February 12

February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 322 days remaining until the end of the year (323 in leap years).

Events

• 881 – Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat, the King of Italy: Holy Roman Emperor
• 1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and Sir John Stewart of Darnley in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings).
• 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
• 1541 – Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
• 1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.
• 1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
• 1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
• 1733 – Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day).
• 1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
• 1814 – Battle of Château-Thierry (1814)
• 1814 – Battle of La Victoria (1814)
• 1816 – The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire.
• 1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops on the Battle of Chacabuco.
• 1818 – Bernardo O'Higgins formally approves the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
• 1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
• 1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
• 1851 – Edward Hargraves announces that he has found gold in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, starting the Australian gold rushes.
• 1855 – Michigan State University is established.
• 1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, France, killing one and wounding 20.
• 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
• 1909 – New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
• 1912 – The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
• 1914 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
• 1921 – Bolsheviks launch a revolt in Georgia as a preliminary to the Soviet invasion of Georgia.
• 1924 – George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue received its premiere in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music," in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Paul Whiteman and his band, with Gershwin playing the piano.
• 1934 – The Austrian Civil War begins.
• 1934 – In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista decides to merge the movement with the Falange Española.
• 1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
• 1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
• 1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the Civil Rights Movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil.
• 1947 – The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
• 1947 – Christian Dior unveils a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world.
• 1961 – Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
• 1963 – Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
• 1968 – Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre.
• 1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
• 1983 – One hundred women protest in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.
• 1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
• 1992 – The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
• 1994 – Four men break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream.
• 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
• 2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
• 2002 – The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, begins at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
• 2002 – An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
• 2004 – The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
• 2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.
• 2014 – A massive winter storm across states in the southern United States causes widespread power outages, travel disruptions and dangerous road conditions.

Births

• 41 – Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (d. 55)
• 661 – Princess Ōku of Japan (d. 702)
• 1074 – Conrad II of Italy (d. 1101)
• 1218 – Kujō Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)
• 1322 – John Henry, Margrave of Moravia, (d. 1375)
• 1567 – Thomas Campion, English composer and poet (d. 1620)
• 1584 – Caspar Barlaeus, Dutch historian, poet, and theologian (d. 1648)
• 1606 – John Winthrop the Younger, English-American lawyer and politician, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)
• 1637 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist and zoologist (d. 1680)
• 1663 – Cotton Mather, English-American minister and author (d. 1728)
• 1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
• 1704 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French author (d. 1772)
• 1728 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)
• 1752 – Josef Reicha, Czech cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1795)
• 1753 – François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
• 1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1812)
• 1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)
• 1775 – Louisa Adams, English-born American wife of John Quincy Adams, 6th First Lady of the United States (d. 1852)
• 1777 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist and academic (d. 1838)
• 1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German author and poet (d. 1843)
• 1785 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist and chemist (d. 1838)
• 1787 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian bishop and missionary (d. 1853)
• 1788 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
• 1791 – Peter Cooper, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union (d. 1883)
• 1794 – Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player and composer (d. 1867)

