On This Day in History...

1049 Bruno count of Egesheim & Dagsburg crowned Pope Leo IX
1111 German King Hendry V arrives at St Peter, Rome
1130 Pope Innocent II elected
1502 Granada Moslems forced to convert to Catholicism
1528 Treaty of Dordrecht between emperor & ecclesiastical power
1577 Spanish land guardian Don Juan of Habsburg signs "Eternal Edict"
1624 English parliament comes together
1733 Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah
1736 Maria Theresa Habsburg marries French Stefanus (emperor François I)
1762 English fleet occupies Martinique
1763 John Casteret appointed British minister of foreign affairs
1772 Yves de Kerguelen of France discovers Kerguelen Archipelago, India
1793 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
1797 Haydn's song "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" premieres in Vienna
1818 Chile gains independence from Spain
1821 Mercantile Library of the City of New York opens
1825 Creek Indian treaty signed; Tribal chiefs agree to turn over all their land in Georgia to the government & migrate west by Sept 1, 1826
1832 Ecuador annexes Galápagos Islands
1839 Boundary dispute between Maine & New Brunswick leads to Aroostook
1840 Housatonic Railroad opens
1848 Ballet "Faust" premieres, Milan
1850 Original Washington's Farewell Address manuscript sells for $2,300
1861 State troops seize US munitions in Napoleon AK
1865 Henry Highland Garnet, is 1st black to speak in US House of Representatives
1870 Official proclamation sets April 15 as last day of grace for US silver coins to circulate in Canada
1873 Congress abolishes bimetallism & authorizes $1 & $3 gold coins
1874 King David Kalakaua of Sandwich Island HI, is 1st king to visit US
1876 Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop
1877 1st news dispatch by telephone, between Boston & Salem MA
1877 US railroad builders strike against wage reduction
1878 Frederick Thayer patents the catcher's mask (pat # 200,358)
1879 1st artificial ice rink in North America (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
1879 News about slaughtering of Isandlwana reaches London
1880 National Croquet League organizes (Philadelphia)
1882 Social-Democratic Union forms in Amsterdam
1885 Carl Peters founds German East-Africa Society
1886 2nd British government of Salisbury forms
1889 César Francks Symphony in D, premieres
1889 Henrik Ibsen's "Fruen fra Haven" premieres in Oslo
1899 1st 2-man team 6-day bicycle race in US begins, Madison Square Garden, NYC
1899 -47ºF (-44ºC), Camp Clarke NB (state record)
1901 Dutch Penitentiary children's law proclaimed
1906 George M Cohans musical "George Washington" premieres in New York NY
1908 Anna Jeanes bequeathes $1,000,000 to Swarthmore to become all female
1908 New York to Paris auto race (via Alaska & Siberia) begins in New York NY; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel
1909 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded
1909 Netherlands' SDAP suspends Marxist Tribune group (Gorter & Wijnkoop)
1909 Robert Fowler runs world record marathon (2:46:52.6)
1912 China adopts the Gregorian calendar
1912 Last Ch'ing (Manchu) emperor of China, Henry P'u-i, abdicates
1915 Cornerstone laid for Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
1916 1st edition of Joseph Patterson/Sidney Smith strip "Gumps"
1920 14,000 Rotterdam/Amsterdam harbor workers strike
1920 NL votes 6-2 for 1 commissioner AL votes 6-2 to keep group commission
1921 Soviet troops invade Georgia (theirs, not ours)
1921 Winston Churchill becomes British, minister of Colonies
1924 George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premieres at Carnegie Hall (New York NY)
1924 George Kaufman's "Beggar on Horseback" premieres in New York NY
1924 President Calvin Coolidge makes 1st presidential radio speech
1925 1st federal arbitration law approved by Congress
1925 E Thieffry departs with Handley Page for the Belgian Congo
1925 Estonia forbids Communist Party
1926 Barendrecht soccer team forms
1927 British expeditionary army lands in Shanghai
1929 Karst Leemburg wins Dutch 11 cities skate (11:30)
1932 Communist Party of Holland forms Unemployed Combat Committees
1933 German vice-chancellor von Papen demands Catholic aid for Nazis
1934 Export-Import Bank incorporates
1934 France hit by a general strike against fascists & royalists
1935 Great airship, USS Macon, crashes into Pacific Ocean
1937 Cleveland (now Los Angeles) Rams granted an NFL franchise
1938 Austrian chancellor Schuschnigg visits Hitler in Berchtesgaden
1938 German troops entered Austria
1941 Jewish Council for Amsterdam forms, under Ascher/Cohen
1941 Occupation Police arrest "Jewish Foursome"
1942 3 German battle cruisers escape via Channel to Brest N Germany
1943 General Eisenhower departs Algiers to Tebessa
1944 Wendell Wilkie ® enters presidential race
1945 San Francisco selected for site of UN Conference
1947 Daytime fireball & meteorite fall seen in eastern Siberia
1947 Record 100.5-kg sailfish caught, C W Stewart, Galapagos Islands
1948 1st Lieutenant Nancy Leftenant becomes 1st black in army nursing corps
1949 Team Canada beats Denmark 47-0 in hockey
1949 "Annie Get Your Gun" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances
1949 Panic in Quito Ecuador, after "War of the World" played on radio
1949 Unidentified aircraft bomb Jerusalem
1950 Senator Joe McCarthy claims to have list of 205 communist government employees
