Home   On This Day   On this day in history - September 12

On this day in history - September 12

What Happened On This Day – September 12

  • 1992 First African American Woman goes into Space

    Mae C. Jemison, a physician, was a Mission Specialist on STS-47 which was the 50th space flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. It was the space shuttle Endeavour’s second flight. During over 190 hours she spent in space, she conducted experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness.

  • 1974 A Coup in Ethiopia ousts Emperor Haile Selassie

    The coup was led by a group of the Ethiopian armed forces and other law enforcement agencies of the country called the Derg. After the coup, Selassie was imprisoned. He died two years later, on August 28, 2015. Selassie is also often considered to be a Messiah by those who follow Rastafarianism, a religious belief that originated in Jamaica.

  • 1970 The Soviet Union launches the Luna 16

    It was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return to Earth with rock samples. Luna 16 landed on Earth on September 24.

  • 1953 Jacqueline Bouvier Marries John Fitzgerald Kennedy

    The much talked about wedding of the season took place in Newport, Rhode Island. At the time of the wedding, John F. Kennedy was a Senator in the US Congress from the state of Massachusetts. In 1960, Kennedy won the presidency after beating Republican candidate Richard Nixon.

  • 1943 The Gran Sasso Raid is conducted by the German paratroopers at the behest of Hitler

    The purpose of the airborne operation, also known as Operation Eiche, was to free Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a ski resort where he was being held on the orders of the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III. Using gliders, German troops entered the ski resort and successfully rescued Mussolini.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
September 12

  • 1980 Yao Ming

    Chinese basketball player

  • 1967 Louis C.K.

    American comedian, actor, screenwriter

  • 1956 Sam Brownback

    American politician, 46th Governor of Kansas

  • 1951 Bertie Ahern

    Irish politician

  • 1892 Alfred A. Knopf, Sr.

    American publisher, founded Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
September 12

  • 2014 Ian Paisley

    Irish minister, politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland

  • 2009 Norman Borlaug

    American agronomist, humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 2008 David Foster Wallace

    American author

  • 2003 Johnny Cash

    American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor

  • 1977 Robert Lowell

    American poet