October 12

Events

539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.

633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by the British under Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of Gwynedd.

1113 – The city of Oradea is first mentioned under the Latin name Varadinum ("vár" means fortress in Hungarian).

1279 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, is said to have inscribed the Dai Gohonzon.

1398 – The Treaty of Salynas is signed between Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Teutonic Knights, who received Samogitia.

1492 – Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean, specifically in The Bahamas. The explorer believes he has reached the Indies.

1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1654 – The Delft Explosion devastates the city in the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people.

1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor Sir William Phips.

1748 – British and Spanish naval forces engage at the Battle of Havana during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

1773 – America's first insane asylum opens.

1792 – The first celebration of Columbus Day is held in New York City.

1793 – The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid on the campus of the University of North Carolina.

1798 – Flemish and Luxembourgish peasants launch the rebellion against French rule known as the Peasants' War.

1799 – Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse was the first woman to jump from a balloon with a parachute, from an altitude of 900 meters.

1810 – First Oktoberfest: The Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

1822 – Pedro I of Brazil is proclaimed the emperor of the Empire of Brazil.

1823 – Charles Macintosh of Scotland sells the first raincoat.

1847 – German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds Siemens & Halske, which later becomes Siemens AG.

1871 – Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) enacted by British rule in India, which named over 160 local communities 'Criminal Tribes', i.e. hereditary criminals. Repealed in 1949, after Independence of India.

1890 – Uddevalla Suffrage Association is formed.

1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools, as part of a celebration marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage.

1901 – President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.

1915 – World War I: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium

1917 – World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single day loss of life in New Zealand history.

1918 – A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Cloquet, Minnesota.

1928 – An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston.

1933 – The military Alcatraz Citadel becomes the civilian Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

1942 – World War II: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance.

1944 – World War II: The Axis occupation of Athens comes to an end.

1945 – World War II: Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor.

1959 – At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party who later form APRA Rebelde.

1960 – Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at United Nations General Assembly meeting to protest a Philippine assertion of Soviet Union colonial policy being conducted in Eastern Europe.

1960 – Television viewers in Japan unexpectedly witness the assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, leader of the Japan Socialist Party, when he is stabbed to death during a live broadcast.

1962 – The Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million in damages.

1963 – After nearly 23 years of imprisonment, Reverend Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit missionary, was released from the Soviet Union.

1964 – The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits.

1967 – Vietnam War: US Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile because of North Vietnam's opposition.

1968 – Equatorial Guinea becomes independent from Spain.

1970 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas

1971 – 2,500 year celebration of the Persian Empire is held (until October 16).

1979 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published.

1979 – The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.

1983 – Japan's former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed and is sentenced to four years in jail.

1984 – Brighton hotel bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Thatcher escapes but the bomb kills five people and wounds 31.

1986 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China.

1988 – Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down execution-style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.

1992 – A 5.8 earthquake occurred in Cairo, Egypt. At least 510 died.

1994 – The Magellan spacecraft burns up in the atmosphere of Venus.

1997 – Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria that killed 43 at a fake roadblock.

1998 – Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie, Wyoming.

1999 – Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.

1999 – The former Autonomous Soviet Republic of Abkhazia declares its independence from Georgia

2000 – The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.

2002 – Terrorists detonate bombs in the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and wounding over 300.

2005 – The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched carrying Fèi Jùnlóng and Niè Hǎishèng for five days in orbit.

2013 – Fifty-one people are killed after a truck veers off a cliff in La Convención Province, Peru.

Births

1008 – Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (d. 1036)

1240 – Trần Thánh Tông, emperor of Vietnam (then Đại Việt) (d. 1290)

1350 – Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Duke of Muscovy and Vladimir (d. 1389)

1490 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian singer-songwriter and priest (d. 1548)

1537 – Edward VI of England (d. 1553)

1555 – Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (d. 1601)

1558 – Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (d. 1618)

1576 – Thomas Dudley, English-American soldier and politician, 3rd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1653)

1602 – William Chillingworth, English scholar and theologian (d. 1644)

1687 – Sylvius Leopold Weiss, German lute player and composer (d. 1750)

1710 – Jonathan Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 16th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1785)

1725 – Étienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist (d. 1810)

1792 – Christian Gmelin, German chemist and pharmacist (d. 1860)

1798 – Pedro I of Brazil (d. 1834)

1801 – Friedrich Frey-Herosé, Swiss lawyer and politician, 5th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1873)

1815 – William J. Hardee, American general (d. 1873)

1840 – Helena Modjeska, Polish-American actress (d. 1909)

1855 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor and academic (d. 1922)

