TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: OCT 12
539 BC The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon
1279 Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon
1285 180 Jews refuse baptism in Munich Germany, they are set on fire
1492 Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.
1576 Rudolf II, the king of Hungary and Bohemia, succeeds his father, Maximillian II, as Holy Roman Emperor.
1609 The song “Three Blind Mice” is published in London, believed to be the earliest printed secular song.
1722 Shah Sultan Husayn surrenders the Persian capital of Isfahan to Afgan rebels after a seven month siege.
1792 The first monument honoring Christopher Columbus was dedicated in Baltimore, MD.
1810 Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.
1823 Charles Macintosh of Scotland begins selling raincoats (Macs)
1853 John Morrissey wins boxing title, when Yankee Sullivan leaves ring after 36th round to slug Morrissey’s fans
1872 Apache leader Cochise signs a peace treaty with General Howard in Arizona Territory.
1892 In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Columbus landing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited in public schools.
1915 Ford Motor Company under Henry Ford manufactures its 1 millionth automobile at the River Rouge plant in Detroit
1915 Theodore Roosevelt criticizes US citzens with dual nationalities
1918 1st use of iron lung (Boston’s Children Hospital)
1920 Construction of the Holland Tunnel began. It opened on November 13, 1927. The tunnel links Jersey City, NJ and New York City, NY.
1945 Private First Class Desmond T. Doss was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman. He was the first conscientious objector in American history to win the award.
1960 Inejiro Asanuma, leaders of the Japan Socialist Party, is assassinated during a live TV broadcast.
1960 Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev created a disturbance at the U.N. General Assembly by pounding his desk with his shoe.
1970 President Richard Nixon announces the pullout of 40,000 more American troops in Vietnam by Christmas.
1971 The House of Representatives passes the Equal Rights Amendment 354-23.
1977 US Supreme Court heard arguments in “reverse discrimination” case of Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to U of Calif Med School
1984 The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonates at bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England, in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; 5 others are killed and 31 wounded.
1988 Federal prosecutors announced that the Sundstrand Corp. would pay $115 million dollars to settle with the Pentagon for overbilling airplane parts over a five-year period.
1999 In Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup that toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court ruled that the coup was legal but insisted that a civilian government be restored within three years.
1999 The Day of Six Billion: the proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born
2000 Suicide bombers at Aden, Yemen, damage USS Cole; 17 crew members killed and over 35 wounded.
2002 A bomb destroyed a nightclub in Bali, killing 202, mostly tourists.
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
