What are the important events that happened on April 12? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

April 12: Facts & Myths About This Day

April 12 is the 102^nd day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 263 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 30, 2025 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,073,600 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectadigon’ day.

Aries is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Diamond is the modern birthstone for this month. Opal is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 311 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,495 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

April 12 Historical Events

• 1557 –
  Cuenca is founded in Ecuador.
• 1917 –
  World War I: Canadian forces successfully complete the taking of Vimy Ridge from the Germans.
• 1927 –
  April 12 Incident: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
• 1937 –
  Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
• 1954 –
  Bill Haley & His Comets record “Rock Around the Clock” in New York City.
• 1961 –
  The Russian (Soviet) cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1).
• 1980 –
  Samuel Doe takes control of Liberia in a coup d'état, ending over 130 years of minority Americo-Liberian rule over the country.
• 1994 –
  Canter & Siegel post the first commercial mass Usenet spam.
• 1999 –
  US President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving “intentionally false statements” in a sexual harassment civil lawsuit.
• 2009 –
  Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwe Dollar as their official currency.

Who were born on April 12?

• 1794 –
  Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (d. 1847)
• 1916 –
  Russell Garcia, American composer for screen, stage and broadcast (d. 2011)
• 1929 –
  Mukhran Machavariani, Georgian poet (d. 2010)
• 1933 –
  Montserrat Caballé, Spanish soprano
• 1948 –
  Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister of Germany 1998-2005
• 1965 –
  Kim Bodnia, Danish actor
• 1969 –
  Lucas Radebe, South African footballer
• 1971 –
  Nicholas Brendon, American actor
• 1979 –
  Claire Danes, American actress
• 1983 –
  Jelena Dokić, Serbian/Australian tennis player

Who died on April 12?

• 1748 –
  William Kent, English architect (b. c. 1685)
• 1814 –
  Charles Burney, English music historian (b. 1726)
• 1878 –
  William Magear “Boss” Tweed, American politician (b. 1823)
• 1953 –
  Lionel Logue, speech therapist who worked with King George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1880)
• 1975 –
  Josephine Baker, American dancer (b. 1906)
• 1977 –
  Phil Wrigley, American manufacturer and baseball executive (b. 1894)
• 1988 –
  Alan Paton, South African writer (b. 1903)
• 1989 –
  Abbie Hoffman, American political activist (b. 1936)
• 2002 –
  George Shevelov, Ukrainian-born American linguist and academic (b. 1908)
• 2005 –
  Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter, translator, and radio and TV personality (b. 1941)