Historical Events on Friday, 12th September

64 significant events took place on Friday, 12th September — stretching from -490 to 2021. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

On Friday, 12th September 2025, significant historical events mark this date across various decades and continents. The capture of Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, by Peruvian special forces in 1992 represented a turning point in Peru’s internal conflict, dismantling the terrorist organisation’s operational structure. In 1993, NASA launched Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51, advancing the agency’s ambitious space exploration agenda during that era.

European history also features prominently on this date, with the Treaty of Alcañices signed in 1297 between the kings of Portugal and Castile serving as a foundational diplomatic achievement. This agreement, mediated by papal authority, established the border between the two Iberian nations and created an alliance of friendship that shaped the region’s political landscape for centuries to come. Such treaties demonstrate how early medieval diplomacy addressed territorial disputes through negotiated settlements rather than prolonged conflict.

The accumulated historical record for this date reflects humanity’s diverse experiences, from diplomatic breakthroughs and scientific achievements to significant tragedies across aviation and natural disasters. DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about weather patterns, historical events, notable births and deaths for any date and location, offering users a detailed view of what has occurred on specific days throughout history.

Explore all events today 20th April.

12/09/2021

Siberian Light Aviation Flight 51 crashes short of the runway at Kazachinskoye Airport, killing four.

Siberian Light Aviation Flight 51 was a passenger flight on September 12, 2021, by a Let L-410 Turbolet plane, from Irkutsk north to Kazatjinskoje, Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, near Lake Baikal. The plane crashed about 4 kilometers from the airport.

12/09/2014

Synagogue Church building collapse saw the deaths of 115 people and several injured, in the Church run by Nigeria's, T. B. Joshua.

On 12 September 2014, a guesthouse located within the Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) premises around the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos State collapsed completely to the ground. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other emergency services were criticized for withholding information about the accident, and much remained unclear about the number of deaths and their nationalities.

12/09/2013

NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the U.S. and is organized into mission directorates for Science, Space Operations, Exploration Systems Development, Space Technology, Aeronautics Research, and Mission Support. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space program a distinct civilian orientation focused on peaceful applications. Since then, it has led most American spaceflight programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS) and the ongoing multi-national Artemis program.

12/09/2012

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 crashes on approach to Palana Airport, killing 10 and injuring four.

On 12 September 2012 at about 12:20 local time, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251, operated by an Antonov An-28, crashed while attempting to land at Palana Airport in Russia. Both pilots were killed, together with 8 of the 12 passengers. All 4 survivors were in serious condition. The aircraft descended below minima on approach in instrument meteorological conditions and impacted a forested slope. Alcohol was found in the blood of both flight crew.

12/09/2008

The 2008 Chatsworth train collision in Los Angeles between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train kills 25 people.

The 2008 Chatsworth train collision occurred at 4:22:23 p.m. PDT on September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific Railroad freight train and a Metrolink commuter rail passenger train collided head-on in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States.

12/09/2007

Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of plunder.

Joseph Ejercito Estrada, also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor who served as the 13th President of the Philippines from 1998 until his removal from office in 2001. He served as the 14th Mayor of San Juan from 1969 to 1986, the ninth vice president under Fidel V. Ramos from 1992 to 1998, and the 26th Mayor of Manila from 2013 to 2019. His presidency was the third-shortest in Philippine history, after Emilio Aguinaldo and Sergio Osmeña.

Two earthquakes measuring 8.4 and 7.9 on the Richter Scale hits the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing 25 people and injuring 161.

The 2007 Bengkulu earthquakes were a series of megathrust earthquakes that struck the Sunda Trench off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, with three of magnitude 7 or greater. A series of tsunami bulletins was issued for the area. The most powerful of the series had a magnitude of 8.4, which makes it in the top 20 of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on a seismograph.

12/09/2005

Israeli–Palestinian conflict: the Israeli disengagement from Gaza is completed, leaving some 2,530 homes demolished.

Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in an ongoing military and political conflict about land and self-determination within the former territory of Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict have included Palestinian refugees, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, the permit regime in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return.

