Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Today is the 316th day of 2026. There are 49 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1799
American astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass witnesses the first meteor shower on record, the Leonids meteor shower, from a ship off the Florida Keys.
1859
The first flying trapeze act was performed by Jules Leotard at Cirque Napoleon in Paris, France. He was also the designer of the garment that is named after him.
1892
William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first professional football player when he was paid a $500 bonus for helping the Allegheny Athletic Association beat the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.
1893
The Foreign Secretary of British India and the Amir of Afghanistan signed the Durand Line Agreement, establishing what is now the international border between Afghanistan and modern-day Pakistan.
1915
Theodore W. Richards, of Harvard University, became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
1918
Austria and Czechoslovakia were declared independent republics.
1920
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected baseball's first commissioner.
1921
Representatives of nine nations gathered for the start of the Washington Conference for Limitation of Armaments.
1927
Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.
1931
Maple Leaf Gardens opened in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was to be the new home of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL).
1933
In Philadelphia, the first Sunday football game was played.
1936
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic.
1942
The World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. The Americans eventually won a major victory over the Japanese.
1944
During World War II, the German battleship "Tirpitz" was sunk off the coast of Norway.
1946
The first drive-up banking facility opened at the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, IL.
1948
An international war crimes tribunal in Tokyo passes death sentences on seven Japanese military and government officials, including General Tojo Hideki, who served as premier of Japan from 1941 to 1944.
1953
The National Football League (NFL) policy of blacking out home games was upheld by Judge Allan K. Grim of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.
1954
Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.
1964
Paula Murphy set the female land speed record 226.37 MPH.
1971
U.S. President Richard Nixon proclaims the end of the U.S. offensive role in the Vietnam War and withdraws 45,000 troops
1972
Don Shula, coach of the Miami Dolphins, became the first NFL head coach to win 100 regular season games in 10 seasons.
1975
U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36½-year term.
1979
U.S. President Carter ordered a halt to all oil imports from Iran in response to 63 Americans being taken hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran on November 4.
1980
The U.S. space probe Voyager I came within 77,000 miles of Saturn while transmitting data back to Earth.
1982
Yuri V. Andropov was elected to succeed the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee.
1984
Space shuttle astronauts Dale Gardner and Joe Allen snared the Palapa B-2 satellite in history's first space salvage.
1985
In Norfolk, VA, Arthur James Walker was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a spy ring run by his brother, John A. Walker Jr.
1987
The American Medical Association issued a policy statement saying it was unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat someone solely because that person had AIDS or is HIV-positive.
1990
Japanese Emperor Akihito formally assumed the Chrysanthemum Throne.
1995
The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off on a mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir.
1996
Jonathan Schmitz was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Scott Amedure, a gay man who'd revealed a crush on Schmitz during a taping of the''The Jenny Jones Show.'' Schmitz was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.
1997
Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
1997
The UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on Iraq for constraints being placed on UN arms inspectors.
1997
Four Americans and their Pakistani driver were shot to death in Karachi, Pakistan. The Americans were oil company employees.
1998
Daimler-Benz completed a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler AG
1999
President Clinton signed a sweeping measure knocking down Depression-era barriers and allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products.
1999
An earthquake struck western Turkey, killing at least 834 people.
2001
American Airlines flight 587 crashed just minutes after take off from Kennedy Airport in New York. The Airbus A300 crashed into the Rockaway Beach section of Queens. All 260 people aboard were killed.
2001
It was reported that the Northern Alliance had taken Kabul, Afghanistan, from the ruling Taliban. The Norther Alliance was reported to have control over most of the northern areas of Afghanistan.
2002
Stan Lee filed a lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment Inc. that claimed the company had cheated him out of millions of dollars in movie profits related to the 2002 movie "Spider-Man."
Notable Births
1676
Giovanni Antonio Pollarolo, composer
1748
Carlos IV, King of Spain, 1788-1808
1815
American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, NY.
1817
Baha'u'llah, Mirza Husayn Ali, founded Baha'i faith
1827
Gustav Adolf Merkel, composer
1840
Sculptor Auguste Rodin was born in Paris. His most widely known works are "The Kiss" and "The Thinker."
1866
Sun Yat-sen, father of modern China, ROC and PRC, traditional
1889
DeWitt Wallace, St. Paul, Minnesota, publisher, founded Readers Digest, 1921
Notable Deaths
1993
H.R. Haldeman, former Nixon White House chief of staff, died in Santa Barbara, Calif., at age 67.
2001
Albert Hague, composer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, dies at 81