1950 Albert Einstein warns against hydrogen bomb
1953 USSR breaks relations with Israel
1955 McGuire Sisters' "Sincerely" single goes to #1 & stays #1 for 10 weeks
1955 President Eisenhower sends 1st US advisors to South Vietnam
1955 Soviets decides space center built in Baikonur, Kazachstan
1955 WTVY TV channel 4 in Dothan, AL (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 Fay Crocker wins LPGA Miami Beach Golf Open
1957 Researchers announce Borazan (harder than diamonds) been developed
1958 Celtic Bill Russell grabs 41 rebounds to beat Syracuse 119-101
1958 General Miguel Ydegoras Fuentes elected President of Guatemala
1960 Chinese army kills 12 Indian soldiers
1961 USSR launches Venera 1 toward Venus
1961 Celtic Bill Russell grabs 40 rebounds to beat Warriors 136-125
1961 Mickey Wright wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
1961 Mushtaq Mohammad scores 1st Test Cricket century at 17 years 82 days
1962 Bus boycott starts in Macon GA
1963 Argentina asks extradition of Ex-President Peron
1964 Beatles 1st NYC concert (Carnegie Hall)
1964 End of Richie Benaud's 63-Test Cricket career
1964 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
1964 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Allen
1965 KHFI (now KBVO) TV channel 42 in Austin TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1965 Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
1967 Keith Richards, Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithful busted for drugs
1967 Pirate Radio Free Harlem (NYC) begins transmitting
1967 Kees Verkerk becomes world champion all round skater
1970 Anthony Shaffers "Sleuth" premieres in New York NY
1971 Only Test Cricket for Ken Eastwood, who scored 5 & 0 Australia vs England
1973 1st US POWs in North Vietnam released; 116 of 456 flown to Philippines
1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1977 Toronto Maple Leafs shutout Washington Capitals 10-0
1978 "Jesus Christ Superstar" closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 96 performances
1978 Debbie Austin wins LPGA American Cancer Society Golf Classic
1978 US female Figure Skating championship won by Linda Fratianne
1978 US male Figure Skating championship won by Charles Tickner
1979 Kosmos 1076, 1st Soviet oceanographic satellite, launched
1980 New York Islanders 2nd scoreless tie, vs Winnipeg Jets
1980 "Canterbury Tales" opens at Rialto Theater NYC for 16 performances
1980 Richard Hadlee becomes New Zealand's top wicket-taker with 117
1981 Pete Squires sets record for 1575 steps of Empire State Building, 10m
1981 Admiral Bobby R Inman, USN, becomes deputy director of CIA
1981 Arbitrator Goetz declares Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent
1981 Cape Verde amends its constitution
1982 Wayne Gretzky scores 153rd point of season, tying NHL record
1982 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 Cale Yarborough, becomes 1st Daytona 500 qualifier, above 200 MPH
1984 Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean skate "Bolero" at the Olympics receiving all perfect scores for quality & the gold medal
1984 Alice Miller wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1984 West Indies beat Australia 2-0-1 to win cricket World Series Cup
1985 37th NHL All-Star Game Wales beat Campbell 6-4 at Calgary
1985 West Indies beat Australia 2-1 to win cricket World Series Cup
1986 1st-class cricket debut of Curtly Ambrose, Leeward Is vs Guyana
1987 Survivors of a black man murdered by KKK members awarded $7 million damages
1989 5 Pakistani Moslem rioters killed protesting "Satanic Verses" novel
1989 Gretzky sets 2 records, his 45th hat trick & 10th 40+ goal season
1989 Thursday's Child sets sailing record, New York-Cape Horn-San Francisco, 80 days 20 hours
1989 39th NBA All-Star Game West beats East 143-134 at Houston
1989 50th PGA Seniors Golf Championship Larry Mowry
1989 US male Figure Skating championship won by Christopher Bowman
1991 North & South Korea form a joint team for table tennis competition
1991 Iceland recognizes Lithuania's independence
1994 17th Olympics Winter games open in Lillehammer, Norway
1994 20th century premiere of 6 restored Haydn-sonatas in Boston
1994 Edvard Munch's painting "The Cry" stolen (in Oslo)
1994 Inna Lassovskaya jumps world record 14.90m
1994 Model Anna Nicole Smith hospitalized for drug overdose
1995 45th NBA All-Star Game West beats East 139-112 at Phoenix
1995 Angela Kennedy swims woman's world record 50 meter butterfly
1995 Bonnie Blair skates female world record 500 meter (38.69 seconds)
1995 Dieter Baumann runs European record 3k indoor (7 minutes 37.51 seconds)
1995 Jeff Rouse swims world record 50 meter backstroke (24.37 seconds)
1995 Moses Kiptanui runs world record 3k indoor (7 minutes 35.15 seconds)
1995 PRI loses/PAN wins Mexican regional elections
1995 Sun Cayun pole vaults indoor female world record (4.13 meters)
1995 Susan Auch skates female world record 500 meter (38.94 seconds)
1997 Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O J Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement
1998 "Freak" opens at Cort Theater NYC
1998 250-car Italy pile-up due to fog, 4 die & 50 hurt
1998 Dallas Cowboys sign Chan Gailey as their 4th head coach
1998 Intel unveils its 1st graphics chip i740
1998 US district judge T Hogan declares line-item veto law unconstitutional
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Missing In Action.....

