October 12 is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years). There are 80 days remaining until the end of the year. (Illustration: “Landing of Columbus,” John Vanderlyn, 1847.)

On This Day in History

• Cyrus the Great takes Babylon (539 BCE)
• King John loses his crown jewels in The Wash (1216 CE)
• Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Caribbean, thinking it is India (1492 CE)
• This day does not exist in Italy, Poland, Portugal, or Spain because of the introduction of the Gregorian calendar (1582 CE)
• Charles Macintosh sells the first raincoat (1823 CE)
• The Executive Mansion in Washington, DC, is officially renamed “White House” (1901 CE)
• Japanese Socialist Party leader 浅沼 稲次郎 (Inejiro Asanuma) is assassinated on live television (1960 CE)
• پرویز مشرف‎ (Pervez Musharraf) takes power in Pakistan (1999 CE)
• Suicide bombers attack the USS Cole in Yemen (2000 CE)
• China launches its second manned space flight, 神舟六号 (Shenzhou 6) (2005 CE)

Birthdays

• Pedro I, first emperor of Brazil (1798 CE)
• Vaughan Williams, composer (1872 CE)
• Aleister Crowley, occultist (1875 CE)
• Lester Dent, Doc Savage author (1904 CE)
• Joe Cronin, baseball player and manager (1906 CE)
• Art Clokey, Gumby creator (1921 CE)
• Dick Gregory, comedian and activist (1932 CE)
• Sam Moore, R&B singer (1935 CE)
• Luciano Pavarotti, tenor (1935 CE)
• Daliah Lavi, actress and model (1942 CE)
• Chris Wallace, journalist (1947 CE)
• Carlos the Jackal, terrorist (1949 CE)
• Susan Anton, Muriel Cigar spokesmodel (1950 CE)
• Deborah Foreman, actress (1962 CE)
• Hugh Jackman, actor (1968 CE)
• Adam Rich, child actor (1968 CE)
• Kirk Cameron, child actor (1970 CE)

Deaths

• Robert E. Lee, Confederate general (1870 CE)
• Anatole France, author (1924 CE)
• Tom Mix, cowboy star (1940 CE)
• Sonja Henie, figure skater (1969 CE)
• Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State (1971 CE)
• Gene Vincent, rockabilly singer (1971 CE)
• Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious girlfriend (1978 CE)
• Johnny Olson, game show announcer (1985 CE)
• Alf Landon, US presidential candidate (1987 CE)
• Jay Ward, animator (1989 CE)
• René Lacoste, tennis player (1996 CE)
• John Denver, folk-rocker (1997 CE)
• Matthew Shepard, hate crime victim (1998 CE)
• Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player (1999 CE)
• Ray Conniff, bandleader (2002 CE)
• Belva Plain, author (2010 CE)

Holidays

• Columbus Day (United States)
• Descubrimiento de América (Mexico)
• Día de la Raza (Latin America)
• Día de la Resistencia Indígina (Venezuela)
• Día de las Américas (Uruguay)
• Día de las Culturas (Costa Rica)
• Discovery Day (Bahamas)
• Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)
• Freethought Day (United States)
• Independence Day (Equatorial Guinea)
• International Moment of Frustration Scream Day (informal)
• Mother’s Day (Malawi)
• National Family Bowling Day (United States)
• National Gumbo Day (United States)
• Piomingo Day (Chicasaw Nation)
• Spanish Language Day (United Nations)