On This Day
What Happened on February 12 in History
9 events that happened on February 12, oldest first. Every entry is written in our own words and links to its source.
The Young Republic and the Civil War Era
1809
Abraham Lincoln is born in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky.
With little formal schooling, Lincoln became a lawyer and Illinois politician before winning the presidency in 1860. He led the Union through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation before his assassination in 1865.
Source: history.com
1809
Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, is born in England.
Darwin was born in Shrewsbury on the same day as Abraham Lincoln. His observations during the voyage of HMS Beagle led to On the Origin of Species, published in 1859.
Source: archive.nytimes.com
1817
Jose de San Martin's army defeats Spanish royalists at Chacabuco after crossing the Andes.
San Martin led his Army of the Andes over high mountain passes from Argentina into Chile, surprising the royalist forces. The victory opened the road to Santiago, and Chile formally declared its independence a year later.
Source: history.com
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
1909
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded on Lincoln's centennial.
A group of Black and white activists, including scholar W. E. B. Du Bois, journalist Ida B. Wells and Mary White Ovington, issued the call that led to the new organization. The NAACP became the leading civil rights group of the 20th century, winning landmark court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education.
Source: history.com
1912
The last emperor of China abdicates, ending more than two millennia of imperial rule.
An edict issued in the name of the six-year-old Puyi handed power to the new Republic of China after the 1911 revolution. Puyi was allowed to stay in the Forbidden City for years and was later installed by Japan as ruler of Manchukuo.
Source: history.com; history.state.gov
1924
George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue premieres at Aeolian Hall in New York.
Gershwin played the piano part himself with Paul Whiteman's orchestra at a concert billed as an experiment in modern music. The piece blended jazz with classical form and became one of the best-known American compositions.
Source: history.com
The Modern Era
1999
The Senate acquits President Bill Clinton on both articles of impeachment.
The House had charged Clinton with perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with the Monica Lewinsky affair. Neither article won even a simple majority in the Senate, far short of the two-thirds needed to remove him from office.
Source: history.com; archive.nytimes.com
2001
NASA's NEAR Shoemaker becomes the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
After a year orbiting the asteroid Eros, the probe was steered down to its surface even though it had not been designed to land. It survived the touchdown and sent back data from the surface for about two weeks.
Source: science.nasa.gov
2002
The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic opens in The Hague.
Milosevic faced charges before a United Nations tribunal over the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, including genocide. He was the first former head of state tried by an international war crimes court, and he died in 2006 before a verdict was reached.
Source: history.com