Marie-Anne de Bovet.jpg

• 1804 – Heinrich Lenz, German-Italian physicist and academic (d. 1865)
• 1809 – Charles Darwin, English geologist and theorist (d. 1882)
• 1809 – Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)
• 1828 – George Meredith, English author and poet (d. 1909)
• 1855 – Marie-Anne de Bovet, French writer
• 1857 – Eugène Atget, French photographer (d. 1927)
• 1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer and coach (d. 1943)
• 1861 – Frank Rinehart, American photographer (d. 1928)
• 1861 – Lou Andreas-Salomé, Russian-German psychoanalyst and author (d. 1937)
• 1865 – Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish poet and author (d. 1940)
• 1869 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1884)
• 1870 – Marie Lloyd, English actress and singer (d. 1922)
• 1872 – Oscar Stribolt, Danish actor and director (d. 1927)
• 1876 – 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)
• 1877 – Louis Renault, French businessman, co-founded Renault (d. 1944)
• 1880 – George Preca, Maltese priest and saint (d. 1962)
• 1880 – John L. Lewis, American miner and union leader (d. 1969)
• 1881 – Anna Pavlova, Russian-English ballerina and actress (d. 1931)
• 1884 – Max Beckmann, German painter and sculptor (d. 1950)
• 1884 – Johan Laidoner, Estonian-Russian general (d. 1953)
• 1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, American daughter of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1980)
• 1884 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian-French painter (d. 1957)
• 1885 – Julius Streicher, German publisher, founded Der Stürmer (d. 1946)
• 1889 – Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk, lawyer, and judge (d. 1999)
• 1893 – Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)
• 1893 – Fred Albert Shannon, American historian and author (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 1984)
• 1897 – Vola Vale, American actress (d. 1970)
• 1897 – Lincoln LaPaz, American astronomer and academic (d. 1985)
• 1898 – Wallace Ford, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
• 1900 – Roger J. Traynor, American lawyer and jurist, 23rd Chief Justice of California (d. 1983)
• 1902 – William Collier, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1987)
• 1903 – Chick Hafey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1973)
• 1904 – Ted Mack, American radio and television host (d. 1976)
• 1907 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (d. 1962)
• 1908 – Jean Effel, French painter and journalist (d. 1982)
• 1908 – Jacques Herbrand, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1931)
• 1909 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (d. 2005)
• 1909 – Sigmund Rascher, German physician (d. 1945)
• 1911 – Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 1994)
• 1912 – R.F. Delderfield, English author and playwright (d. 1972)
• 1914 – Tex Beneke, American singer, saxophonist, and bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra) (d. 2000)
• 1915 – Andrew Goodpaster, American general (d. 2005)
• 1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian-American actor (d. 1987)
• 1917 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player and soldier (d. 2009)
• 1918 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
• 1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor and singer (d. 1986)
• 1920 – Pran, Indian actor (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Chinese-Japanese actress, singer, and politician (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Hussein Onn, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1990)
• 1923 – Chaskel Besser, Polish-American rabbi (d. 2010)
• 1923 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian director, producer, and politician
• 1925 – Joan Mitchell, American painter (d. 1992)
• 1926 – Rolf Brem, Swiss sculptor and illustrator (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Charles Van Doren, American academic
• 1929 – Donald Kingsbury, American-Canadian mathematician, academic, and author
• 1930 – John Doyle, Irish hurler and politician (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Arlen Specter, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2012)
• 1931 – Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch-American author and translator (d. 2008)
• 1932 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author and poet (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Julian Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)
• 1933 – Costa-Gavras, Greek-French director and producer
• 1934 – Annette Crosbie, British actress
• 1934 – Anne Osborn Krueger, American economist and academic
• 1934 – Bill Russell, American basketball player and coach
• 1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
• 1936 – Joe Don Baker, American actor
• 1938 – Judy Blume, American author and educator
• 1939 – Akbar Adibi, Iranian engineer and academic (d. 2000)
• 1939 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (The Doors, Rick & the Ravens, Manzarek–Krieger, and Nite City) (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Richard Lynch, American actor and producer (d. 2012)
• 1941 – Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2013)
