Old clock in sand with the words: It Happend in April

Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on April 12th?

Discover major events and cultural milestones that happened on this day — organized by year. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.

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878 CE, April 12

The Battle of Cynwit takes place between the Wessex Saxons and the Vikings.

955 CE, April 12

The Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I defeats the Magyars, ending their raids in Europe.

1204 CE, April 12

Fourth Crusade: Constantinople falls to the Crusaders, leading to the sack of the city.

1297 CE, April 12

Scots under William Wallace ambush and defeat the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

1461 CE, April 12

The Battle of Towton takes place during the Wars of the Roses in England, resulting in a decisive Yorkist victory.

1633 CE, April 12

Galileo Galilei is forced to recant his view that the Earth orbits the Sun by the Roman Catholic Church.

1861 CE, April 12

The Confederate Forces attack Fort Sumter, South Carolina, marking the official beginning of the The American Civil War. The war lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage. More

1945 CE, April 12

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes president. More

1954 CE, April 12

Bill Haley and His Comets record "Rock Around The Clock" It may not have been the first rock’n’roll record but it is an event often referred to as marking the beginning of the Rock and Roll era. Bill Haley, a square-looking country singer from the suburbs of Philadelphia, nearly 30 years old at the time, was an unlikely hero of the Rock era.

1961 CE, April 12

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into space and orbit the Earth. More

1981 CE, April 12

The space shuttle Columbia lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and becomes the first reusable manned spacecraft to travel into space. Carrying the two-person crew of John Young and Robert Crippen., Columbia proved the operational concept of a winged, reusable spaceship. The flight lasted 54 hours in space, with 36 orbits before successfully touching down at California’s Edwards Air Force Base on April 14. Columbia went on to have a total of 27 successful flights. On 2/1/2003, on its 28th flight, Columbia and Crew were lost During reentry. More

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