1554 – At the tender age of 16, young Lady Jane Grey is famous for having the shortest reign in England’s history… just nine days. She was executed on Tower Green by her cousin and rival to the throne.
1912 – The last Emperor of China abdicates at the age of 6. He was expelled from the Forbidden City after a military coup in 1924. He died on October 17, 1967, aged 61.
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2009 – Researchers report that they have succeeded in decoding the genomes of 99 strains of the viruses that cause the common cold and have identified common vulnerabilities that could be exploited by drugs.
2019 – Mexican drug lord Joaquín aka “El Chapo,” was finally brought to justice. After more than 200 hours of testimony, the court ruled El Chapo guilty on all counts and sentenced him to life in prison.
1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
1851 – Edward Hargraves announces that he has found gold in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, starting the Australian gold rushes.
1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
1914 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the Civil Rights Movement and partially inspires Orson Welles’ film Touch of Evil.
1994 – Four men break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream.
1999 – President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
2004 – The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Births on this day February, 12
Annette Crosbie, 90 years
Annette Crosbie OBE is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her role as Margaret Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave. She twice won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1971, and in 1976 for Edward the Seventh.
Gethin Jones, 46 years
Gethin Clifford Jones is a Welsh television presenter. He was an active rugby union player while at Manchester Metropolitan University and, after graduation, he began his television career on Welsh.
Christina Ricci 44 years
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci works mostly in independent productions but has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
1809 Abraham Lincoln (12 February 1809 – 15 April 1865)
Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865 when he was 56 years old.
1809 Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882)
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science.
He died at the age of 73.