• 1941 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese mountaineer and explorer (d. 1984)
• 1942 – Ehud Barak, Israeli general and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Israel
• 1945 – Maud Adams, Swedish model and actress
• 1945 – Cliff DeYoung, American actor and singer (Clear Light)
• 1945 – David D. Friedman, American economist, physicist, and scholar
• 1946 – Jean Eyeghé Ndong, Gabonese politician, Prime Minister of Gabon
• 1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer-songwriter and actress
• 1948 – Ray Kurzweil, American engineer and author
• 1948 – Nicholas Soames, English politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
• 1949 – Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, Canadian politician
• 1949 – Joaquín Sabina, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1950 – Angelo Branduardi, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1950 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1952 – Michael McDonald, American singer-songwriter and keyboardist
• 1953 – Joanna Kerns, American actress and director
• 1954 – Joseph Jordania, Georgian-Australian musicologist and academic
• 1954 – Tzimis Panousis, Greek comedian, singer, and author
• 1954 – Phil Zimmermann, American programmer, created Pretty Good Privacy
• 1956 – Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
• 1956 – Ad Melkert, Dutch politician
• 1958 – Bobby Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
• 1959 – Larry Nance, American basketball player
• 1959 – Dan Puric, Romanian actor and director
• 1959 – Sigrid Thornton, Australian actress
• 1960 – One Man Gang, American wrestler
• 1961 – Tonnie Dirks, Dutch runner
• 1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian environmentalist and politician
• 1961 – Michel Martelly, Haitian singer and politician, 56th President of Haiti
• 1964 – Michel Petit, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player and manager
• 1965 – Christine Elise, American actress and screenwriter
• 1965 – John Michael Higgins, American actor
• 1967 – N. Ravikiran, Indian singer-songwriter
• 1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor and producer
• 1968 – Christopher McCandless, American adventurer (d. 1992)
• 1969 – Meja, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Darren Aronofsky, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Alemayehu Atomsa, Ethiopian educator and politician (d. 2014)
• 1969 – Steve Backley, English javelin thrower
• 1969 – Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer and manager
• 1970 – Jim Creeggan, Canadian singer-songwriter and bass player (Barenaked Ladies and the Brothers Creeggan)
• 1970 – Bryan Roy, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1970 – Judd Winick, American author and illustrator
• 1971 – Scott Menville, American actor
• 1972 – Ajay Naidu, American actor
• 1972 – Latrice Royale, American drag performer
• 1972 – Owen Nolan, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – Sophie Zelmani, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1973 – Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
• 1973 – Tara Strong, Canadian voice actress and singer
• 1974 – Naseem Hamed, English boxer
• 1974 – Toranosuke Takagi, Japanese race car driver
• 1975 – Cliff Bleszinski, American video game designer, founded Boss Key Productions
• 1975 – Scot Pollard, American basketball player and actor
• 1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby player
• 1977 – Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player and manager
• 1978 – Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1978 – Gethin Jones, Welsh rugby player and television host
• 1978 – Silver Meikar, Estonian journalist and politician
• 1979 – Antonio Chatman, American football player
• 1979 – Matt Mauck, American football player and dentist
• 1979 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and violinist (Band from TV)
• 1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
• 1980 – Sarah Lancaster, American actress
• 1980 – Gucci Mane, American rapper and actor
• 1980 – Christina Ricci, American actress and producer
• 1981 – Lisa Hannigan, Irish singer-songwriter
• 1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
• 1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand rugby player
• 1984 – Alexandra Dahlström, Swedish actress and director
• 1984 – Brad Keselowski, American race car driver
• 1984 – Tobias Schlauderer, German footballer
• 1984 – Andrei Sidorenkov, Estonian footballer
• 1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
• 1985 – Saskia Burmeister, Australian actress
• 1988 – Nana Eikura, Japanese actress and radio host
• 1988 – Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1990 – Robert Griffin III, American football player
• 1990 – Moussa Koné, Ivorian footballer
• 1991 – Faisal bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini son of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (d. 2006)
• 1991 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
• 1991 – Michael Schimpelsberger, Austrian footballer
• 1992 – Vladimir Malinin, Russian footballer
• 1993 – Jennifer Stone, American actress
• 1994 – Alex Galchenyuk, American ice hockey player

