Summary of the Day ✨ 12 December (12/12)
History was made across multiple fields as Indian chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest World Chess Champion while Dutch racing driver Max Verstappen claimed his controversial first Formula One title, and globally, nations united by adopting the Paris Agreement to combat climate change as North Korea achieved its first satellite launch and Vietnam expanded its conservation efforts by upgrading Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng to national park status.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju became the undisputed World Chess Champion in a tournament held in Singapore, making him the 18th and the youngest champion in chess history.
- 2021: Dutch Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen wins the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton to become the first Formula One World Champion to come from the Netherlands.
- 2015: The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted.
- 2012: North Korea successfully launches its first satellite, Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2.
- 2001: Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Văn Khải announces the decision on upgrading the Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng nature reserve to a national park, providing information on projects for the conservation and development of the park and revised maps.
- 2000: The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore.
- 1999: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits the Philippines’s main island of Luzon, killing six people, injuring 40, and causing power outages that affected the capital Manila.
- 1988: The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.
- 1985: Arrow Air Flight 1285R, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
- 1979: The 8.2 Mw Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.
- 1979: Coup d’état of December Twelfth occurs in South Korea.
- 1969: The Piazza Fontana bombing; a bomb explodes at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell’Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana in Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and wounding 88. The same afternoon, three more bombs are detonated in Rome and Milan, and another is found unexploded.
- 1963: Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.
- 1956: United Nations Security Council Resolution 121 relating to acceptance of Japan to the United Nations is adopted.
- 1946: United Nations Security Council Resolution 13 relating to acceptance of Siam (now Thailand) to the United Nations is adopted.
Famous Births 👶
- 2001: Michael Olise, French footballer
- 1997: Ed Oliver, American football player
- 1996: Lucas Hedges, American actor
- 1994: Otto Warmbier, American student imprisoned in North Korea (died 2017)
- 1993: Zeli Ismail, English footballer
- 1991: Shohjahon Ergashev, Uzbek professional boxer
- 1991: Joseph Leilua, Australian-Samoan rugby league player
- 1990: Nixon Chepseba, Kenyan runner
- 1990: Dawin, American singer-songwriter
- 1990: Victor Moses, Nigerian footballer
- 1990: Tyron Smith, American football player
- 1988: Isaac John, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1988: Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Israeli Olympic marathon runner
- 1986: Daddy Birori, Rwandan footballer
- 1986: Përparim Hetemaj, Finnish footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2021: Vicente Fernández, Mexican actor, ranchera singer, and film producer (born 1940)
- 2021: Bernie Fowler, American politician and environmental advocate (born 1924)
- 2021: Maʻafu Tukuiʻaulahi, Tongan politician and military officer, Deputy Prime Minister (born 1955)
- 2020: John le Carré, English author (born 1931)
- 2020: Ann Reinking, American actress, dancer, and choreographer (born 1949)
- 2019: Danny Aiello, American actor (born 1933)
- 2017: Ed Lee, American politician and attorney, 43rd Mayor of San Francisco (born 1952)
- 2017: Pat DiNizio, American singer and songwriter (born 1955)
- 2016: Shirley Hazzard, Australian-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1931)
- 2015: Frans Geurtsen, Dutch footballer (born 1942)
- 2015: Evelyn S. Lieberman, American politician, White House Deputy Chief of Staff (born 1944)
- 2014: Norman Bridwell, American author and illustrator, created Clifford the Big Red Dog (born 1928)
- 2014: Ivor Grattan-Guinness, English mathematician, historian, and academic (born 1941)
- 2014: Herb Plews, American baseball player (born 1928)
- 2013: Tom Laughlin, American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator, and activist (born 1931)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Corentin of Quimper - Christian feast day:
Jane Frances de Chantal - Christian feast day:
Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet - Christian feast day:
Finnian of Clonard - Christian feast day:
Thomas Holland - Christian feast day:
Ida of Nivelles - Christian feast day:
Peter the Aleut - Christian feast day:
Vicelinus - Christian feast day:
Our Lady of Guadalupe - Christian feast day:
December 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Constitution Day (Russia)
- Day of Neutrality (Turkmenistan)