November 12th in History

Michael Dobson | November 12

The “Surgeon’s Photograph” of the Loch Ness Monster, later revealed to be a hoax, was first published in the Daily Mail

 

On This Day in History

  • The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and the other members of the Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica are discovered on the Ross Ice Shelf (1912)
  • Лев ро́цкий (Leon Trotsky) is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, resulting in Ио́сиф Ста́лин (Joseph Stalin) gaining complete control (1927)
  • The first alleged photo of the Loch Ness Monster is taken (1933)
  • The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins; it will last three days and end with an American victory (1942)
  • The RAF sinks the battleship Tirpitz (1944)
  • A war crimes tribunal sentences seven Japanese military and civilian leaders to death (1948)
  • The Oregon Exploding Whale incident takes place (1970) Link to video.
  • Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Saturn (1980)
  • Ю́рий Андро́пов (Yuri Andropov) replaces Леони́д Бре́жнев (Leonid Brezhnev) as head of the Soviet Union (1982)
  • Crown Prince 明仁 (Akihito) ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne and begins the 平成 (Heisei) era (1990)

Birthdays

  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton, activist (1815)
  • بهاء الله‎ (Bahá’u’lláh), founder of the Bahá’í faith (1817)
  • Alexander Borodin, composer and chemist (1833)
  • Auguste Rodin, sculptor (1840)
  • 孫文 (Sun Yat-sen), founder of the Republic of China (1866)
  • DeWitt Wallace, co-founder of the Reader’s Digest (1889)
  • Harry Blackmun, US Supreme Court justice (1908)
  • Kim Hunter, actress (1922)
  • Grace Kelly, actress (1929)
  • Charles Manson, cult leader and murderer (1934)
  • Wallace Shawn, playwright and actor (1943)
  • Booker T. Jones, leader of Booker T and the MG’s (1944)
  • Al Michaels, sportscasater (1944)
  • Tracy Kidder, author (1945)
  • Neil Young, singer-songwriter (1945)
  • Megan Mullally, actress (1958)
  • Nadia Comăneci, gymnast (1961)
  • David Schwimmer, actor (1966)
  • Sammy Sosa, baseball player (1968)
  • Tonya Harding, figure skater (1970)
  • Anne Hathaway, actress (1982)

Deaths

  • Cnut (Canute) the Great, king of England, Denmark, and Norway (1035)
  • Colley Cibber, poet (1757)
  • Percival Lowell, astronomer (1916)
  • سکندر مرزا (Iskander Mirza), first President of Pakistan (1969*)
  • William Holden, actor (1981)
  • Chester Himes, author (1984)
  • Eve Arden, actress (1990)
  • H. R. Haldeman, White House chief of staff and Watergate figure (1993)
  • Penny Singleton, movie’s Blondie (2003)
  • Ira Levin, author (2007)
* Timespinner Press is proud to publish From Plassey to Pakistan: The Family History of Iskander Mirza, by his son, Humayun Mirza.

Holidays

  • Birth of Bahá’u’lláh (Bahá’í)
  • Chicken Soup for the Soul Day (Chicken Soup for the Soul marketing department)
  • Constitution Day (Azerbaijan)
  • Dia del Cartero (Postman’s Day) (Mexico)
  • National Pizza With the Works Except Anchovies Day (US food holidays)
  • 國父誕辰紀念日 (Sun Yat-sen’s Birthday), also Doctors’ Day and Cultural Renaissance Day (Republic of China/Taiwan)

November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years), with 49 days remaining until year’s end.