Deaths

• 821 – Benedict of Aniane, French monk and saint (b. 747)
• 1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, engraver, and architect (b. 1480)
• 1554 – Lord Guildford Dudley, English son of Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (b. 1536)
• 1554 – Lady Jane Grey, English daughter of Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (b. 1537)
• 1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English politician and diplomat (b. 1515)
• 1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and author (b. 1524)
• 1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist, founded the George Heriot's School (b. 1563)
• 1630 – Fynes Moryson, English explorer and author (b. 1566)
• 1692 – Hendrick Hamel, Dutch sailor and bookkeeper (b. 1630)
• 1700 – Aleksei Shein, Russian general and politician (b. 1662)
• 1713 – Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor (b. 1664)
• 1724 – Elkanah Settle, English poet and playwright (b. 1648)
• 1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian priest and composer (b. 1653)
• 1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French author and playwright (b. 1688)
• 1771 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (b. 1710)
• 1789 – Ethan Allen, American farmer, general, and politician (b. 1738)
• 1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist and physiologist (b. 1729)
• 1804 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1724)
• 1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1768)
• 1886 – Randolph Caldecott, English-American painter and illustrator (b. 1846)
• 1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1830)
• 1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French composer (b. 1811)
• 1915 – Émile Waldteufel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1837)
• 1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician, philosopher, and academic (b. 1831)
• 1920 – Aurore Gagnon, Canadian victim of child abuse (b. 1909)
• 1929 – Lillie Langtry, English singer and actress (b. 1853)
• 1931 – Samad bey Mehmandarov, Azerbaijani-Russian general and politician, 3rd Azerbaijani Minister of Defense (b. 1855)
• 1933 – Henri Duparc, French pianist and composer (b. 1848)
• 1935 – Auguste Escoffier, French chef and author (b. 1846)
• 1942 – Eugene Esmonde, English lieutenant and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1909)
• 1942 – Avraham Stern, Polish-Israeli militant leader (b. 1907)
• 1942 – Grant Wood, American painter and academic (b. 1891)
• 1945 – Antonio Villa-Real, Filipino lawyer and jurist (b. 1880)
• 1947 – Moses Gomberg, Ukrainian-American chemist and academic (b. 1866)
• 1949 – Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator, founded the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
• 1954 – Dziga Vertov, Polish-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
• 1957 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American lawyer and politician (b. 1872)
• 1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1897)
• 1960 – Oskar Anderson, Bulgarian-German mathematician and academic (b. 1887)
• 1961 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet (b. 1934)
• 1970 – Ishmon Bracey, American singer and guitarist (b. 1901)
• 1970 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American author and illustrator (b. 1903)
• 1971 – James Cash Penney, American businessman, founded J. C. Penney (b. 1875)
• 1975 – Per-Erik Hedlund, Swedish cross-country skier (b. 1897)
• 1976 – Sal Mineo, American actor and singer (b. 1939)
• 1977 – Herman Dooyeweerd, Dutch philosopher and scholar (b. 1894)
• 1979 – Jean Renoir, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894)
• 1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and activist (b. 1913)
• 1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian-American actor (b. 1902)
• 1983 – Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
• 1984 – Anna Anderson, Polish-American impostor who claimed to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (b. 1896)
• 1984 – Julio Cortázar, Belgian-Argentinian author and poet (b. 1914)
• 1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor and director (b. 1924)
• 1988 – S. Nadarajah, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1916)
• 1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and author (b. 1931)
• 1991 – Roger Patterson, American bass player (Atheist) (b. 1968)
• 1992 – Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
• 1994 – Donald Judd, American artist (b. 1928)
• 1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (Iron Butterfly) (b. 1952)
• 1996 – Ernest Samuels, American lawyer and author (b. 1903)
• 1998 – Gardner Ackley, American economist and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (b. 1915)
• 2000 – Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1929)
• 2000 – Tom Landry, American football player and coach (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (b. 1922)
• 2001 – Tiberio Mitri, Italian boxer and actor (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Kristina Söderbaum, Swiss-German actress and producer (b. 1912)
• 2002 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
• 2005 – Dorothy Stang, American-Brazilian nun and missionary (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan swimmer and sportscaster (b. 1964)
• 2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
• 2009 – victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407:
  • Alison Des Forges, American historian and activist (b. 1942)
  • Beverly Eckert, American activist (b. 1951)
  • Coleman Mellett, American guitarist (b. 1974)
  • Gerry Niewood, American saxophonist (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Claude Nollier, French actress (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
• 2011 – Peter Alexander, Austrian singer and actor (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Mato Damjanović, Croatian chess player (b. 1927)
• 2011 – Fedor den Hertog, Dutch cyclist (b. 1946)
• 2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Galal Amer, Egyptian journalist (b. 1952)
• 2012 – Denis Flannery, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1928)
• 2012 – John Severin, American illustrator (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Howard Zimmerman, American chemist and academic (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabian prince (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukrainian politician, 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Sid Caesar, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Maggie Estep, American poet and author (b. 1963)
• 2014 – Santiago Feliú, Cuban singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
• 2014 – John Pickstone, English historian and author (b. 1944)
• 2015 – Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Malaysian cleric and politician, 12th Menteri Besar of Kelantan (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Martyrs of Abitinae
  • Damian of Alexandria
  • Julian the Hospitaller
  • February 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Darwin Day (International)
• Georgia Day (Georgia)
• Lincoln's Birthday (United States)
• National Freedom to Marry Day, unofficial (United States)
• Red Hand Day (United Nations)
• Union Day (Myanmar)
• Youth Day (Venezuela)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to February 12.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada