Friday 12 April 2019 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day in Bolivia
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: - Cosmonautics Day (Russia); - Yuri's Night (International observance)
• Commemoration of first human in space by Yuri Gagarin: - International Day of Human Space Flight
• Halifax Day (North Carolina)

Events

• 1999 – United States President Bill Clinton is cited for contempt of court for giving "intentionally false statements" in a civil lawsuit; he is later fined and disbarred.
• 1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
• 1961 – The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.
• 1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
• 1928 – The Bremen, a German Junkers W 33 type aircraft, takes off for the first successful transatlantic aeroplane flight from east to west.
• 1927 – Shanghai massacre of 1927: Chiang Kai-shek orders the Communist Party of China members executed in Shanghai, ending the First United Front.
• 1865 – American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Pillow: Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers that surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw).
• 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.

Births

• 1994 – Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress
• 1993 – Dorial Green-Beckham, American football player
• 1991 – Torey Krug, American ice hockey player
• 1989 – Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian-American ice dancer
• 1989 – Miguel Ángel Ponce, American-Mexican footballer
• 1988 – Jessie James Decker, American singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist
• 1987 – Brooklyn Decker, American model and actress
• 1986 – Brad Brach, American baseball pitcher
• 1985 – Brennan Boesch, American baseball player
• 1979 – Claire Danes, American actress
• 1979 – Jennifer Morrison, American actress
• 1978 – Scott Crary, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1976 – Brad Miller, American basketball player
• 1974 – Marley Shelton, American actress
• 1973 – Antonio Osuna, Mexican-American baseball player
• 1973 – J. Scott Campbell, American author and illustrator
• 1973 – Ryan Kisor, American trumpet player and composer
• 1972 – Paul Lo Duca, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1971 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor
• 1971 – Shannen Doherty, American actress, director, and producer
• 1969 – Michael Jackson, American football player and politician (d. 2017)
• 1968 – Alicia Coppola, American actress
• 1966 – Lorenzo White, American football player
• 1964 – Amy Ray, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer
• 1962 – Art Alexakis, American singer-songwriter and musician (Everclear)
• 1962 – Nobuhiko Takada, Japanese mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle
• 1961 – Charles Mann, American football player and sportscaster
• 1957 – Tama Janowitz, American novelist and short story writer
• 1957 – Vince Gill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1956 – Andy Garcia, Cuban-American actor, director, and producer
• 1952 – Gary Soto, American poet, novelist, and memoirist
• 1952 – Ralph Wiley, American journalist (d. 2004)
• 1952 – Reuben Gant, American football player
• 1951 – Tom Noonan, American actor
• 1950 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Scott Turow, American lawyer and author
• 1947 – Alex Briley, American disco singer (Village People)
• 1947 – Dan Lauria, American actor
• 1947 – David Letterman, American comedian and talk show host
• 1947 – Tom Clancy, American historian and author (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Woody Johnson, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1946 – Ed O'Neill, American actor and comedian
• 1940 – Herbie Hancock, American pianist, composer, and bandleader
• 1940 – Woodie Fryman, American baseball player (d. 2011)
• 1937 – Dennis Banks, American author and activist
• 1936 – Charles Napier, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1932 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (d. 1996)
• 1930 – Manuel Neri, American sculptor and painter
• 1926 – Jane Withers, American actress
• 1925 – Evelyn Berezin, American computer scientist and engineer
• 1925 – Ned Miller, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
• 1924 – Curtis Turner, American race car driver (d. 1970)
• 1923 – Ann Miller, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Billy Vaughn, American musician and bandleader (d. 1991)
• 1917 – Helen Forrest, American singer and actress (d. 1999)
• 1916 – Benjamin Libet, American neuropsychologist and academic (d. 2007)
• 1916 – Beverly Cleary, American author
• 1916 – Russell Garcia, American-New Zealand composer and conductor (d. 2011)
• 1914 – Armen Alchian, American economist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1913 – Keiko Fukuda, Japanese-American martial artist (d. 2013)
• 1912 – Hound Dog Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American pilot and general (d. 2006)
• 1907 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (d. 2003)
• 1901 – Lowell Stockman, American farmer and politician (d. 1962)
• 1898 – Lily Pons, French-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
• 1894 – Dorothy Cumming, Australian-American actress (d. 1983)
• 1892 – Henry Darger, American writer and artist (d. 1973)
• 1888 – Dan Ahearn, Irish-American long jumper and police officer (d. 1942)
• 1887 – Harold Lockwood, American actor and director (d. 1918)
• 1883 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer and educator (d. 1976)
• 1880 – Addie Joss, American baseball player and journalist (d. 1911)
• 1874 – William B. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician, 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1940)
• 1796 – George N. Briggs, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1861)
• 1777 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (d. 1852)
• 1724 – Lyman Hall, American physician, clergyman, and politician, 16th Governor of Georgia (d. 1790)
• 1484 – Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, designed the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter's Basilica (d. 1546)

Deaths

• 2017 – Charlie Murphy, American actor and comedian (b. 1959)
• 2016 – Anne Jackson, American actress (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Billy Standridge, American race car driver (b. 1953)
• 2014 – Hal Smith, American baseball player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Brennan Manning, American priest and author (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter (b. 1962)
• 2013 – Robert Byrne, American chess player and author (b. 1928)
• 2013 – William Y. Thompson, American historian and author (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Rodgers Grant, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Karim Fakhrawi, Bahraini journalist, co-founded Al-Wasat (b. 1962)
• 2008 – Cecilia Colledge, English-American figure skater and coach (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Jerry Zucker, Israeli-American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1949)
• 2006 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (b. 1924)
• 2004 – Moran Campbell, Canadian physician and academic, invented the venturi mask (b. 1925)
• 2002 – George Shevelov, Ukrainian-American linguist and philologist (b. 1908)
• 2001 – Harvey Ball, American illustrator, created the smiley (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Boxcar Willie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1931)
• 1997 – George Wald, American neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1989 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist, co-founded Youth International Party (b. 1936)
• 1989 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
• 1984 – Edwin T. Layton, American admiral and cryptanalyst (b. 1903)
• 1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944)
• 1981 – Joe Louis, American boxer and wrestler (b. 1914)
• 1977 – Philip K. Wrigley, American businessman, co-founded Lincoln Park Gun Club (b. 1894)
• 1973 – Arthur Freed, American songwriter and producer (b. 1894)
• 1971 – Ed Lafitte, American baseball player and dentist (b. 1886)
• 1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
• 1933 – Adelbert Ames, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Mississippi (b. 1835)
• 1912 – Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founded the American Red Cross (b. 1821)
• 1879 – Richard Taylor, American general (b. 1826)
• 1878 – William M. Tweed, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
• 1866 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded Fleetwood (b. 1801)
• 1850 – Adoniram Judson, American lexicographer and missionary (b. 1788)
• 1748 – William Kent, English architect, designed Holkham Hall and Chiswick House (b. 1685)
• 1687 – Ambrose Dixon, English-American soldier (b. 1619)