1967 SULLIVAN MARTIN J. LAWRENCE MA REFNO 0592 VF 96
1967 WEISSMUELLER COURTNEY E. ORLANDO FL
1968 BROWN HARRY W. CHARLESTON SC
1968 GROTH WADE L. GREENVILLE MI
1968 GUNN ALAN W. SAN ANTONIO TX
1968 ROE JERRY L. HOUSTON TX
1969 FISHER JOHN B. OCALA FL 03/11/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK
1969 OSBURN LAIRD P. WEBSTER SPRINGS WV 03/12/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK ALIVE AND WELL 98
1969 PRYOR ROBERT J. OAK RIDGE TN 03/11/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK
1970 BRADSHAW ROBERT S. III LUFKIN TX
1970 BREEDING MICHAEL HUGH BLUE RAPIDS KS
1971 MC LEOD ARTHUR E. BAY SHORE NY REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/27/99
1971 WILKINSON CLYDE D. MINERAL WELLS TX REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/27/99

Births which occurred on February 12:

1211 Henry VII Roman catholic German king (1220-35)
1438 Adolf van Egmond duke of Gelre/earl of Zutphen
1474 Lorenzo Campeggi(o) archbishop of Bologna/diplomat
1567 Thomas Campion England, composer/poet/physician
1584 Casparus Barleaus Flemish theologist/poet (Muiderkring)
1585 Caspar Bartholin Malmö, physician, theologian, writer on anatomy
1588 John Winthrop English attorney/puritan/1st Governor of Massachusetts
1636 Herman Witsius [Wits], Dutch reformed theologist
1637 John Swammerdam Dutch anatomist/entomologist (Bible of Nature)
1663 Dr Cotton Mather witchcraft authority
1665 Rudolph J Camerarius German botanist/physician (sexuality plant)
1706 Josef Christian German sculptor
1740 Matej Sojka composer
1751 Joseph Waast Aubert Nonot composer
1753 Lambert-François Godecharle composer
1758 Christian Ignatius Latrobe composer
1760 Jan Ladislav Dussek Bohemia, pianist/composer
1768 Francis II Florence Italy, last Holy Roman emperor (1792-1806)
1775 Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams wife of John Quincy Adams
1778 Franz Joseph Volkert composer
1791 Peter Cooper industrialist/philanthropist (Cooper Union)
1791 Jan D Zocher Jr Dutch garden architect (Vondelpark Amsterdam)
1792 Ferdinand de Braekeleer Belgian painter
1809 Charles Darwin Shrewsbury England, discovered evolution (Origin of species)
1809 Abraham Lincoln Hodgenville KY, ® 16th President (1861-65)
1818 Otto Ludwig German writer (Die Heiterethei)
1824 Arya Samaj Maha Rishi Dayanand Sarsvati Indian Hindu leader
1828 George Meredith England, poet/novelist (Shaving of Shagpat)
1828 Robert Ransom Jr Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
1831 John Morrissey boxer/developer of Saratoga Springs horse race track
1838 Charles Carroll Walcott Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1898
1841 Gijsbert van Tienhoven Dutch mayor (Amsterdam)/foreign minister
1850 Amaat Vyncke Flemish missionary (Flemish Flag)
1852 Hendrik Blink geographer (Van de Eems tot de Schelde)
1853 Bertram Luard-Selby composer
1857 Bobby Peel cricketer (great English lefty 1884-96)
1861 Lou [Andreas-]Salomé Russian/German author (Im Kampf um Gott)
1865 Kazimierz P Tetmajer Polish writer/poet (Young Poland)
1867 Joe Howard New York NY, singer (Gay Nineties Revue)
1867 Hedwig Courths-Mahler German author (Warbride)
1868 Johan H A Schaper Dutch MP/founder (SDAP)
1869 Hendrik P Marchant Dutch minister of Education/Arts (VVD)
1873 Jón Trausti [Gudmundur Magnússon], Icelandic writer (Heidarbylid)
1880 John Llewellyn Lewis union leader (United Mine Workers, 1920-60)
1882 Walter Vaes Flemish painter/etcher
1883 Ludwig Stossel Austria, actor (Man With a Camera)
1884 Max Beckmann German painter/graphic artist
1885 Julius Streicher German district leader (Stürmer)
1885 Licinio Refice composer
1886 Gustaf Lazarus Nordqvist composer
1886 Michel Brusselmans composer
1891 Cecil Dixon cricket off-spinner (1 Test for South Africa, 3-118, pair)
1891 Maurice Yvain composer
1891 Max Terhune actor (Arizona Stagecoach, Hit the Saddle, Range Justice)
1893 Omar Bradley General of Army WWII "The GI General"
