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On this day in History Archives
 
At PaulsQuiz.com we aim to provide you with as much information as we possibly can. That's why we have built our On This Day in History section, to do just that. Our database is forever growing, we're adding more and more events from history to help you write your quiz questions.

Simply enter a date using the drop-down boxes below and click the 'Go' button to display events from the past that ocurred on that day.
 

 
12 December, 2006
Peugeot produce their last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
12 December, 2000
The United States Supreme Court released its decision in Bush v. Gore
12 December, 1991
Russian Federation gains independance from the USSR.
12 December, 1988
Clapham Junction rail crash killed 35 and injured 100s after two collisions of three commuter trains. One of the worst train crashes in Britain.
12 December, 1985
Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland killing 256, including 248 members of the United States Armys 101st Airborne Division.
12 December, 1984
Maaouiya Ould SidAhmed Taya become the third president of Mauritania after coup detat against Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla while the later was attending a summit. Taya was ousted in March 2005 by Ely Ould Mohamed Vall in another coup.
12 December, 1982
Womens peace protest at Greenham Common - 30,000 women hold hands and form a human chain around the 14.5 km (9 mi) perimeter fence.
12 December, 1979
Coup détat of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung Hee.
12 December, 1979
Pakistan President Zia-ul-Haq conferred Nishan-e-Imtiaz on Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam.
12 December, 1979
Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
12 December, 1969
Strategia della tensione: Piazza Fontana bombing - The offices of Banca Nazionale dellAgricoltura in Piazza Fontana, Milan, are bombed.
12 December, 1964
Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
12 December, 1963
Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
12 December, 1956
Commencement of the Irish Republican Armys Border Campaign.
12 December, 1950
Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.
12 December, 1948
Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre - 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
12 December, 1946
A fire at a New York City ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.
12 December, 1942
A fire in a hostel in St. Johns, Newfoundland kills 100 people.
12 December, 1941
World War II: Fifty four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesus Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; Cesar Basa is killed.
12 December, 1941
World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
12 December, 1941
World War II: Great Britain declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
12 December, 1940
Approximately 70 people are killed in the Marples Hotel, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield as a result of a German air raid.
12 December, 1939
Winter War: Battle of Tolvajärvi - Finnish forces defeat those of the Soviet Union in their first major victory of the conflict.
12 December, 1937
Panay incident: Japanese aircraft shell and sink US gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River in China.
12 December, 1936
Xian Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang.
12 December, 1925
The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.
12 December, 1917
In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
12 December, 1915
President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy and proclaim himself Emperor of China.
12 December, 1914
The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average, down 24.39%.
12 December, 1911
Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
12 December, 1901
Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St Johns, Newfoundland.
12 December, 1897
Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, is inaugurated.
12 December, 1870
Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the first black U.S. congressman.
12 December, 1862
USS Cairo sank on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
12 December, 1812
French invasion of Russia comes to an end.
12 December, 1781
American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant - A Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, defeats a French fleet.
12 December, 1531
Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in Mexico City.
12 December, 1098
First Crusade: Massacre of Maarrat al-Numan - Crusaders breach the towns walls and massacre about 20,000 inhabitants. After finding themselves with insufficient food, they resort to cannibalism.
12 December, 627
Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau IIs Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh.

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