1860 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American engineer and businessman, co-invented the gyrocompass (d. 1930)

1865 – Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)

1866 – Ramsay MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1937)

1868 – August Horch, German engineer and businessman, founded Audi (d. 1951)

1868 – Mariano Trías, Filipino general and politician, 1st Vice President of the Philippines (d. 1914)

1872 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer and educator (d. 1958)

1874 – Jimmy Burke, American baseball player and manager (d. 1942)

1875 – Aleister Crowley, English magician and author (d. 1947)

1878 – Truxtun Hare, American football player and hammer thrower (d. 1956)

1880 – Louis Hémon, French-Canadian author (d. 1913)

1891 – Edith Stein, Polish nun and martyr; later canonized (d. 1942)

1891 – Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese soldier and politician, 39th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1945)

1892 – Gilda dalla Rizza, Italian soprano and actress (d. 1975)

1893 – Velvalee Dickinson, American spy (d. 1980)

1894 – Elisabeth of Romania (d. 1956)

1896 – Eugenio Montale, Italian poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)

1903 – Josephine Hutchinson, American actress (d. 1998)

1904 – Lester Dent, American journalist and author (d. 1959)

1904 – Ding Ling, Chinese author and educator (d. 1986)

1906 – Joe Cronin, American baseball player and manager (d. 1984)

1906 – John Murray, American playwright and producer (d. 1984)

1906 – Piero Taruffi, Italian race car driver and motorcycle racer (d. 1988)

1908 – Paul Engle, American novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1991)

1908 – Ann Petry, American novelist (d. 1997)

1910 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet, critic, and translator (d. 1985)

1910 – Malcolm Renfrew, American chemist and academic (d. 2013)

1911 – Vijay Merchant, Indian cricketer (d. 1987)

1913 – Alice Chetwynd Ley, English author and educator (d. 2004)

1916 – Alice Childress, American actress and playwright (d. 1994)

1917 – Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 2004)

1919 – Gilles Beaudoin, Canadian politician, 34th Mayor of Trois-Rivières (d. 2007)

1919 – Doris Miller, American chef and soldier (d. 1943)

1920 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (d. 1979)

1920 – Christopher Soames, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (d. 1987)

1921 – Art Clokey, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor, created Gumby (d. 2010)

1921 – Jaroslav Drobný, Czech-English tennis player and ice hockey player (d. 2001)

1921 – Logie Bruce Lockhart, Scottish rugby player and journalist

1922 – William H. Sullivan, American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Philippines (d. 2013)

1923 – Jean Nidetch, American businesswoman, co-founded Weight Watchers (d. 2015)

1923 – Goody Petronelli, American boxer, trainer, and manager (d. 2012)

1924 – Leonidas Kyrkos, Greek politician (d. 2011)

1925 – Denis Lazure, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (d. 2008)

1928 – Al Held, American painter and academic (d. 2005)

1928 – Domna Samiou, Greek singer and musicologist (d. 2012)

1929 – Robert Coles, American psychologist, author, and academic

1929 – Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic journalist and academic (d. 2007)

1930 – Denis Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player and photographer (d. 2013)

1930 – Milica Kacin Wohinz, Slovenian historian and author

1931 – Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist and academic, co-developed Simula (d. 2002)

1932 – Dick Gregory, American comedian, actor, and author

1932 – Ned Jarrett, American race car driver and sportscaster

1932 – John Moffat, Danish physicist and academic

1933 – Guido Molinari, Canadian painter and art collector (d. 2004)

1934 – James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2012)

1934 – Richard Meier, American architect, designed the Getty Center and City Tower

1934 – Albert Shiryaev, Russian mathematician and academic

1934 – Oğuz Atay, Turkish engineer and author (d. 1977)

1935 – Don Howe, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)

1935 – Tony Kubek, American baseball player and sportscaster

1935 – Shivraj Patil, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Defence

1935 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor and actor (d. 2007)

1937 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (d. 1969)

1937 – Robert Mangold, American painter

1941 – Michael Mansfield, English lawyer, academic, and republican

1943 – Kostas Tsakonas, Greek actor (d. 2015)

1944 – Angela Rippon, English journalist and author

1945 – Aurore Clément, French actress

1945 – Dusty Rhodes, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2015)

1946 – Ashok Mankad, Indian cricketer (d. 2008)

1946 – Daryl Runswick, English bassist and composer

1947 – Chris Wallace, American journalist

1948 – Rick Parfitt, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)

