January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 353 days remaining (354 in leap years).
- 1585 - The Netherlands adopts the Gregorian calendar
- 1773 - The first American museum open to the public is opened in (Charleston, South Carolina).
- 1777 - Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California
- 1838 - In order to avoid anti-Mormon persecution, Joseph Smith and his followers flee Ohio for Missouri
- 1866 - Royal Aeronautical Society[?] is formed (London).
- 1875 - Kwang-su[?] becomes emperor of China.
- 1896 - H.L. Smith[?] takes the first x-ray photograph.
- 1908 - A long-distance radio message is sent from the Eiffel Tower for for the first time.
- 1915 - The Rocky Mountain National Park[?] is formed by an act of Congress
- 1915 - United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote
- 1926 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, in which the two white performers portrayed two black characters; some consider the show the first situation comedy. It was a precursor to Gosden and Correll's more popular later program, Amos 'n' Andy.
- 1932 - Hattie W. Caraway[?] becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
- 1940 - World War II: Russia bombs cities in Finland.
- 1942 - President Franklin Roosevelt creates the National War Labor Board[?].
- 1945 - World War II: The Soviets begin a very large offensive in Eastern Europe against the Nazis.
- 1964 - Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt and later proclaim a republic.
- 1966 - Lyndon Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
- 1966 - Batman debuts on ABC.
- 1969 - Super Bowl III: New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts, 16-7.
- 1970 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war[?].
- 1971 - All in the Family debuts on CBS.
- 1971 - "Harrisburg Six[?]": The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, DC.
- 1976 - UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization
- 1986 - Space shuttle Columbia takes-off with the first Hispanic-American[?] astronaut, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz[?].
- 1991 - Persian Gulf War: An act of the United States Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait
- 1995 - Malcolm X's daughter, Qubilah Shabazz, is arrested for conspiring to kill Louis Farrakhan
- 1998 - 19 European nations agree to forbid human cloning.
- 1628 - Charles Perrault, folklorist (+ 1703)
- 1729 - Edmund Burke, statesman, philosopher
- 1746 - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi[?], Swiss pedagogue (+ 1827)
- 1856 - John Singer Sargent, artist (+ 1925)
- 1863 - Swami Vivekananda, guru (+ 1902)
- 1876 - Jack London, author (+ 1916)
- 1876 - Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, composer (+ 1948)
- 1878 - Ferenc Molnár[?], writer (+ 1952)
- 1884 - Texas Guinan, vaudeville performer (+ 1933)
- 1893 - Hermann Göring, Nazi offical (+ 1946)
- 1893 - Alfred Rosenberg, Nazi official (+ 1946)
- 1896 - Rex Ingram, director and actor (+ 1950)
- 1899 - Paul Hermann Müller[?], chemist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948 (+ 1965)
- 1905 - Tex Ritter[?], actor, singer (+ 1974)
- 1908 - Jean Delannoy[?], film director
- 1910 - Luise Rainer, actress
- 1915 - Paul Jarrico[?], writer (+ 1997)
- 1916 - P. W. Botha[?], President of South Africa
- 1926 - Ray Price[?], country music singer
- 1930 - Glenn Yarborough[?], singer, songwriter
- 1935 - Kreskin[?], mentalist
- 1943 - Ray Manzarek[?], keyboardist for The Doors
- 1944 - Joe Frazier, boxing champion
- 1946 - George Duke[?], musician
- 1949 - Wayne Wang, director
- 1951 - Rush Limbaugh, radio personality
- 1952 - Ricky Van Shelton[?], country musician
- 1954 - Howard Stern, "shock-jock" radio host
- 1955 - Kirstie Alley[?], actress
- 1955 - Rockne O'Bannon, writer, producer
- 1960 - Oliver Platt[?], actor
- 1964 - Jeff Bezos, president of amazon.com
- 1966 - Rob Zombie, musician, artist, writer
- 1970 - Zack de la Rocha, singer
- 1519 - Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1665 - Pierre de Fermat, mathematician and lawyer
- 1817 - Juan Andres, Spanish Jesuit
- 1960 - Nevil Shute, writer
- 1965 - Lorraine Hansberry[?], writer
- 1976 - Agatha Christie, writer
- 2001 - William Hewlett, cofounder of Hewlett-Packard
- 2002 - Cyrus Vance, former United States Secretary of State (1977-1980)
- 2003 - Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, dictator of Argentina
- 2003 - Maurice Gibb, singer and bassist in the Bee Gees
See Also: January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
August,
September,
October,
November,
December
January 11 - January 13 - December 12 - February 12 - Historical anniversaries