Historical Events on Saturday, 12th July

12/07/2024

Gazpromavia Flight 9608 crashes in Russia's Kolomensky District near Kolomna, killing three.

On 12 July 2024, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 operated by Gazpromavia as Gazpromavia Flight 9608 crashed during a ferry flight from Tretyakovo Airport to Vnukovo International Airport. All three crew members, who were the only occupants on board, were killed.

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12/07/2013

Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.

On 12 July 2013, a train crash in the commune of Brétigny-sur-Orge in the southern suburbs of Paris left seven people dead and 428 injured when a passenger train carrying 385 people derailed and hit the station platform.

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12/07/2012

Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.

The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war. Post-war clashes and disputes have continued into 2026.

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A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.

This is a list of notable tank truck fires and explosions.

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12/07/2007

U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

The United States Army is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is designated as the army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As a part of the United States Department of Defense, it is one of the six armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Founded in 1784, it succeeded the Continental Army, formed in 1775 during the American Revolutionary War.

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12/07/2006

The 2006 Lebanon War begins.

The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. It marked the third Israeli invasion into Lebanon since 1978.

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12/07/2001

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was cancelled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

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12/07/1998

The Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom.

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France win their first World Cup title, defeating defending champions Brazil 3–0.

The France national football team represents France in men's international football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation, the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours and imagery reference two national symbols: the French blue-white-red tricolour and Gallic rooster. The team is colloquially known as Les Bleus. They play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and train at Centre National du Football in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.

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12/07/1995

Chinese seismologists successfully predict the 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake, reducing the number of casualties to 11.

Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the generation and propagation of elastic waves through planetary bodies. It also includes studies of the environmental effects of earthquakes such as tsunamis; other seismic sources such as volcanoes, plate tectonics, glaciers, rivers, oceanic microseisms, and the atmosphere; and artificial processes such as explosions.

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12/07/1979

The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia sub-region of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. The state comprises 32 atolls and other islands and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 3,441,810 km2 (1,328,890 sq mi) of ocean. The spread of the country's islands, from Banaba in the west to Kiritimati in the east straddles the equator and the 180th meridian. The International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150°W. This brings Kiribati's easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14.

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12/07/1975

São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, about 81 nautical miles apart and about 135 and 121 nautical miles off the northwestern coast of Gabon. With a population of 201,800, São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest and second-least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles.

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12/07/1973

A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.

The National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973, also known as the 1973 National Archives fire, was a fire that occurred at the Military Personnel Records Center (MPRC) in the St. Louis suburb of Overland, Missouri, from July 12–16, 1973.

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12/07/1971

The Australian Aboriginal flag is flown for the first time.

The Australian Aboriginal flag is an official flag of Australia that represents Aboriginal Australians. It was granted official status in 1995 under the Flags Act 1953, together with the Torres Strait Islander flag, in order to advance reconciliation and in recognition of the importance and acceptance of the flag by the Australian community. The two flags are often flown together with the Australian national flag.

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12/07/1967

Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.

The 1967 Newark riots were an episode of violent, armed conflict in the streets of Newark, New Jersey. Taking place over a four-day period, the Newark riots resulted in at least 26 deaths and hundreds more serious injuries. Serious property damage, including shattered storefronts and fires caused by arson, left many of the city's buildings damaged or destroyed. At the height of the conflict, the National Guard was called upon to occupy the city with tanks and other military equipment, leading to iconic media depictions that were considered particularly shocking when shared in the national press. In the aftermath of the riots, Newark was quite rapidly abandoned by many of its remaining middle-class and affluent residents, as well as much of its white working-class population. The large amount of violence led to accelerated flight, followed by a decades-long period of disinvestment and urban blight, including soaring crime rates and gang activity.

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12/07/1963

Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.

Gorton is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England; it lies to the south-east of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century High Victorian Gothic former Franciscan friary is a major landmark.

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12/07/1961

Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people.

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia.

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ČSA Flight 511 crashes at Casablanca–Anfa Airport in Morocco, killing 72.

ČSA Flight 511 was a flight operated by an Ilyushin Il-18 that crashed near Casablanca-Anfa Airport in Morocco on July 12, 1961. All 72 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash remains undetermined.

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12/07/1960

Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.

The Russian Children's Center "Orlyonok" is a federal state all-year camp for kids aged 11–16. It is located in the Southern Federal District of Russia, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, Krasnodar Krai, 45 kilometers north-west from Tuapse. Orlyonok is officially registered as the Federal State Education Organization.

