Today in History: First Space Shuttle Columbia Launched

April 12 is the 102nd (103rd in leap years) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 263.

Railways

• On April 12, 1831, the first U.S. railroad tunnel was opened between Hollidaysburg and Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
• 12 April 1869 Van der Elst's franchise ended. He was paid.

Events

• 1861 - The American Civil War breaks out in South Carolina. A total of 620 people died at the end of the war.
• 1931 – Turkish Historical Research Society was founded.
• 1955 – Dr. The polio vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk, has been announced to be safe and effective.
• 1961 - The Soviet Union sent the first man into space. Yuri Gagarin, who went into space with Vostok 1, stayed in space for 108 minutes.
• 1963 - Martin Luther King was arrested for leading a civil rights march in Alabama.
• 1963 – The Soviet nuclear submarine K-33 collided with the Finnish-flagged cargo ship M/S Finnclipper near Denmark.
• 1969 – Istanbul Culture Palace, which would later be named Atatürk Cultural Center, was opened with Aida Opera and Çeşmebaşı Ballet.
• 1981 - The first space shuttle Columbia is launched.
• 1983 – Şerafettin Elçi, a former Minister of Public Works, was sentenced to a total of 2 years and 4 months in prison and a fine of 4.660 liras in the Supreme Court on the grounds that he abused his office for two separate crimes.
• 1991 – The Gulf War officially ends with the ceasefire agreement entering into force.
• 1991 – Matild Manukyan, one of the Istanbul brothel operators, became a tax record holder in Istanbul.
• 1993 – Turkey is connected to the Internet.
• 2007 – Explosion occurs in Iraqi Parliament; Eight people, three of whom were Members of Parliament, died.
• 2008 – “National Sovereignty Meeting” was held in Tandoğan with the participation of approximately 300.000 people.
• 2010 – Ahmet Türk's nose was broken in the physical attack that took place outside the courthouse in Samsun.
• 2011 – The ousted President of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, was hospitalized and taken to intensive care after suffering a heart attack while being questioned within the framework of an investigation.

Births

• 959 – En'yū, 64th emperor of Japan in traditional succession (d. 991)
• 1577 – IV. Christian, king of Denmark and Norway (d. 1648)
• 1803 – Johann Wilhelm Zinkeisen, German historian (d. 1863)
• 1823 – Alexander Ostrovsky, playwright, one of the greatest representatives of Russian realism (d. 1868)
• 1871 – Yannis Metaxas, Greek general and statesman (d. 1941)
• 1903 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and Nobel Prize laureate in Economics (d. 1994)
• 1923 – Ann Miller, American dancer, singer, and actress (d. 2004)
• 1928 – Nisa Serezli, Turkish cinema, theater and voice actor (d. 1992)
• 1937 – Igor Volk, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut and test pilot (d. 2017)
• 1947 – Tom Clancy, American author (d. 2013)
• 1956 - Andy Garcia, American actor
• 1956 Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer
• 1959 – Andy Bausch, Luxembourgish director
• 1962 – Hüseyin Avni Danyal, Turkish actor
• 1968 – Yeşim Salkım, Turkish singer
• 1971 - Nicholas Brendon, American actor
• 1971 - Shannen Doherty, American actress
• 1972 – Şebnem Ferah, Turkish rock music artist
• 1973 - Sylvinho, Brazilian football player
• 1974 – Mete Pere, Turkish musician and actor
• 1978 – Svetlana Lapina, Russian high jumper
• 1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress
• 1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian football player
• 1980 – Arda Kural, Turkish TV series and film actor
• 1980 – Jehan Barbur, Turkish singer and songwriter
• 1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentine football player
• 1983 – Sine Büyüka, Turkish presenter
• 1986 – Blenen Džemaili is a Macedonian-born Swiss national football player of Albanian descent.
• 1986 – Jonathan Pitroipa, national football player from Burkina Faso
• 1987 – Luiz Adriano, Brazilian football player
• 1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model
• 1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer
• 1988 - Ricardo Gabriel Álvarez, English football player
• 1988 - Jessie James Decker, American country pop singer and songwriter
• 1989 – Ádám Hanga is a Hungarian basketball player.
• 1989 – Valentin Stocker, Swiss national football player
• 1989 - Kaitlyn Weaver, American figure skater
• 1990 – Hiroki Sakai, Japanese international football player
• 1991 - Lionel Carole, French football player
• Eric Bailly is an Ivory Coast international football player.
• Oh Sehun, South Korean singer and actor
• Guido Rodriguez is an Argentine football player
• Saoirse Ronan, Irish actress
• Kubilay Aka, Turkish actor
• Melissa Venema, Dutch trumpeter

