April 12
1606 - England's King James I decreed the design of the original Union Flag, which combined the flags of England and Scotland.
1861 - The Civil War began when Fort Sumter in South Carolina was attacked.
1862 - James J. Andrews led the raiding party that stole the Confederate locomotive "The General," inspiring the 1926 Buster Keaton movie.
1945 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia at age 63; Vice President Harry S. Truman took the oath of office to become the nation's 33rd president.
1955 - The polio vaccine of 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 - The first space shuttle, Columbia, took its first test flight.
1983 - Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African-American mayor.
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 the forgiveness of Jews and others who had suffered.
1999 - Arkansas federal judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for giving "intentionally false" testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2002 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country's divided military. (He was returned to office two days later.)
2009 - American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates by U.S. Navy snipers who shot and killed three of the hostage-takers.
2011 - Japan ranked its nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale — the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster — even as it insisted radiation leaks were declining at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.
2015 - Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics, announcing in a video her much-awaited second campaign for the White House.
2020 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was discharged from a London hospital after treatment for the coronavirus.
Birthdays
27 - Saoirse Ronan (actress)
33 - Jessie James Decker (country singer)
33 - April Rose Pengilly (model)
34 - Brendon Urie (singer)
34 - Brooklyn Decker (actress)
35 - Mat McGorry (actor)
42 - Jennifer Morrison (actress)
42 - Claire Danes (actress)
43 - Riley Smith (actor)
44 - Jordana Spiro (actress)
44 - Sarah Jane Morris (actress)
47 - Marley Shelton (actress)
48 - Christina Moore (actress)
50 - Shannen Doherty (actress)
50 - Nicholas Brendon (actor)
53 - Alicia Coppola (actress)
57 - Amy Ray (singer)
64 - Suzanne Douglas (actress)
64 - Vince Gill (country singer)
65 - Andy Garcia (actor)
74 - David Letterman (Talk show host)
74 - Dan Lauria (actor)
75 - Ed O'Neill (actor)
95 - Jane Withers (actress)
=====================================================
Today in Sports History - April 12
1877 - The catcher for Harvard's baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate. It is believed to be the first time a catcher's mask was used during a game.
1938 - The Chicago Black Hawks defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
1940 - The NFL cuts the clipping penalty from 25 yards to 15 yards.
1941 - The Boston Bruins defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1953 - Ben Hogan wins the Masters and shatters the tournament scoring record with a 274 (-14).
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.
1961 - Douglas MacArthur declines an offer to become commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1964 - Arnold Palmer becomes the first four-time winner of the Masters and wins his seventh and final major.
1981 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1981 - Tom Watson wins his second Masters.
1987 - Larry Mize wins the Masters.
1989 - Former boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson died in Culver City, Calif., at age 67.
1992 - Fred Couples wins his first and only major by winning the Masters.
1998 - Mark O'Meara wins the Masters and his first major.
2004 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 660th career home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career 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.
2009 - Angel Cabrera became the first Argentine to win the Masters.
2015 - Jordan Spieth won the Masters, shooting an 18-under 270 to become the first wire-to-wire Masters champion since 1976.
1606 - England's King James I decreed the design of the original Union Flag, which combined the flags of England and Scotland.
1861 - The Civil War began when Fort Sumter in South Carolina was attacked.
1862 - James J. Andrews led the raiding party that stole the Confederate locomotive "The General," inspiring the 1926 Buster Keaton movie.
1945 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia at age 63; Vice President Harry S. Truman took the oath of office to become the nation's 33rd president.
1955 - The polio vaccine of 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 - The first space shuttle, Columbia, took its first test flight.
1983 - Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African-American mayor.
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 the forgiveness of Jews and others who had suffered.
1999 - Arkansas federal judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for giving "intentionally false" testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2002 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country's divided military. (He was returned to office two days later.)
2009 - American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates by U.S. Navy snipers who shot and killed three of the hostage-takers.
2011 - Japan ranked its nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale — the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster — even as it insisted radiation leaks were declining at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.
2015 - Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics, announcing in a video her much-awaited second campaign for the White House.
2020 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was discharged from a London hospital after treatment for the coronavirus.
Birthdays
27 - Saoirse Ronan (actress)
33 - Jessie James Decker (country singer)
33 - April Rose Pengilly (model)
34 - Brendon Urie (singer)
34 - Brooklyn Decker (actress)
35 - Mat McGorry (actor)
42 - Jennifer Morrison (actress)
42 - Claire Danes (actress)
43 - Riley Smith (actor)
44 - Jordana Spiro (actress)
44 - Sarah Jane Morris (actress)
47 - Marley Shelton (actress)
48 - Christina Moore (actress)
50 - Shannen Doherty (actress)
50 - Nicholas Brendon (actor)
53 - Alicia Coppola (actress)
57 - Amy Ray (singer)
64 - Suzanne Douglas (actress)
64 - Vince Gill (country singer)
65 - Andy Garcia (actor)
74 - David Letterman (Talk show host)
74 - Dan Lauria (actor)
75 - Ed O'Neill (actor)
95 - Jane Withers (actress)
=====================================================
Today in Sports History - April 12
1877 - The catcher for Harvard's baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate. It is believed to be the first time a catcher's mask was used during a game.
1938 - The Chicago Black Hawks defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.
1940 - The NFL cuts the clipping penalty from 25 yards to 15 yards.
1941 - The Boston Bruins defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.
1953 - Ben Hogan wins the Masters and shatters the tournament scoring record with a 274 (-14).
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.
1961 - Douglas MacArthur declines an offer to become commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1964 - Arnold Palmer becomes the first four-time winner of the Masters and wins his seventh and final major.
1981 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1981 - Tom Watson wins his second Masters.
1987 - Larry Mize wins the Masters.
1989 - Former boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson died in Culver City, Calif., at age 67.
1992 - Fred Couples wins his first and only major by winning the Masters.
1998 - Mark O'Meara wins the Masters and his first major.
2004 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 660th career home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career 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.
2009 - Angel Cabrera became the first Argentine to win the Masters.
2015 - Jordan Spieth won the Masters, shooting an 18-under 270 to become the first wire-to-wire Masters champion since 1976.