1893 Marcel G J Minnaert Dutch astronomer
1894 Hans Guido von Bülow German conductor
1898 Leroy "Roy" Harris Oklahoma, composer (When Johnny Comes Marching Home)
1898 [Le]Roy Harris Oklahoma, composer (When Johnny Comes Marching Home)
1898 Wallace Ford [Samuel Jones Grundy], Batton England, actor (The Deputy)
1899 Albert Huybrechts composer
19-- Lillian Lehman Selma AL, actress (Tenafly, Fay, Sunset Beach)
19-- Pat St John radio DJ (WPLJ-FM NYC)
1900 Ferenc Körmendy Hungarian/US author (Budapest Kaland)
1900 Fred Emney London England, actor (Let the People Sing, Lilac Domino)
1902 William D Revelli Spring Gulch CO, band leader
1904 Ted Mack Denver CO, TV host (Original Amateur Hour)
1905 Harry Bellaver actor (Sergeant Arcaro-Naked City)
1909 Barry Wood New Haven CT, singer (Your Hit Parade)
1910 Forsyth Hardy documentary film pioneer
1910 Lee Byung Chull Korean industrialist/founder (Samsung Business)
1911 Charles Mathiesen Norway, 1500 meter speed skater (Olympics-gold-1936)
1911 Frank Hercules writer
1911 Sylvstre A Guzman Fernandez President (Dominican Republic)
1912 Ernest Clark London England, actor (Doctor in the House)
1912 Eddie J Bush golf professional
1913 Pedro Gastao de Orleans e Bragança grandson of emperor Pedro I
1914 Gordon Tex Beneke saxophonist/bandleader/vocalist (Glenn Miller Orchestra)
1914 Nello Celio Swiss President
1915 Lorne Greene Ottawa Canada, actor (Bonanza, Battlestar Galactica)
1915 Andrew J Goodpaster US, General/Supreme Commander (NATO-Europe)
1916 Joseph L Alioto (Mayor-San Francisco)
1916 Karl Hubert Rudolf Schiske Austrian composer (Vom Tode)
1917 Thomas K Scherman New York NY, conductor (Little Orchestra Society 1947-75)
1918 Dominic DiMaggio baseball outfielder (Boston Red Sox)
1918 Julian S Schwinger US physicist
1919 Forrest Tucker Plainfield IN, actor (O'Rourke-F Troop, Dusty Trail)
1923 Franco Zeffirelli Florence Italy, movie director (Romeo & Juliet)
1923 James Abdnor (Senator-R-SD, 1981-87)
1923 Mel Powell composer
1924 Hans Berghuis Dutch author/poet (3 Women, Adam)
1926 Joe Garagiola St Louis MO, sportscaster/host (Today Show)
1926 Paul Hamlyn English publisher/multi-millionaire (Octopus)
1927 Anne Gillis Little Rock AR, actress (Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Men)
1929 Agustin Gonzalez Acilu composer
1930 Arlen Specter (Senator-R-PA, 1981- )
1930 Gerhard Rühm writer
1931 Constance A Morella (Representative-R-MD)
1932 Lincoln Kilpatrick St Louis MO, actor (BJ-Leslie Uggams Show)
1933 Costa-Gavras director
1933 Ivan Nikolayevich Anikeyev cosmonaut
1933 Juanita [Ruth] Coulson sci-fi author (Web of Wizardry, Space Trap)
1934 Annette Crosbie Edinburgh Scotland, actress (Six Wives of Henry VIII, One Foot in the Grave)
1934 Bill Russell Monroe LA, NBA star (Boston Celtics, Olympics-gold-56)
1935 Ray Manzarek keyboardist (The Doors-Light My Fire, Unknown Soldier)
1935 Gene McDaniels US vocalist/bandleader/actor (Young Swingers)
1935 Ken Still golfer
1936 Joe Don Baker Groesback TX, actor (Eischied, Walking Tall, Fletch)
1936 Paul Shenar Milwaukee WI, actor (Carrington-Roots)
1936 Arnost Parsch composer
1936 Fang Lizhi Chinese astrophysicist/dissident
1937 Charles Everett Dumas Tulsa OK, high jumper (Olympics-gold-1956)
1938 Judy Blume Elizabeth NJ, author (Wifey, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Blubber, Forever)
1938 Johnny Rutherford auto racer
1939 John D Hancock actor/director (Black Marble, Traxx, Houston Knights)
1940 Hank Brown (Representative-R-CO, 1981-88)
1941 Naomi Uemura mountain climber (1st Japanese to scale Everest)
1941 Ross Morgan cricketer (New Zealand batsman in 20 Tests 1965-72)
1942 Chananjit Vohra Kenyan/British hotel magnate/multi-millionaire
1942 Lionel Grigson professor of jazz
1942 Rick Frank rocker
1944 Charles Pasarell tennis pro
1944 Desmond Nuttall English educator
1944 Jackie Torrence story teller/artist
1944 Moe Bandy Meridian MS, country vocalist (Just Good Ol' Boys)