12/09/2003

The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

The United Nations (UN) is a global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the articulated mission of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among states, to promote international cooperation, and to serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of states in achieving those goals.

Iraq War: In Fallujah, U.S. forces mistakenly shoot and kill eight Iraqi police officers.

The Iraq War, also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States–led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. During the US occupation of Iraq, the conflict persisted as an insurgency that arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency.

Typhoon Maemi, the strongest recorded typhoon to strike South Korea, made landfall near Busan.

Typhoon Maemi was the most powerful typhoon to strike South Korea since record-keeping began in the country in 1904. The fourteenth named storm, eighth typhoon and third super typhoon of the 2003 Pacific typhoon season, Maemi developed from a disturbance in a monsoon trough on September 4. It strengthened into Tropical Storm Maemi, named by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Moving northwestward, it became a typhoon on September 8. It briefly crossed into the warning territory of PAGASA, which gave it the local name Pogi. Favorable conditions facilitated more rapid strengthening; the storm developed a well-defined eye and reached peak maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) on September 10. While near peak intensity, Maemi decelerated and began turning to the north-northeast. Soon after, the eyewall passed over Miyako-jima, Japan with a minimum barometric pressure of 912 mbar (26.9 inHg), the fourth-lowest pressure recorded in the nation. Due to warm sea surface temperatures, Maemi was able to maintain much of its intensity before it made landfall just west of Busan, South Korea, on September 12. The typhoon underwent extratropical transition in the Sea of Japan the next day, although its remnants persisted for several days, lashing northern Japan with strong winds.

12/09/2001

Ansett Australia, Australia's first commercial interstate airline, collapses due to increased strain on the international airline industry, leaving 10,000 people unemployed.

Ansett Australia, originally Ansett Airways, was a major Australian airline group based in Melbourne, Victoria. The company operated domestically within Australia, and from the 1990s, to destinations in Asia. Following 65 years of operation, the airline went into administration in 2001 following a financial collapse and subsequent liquidation in 2002, subject to a deed of company arrangement. Ansett's last flight touched down on 5 March 2002.

12/09/1994

Frank Eugene Corder fatally crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the White House's south lawn, striking the West wing. There were no other casualties.

Frank Eugene Corder was an American truck driver. He stole a Cessna 150 late on September 11, 1994, and crashed the stolen aircraft onto the South Lawn of the White House early on September 12, 1994, while attempting to land the plane; he was killed, and was the sole casualty.

12/09/1993

NASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51.

STS-51 was a NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) in September 1993. Discovery's 17th flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and its IMAX camera, which captured spectacular footage of Discovery in space. A spacewalk was also performed during the mission to evaluate tools and techniques for the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission later that year. STS-51 was the first shuttle mission to fly a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a Trimble TANS Quadrex. It was mounted in an overhead window where limited field of view (FoV) and signal attenuation from the glass severely impacted receiver performance. Full triple-redundant 3-string GPS would not happen until 14 years later with STS-118 in 2007.

12/09/1992

NASA launches Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-47 which marked the 50th shuttle mission. On board are Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese citizen to fly in a US spaceship, and Mark Lee and Jan Davis, the first married couple in space.

Abimael Guzmán, leader of the Shining Path, is captured by Peruvian special forces; shortly thereafter the rest of Shining Path's leadership fell as well.

Manuel Rubén Abimael Guzmán Reinoso, also known by his nom de guerre Chairman Gonzalo, was a Peruvian Maoist revolutionary and guerrilla leader. He founded the organization Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path (PCP-SL) in 1969 and led a rebellion against the Peruvian government until his capture by authorities on 12 September 1992. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism and treason.

12/09/1991

NASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-48 to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.

12/09/1990

The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German reunification.

The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority, also referred to as the Four Powers, was the governing body of the Allied occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Austria (1945–1955) following the end of World War II in Europe. Its members were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. Following the defeat of the Nazis, Germany and Austria were occupied as two different areas, both by the same four Allies. Both were later divided into four zones by the 1 August 1945 Potsdam Agreement. The organisation was based in Schöneberg, Berlin.