1949 – Dave Lloyd, English cyclist and coach

1949 – Carlos the Jackal, Venezuelan terrorist and murderer

1949 – Paul Went, English footballer and manager

1950 – Susan Anton, American actress and model

1950 – Dave Freudenthal, American economist and politician, 31st Governor of Wyoming

1951 – Sally Little, South African-American golfer

1951 – Ed Royce, American businessman and politician

1951 – Norio Suzuki, Japanese golfer

1952 – Béla Csécsei, Hungarian educator and politician (d. 2012)

1952 – Roger Heath-Brown, English mathematician and theorist

1953 – Les Dennis, English comedian and actor

1953 – David Threlfall, English actor and director

1954 – Linval Thompson, Jamaican singer and producer

1954 – Massimo Ghini, Italian actor

1955 – Einar Jan Aas, Norwegian footballer

1955 – Pat DiNizio, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1955 – Ante Gotovina, Croatian general

1955 – Jane Siberry, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer

1956 – Rafael Ábalos, Spanish author

1956 – Allan Evans, Scottish footballer

1956 – Lutz Haueisen, German cyclist

1956 – Catherine Holmes, Australian judge

1956 – Gerti Schanderl, German figure skater

1956 – David Vanian, English singer-songwriter

1957 – Clémentine Célarié, French actress, singer, and director

1957 – Serge Clerc, French comic book artist and illustrator

1957 – Mike Dowler, Welsh football goalkeeper

1957 – Annik Honoré, Belgian journalist and music promoter (d. 2014)

1957 – William F. Laurance, Australian biologist

1958 – Steve Austria, American lawyer and politician

1958 – Maria de Fátima Silva de Sequeira Dias, Portuguese historian, author, and academic (d. 2013)

1958 – Bryn Merrick, Welsh bass player (d. 2015)

1959 – Anna Escobedo Cabral, American lawyer and politician, 42nd Treasurer of the United States

1960 – Steve Lowery, American golfer

1960 – Carlo Perrone, Italian footballer and manager

1961 – Chendo, Spanish footballer

1962 – Carlos Bernard, American actor and director

1962 – Chris Botti, American trumpet player and composer

1962 – John Coleman, English footballer and manager

1962 – Branko Crvenkovski, Macedonian engineer and politician, 3rd President of the Republic of Macedonia

1962 – Deborah Foreman, American actress and photographer

1962 – Mads Eriksen, Norwegian guitarist and composer

1963 – Raimond Aumann, German footballer

1963 – Hideki Fujisawa, Japanese composer

1963 – Satoshi Kon, Japanese animator and screenwriter (d. 2010)

1963 – Dave Legeno, English actor and mixed martial artist (d. 2014)

1963 – Alan McDonald, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2012)

1963 – Luis Polonia, Dominican baseball player

1965 – Dan Abnett, English author

1965 – J. J. Daigneault, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1965 – Scott O'Grady, American captain and pilot

1966 – Brenda Romero, American game designer

1966 – Wim Jonk, Dutch footballer

1966 – Brian Kennedy, Northern Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist

1967 – Becky Iverson, American golfer

1968 – Bill Auberlen, American race car driver

1968 – Paul Harragon, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

1968 – Hugh Jackman, Australian actor, singer, and producer

1968 – Leon Lett, American football player

1969 – Martie Maguire, American singer-songwriter, violinist, and producer

1969 – Željko Milinovič, Slovenian footballer

1969 – Dwayne Roloson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1969 – José Valentín, American baseball player, coach, and manager

1970 – Kirk Cameron, American actor, screenwriter, and Christian evangelical/anti-evolution activist

1970 – Patrick Musimu, Belgian diver and physiotherapist (d. 2011)

1970 – Tanyon Sturtze, American baseball player

1970 – Charlie Ward, American basketball player and coach

1971 – Tony Fiore, American baseball player

1971 – Steve Johnston, Australian motorcycle racer

1971 – Bronzell Miller, American football player and actor (d. 2013)

1972 – Neriah Davis, American model and actress

1972 – Juan Manuel Silva, Argentinian race car driver

1972 – Tom Van Mol, Belgian footballer

1973 – Lesli Brea, Dominican baseball player

1973 – Martin Corry, English rugby player

1974 – Stephen Lee, English snooker player

1975 – Susana Félix, Portuguese singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

1975 – Marion Jones, American basketball player and runner

1977 – Cristie Kerr, American golfer

1977 – Bode Miller, American skier

1977 – Javier Toyo, Venezuelan footballer

1978 – Stefan Binder, German footballer

1978 – Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist

1979 – Steven Agnew, Northern Irish politician

1979 – Steve Borthwick, English rugby player

1979 – Jordan Pundik, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1980 – Ledley King, English footballer