1945 Maud Adams Lulea Sweden, actress (Octopussy, Rollerball, Tattoo)
1945 Cliff De Young Los Angeles CA, actor (F/X, Hunger, Shock Treatment)
1945 Joe Schermie Madison WI, bassist (3 Dog Night-Joy to the World)
1946 Ever Meulen [Eddy Vermeulen], Dutch designer (children stamps 1992)
1947 Guus Willemse Dutch bassist/singer (Solution)
1948 Cindy Hill LPGA golfer
1949 Stanley Knight country artist (Black Oak Arkansas-High on the Hog)
1949 Gundappa Viswanath cricketer (prolific Indian batsman of 70s)
1949 Len Randle baseball player (New York Mets)
1950 Steve Hackett rock guitarist (Genesis-Against All Odds/GTR)
1950 Michael Ironside actor, (Starship Troopers)
1951 Gil "The Bird" Moore rocker (Triumph)
1952 Dr Salvador Pineda Mexico City, doctor
1952 Simon MacCorkindale Cambridge England, actor (Counterstrike, Falcon Crest, Manimal, Jaws 3D)
1953 Joanna Kerns [de Varona], San Francisco CA, actress (Maggie-Growing Pains)
1955 Daniele Masala Italy, pentathlete (Olympics-1976)
1956 Paula Zahn Omaha NB, news anchor (ABC, CBS This Morning)
1956 Ad P Melkert Dutch minister of Social Affairs (1994- )
1958 Arsenio Hall comedian (Alan Thicke, Arsenio, Coming to America)
1958 Ruth Guerri St Louis MO, playmate (July, 1983)
1958 Ingrid Klich Whittier CA, rower (Olympics-96)
1959 Nancy Remy reporter (NYC's Shadow Traffic)
1959 Omar Hakim drummer (Dire Straits, Weather Report)
1959 Sigrid Thornton Australia, actress (Amelia Lawson-Guns of Paradise)
1959 Per Gessle rocker (Roxette-Joy Ride)
1961 Chris Heyne Offenbach Germany, WLAF General Manager (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1963 Brent Jones NFL tight end (San Francisco 49ers)
1964 Maurice Douglass NFL safety (New York Giants)
1964 Michel Petit St Malo France, NHL defenseman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1964 Milton Small cricket pace bowler (West Indies vs Australia 1984)
1964 Raphael Sbarge actor (Glenn-Risky Business, Sherman-My Science Project, Brian-Better Days)
1965 Ruben Amaro US baseball outfielder (Cleveland Indians)
1966 Boty Goodwin artist
1967 Stephen Baldwin actor (William Cody-The Young Riders)
1967 Andrew Dunkley Kent England, golfer (1991-93 Co-Captain University of West Florida)
1968 Chynna Phillips Los Angeles CA, singer (Wilson Philips-Hold On)
1968 Josh Brolin actor (Johnny-Private Eye, Jimmy Hickok-Young Riders)
1968 Todd Fanning Saskatoon Saskatchewan, golfer (Manitoba Amateur-1984, 90, 91, 92)
1969 Josh Brolin actor (Johnny-Private Eye, Jimmy Hickok-Young Riders)
1969 Colin Keely Buffalo NY, water polo driver (Olympics-96)
1969 Shauna Lyn Searles Miss California-USA (1996)
1970 Bryan Roy Surinam/Dutch soccer star (Ajax)
1970 Dell Demps NBA guard (San Antonio Spurs)
1970 Lamar Thomas NFL wide receiver (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins)
1971 Lincoln Kennedy tackle (Oakland Raiders)
1971 Romeo Bandison NFL defensive tackle (Cleveland Browns)
1971 Shane Tonkin Australian baseball pitcher (Olympics-1996)
1971 Shante Carver NFL defensive end (Dallas Cowboys)
1971 Tracy Kennick Miss Utah-USA (1996)
1972 Andrew Cassesse actor (Wormser-Revenge of Nerds, TV 101)
1972 Dulip Samaraweera cricketer (Sri Lankan Test opening batsman 1993-)
1973 Brendon Mark Cameron Pirongia New Zealand, 4k pursuit cyclist (Olympics-96)
1974 Ian Mcintyre Montréal, NHL left wing (Vancouver Canucks)
1975 Chris Szarka CFL full back (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1975 Matt Finkes linebacker (New York Jets)
1975 Scot Pollard NBA center (Detroit Pistons)
1975 Seth Payne defensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1976 Christopher Pettiet Los Angeles CA, actor (Young Riders)
1980 Christina Ricci actress (Wednesday-Addams Family, Mermaids, Casper)
1980 Sarah Lancaster Kansas City KS, actress (Rachel-Saved By Bell New Class)
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Deaths which occurred on February 12:

1128 Toghtekin slave/atabek of Damascus, dies
1242 Hendrik VII Roman Catholics German king (1220-35), commits suicide
1538 Albrecht Altdorfer German painter, dies at about 57
1554 Lord Guildford Dudley Jane Grey's husband, beheaded
1590 François Hotman/Hotomanus French lawyer/diplomat, dies at 65
1616 John Drusius of Driesschen, Flemish Hebraist, dies at 65
1684 Pietro Andrea Ziani composer, dies at 67
1728 Agostino Steffani Italian/German diplomat/composer, dies at 73
1738 James Sherard composer, dies at 71
1762 Laurent Belissen composer, dies at 68
1771 Adolf Frederik king of Sweden (1751-70), dies at 60
1787 Ruggiero Boscovich Italian physicist/astronomer/philosopher, dies at 75
1799 Frantisek Xaver Dusek composer, dies at 67
1804 Immanuel Kant German philosopher (Zum ewigen Frieden), dies in Königsberg, Prussia at 79
1820 Guillaume Albert Teniers composer, dies at 71
1834 Friedrich Schleiermacher German theologist/philosopher, dies at 65
1837 Ludwig Börne writer, dies at 50
1861 Hippolyte-Andre-Baptiste Chelard composer, dies at 72
1886 P J Edvard Backström Swedish writer, dies at 44
1889 Andrew Greenwood cricketer (batted in England's 1st 2 Tests 1877), dies
1896 Charles Louis Ambrose Thomas French composer (Mignon), dies at 84
1896 Isaac Murphy jockey, 628 win on 1,412 mounts (44.5%), dies at 35
1901 Ramón de Campoamor bon Campoosorio Spanish poet (Colón), dies at 83
1905 Marcel Schwob French writer/journalist (Coeur double), dies
1915 Charles Emile Waldteufel composer, dies at 77
1916 J W Richard Dedekind German mathematician, dies
1920 Emile Sauret composer, dies at 67
1920 Jean Allemane French socialist/communard (allemanisten), dies at 77
1920 Ottalee Baker Frank "Home Run" Baker's wife, dies at 31
1921 Charles Leslie cricketer (4 Tests England vs Australia 1882-83), dies
1929 Freiherr Albert von Schrenk-Notzing German para-psychologist, dies at 66
1933 Henri Duparc French composer, dies at 85
1942 Grant Wood US painter (American Gothic), dies at 49
1945 ... de Jong Dutch vicar/resistance fighter, executed
1945 Henrietta Szold founder (Hadassah, Youth Aliyah), dies
1945 Walraven [Wally] van Hall Dutch banker/resisted Nazis, executed at 39
1947 Sidney Toler actor (Charlie Chan, Dark Alibi), dies at 72
1954 Dziga Vertov [Kaufman], Russian director (3 Songs of Lenin), dies at 58
1955 Tom Moore actor (Ladies be Seated, Majority Rules), dies at 71
1957 Johannes Anker Larsen Danish writer (Martha og Maria), dies at 82
1958 Marcel Cachin 1st communist French senator, dies at 88
1959 George Antheil US pianist/composer (Ballet Mécanique), dies at 58
1960 Bobby Clark vaudevillian (World's funniest circus clown), dies at 71
1965 Henry Kulky actor (Otto-Life of Riley), dies at 53
1969 Johanna EFG Tourniaire actress (Potasch & Perlemoer), dies at 80
1970 Andre Souris composer, dies at 79
1971 George Shelton actor (It Pays to be Ignorant), dies at 86
1971 James Cash Penney US founder (J C Penney), dies at 95
1973 Benjamin Frankel composer, dies at 67
1976 James Clifton Williams composer/band master (Sinfonians), dies at 52
1976 Sal Mineo actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause), stabbed at 37
1979 Jean Renoir French writer/director (Human Beast), dies at 84
1980 Floyd Taliaferro Alderson actor (Crossing Trails), dies
1981 Jean Dixon actress (Joy of Living, You Only Live Once), dies
1982 Victor Jory Dawson City Yukon Territory Canada, actor (Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1st Lady, Jigsaw), dies at 79
1982 Cornelis Rijnsdorp Dutch writer (Culprit), dies at 87
1982 Hal Hooker cricket (307 partners with Kippax for last wicket), dies
1983 Eubie Blake ragtime-composer/pianist (Memories of You), dies at 100
1984 Anna Anderson Manahan [claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia] dies in Virginia
1984 Julio Cortázar Argentine writer (Final del Juego), dies at 69
1985 Nicholas Colssanto actor (Coach-Cheers), dies at 61
1986 Sid Stone comedian (Milton Berle Show), dies at 82
1986 Guy Douglas Hamilton Warrack composer, dies at 86
1987 Lang Jeffries Canadian actor (Skip-Rescue 8), dies at 55
1989 Mauritius Balfoort French/Flemish director, dies at 83
1989 Thomas Bernhard Dutch/Austrian writer (Heldenplatz), dies at 58
1991 Edward A Blatt director (Between 2 Worlds), dies at 88
1991 Robert Wagner mayor (NYC-D-1954-65), dies
1992 Bep [Lambertus] van Klaveren boxing champion (Olympics-gold-1928), dies
1992 Dorothy Tree actress (Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Nazi Agent), dies
1992 Ton Brandsteder CEO (Sony Netherlands BV), dies at 74
1993 James Bulger English child beaten to death at 2, by 10 year old boys
1994 Donald Judd US furniture maker/architect/artist, dies at 65
1995 Earring George Mayweather blues harmonica player, dies at 66
1995 L Jansma Fries publisher (Friese stamp), dies
1995 Rachid Mimouni Algerian author (L'Honneur de la Tribu), dies at 49
1995 Terence Beckles pianist/teacher, dies at 82
1995 Tony Secunda rock band manager, dies at 54
1996 Roger Omond journalist, dies at 51
1997 Nora Beloff journalist, dies at 78
1997 Walter Ritchie sculptor, dies at 77

