April 12
1606 - England's King James I declared 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 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, the 32nd president of the United States (1933-1945), died in office from a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia at age 63; Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation's 33rd president.
1955 - The polio vaccine of Dr. Jonas Salk was declared "safe, effective, and potent."
1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin 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 the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
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.
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.
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.
2012 - Jury selection began in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the corruption trial of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, charged with six counts of campaign finance fraud. (The jury ended up acquitting Edwards of accepting illegal campaign contributions while deadlocking on the other five counts; federal prosecutors later dropped the remaining charges.)
2015 - Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics, announcing in a video her much-awaited second campaign for the White House.
2017 - The United States and China struck what appeared to be an unusual bargain as President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t label China a currency manipulator and voiced confidence Chinese President Xi Jinping would help him deal with North Korea’s mounting threat.
2018 - Police in Philadelphia arrested two black men at a Starbucks; the men had been asked to leave after one of them was denied access to the restroom. (Starbucks apologized and, weeks later, closed thousands of stores for part of the day to conduct anti-bias training.)
2021 - President Joe Biden said he would nominate Christine Wormuth, a former senior Pentagon official, to be the first woman to lead the Army.
Birthdays
28 - Saoirse Ronan (actress)
34 - Jessie James Decker (singer)
35 - Brendon Urie (singer)
35 - Brooklyn Decker (actress/model)
36 - Matt McGorry (actor)
43 - Jennifer Morrison (actress)
43 - Claire Danes (actress)
44 - Riley Smith (actor)
45 - Jordana Spiro (actress)
45 - Sarah Jane Morris (actress)
48 - Marley Shelton (actress)
49 - Christina Moore (actress)
51 - Shannen Doherty (actress)
51 - Nicholas Brendon (actor)
54 - Alicia Coppola (actress)
58 - Amy Ray (singer)
65 - Vince Gill (singer)
66 - Andy Garcia (actor)
75 - David Letterman (TV host)
75 - Dan Lauria (actor)
76 - Ed O'Neill (actor)
====================================
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 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.
1953 - Ben Hogan shatters the Masters scoring record by five strokes with a 274 (-14) to win his second title.
1954 - Sam Snead wins his third Masters.
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 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur declines an offer to become commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1964 - Arnold Palmer becomes the first four-time winner of the Masters; the victory was the seventh and final major victory of his career.
1981 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1981 - Tom Watson wins his second Masters.
1992 - The Detroit Pistons defeat the New York Knicks 72-61, the second-lowest scoring game in NBA history since the introduction of the shot clock.
1992 - Fred Couples wins the Masters.
1998 - Mark O'Meara wins the Masters.
2004 - Barry Bonds hit his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career list. (Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.)
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 of Argentina becomes the first golfer from South America to win the Masters.
2015 - Jordan Spieth wins the Masters.
1606 - England's King James I declared 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 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, the 32nd president of the United States (1933-1945), died in office from a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia at age 63; Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation's 33rd president.
1955 - The polio vaccine of Dr. Jonas Salk was declared "safe, effective, and potent."
1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin 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 the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
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.
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.
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.
2012 - Jury selection began in Greensboro, North Carolina, for the corruption trial of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, charged with six counts of campaign finance fraud. (The jury ended up acquitting Edwards of accepting illegal campaign contributions while deadlocking on the other five counts; federal prosecutors later dropped the remaining charges.)
2015 - Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics, announcing in a video her much-awaited second campaign for the White House.
2017 - The United States and China struck what appeared to be an unusual bargain as President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t label China a currency manipulator and voiced confidence Chinese President Xi Jinping would help him deal with North Korea’s mounting threat.
2018 - Police in Philadelphia arrested two black men at a Starbucks; the men had been asked to leave after one of them was denied access to the restroom. (Starbucks apologized and, weeks later, closed thousands of stores for part of the day to conduct anti-bias training.)
2021 - President Joe Biden said he would nominate Christine Wormuth, a former senior Pentagon official, to be the first woman to lead the Army.
Birthdays
28 - Saoirse Ronan (actress)
34 - Jessie James Decker (singer)
35 - Brendon Urie (singer)
35 - Brooklyn Decker (actress/model)
36 - Matt McGorry (actor)
43 - Jennifer Morrison (actress)
43 - Claire Danes (actress)
44 - Riley Smith (actor)
45 - Jordana Spiro (actress)
45 - Sarah Jane Morris (actress)
48 - Marley Shelton (actress)
49 - Christina Moore (actress)
51 - Shannen Doherty (actress)
51 - Nicholas Brendon (actor)
54 - Alicia Coppola (actress)
58 - Amy Ray (singer)
65 - Vince Gill (singer)
66 - Andy Garcia (actor)
75 - David Letterman (TV host)
75 - Dan Lauria (actor)
76 - Ed O'Neill (actor)
====================================
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 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.
1953 - Ben Hogan shatters the Masters scoring record by five strokes with a 274 (-14) to win his second title.
1954 - Sam Snead wins his third Masters.
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 - Gen. Douglas MacArthur declines an offer to become commissioner of Major League Baseball.
1964 - Arnold Palmer becomes the first four-time winner of the Masters; the victory was the seventh and final major victory of his career.
1981 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, 66, died in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1981 - Tom Watson wins his second Masters.
1992 - The Detroit Pistons defeat the New York Knicks 72-61, the second-lowest scoring game in NBA history since the introduction of the shot clock.
1992 - Fred Couples wins the Masters.
1998 - Mark O'Meara wins the Masters.
2004 - Barry Bonds hit his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career list. (Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.)
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 of Argentina becomes the first golfer from South America to win the Masters.
2015 - Jordan Spieth wins the Masters.
