Yesterday Files

On This Day: November 12

Key moments from history that happened on November 12.

1. 1936

   The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic.

   The bridge across San Francisco Bay opened six months before the Golden Gate Bridge, after about three years of construction.

2. 1979

   President Jimmy Carter halted American imports of Iranian oil during the Tehran hostage crisis.

   Militants had seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran eight days earlier. Carter announced the ban from the White House and signed a proclamation the same day, while urging Americans to save energy.

3. 1980

   Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Saturn, returning detailed views of the planet, its rings and moons.

   The spacecraft passed about 78,000 miles above the cloud tops after a close flyby of the moon Titan. It found new moons and intricate ring structures before heading out of the solar system.

4. 2014

   The Philae lander touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the first landing on a comet.

   Released by the European Rosetta spacecraft, Philae bounced after its anchoring system failed and settled at a different spot on the comet's surface.