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12/07/1948

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.

David Ben-Gurion was the primary national founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he was the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led the movement for an independent Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine.

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12/07/1943

World War II: Battle of Kursk: German and Soviet forces engage in the Battle of Prokhorovka, one of the largest armored engagements of all time.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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12/07/1920

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania.

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to move its troops in the territory that was recognised during its war against Poland, Soviet Russia recognized the sovereignty of Lithuania. The treaty was a major milestone in Lithuania's struggle for international recognition and recognised Lithuania's eastern borders. Interwar Lithuania officially maintained that its de jure borders were those delineated by the treaty although a large territory, the Vilnius Region, was actually controlled by Poland.

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12/07/1918

The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender in World War II. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) was formed between 1952 and 1954 after the dissolution of the IJN.

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12/07/1917

The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.

The Bisbee Deportation was the illegal kidnapping and deportation of about 1,300 striking mine workers, their supporters, and citizen bystanders by 2,000 members of a deputized posse, who arrested them beginning on July 12, 1917, in Bisbee, Arizona. The action was orchestrated by Phelps Dodge, the major mining company in the area, which provided lists of workers and others who were to be arrested to the Cochise County sheriff, Harry C. Wheeler. Those arrested were taken to a local baseball park before being loaded onto cattle cars and deported 200 miles (320 km) to Tres Hermanas in New Mexico.

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12/07/1913

Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.

The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynasty. The Principality of Serbia, under the suzerainty of the Turkish Empire, de facto achieved full independence when the very last Ottoman troops left Belgrade in 1867. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 recognized the formal independence of the Principality of Serbia, and in its composition Nišava, Pirot, Toplica and Vranje districts entered the South part of Serbia.

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The Second Revolution breaks out against the Beiyang government, as Li Liejun proclaims Jiangxi independent from the Republic of China.

The Second Revolution was a failed 1913 revolt by the governors of several southern Chinese provinces and supporters of Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government of the Republic of China, led by Yuan Shikai. It was quickly defeated by Yuan's armies and led to the continued consolidation of Yuan's powers as President of the Republic of China.

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12/07/1862

The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.

The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the highest military decoration of the United States Armed Forces and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the president of the United States and is presented "in the name of Congress." It is often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor (CMOH), though the official name of the award is simply "Medal of Honor."

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12/07/1847

A riot occurred in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and members of the Orange Order that resulted in up to ten deaths.

On July 12, 1847, a riot occurred in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and Protestant members of the Orange Order. The violence resulted in the deaths of up to ten individuals and has been described by Canadian journalist Dan Soucoup as "one of New Brunswick's worst ethnic confrontations".

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12/07/1812

The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario.

The Army of the Northwest was a United States Army formation formed at the outset of the War of 1812 and charged with taking control of the state of Ohio, the Indiana Territory, Michigan Territory and Illinois Territory. The army suffered initial defeats at Detroit and the Battle of Frenchtown, but was ultimately victorious in its objective of securing the Northwest and defeating Tecumseh. William Henry Harrison's successful campaigns while leading the Army of the Northwest are crediting with propelling him to national prominence.

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12/07/1806

At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.

Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony, as well as the countries of Austria and the Czech Republic. Its capital and largest city is Munich and other major cities include Nuremberg and Augsburg. With an area of 70,550 square kilometres, it is the largest German state, and with 13.08 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous.

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12/07/1801

British ships inflict heavy damage on Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.

The Second Battle of Algeciras was fought on 12 July 1801 between a Royal Navy squadron and a larger Spanish and French squadron in the Gut of Gibraltar during the Algeciras campaign of the war of the Second Coalition. The battle followed the First Battle of Algeciras on 6 July, in which a French squadron anchored at the Spanish port of Algeciras was attacked by a larger British squadron based at nearby Gibraltar. In a heavy engagement fought in calm weather in the close confines of Algeciras Bay, the British force had been becalmed and battered, suffering heavy casualties and losing the 74-gun ship HMS Hannibal. Retiring for repairs, both sides called up reinforcements, the French receiving support first, from the Spanish fleet based at Cádiz, which sent six ships of the line to escort the French squadron to safety.

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12/07/1799

Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of the Punjab (Sikh Empire).

Ranjit Singh, born as Buddh Singh, was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839.