1789 Ethan Allen dies

On this day in 1789, Vermont Patriot Ethan Allen dies of a stroke at age 52 on his Winooski River homestead.

Allen is best remembered as the patriotic leader of the Green Mountain Boys, who took the British fort at Ticonderoga with Benedict Arnold in May 1775. He also had a varied career defending his land interests in the New Hampshire Grants (now part of Vermont) from any challenge. Allen, like Arnold, faced charges of treason; he attempted to negotiate terms by which Vermont could rejoin the British empire in the early 1780s when New York blocked its acceptance as one of the United States.

Allen was the eldest of eight children born to Joseph and Mary Baker Allen in Connecticut. Joseph Allen was among a group of New Englanders who had acquired titles to land in what is now Vermont from the government of New Hampshire. When New York claimed the right to sell the same land and began to do so, Allen led the protest in defense of the New Hampshire Grants. When his father died in 1755, Ethan assumed the mantle of leadership, and led the Green Mountain Boys in guerrilla actions against New York landowners in Vermont. New Yorkers responded by issuing a warrant for his arrest and a reward of £100 for anyone bringing him into custody.

Allen earned the title of Patriot by his actions at Ticonderoga. Although displeased with his colonial neighbors, Allen had no affection for the British. He and Arnold took Ticonderoga and seized the cannon that would allow the Patriots to drive the British from Boston before the 22 British troops stationed at the fort realized that they were at war with their colonies. Allen continued into Canada, where he was taken prisoner by the British in Montreal in August 1775. He was held for three years before being released in the colony he most despised, New York.

Allen spent the rest of his life serving and promoting the interests of Vermont.
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1828 Robert Ransom is born

Confederate General Robert Ransom, Jr., is born in Warren County, North Carolina.

Ransom attended West Point, graduating 18th out of 44 in 1850. For the next decade, he served on the frontier and as an instructor at his alma mater. Ransom was in Kansas during the violent clashes between pro- and anti-slave forces after the creation of the territory in 1854. He was a captain when North Carolina seceded in April 1861, receiving the same rank in the Confederate cavalry.

Within a year, Ransom was a brigadier general serving in North Carolina, where he saw action against Union coastal raiders near Goldsboro. He was transferred to Virginia to defend Richmond, and his unit fought during the Seven Days battles in June and July 1862. Ransom commanded a brigade at Antietam in September, and a division at Fredericksburg in December. He returned to command troops in North Carolina in early 1863 and earned a promotion to major general. He next commanded the District of Southeast Virginia, where his troops guarded the railroads serving the capital at Richmond.

Ransom went to Tennessee in the fall of 1863 with General James Longstreet during the attempt to save Tennessee from the Yankees. He fought at Chickamauga and the Knoxville campaign with Longstreet before returning to command the Richmond defenses in 1864. He commanded a force that faced Union General Benjamin Butler southeast of the city, and his leadership helped bottle Butler's force inside of a bend in the James River called the Bermuda Hundred. That summer, Ransom served with General Jubal Early during the Shenandoah Valley campaign. He ended the war commanding troops at Charleston, South Carolina.

