12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for October 12, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1492 – Christopher Columbus reaches an island in the Bahamas, claiming it for Spain.
- 1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited in U.S. public schools during Columbus Day observances.
- 1960 – Nikita Khrushchev causes an uproar at the UN; reports say he brandished (and possibly banged) his shoe in protest.
- 1964 – The USSR launches Voskhod 1, the first multi-crew spaceflight.
- 1968 – Enriqueta Basilio becomes the first woman to light an Olympic cauldron at the Mexico City Games opening ceremony.
- 1968 – Equatorial Guinea gains independence from Spain.
- 1973 – President Richard Nixon nominates Gerald R. Ford as vice president, the first use of the 25th Amendment to fill a VP vacancy.
- 1984 – IRA bomb explodes at Brighton’s Grand Hotel, targeting UK PM Margaret Thatcher; five are killed and dozens injured.
- 1999 – Pakistan’s military, led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, ousts PM Nawaz Sharif in a coup.
- 2000 – Al-Qaeda suicide attack on USS Cole in Aden kills 17 U.S. sailors and injures 37.
- 2002 – Coordinated bombings in Bali’s Kuta nightlife district kill 202 people.
- 2019 – Eliud Kipchoge runs a sub-two-hour marathon (1:59:40.2) at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna (not an official record).
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1947 – Chris Wallace, broadcast journalist and interviewer (78).
- 1968 – Hugh Jackman, actor and producer (“X-Men,” “The Greatest Showman”) (57).
- 1969 – Martie Maguire, musician, founding member of The Chicks (56).
- 1970 – Kirk Cameron, actor/evangelist (“Growing Pains,” “Fireproof”) (55).
- 1975 – Marion Jones, former world-champion sprinter and Olympian (50).
- 1977 – Bode Miller, Olympic and World Cup alpine skiing champion (48).
- 1992 – Josh Hutcherson, actor (“The Hunger Games,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s”) (33).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1870 – Robert E. Lee, Confederate general (63).
- 1915 – Edith Cavell, British nurse executed by German firing squad in WWI (49).
- 1924 – Anatole France, French novelist and 1921 Nobel laureate in literature (80).
- 1997 – John Denver, singer-songwriter (“Take Me Home, Country Roads”) in a plane crash (53).
- 1998 – Matthew Shepard, Wyoming student whose murder galvanized LGBTQ+ rights advocacy (21).
- 1999 – Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Hall of Famer and NBA legend (63).
- 2002 – Ray Conniff, American bandleader and composer (85).
Our revenue comes from a combination of direct subscriptions from users and commissions earned by affiliate commissions from sponsors’ links and banners. Some of the links you click may be affiliate links that generate that revenue.