December 12 has been marked by defining events spanning centuries, from pivotal political decisions and cultural milestones to moments of conflict, discovery and social change. Below is a selection of notable events and births associated with this day.
1098: During the First Crusade, the city of Maarrat al-Numan in present-day Syria falls after a siege. Crusader forces massacre around 20,000 inhabitants and later resort to cannibalism due to severe shortages of supplies.
1800: Washington, D.C. becomes the capital of the United States.
1821: French writer Gustave Flaubert is born. He later becomes one of the most influential figures in the development of the modern novel.
1822: The United States officially recognises Mexico as an independent nation.
1863: Norwegian Symbolist painter Edvard Munch is born, best known for The Scream.
1909: German philologist Karl Krumbacher dies, having made a major contribution to the study of Byzantine civilisation.
1911: Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
1913: The Mona Lisa returns to the Louvre Museum after being stolen two years earlier.
1915: American singer and actor Frank Sinatra is born.
1916: A mass anti-Venizelist march led by the Holy Synod culminates in a public “anathema” against Eleftherios Venizelos at Pedion tou Areos in Athens.
1941: Adolf Hitler announces the decision to exterminate the Jewish population during a high-level meeting of Nazi leadership.
1955: Grigoris Afxentiou and members of EOKA are surrounded by British forces in the Troodos mountains near the village of Spilia. Afxentiou leads his comrades to safety, causing British troops to mistakenly fire on each other.
1961: Martin Luther King Jr. and 700 demonstrators are arrested by authorities in Albany, Georgia.
1963: Kenya gains independence from British colonial rule.
1969: A bomb explodes at Piazza Fontana in Milan, killing 16 people and injuring 90, marking the beginning of Italy’s so-called “Strategy of Tension”.
1979: A powerful earthquake in Colombia triggers a tsunami that kills 259 people.
1988: Antonio Provenzano dies.
1992: A tsunami strikes Flores Island in Indonesia, killing around 3,000 people.
1994: Swiss authorities approve the operation of Zurich’s first legal brothel, following the decriminalisation of prostitution.
2008: Former President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos dies.
This article was originally published on Polignosi.