On This Day in History
Discover key historical events within the Genesis range (1950–2049) that occurred on this calendar day, and claim their commemorative registry plaques.
April 12
9 historical milestones registered between 1950 and 2049
Aboard Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin performed the first human spaceflight, completing one orbit of Earth in 108 minutes.
Wikipedia: Vostok 1
About 1,700 gravediggers in New York City began a 12-week strike, causing a delay in the burial of roughly 1,400 bodies in the city.
Wikipedia: Gravedigger
Canadian athlete Terry Fox embarked on an east-to-west "Marathon of Hope" from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a prosthetic leg to raise funds for cancer research.
Wikipedia: Terry Fox
Harold Washington was elected as the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
Wikipedia: Harold Washington
Bosnian War: NATO forces began Operation Deny Flight to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered by the United Nations Security Council.
Wikipedia: Bosnian War
Husband-and-wife law partners Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel posted the first massive commercial spam on Usenet.
Wikipedia: Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel
The Guinea-Bissau military seized control in a coup amid a presidential election, later handing power to a transitional administration under Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo.
Wikipedia: 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état
Four Chadian soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing by jihadist rebels in Kidal, Mali.
Wikipedia: April 2013 Kidal attackA fire broke out near Valparaíso, Chile, eventually destroying at least 2,500 homes and leaving approximately 11,000 people homeless (damage pictured).
Wikipedia: Great Fire of Valparaíso