12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for October 12, 2026
Today’s History:
1492 – Christopher Columbus’s expedition reached an island in the present-day Bahamas, beginning sustained European contact with the Americas.
1692 – Massachusetts Governor William Phips reported that he had halted the Salem witchcraft proceedings, a decisive step toward ending the trials.
1773 – Eastern State Hospital opened in Williamsburg, Virginia, becoming the first public hospital in America devoted exclusively to treating mental illness.
1792 – New York City’s Columbian Order held the first recorded American celebration honoring the anniversary of Columbus’s arrival.
1892 – Millions of American schoolchildren recited the newly written Pledge of Allegiance during ceremonies commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage.
1901 – President Theodore Roosevelt officially established “White House” as the name of the president’s official residence, replacing “Executive Mansion.”
1918 – The Cloquet-Moose Lake fires devastated communities across northeastern Minnesota, burning approximately 250,000 acres and killing more than 450 people.
1928 – An iron-lung respirator was used successfully for the first time at Boston Children’s Hospital, helping an eight-year-old girl suffering from polio breathe.
1973 – President Richard Nixon nominated Representative Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as vice president under the 25th Amendment.
1984 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an Irish Republican Army bombing at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England; five other people were killed.
1998 – Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, died from injuries suffered in an anti-gay attack that drew national attention to hate crimes
2000 – Al-Qaeda terrorists bombed the USS Cole while it was refueling in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 American sailors and wounding 39.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1947 – Chris Wallace, veteran television journalist and former moderator of Fox News Sunday (79)
- 1962 – Carlos Bernard, actor best known for portraying Tony Almeida on 24 (64)
- 1968 – Hugh Jackman, actor and singer known for The Wolverine, Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman (58)
- 1969 – Martie Maguire, fiddler, singer and founding member of The Chicks (57)
- 1970 – Kirk Cameron, actor and Christian evangelist known for Growing Pains (56)
- 1992 – Josh Hutcherson, actor known for The Hunger Games film series (34)
- 2001 – Brett Cooper, TV show host (25)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1870 – Robert E. Lee, Confederate general during the Civil War and later president of Washington College (63)
- 1924 – Anatole France, French novelist, critic and recipient of the 1921 Nobel Prize in Literature (80)
- 1971 – Dean Acheson, United States secretary of state who helped shape American foreign policy during the early Cold War (78)
- 1997 – John Denver, singer-songwriter known for “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Rocky Mountain High” (53)
- 1998 – Matthew Shepard, University of Wyoming student whose murder helped inspire expanded federal hate-crime legislation (21)
- 1999 – Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Hall of Fame center and the only NBA player to score 100 points in one game (63)
- 2020 – Conchata Ferrell, actress best known for portraying Berta on Two and a Half Men (77)
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