History for October 12

History for October 12 - On-This-Day.com:
Elmer Sperry 1860, Jean Nidetch 1932, Dick Gregory 1932 


Chris Wallace 1947, Hugh Jackman 1968, Kirk Cameron 1970 


1492 - Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.


1810 - Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The royalty invited the public to attend the event which became an annual celebration that later became known as Oktoberfest.


1915 - Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt criticized U.S. citizens who identified themselves by dual nationalities.


1933 - The U.S. Department of Justice acquired Alcatraz Island from the U.S. Army.



1945 - Private First Class Desmond T. Doss was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor for outstanding bravery as a medical corpsman. He was the first conscientious objector in American history to win the award.


1960 - Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a U.N. General Assembly.


1964 - The Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1 into orbit around the Earth. It was the first space flight to have a multi-person crew and the first flight to be performed without space suits.


1989 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a statutory federal ban on the destruction of the American flag.