The Red Cross organizations of mainland China and Taiwan sign Kinmen Agreement on repatriation of illegal immigrants and criminal suspects after two days of talks in Kinmen, Fujian Province in response to the two tragedies in repatriation in the previous two months. It is the first agreement reached by private organizations across the Taiwan Strait.

The Red Cross Society of China is the national Red Cross Society in the People's Republic of China.

12/09/1988

Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula two days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.

Hurricane Gilbert was a large and extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season, which peaked as a Category 5 hurricane. The storm brought widespread destruction to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and is tied with 1969's Hurricane Camille as the third-most intense tropical cyclone at landfall in the Atlantic Ocean. It was also the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Gilbert was also one of the largest tropical cyclones ever observed in the Atlantic basin. At one point, its tropical storm-force winds measured 575 mi (925 km) in diameter. In addition, Gilbert was the most intense tropical cyclone in recorded history to strike Mexico.

12/09/1984

Dwight Gooden sets the baseball record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 276, previously set by Herb Score with 246 in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts that season, pitched in 218 innings, set the current record.

Dwight Eugene Gooden, nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In a career spanning 430 games, he pitched 2,800+2⁄3 innings and posted a win–loss record of 194–112, with a 3.51 earned run average (ERA), and 2,293 strikeouts.

12/09/1983

A Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is robbed of approximately US$7 million by Los Macheteros.

Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company. The company operates in 35 countries and serves more than 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important financial institution according to the Financial Stability Board, and is considered one of the "Big Four Banks" in the United States, alongside JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

The USSR vetoes a United Nations Security Council Resolution deploring the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, the largest and most populous being the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, it was the flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.

12/09/1980

The 43rd government of Turkey is overthrown in a coup d'état led by General Kenan Evren.

The 43rd government of Turkey was a minority government led by Süleyman Demirel of Justice Party (AP).

12/09/1977

South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody.

Several independent sectors of South African society opposed apartheid through various means, including social movements, passive resistance, and guerrilla warfare. Mass action against the ruling National Party (NP) government, coupled with South Africa's growing international isolation and economic sanctions, were instrumental in leading to negotiations to end apartheid, which began formally in 1990 and ended with South Africa's first multiracial elections under a universal franchise in 1994.

12/09/1974

Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, 'Messiah' of the Rastafari movement, is deposed following a military coup by the Derg, ending a reign of 58 years.

Haile Selassie I was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia under Empress Zewditu between 1916 and 1930.

12/09/1970

Dawson's Field hijackings: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Zarqa, Jordan, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.

In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa, Jordan, formerly Royal Air Force Station Zarqa, which then became PFLP's "Revolutionary Airport". By the end of the incident, one hijacker had been killed and one injury reported. This was the second instance of mass aircraft hijacking, after three aircraft from communist Czechoslovakia were hijacked and taken to Munich, West Germany, in 1950.

12/09/1969

Philippine Air Lines Flight 158 crashes in Antipolo, near Manila International Airport in the Philippines, killing 45 people.

Philippine Air Lines Flight 158 was a flight from Mactan–Cebu International Airport to Manila International Airport near Manila which crashed on September 12, 1969. The aircraft, a BAC One-Eleven, struck a mango tree on the hill in sitio Kulaike, Antipolo, Rizal, located 22 km (12 nmi) east of its destination while on a VOR approach to runway 24. Of the 42 passengers and five crew members on board, only one passenger and one flight attendant survived. It was the deadliest aviation accident in the Philippines involving commercial aircraft until the crash of Philippine Airlines Flight 206 in 1987 and the deadliest involving a BAC One-Eleven until it was surpassed by Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 9 in 1977.

12/09/1966

Gemini 11, the penultimate mission of NASA's Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions).

Gemini 11 was the ninth crewed spaceflight mission of NASA's Project Gemini, which flew from September 12 to 15, 1966. It was the 17th crewed American flight and the 25th spaceflight to that time. Astronauts Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon performed the first direct-ascent rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it 1 hour 34 minutes after launch; used the Agena rocket engine to achieve a record high-apogee Earth orbit; and created a small amount of artificial gravity by spinning the two spacecraft connected by a tether. Gordon also performed two extra-vehicular activities for a total of 2 hours 41 minutes.