1981 – Brian Kerr, Scottish footballer

1981 – Giuseppe Lanzone, American rower

1981 – Conrad Smith, New Zealand rugby player

1981 – Sun Tiantian, Chinese tennis player

1983 – Alex Brosque, Australian footballer

1983 – Carlton Cole, English footballer

1983 – Mariko Yamamoto, Japanese cricketer

1985 – Michelle Carter, American shot putter

1985 – Anna Iljuštšenko, Estonian high jumper

1986 – Ioannis Maniatis, Greek footballer

1986 – Sergio Peter, German footballer

1987 – Marvin Ogunjimi, Belgian footballer

1988 – Sam Whitelock, New Zealand rugby player

1989 – Anna Ohmiya, Japanese curler

1990 – Henri Lansbury, English footballer

1991 – Nicolao Dumitru, Italian footballer

1992 – Josh Hutcherson, American actor and producer

1994 – Sean Monahan, Canadian ice hockey player

1994 – Olivia Smoliga, American swimmer

1996 – Riechedly Bazoer, Dutch footballer

Deaths

322 BC– Demosthenes, Athenian statesman, (b. 384 BC)

632 – Edwin of Northumbria (b. 586)

638 – Pope Honorius I

642 – Pope John IV

884 – Tsunesada, Japanese prince (b. 825)

1095 – Leopold II, Margrave of Austria (b. 1050)

1152 – Adolf III of Berg (b. 1080)

1176 – William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, English politician (b. 1109)

1320 – Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1277)

1328 – Clementia of Hungary, Queen consort of France and Navarre (b. 1293)

1448 – Zhu Quan, Prince of Ning, historian and playwright (b. 1378)

1491 – Fritz Herlen, German painter (b. 1449)

1492 – Piero della Francesca, Italian mathematician and painter (b. 1415)

1565 – Jean Ribault, French-American lieutenant and navigator (b. 1520)

1576 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1527)

1590 – Kanō Eitoku, Japanese painter and educator (b. 1543)

1600 – Luis de Molina, Spanish priest and philosopher (b. 1535)

1632 – Kutsuki Mototsuna, Japanese commander (b. 1549)

1646 – François de Bassompierre, French general and courtier (b. 1579)

1678 – Edmund Berry Godfrey, English lawyer and judge (b. 1621)

1679 – William Gurnall, English minister, theologian, and author (b. 1617)

1685 – Christoph Ignaz Abele, Austrian lawyer and jurist (b. 1628)

1730 – Frederick IV of Denmark (b. 1671)

1758 – Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, Irish field marshal and politician (b. 1680)

1812 – Juan José Castelli, Argentinian lawyer and politician (b. 1764)

1845 – Elizabeth Fry, English nurse and philanthropist (b. 1780)

1858 – Hiroshige, Japanese painter (b. 1797)

1870 – Robert E. Lee, American general (b. 1807)

1875 – Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (b. 1827)

1896 – Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish lawyer and politician, 9th Council President of Denmark (b. 1817)

1898 – Calvin Fairbank, American minister and activist (b. 1816)

1914 – Margaret E. Knight, American inventor (b. 1838)

1915 – Edith Cavell, English nurse (b. 1865)

1923 – Bunny Lucas, English cricketer (b. 1857)

1924 – Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)

1926 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian and author (b. 1838)

1933 – John Lister, English philanthropist and politician (b. 1847)

1940 – Tom Mix, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)

1946 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (b. 1883)

1948 – Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1885)

1954 – George Welch, American soldier and pilot (b. 1918)

1956 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer and painter (b. 1872)

1957 – Arie de Jong, Indonesian-Dutch linguist and physician (b. 1865)

1958 – Gordon Griffith, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)

1960 – Inejiro Asanuma, Japanese lawyer and politician (b. 1898)

1965 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)

1967 – Ram Manohar Lohia, Indian activist and politician (b. 1910)

1969 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater and actress (b. 1912)

1969 – Serge Poliakoff, Russian-French painter and academic (b. 1906)

1969 – Julius Saaristo, Finnish javelin thrower and soldier (b. 1891)

1970 – Feodor Stepanovich Rojankovsky, Russian-American illustrator and painter (b. 1891)

1970 – Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet and academic (b. 1930)

1971 – Dean Acheson, American lawyer and politician, 51st United States Secretary of State (b. 1893)

1972 – Robert Le Vigan, French-Argentinian actor and politician (b. 1900)

1973 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (b. 1899)

1984 – Anthony Berry, English politician (b. 1925)

