that stole the Confederate locomotive "The General," inspiring the 1926 Buster Keaton movie.
1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt died from a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.
1955 - The polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk was called "safe, effective and potent."
1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human in space and also the first human to orbit the Earth in a spacecraft.
1963 - Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit. (During his time behind bars, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”)
1981 - NASA's first space shuttle, Columbia, took its first test flight.
1983 - Harold Washington was elected the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
1985 - Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off.
1988 - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to Harvard University for a genetically engineered mouse, the first time a patent was granted for an animal life form.
1990 - In its first meeting, East Germany's first democratically elected parliament acknowledged responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust and asked for the forgiveness of Jews and others who had suffered.
1992 - After five years in the making, Euro Disneyland (now called Disneyland Paris) opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France, amid controversy as French intellectuals bemoaned the invasion of American pop culture.
1999 - Arkansas federal judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for lying about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
2015 - Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics, announcing in a video her much-awaited second campaign for the White House.
2018 - The Screen Actors Guild issued new guidelines calling for an end to auditions and professional meetings in private hotel rooms and residences in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
2020 - Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday isolated in their homes by the coronavirus. St. Peter’s Square was barricaded to keep out crowds. Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely vacant basilica, calling for global solidarity in the face of the pandemic.
Birthdays
30 - Saoirse Ronan (actress)
36 - Jessie James Decker (singer)
37 - Brendon Urie (singer)
37 - Brooklyn Decker (actress/model)
37 - Jackie Redmond (sportscaster)
38 - Matt McGorry (actor)
45 - Jennifer Morrison (actress)
45 - Claire Danes (actress)
46 - Riley Smith (actor)
47 - Jordana Spiro (actress)
47 - Sarah Jane Morris (actress)
50 - Marley Shelton (actress)
51 - Christina Moore (actress)
51 - Claudia Jordan (model)
53 - Shannen Doherty (actress)
53 - Nicholas Brendon (actor)
56 - Alicia Coppola (actress)
60 - Amy Ray (singer)
67 - Vince Gill (singer)
68 - Andy Garcia (actor)
73 - Tom Noonan (actor)
77 - David Letterman (talk show host)
77 - Dan Lauria (actor)
78 - Ed O'Neill (actor)
===============================
Today in Sports History - April 12
1877 - A catcher's mask was used in a baseball game for the first time by James Alexander Tyng.
1938 - The Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
1941 - The Boston Bruins defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1954 - Sam Snead wins his third and final Masters title.
1954 - The Minneapolis Lakers defeat the Syracuse Nationals in seven games to win the NBA championship.
1958 - The St. Louis Hawks defeat the Boston Celtics in six games to win the NBA championship.
1964 - Arnold Palmer become the first four-time winner of the Masters, which was also his seventh and final career major victory.
1981 - Tom Watson wins his second Masters.
1981 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1992 - The Detroit Pistons defeat the New York Knicks 72-61 in the second-lowest scoring game in NBA history.
1992 - Fred Couples wins the Masters, his first and only career major.
2004 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 660th home run, tying Willie Mays for third place on the all-time list.
2007 - The Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks played 138 minutes and 6 seconds before the Canucks were able to score an overtime goal and win the game. It was the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
2015 - Jordan Spieth wins the Masters.