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12/07/1790

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the French government. As a result, a schism was created, resulting in an illegal and underground French Catholic Church loyal to the Papacy, and a "constitutional church" that was subservient to the State. The schism was not fully resolved until 1801. King Louis XVI ultimately granted Royal Assent to the measure after originally opposing it, but later expressed regret for having done so.

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12/07/1789

In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later.

Jacques Necker was a Genevan banker, financier and statesman who served as finance minister for Louis XVI. He was a reformer, but his innovations sometimes caused great discontent. Necker was a constitutional monarchist, a political economist, and a moralist, who wrote a severe critique of the new principle of equality before the law.

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12/07/1776

Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

Captain James Cook was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer who led three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand, and led the first recorded visit by Europeans to the east coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

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12/07/1691

Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar): The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland.

The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691, near the village of Aughrim, County Galway.

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12/07/1580

The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.

The Ostrog Bible was the first complete printed edition of the Bible in Church Slavonic, published in Ostrog in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the printer Ivan Fyodorov in 1581 with the assistance of Konstantin Ostrogski. It was based on Gennady's Bible and was the primary source for the Moscow Bible published in 1663 under Alexis of Russia.

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12/07/1576

Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal.

The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire that ruled most of the Indian subcontinent. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India.

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12/07/1562

Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred idols and books of the Maya.

Diego de Landa Calderón, O.F.M. was a Spanish Franciscan bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. He led a campaign against idolatry and human sacrifice. In doing so, he burned Maya manuscripts (codices) which contained knowledge of Maya religion and civilization, and the history of the American continent. Ironically, however, his work in documenting and researching the Maya was indispensable in achieving the current understanding of their culture, to the degree that Mayanist William Gates asserted that "ninety-nine percent of what we today know of the Mayas, we know as the result either of what Landa has told us in the pages that follow, or have learned in the use and study of what he told". He also described that "it is an equally safe statement that... he burned ninety-nine times as much knowledge of Maya history and sciences as he has given us".

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12/07/1543

King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.

Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until he died in 1547. After the pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severed England and Ireland from the Roman Catholic Church and established the monarch as Supreme Head of the Church of England, initiating the English Reformation. He subsequently married five more times; two marriages were annulled, and two wives were executed.

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12/07/1527

Lê Cung Hoàng ceded the throne to Mạc Đăng Dung, ending the Lê dynasty and starting the Mạc dynasty.

Lê Cung Hoàng, born Lê Xuân, was the last emperor of the Later Lê dynasty of Vietnam and reigned from 1522 to 1527.

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12/07/1493

Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.

Hartmann Schedel was a German historian, physician, humanist, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press. He was born and died in Nuremberg. Matheolus Perusinus served as his tutor.

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12/07/1488

Joseon Dynasty official Choe Bu returned to Korea after months of shipwrecked travel in China.

Joseon, officially Great Joseon, was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in 1897. The kingdom was founded after the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was moved to modern-day Seoul. The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the rivers of Amnok and Tuman through the subjugation of the Jurchens.

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12/07/1470

The Ottomans capture Euboea.

The Ottoman Empire, historically also known as the Turkish Empire, was a state that spanned much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th century to the early 20th century, centered in modern-day Turkey. It also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe between the early 16th and early 18th centuries.

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12/07/1335

Pope Benedict XII issues the papal bull Fulgens sicut stella matutina to reform the Cistercian Order.

Pope Benedict XII, born Jacques Fournier, was a cardinal and inquisitor, and later, head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death, in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope and reformed monastic orders and opposed nepotism. Unable to remove his capital to Rome or Bologna, Benedict started the great palace at Avignon. He settled the beatific vision controversy of Pope John XXII with the bull Benedictus Deus, which stated that souls may attain the "fullness of the beatific vision" before the Last Judgment. Despite many diplomatic attempts with Emperor Louis IV to resolve their differences, Benedict failed to bring the Holy Roman Empire back under papal dominance. He died 25 April 1342 and was buried in Avignon.

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12/07/1191

Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.

The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. For this reason, the Third Crusade is also known as the Kings' Crusade.

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12/07/0927

King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh and King Owain of the Cumbrians accepted the overlordship of King Æthelstan of England, leading to seven years of peace in the north.

Causantín mac Áeda was an early King of Scotland, known then by the Gaelic name Alba. The Kingdom of Alba, a name which first appears in Constantine's lifetime, was situated in what is now Northern Scotland.

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12/07/0070

The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.

AD 70 (LXX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vespasian and Titus. The denomination AD 70 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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