1985 – Johnny Olson, American radio host and game show announcer (b. 1910)

1985 – Ricky Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1953)

1987 – Alf Landon, American lieutenant and politician, 26th Governor of Kansas (b. 1887)

1987 – Fahri Korutürk, Turkish commander and politician, 6th President of Turkey (b. 1903)

1988 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, Welsh-English poet and author (b. 1886)

1988 – Coby Whitmore, American painter and illustrator (b. 1913)

1989 – Jay Ward, American animator, producer, and screenwriter, founded Jay Ward Productions (b. 1920)

1990 – Rifaat el-Mahgoub, Egyptian politician (b. 1926)

1990 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian physician, mountaineer, and author (b. 1899)

1991 – Sheila Florance, Australian actress (b. 1916)

1991 – Arkady Strugatsky, Russian author and translator (b. 1925)

1991 – Regis Toomey, American actor (b. 1898)

1993 – Leon Ames, American actor (b. 1902)

1994 – Gérald Godin, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1938)

1996 – René Lacoste, French tennis player and fashion designer, co-founded Lacoste (b. 1904)

1996 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (b. 1911)

1997 – John Denver, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1943)

1998 – Mario Beaulieu, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1930)

1998 – Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (b. 1976)

1999 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player and coach (b. 1936)

1999 – Robert Marsden Hope, Australian lawyer and judge (b. 1919)

2001 – Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, English academic and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1907)

2001 – Hikmet Şimşek, Turkish conductor (b. 1924)

2002 – Ray Conniff, American bandleader and composer (b. 1916)

2002 – Audrey Mestre, French biologist and diver (b. 1974)

2003 – Jim Cairns, Australian economist and politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1914)

2003 – Joan Kroc, American philanthropist (b. 1928)

2003 – Bill Shoemaker, American jockey (b. 1931)

2005 – C. Delores Tucker, American activist and politician (b. 1927)

2006 – Eugène Martin, French race car driver (b. 1915)

2006 – Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1919)

2007 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower (b. 1934)

2008 – Karl Chircop, Maltese physician and politician (b. 1965)

2009 – Dickie Peterson American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1948)

2009 – Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian cyclist (b. 1974)

2010 – Austin Ardill, Northern Irish soldier and politician (b. 1917)

2010 – Woody Peoples, American football player (b. 1943)

2010 – Belva Plain, American author (b. 1919)

2011 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (b. 1931)

2011 – Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist, created the C programming language (b. 1941)

2012 – James Coyne, Canadian lawyer and banker, 2nd Governor of the Bank of Canada (b. 1910)

2012 – Norm Grabowski, American hot rod builder and actor (b. 1933)

2012 – Sukhdev Singh Kang, Indian judge and politician, 14th Governor of Kerala (b. 1931)

2012 – Torkom Manoogian, Iraqi-Armenian patriarch (b. 1919)

2012 – Erik Moseholm, Danish bassist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1930)

2012 – Břetislav Pojar, Czech animator, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)

2013 – George Herbig, American astronomer and academic (b. 1920)

2013 – Oscar Hijuelos, American author and academic (b. 1951)

2013 – Hans Wilhelm Longva, Norwegian diplomat (b. 1942)

2014 – Ali Mazrui, Kenyan-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1933)

2014 – Graham Miles, English snooker player (b. 1941)

2014 – Roberto Telch, Argentinian footballer and coach (b. 1943)

2015 – Abdallah Kigoda, Tanzanian politician, 8th Tanzanian Minister of Industry and Trade (b. 1953)

2015 – Joan Leslie, American actress, dancer, and vaudevillian (b. 1925)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Blessed Louis Brisson

Edith Cavell and Elizabeth Fry (Church of England)

Heribert of Cologne (private feast day)

Our Lady of the Pillar

Fiestas del Pilar

Our Lady of Aparecida

Radim Gaudentius (Czech Republic)

Wilfrid of Ripon

October 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Children's Day (Brazil)

Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances (see also October 8):

Columbus Day (Honduras)

Descubrimiento de América (Mexico)

Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España, also Armed Forces Day (Spain)

Día de la Raza (El Salvador, Uruguay)

Día de la Resistencia Indígena, "Day of Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela)

Día de las Américas (Belize)

Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)

Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural, "Day of respect for cultural diversity" (Argentina)

Discovery Day and National Youth Day (The Bahamas)

Feast for Life of Aleister Crowley, celebrated as "Crowleymas" (Thelema)

Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)

Freethought Day (United States)

Independence Day (Equatorial Guinea), celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968.

UN Spanish Language Day (United Nations)