What are the important events that happened on October 12? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

October 12: Facts & Myths About This Day

October 12 is the 285^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 80 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is September 29, 2025 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 488,952 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectaoctacontapentagon’ day.

Libra is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Opal is the modern birthstone for this month. Jasper is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 128 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,678 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

October 12 Historical Events

• 1654 –
  The Delft Explosion devastates the city in the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people.
• 1823 –
  Charles Macintosh of Scotland sells the first raincoat.
• 1918 –
  A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Minnesota.
• 1942 –
  World War II: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Gotō dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.
• 1960 –
  Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at United Nations General Assembly meeting to protest a Philippine assertion of Soviet Union colonial policy being conducted in Eastern Europe
• 1964 –
  The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits
• 1988 –
  Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down executional style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.
• 1991 –
  Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by republic’s Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
• 1994 –
  NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).
• 1999 –
  The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born.

Who were born on October 12?

• 1350 –
  Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscovy (d. 1389)
• 1576 –
  Thomas Dudley, English-born American colonial magistrate (d. 1653)
• 1872 –
  Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (d. 1958)
• 1916 –
  Alice Childress, American actress and playwright (d. 1994)
• 1931 –
  Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist (d. 2002)
• 1941 –
  Michael Mansfield, English barrister
• 1951 –
  Ed Royce, American politician
• 1973 –
  Lesli Brea, Dominican baseball player
• 1983 –
  Katie Piper, English campaigner and television presenter
• 1990 –
  Henri Lansbury, English footballer

Who died on October 12?

• 1492 –
  Piero della Francesca, Italian painter
• 1646 –
  François de Bassompierre, Marshal of France (b. 1579)
• 1870 –
  Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (b. 1807)
• 1896 –
  Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish nobleman and politician (b. 1817)
• 1970 –
  Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet (b. 1930)
• 1984 –
  Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (b. 1925)
• 1991 –
  Sheila Florance, Australian film and television actress (b. 1916)
• 1999 –
  Robert Marsden Hope, Australian jurist (b. 1919)
• 2002 –
  Ray Conniff, American bandleader and musician (b. 1916)
• 2010 –
  Woody Peoples, American football player (b. 1943)