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

 The Philippines declares its independence from Spain after being a Spanish colony since 1565. Later that year, the Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War and Spain ceded the Philippines to the US, the islands were occupied by U.S. forces. and the Philippines became an American colony until after World War II. More

In a speech in Berlin, President Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ―tear down this wall‖ and open Eastern Europe to political and economic reform. More

Boris Yeltsin is elected the first democratically elected President of Russia.

Russia Day. The day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet. It has been celebrated annually on 12 June since 1992.