Deaths

• 45 BC – Gnaeus Pompeius, (Pompey the Younger), Roman general (b. 75 BC)
• 238 – Gordianus I, Roman Emperor (suicide) (b. 159)
• 352 – Julius I, pope from February 6, 337 to April 12, 352
• 901 – Eudokia Baïana, Byzantine Emperor VI. Leon's third wife
• 1704 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop (b. 1627)
• 1743 – Augustine Washington, father of George Washington, first president of the United States (b. 1694)
• 1782 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet and librarian (b. 1698)
• 1817 – Charles Messier, French astronomer (b. 1730)
• 1871 – Pierre Leroux, French philosopher and political economist (b. 1798)
• 1893 – Muallim Naci, Turkish writer and poet (b. 1849)
• 1936 – Rızaeddin Fahreddin, Tatar mufti, historian (b. 1859)
• 1937 – Abdulhak Hamid Tarhan, Turkish poet and diplomat (Makber ve Eshber Known for works such as) (b. 1852)
• 1938 – Fyodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Lionel Logue, Australian speech and language therapist and amateur stage actor (b. 1880)
• 1967 – İsmail Hami Danishmend, Turkish historian (b. 1899)
• 1968 – Franz Pfeffer von Salomon, first commander of the German Sturmabteilung (SA) (b. 1888)
• 1975 – Josephine Baker, American dancer and singer (b. 1906)
• 1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
• 1986 – Valentin Katayev, Russian novelist and playwright (b. 1897)
• 1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
• 1998 – İsmail Baha Sürelsan, Turkish composer and Classical Turkish Music artist (b. 1912)
• 1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Cecilia Colledge, English figure skater (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Patrick Hillery, 6th President of Ireland (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Marilyn Chambers, American porn star (b. 1952)
• 2009 – John Maddox, Welsh scientist and journalist (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Evrim Alataş, Kurdish-Turkish writer, journalist and critic (b. 1976)
• 2010 – Alper Balaban, Turkish football player (b. 1987)
• 2010 – Werner Schroeter, German film director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Murat Gök, Turkish lawyer and prosecutor (b. 1972)
• 2016 – Anne June Jackson, American actress (b. 1925)
• 2016 – Jon Rechart, American professional wrestler (b. 1972)
• 2016 – Sir Arnold Wesker, English play and film screenwriter (b. 1932)
• 2017 – Tom Coyne, American mastering engineer (b. 1954)
• 2017 – Wayne Hardin, former American football player and coach (b. 1926)
• 2017 – Peggy Hayama, Japanese female singer (b. 1933)
• 2017 – Toshio Matsumoto, Japanese film director, screenwriter, and video artist (b. 1932)
• 2017 – Charles Quinton Murphy, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1959)
• 2017 – Sheila Abdus-Salaam, American judge and lawyer (b. 1952)
• 2018 – Brij Bhushan Kabra, Indian musician (b. 1937)
• 2019 – Can Bartu, Turkish football player (born 1936)
• 2019 – Georgia Engel, American actress, comedian, writer, and dubbing artist (b. 1948)
• 2019 – John McEnery, English actor and writer (b. 1943)
• 2019 – Thomas Smith, English former international footballer and manager (b. 1945)
• 2020 – Francisco Aritmendi, Spanish long-distance runner (b. 1938)
• 2020 – Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, Israeli rabbi (b. 1941)
• 2020 – Maurice Barrier, French actor and singer (b. 1932)
• 2020 – Glenn Beckert, American former professional baseball player (b. 1940)
• 2020 – Kishen Bholasing, Surinamese – Dutch singer and percussionist (b. 1984)
• 2020 – Peter Bonetti, English international football player (b. 1941)
• 2020 – Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor, English comedian and actor (b 1940)
• 2020 – Víctor Batista Falla, Cuban editor and publisher (b. 1933)
• 2020 – Keiji Fujiwara, Japanese voice actor and actor (b. 1964)
• 2020 – André Manaranche, French priest, theologian, and author (b. 1927)
• 2020 – Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, British Formula 1 racing driver (b. 1929)
• 2020 – Jaime Ruiz Sacristán, Mexican businessman and banker (b. 1949)
• 2020 – Carlos Seco Serrano, Spanish historian (b. 1923)
• 2020 – Khalif Mumin Tohow, Somali politician
• 2020 – Samuel Wembé, Cameroonian businessman (b. 1947)
• 2020 – Chung Won-shik, South Korean politician, educator, soldier, and author (b. 1928)
• 2021 – Nadiya Denysivna Babych, Ukrainian linguist and journalist (b. 1943)
• 2021 – Oldemiro Balói, Mozambican politician (b. 1955)
• 2021 – Erzsébet Dolník, Slovak politician (b. 1940)
• 2021 – Serafima Holina, Soviet-Russian theater and film actress (b. 1923)
• 2021 – Halyna Mosiychuk, Soviet and Ukrainian composer (b. ?)
• 2021 – Irondi Mantoan Pugliesi, Brazilian politician (b. 1947)
• 2021 – Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby, British politician (b. 1930)

Holidays and special occasions

• Children's Day in Bolivia
• Cosmonauts Day
• Yuri's Night