12/09/1962

US President John F. Kennedy delivers his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president, at 43 years, and the first Catholic president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress before his presidency.

12/09/1961

The African and Malagasy Union is founded.

The African and Malagasy Union (AMU) was an intergovernmental organization created to promote cooperation among newly independent states in Francophone Africa. The organization derives its name from the name of the continent of Africa and from the former Malagasy Republic, now Madagascar. Created in 1961, the scope and form of the organization changed significantly from 1963-1966, and ultimately disbanded in 1985.

Air France Flight 2005 crashes near Rabat–Salé Airport, in Rabat, Morocco, killing 77 people.

Air France Flight 2005 of 12 September 1961 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Paris-Orly Airport to Casablanca Airport with a stop at Rabat-Salé Airport. The Sud Aviation Caravelle aircraft crashed that day at 21:09 GMT near a place called Douar Doum 8.4 kilometres from the threshold of runway 04 and 1.4 kilometres to the left of the extended centreline at a height of 87.5 metres (287 ft) above sea level, killing all 77 people on board, including 6 crew members. The weather was foggy and unfavourable for landing.

12/09/1959

The Soviet Union launches a large rocket, Lunik II, at the Moon.

Bonanza, the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color, is launched in the United States.

Bonanza is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on American network television, and one of the longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication. The show is set in the 1860s and centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series initially starred Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon and later featured Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel and Tim Matheson. The show is known for presenting pressing moral dilemmas.

12/09/1958

Jack Kilby demonstrates the first working integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments.

Jack St. Clair Kilby was an American electronics engineer who took part, along with Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor, in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments in 1958. For this invention, Kilby shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics.

12/09/1953

U.S. Senator and future President John Fitzgerald Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island.

12/09/1944

World War II: The liberation of Yugoslavia from Axis occupation continues. Bajina Bašta in western Serbia is among the liberated cities.

World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the USSR on 22 June 1941, the communist-led republican Yugoslav Partisans, on orders from Moscow, launched a guerrilla liberation war fighting against the Axis forces and their locally established puppet regimes, including the Axis-allied Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and the Government of National Salvation in the German-occupied territory of Serbia. This was dubbed the National Liberation War and Socialist Revolution in post-war Yugoslav communist historiography. Simultaneously, a multi-side civil war was waged between the Yugoslav communist Partisans, the Serbian royalist Chetniks, the Axis-allied Croatian Ustaše and Home Guard, Serbian Volunteer Corps and State Guard, Slovene Home Guard, as well as Nazi-allied Russian Protective Corps troops.

12/09/1943

World War II: Benito Mussolini is rescued from house arrest by German commando forces led by Otto Skorzeny.

The Gran Sasso raid on 12 September 1943 freed Benito Mussolini from imprisonment in a hotel on the Gran Sasso d'Italia massif. The World War II operation was codenamed "Operation Oak" by the German military. The raid by German paratroopers and Waffen-SS commandos was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler, approved by General Kurt Student, and planned and executed by Major Harald Mors.

12/09/1942

World War II: RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks with a heavy loss of life.

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.

World War II: First day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge during the Guadalcanal Campaign. U.S. Marines protecting Henderson Field are attacked by Imperial Japanese Army troops.

The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces. It took place from 12 to 14 September 1942, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during the Guadalcanal campaign.

12/09/1940

Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France.

In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art, found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin. Several groups of scientists suggest that the oldest of such paintings were created not by Homo sapiens, but by Denisovans and Neanderthals.

The Hercules Powder plant disaster in the United States kills 51 people and injures over 200.

The Hercules Powder plant disaster was an explosion at an armaments factory owned by the Hercules Powder Company in the Kenvil section of Roxbury, New Jersey, on 12 September 1940. About 52 people were killed and 100 injured.

12/09/1938

Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

12/09/1933

Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.