Ransom worked as a civil engineer and a farmer in his home state after the war, and he died at New Bern, North Carolina, in 1892.
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1915 British planes raid Belgian coast

One of the biggest air raids of World War I occurs on this day in 1915, when 34 planes from the British Naval Wing attack the German-occupied coastal towns of Blankenberghe, Ostend and Zeebrugge in Belgium.

The attacks, led by British Wing Commander C.R. Samson, targeted the railway stations in Ostend and Blankenberghe as well as railway lines across the coast that were being used by the occupying military forces from Germany. The town of Zeebrugge, which was being used by the Germans as a base of operations for their deadly submarine warfare and from which they planned a blockade of the Belgian coast, was also a major target of the attack.

The unprecedented raid was extraordinarily successful, causing massive damage to the occupying military force. Despite coming under heavy ground fire from German anti-aircraft guns, not a single Allied plane was shot down and no Allied lives were lost.
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1917 American schooner Lyman M. Law is sunk

On this day in 1917, the Austrian submarine U-35 bombs and sinks the American schooner Lyman M. Law in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cagliari, Sardinia. The Lyman M. Law, captained by S.W. McDonough, had embarked on its final journey from Stockton, Maine, with a crew of 10 on January 6, 1917, carrying a cargo of 60,000 bundles of lemon-box staves.

The schooner was traveling across the Atlantic bound for Palermo, Italy, when it was captured on the morning of February 12. The Austrians ordered the crew of eight Americans and two British sailors off the schooner before a bomb was detonated, setting fire to the 1,300-ton wooden vessel prior to its sinking. The crew was uninjured and transported to the coastal town of Cagliari, where they were released.

On February 26, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson referred to the unprovoked sinking of the Lyman M. Law and the February 3, 1917, sinking of the American steamship Housatonic by the German submarine U-53, in his request for Congressional authorization to arm U.S. merchant ships so that they could defend themselves against possible German attacks. In his address, Wilson insisted repeatedly that the American people did not desire war, but merely sought to “defend our commerce and the lives of our people in the midst of the present trying circumstances.” Less than two months later, however, angered by continued German submarine aggression against American interests at sea, Wilson would go before Congress again, this time to deliver his message of war. The U.S. would formally enter World War I on April 6, 1917.
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1941 Rommel in Africa

On this day, German General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli, Libya, with the newly formed Afrika Korps, to reinforce the beleaguered Italians' position.

In January 1941, Adolf Hitler established the Afrika Korps for the explicit purpose of helping his Italian Axis partner maintain territorial gains in North Africa. "[F]or strategic, political, and psychological reasons, Germany must assist Italy in Africa," the Fuhrer declared. The British had been delivering devastating blows to the Italians; in three months they pushed the Italians out of Egypt while wounding or killing 20,000 Italian soldiers and taking another 130,000 prisoner.

Having commanded a panzer division in Germany's successful French and Low Countries' campaigns, General Rommel was dispatched to Libya along with the new Afrika Korps to take control of the deteriorating situation. Until that time, Italian General Ettore Bastico was the overall commander of the Axis forces in North Africa--which included a German panzer division and the Italian armored division. Rommel was meant to command only his Afrika Korps and an Italian corps in Libya, but he wound up running the entire North African campaign.

The German soldiers of the Afrika Korps found adapting to the desert climate initially difficult; Rommel found commanding his Italian troops, who had been used to an Italian commander, difficult as well. When Hitler, preoccupied with his plans for his Soviet invasion, finally gave the go-ahead for an offensive against British positions in Egypt, Rommel's forces were stopped dead in their tracks and then forced to retreat. In the famous battle of El Alamein, the British Eighth Army--beginning in October 23, 1942--surprised the German commander with its brute resolve, and pushed him and his Afrika Korps back across and out of North Africa. (Ironically, the Arabs celebrated Rommel, called "the Desert Fox," as a liberator from British imperialism.) Retreat followed retreat, and Rommel finally withdrew from North Africa entirely and returned to Europe in March of 1943, leaving the Afrika Korps in other hands.
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1972 Cambodians launch attack to retake Angkor Wat

About 6,000 Cambodian troops launch a major operation to wrestle the religious center of Angkor Wat from 4,000 North Vietnamese troops entrenched around the famous Buddhist temple complex, which had been seized in June 1970. Fighting continued throughout the month. Even with the addition of 4,000 more troops, the Cambodians were unsuccessful, and eventually abandoned their efforts to expel the North Vietnamese.
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1973 Release of U.S. POWs begins

The release of U.S. POWs begins in Hanoi as part of the Paris peace settlement. The return of U.S. POWs began when North Vietnam released 142 of 591 U.S. prisoners at Hanoi's Gia Lam Airport. Part of what was called Operation Homecoming, the first 20 POWs arrived to a hero's welcome at Travis Air Force Base in California on February 14. Operation Homecoming was completed on March 29, 1973, when the last of 591 U.S. prisoners were released and returned to the United States.