Leo Szilard was a Hungarian-born American physicist, biologist and inventor who made numerous important discoveries in nuclear physics and the biological sciences. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, and patented the idea in 1936. In late 1939 he wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb, and then in 1945 wrote the Szilard petition asking president Harry S. Truman to demonstrate the bomb without dropping it on civilians. According to György Marx, he was one of the Hungarian scientists known as The Martians.

12/09/1923

Southern Rhodesia, today called Zimbabwe, is annexed by the United Kingdom.

Southern Rhodesia was a land-locked British colony in what is today the country of Zimbabwe. The colony's territory was initially conquered and administered by the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which was founded for the purpose of occupying and settling the region by Cecil Rhodes in 1888. Following years of growing white immigration into the region, the settler minority voted to reject entering into a union with South Africa in favour of establishing a settler-run legislative assembly under the framework of responsible government. The colony's economy declined significantly during the Great Depression and saw a high degree of white settler emigration and turnover. The Second World War saw Southern Rhodesian colonial forces actively participate and the war caused an economic boom. Following the war, the colony experienced a large population boom as many whites began to immigrate to the colony. Southern Rhodesian politics were racially dominated by the white minority who restricted the right to vote based on a person's income or ownership of property. The settler controlled government also passed racially discriminatory land ownership restrictions, banned Africans from having higher levels in the civil service for most of its history, and implemented an extensive racial pass system that limited Africans ability to live and work in most of the colony.

12/09/1915

French soldiers rescue over 4,000 Armenian genocide survivors stranded on Musa Dagh.

The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through the mass murder of around one million Armenians during death marches to the Syrian desert and the forced Islamization of others, primarily women and children.

12/09/1910

Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Munich (with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players. Mahler's rehearsal assistant conductor was Bruno Walter).

Gustav Mahler was a Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

12/09/1906

The Newport Transporter Bridge is opened in Newport, South Wales by Viscount Tredegar.

The Newport Transporter Bridge is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South East Wales. The bridge is the lowest crossing on the river. Built in 1906, it is a Grade I listed structure.

12/09/1897

Tirah campaign: In the Battle of Saragarhi, ten thousand Pashtun tribesmen suffer several hundred casualties while attacking 21 Sikh soldiers in British service.

The Tirah campaign, often referred to in contemporary British accounts as the Tirah expedition, was an Indian frontier campaign from September 1897 to April 1898. Tirah is a mountainous tract of country in what was formerly known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

12/09/1890

Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.

Harare is the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 982.3 km2 (379.3 sq mi), a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 census, and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metropolitan province. The city is situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region. Harare Metropolitan Province incorporates the city and the municipalities of Chitungwiza, Epworth and Ruwa. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of 1,483 metres above sea level, and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category.

12/09/1885

Arbroath 36–0 Bon Accord, a world record scoreline in professional association football.

Arbroath F.C. 36–0 Bon Accord F.C. is the result of a football match between Arbroath and Bon Accord which took place on 12 September 1885.

12/09/1857

The SS Central America sinks about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers and crew, including Captain William Lewis Herndon. The ship was carrying 13–15 tons of gold from the California gold rush.

SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the East Coast of the United States during the 1850s. She was originally named the SS George Law, after George Law of New York. The ship sank in a hurricane in September 1857, along with 425 of her 578 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857.

12/09/1848

A new constitution marks the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state.

The rise of federalism in Switzerland began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the Sonderbundskrieg.

12/09/1847

Mexican–American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.

The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, was an invasion of Mexico by the United States. It followed the 1845 American annexation of Texas, which Mexico still considered its territory because it refused to recognize the Treaties of Velasco, signed by President Antonio López de Santa Anna after he was captured by the Texian Army during the 1836 Texas Revolution. The Republic of Texas was de facto an independent country, but most of its Anglo-American citizens who had moved from the United States to Texas after 1822 wanted to be annexed by the United States.

12/09/1814

Battle of North Point: an American detachment halts the British land advance to Baltimore in the War of 1812.

The Battle of North Point was fought on September 12, 1814, between General John Stricker's Maryland Militia and a British force led by Major-General Robert Ross. Although the Americans were driven from the field, they were able to do so in good order having inflicted significant casualties on the British, killing Ross and demoralizing the troops under his command. Some of Ross's units became lost among woods and swampy creeks during the battle, with others in similar states of confusion.

12/09/1683

Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna: Several European armies join forces to defeat the Ottoman Empire.

The Great Turkish War or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years, was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, the Republic of Venice, the Tsardom of Russia, and the Kingdom of Hungary. Intensive fighting began in 1683 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. The war was a resounding defeat for the Ottoman Empire, which for the first time lost substantial territory, in Hungary and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in part of the western Balkans. The war was significant also for being the first instance of Russia joining an alliance with Western Europe. Historians have labeled the war as the Fourteenth Crusade launched against the Turks by the papacy.

12/09/1634

A gunpowder factory explodes in Valletta, Malta, killing 22 people and damaging several buildings.

On 12 September 1634, a Hospitaller gunpowder factory in Valletta, Malta accidentally blew up, killing 22 people and causing severe damage to a number of buildings. The factory had been built at some time in the late 16th or early 17th centuries, replacing an earlier one in Fort St. Angelo in Birgu. It was located in the lower part of Valletta, close to the Slaves' Prison.

12/09/1609

Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River while aboard the Halve Maen.

Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.

12/09/1309

The First siege of Gibraltar takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Kingdom of Castile against the Emirate of Granada resulting in a Castilian victory.

The first siege of Gibraltar was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista that took place in 1309. The battle pitted the forces of the Crown of Castile under the command of Juan Núñez II de Lara and Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, against the forces of the Emirate of Granada who were under the command of Sultan Muhammed III and his brother, Abu'l-Juyush Nasr.

12/09/1297

The Treaty of Alcañices, mediated by the pope, between the king Denis of Portugal and king Ferdinand IV of Castile defines the border between the two countries and establishes an alliance of friendship.

The Treaty of Alcañices or Treaty of Alcanises was made in Alcañices between King Denis of Portugal and King Fernando IV of Castile in 1297.

12/09/1229

Battle of Portopí: The Aragonese army under the command of James I of Aragon disembarks at Santa Ponça, Mallorca, with the purpose of conquering the island.

The Battle of Portopí was an open field military conflict between the Almohad troops that occupied the island of Majorca and the Christian army led by King James I the Conqueror with the aim of annexing it to the Crown of Aragon in order to expand their domain and return it back to Christiandom. It was carried out at various points in the current Sierra de Na Burguesa, approximately halfway between the current resort town of Santa Ponsa and the City of Majorca. It was the second major battle in the campaign for the conquest of the island of Majorca initiated by the Aragonese king.

12/09/1213

Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Battle of Muret.

The Albigensian Crusade, also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown and promptly took on a political aspect. It resulted in the significant reduction of practicing Cathars and a realignment of the County of Toulouse with the French crown. The distinct regional culture of Languedoc was also diminished.

12/09/0372

Sixteen Kingdoms: Sima Yao, age 10, succeeds his father Emperor Jianwen as Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin dynasty.

The Sixteen Kingdoms, less commonly the Sixteen States, was a period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when the political order of the Jin dynasty (266–420) in northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. Most of these states were founded by the "Five Barbarians" – Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Jie, Qiang – non-Han peoples from northern and western China who launched the rebellions that toppled the Jin court in Luoyang in 311 and Chang'an in 316, ending the Western Jin dynasty (266–316). Some of these peoples, notably the Xiongnu of Shanxi and the Di of Guanzhong had lived in China for generations and were highly sinized. Others such as the Tuoba and Murong Xianbei tribes migrated from China's periphery into Central Plains in the ensuing decades to compete for political supremacy over northern China. All of these states took on Han-style dynastic names and most claimed as having the Mandate of Heaven to rule all of China. They frequently fought against one another and the Jin, which continued to rule southern China from Jiankang as the Eastern Jin dynasty (317-420).

14/09/2000

Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the first Persian invasion force of Greece.

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia under King Darius I to subjugate Greece. The Greek army inflicted a crushing defeat on the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars.