1912

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s

Years: 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 - 1912 - 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917

This is a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar)

See also:

Events

January 1 - Establishment of Republic of China.
January 6 - New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U.S. state.
January 17 - British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four become the second expedition to reach the South Pole.
Alfred Wegener proposes the theory of continental drift
February 12 - Republic of China adopts the Gregorian calendar
February 14 - Arizona is admitted as the 48th U.S. state.
February 14 - In Groton, Connecticut, the first diesel-powered submarine is commissioned.
March 1 - Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.
March 5 - Italian forces are the first to use airships for a military purpose by using them for reconnaissance west of Tripoli behind Turkish lines.
March 7 - Roald Amundsen announces discovery of the South Pole
March 12 - The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts) are founded.
March 30 - France establishes a protectorate over Morocco.
April 15 - Sinking of the S.S. Titanic.
May 13 - In the United Kingdom, the Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) in established.
June 6-June 8 - Eruption of Novarupta in Alaska, second largest volcanic eruption in historic time.
June 8 - Carl Laemmle incorporated Universal Pictures.
July 30 - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor of Japan, dies. He is succeeded by his son Yoshihito, the Taisho Emperor. In Japanese History, the event marks the end of the Meiji Era and the beginning of the Taisho Era.
August 25 - Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party is founded
September 25 - Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism founded in New York,_New York.
October 8 - First Balkan War begins: Montenegro declares war against Turkey.
October 14 - While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, former president Theodore Roosevelt is shot by saloonkeeper William Schrank. With a fresh flesh wound and the bullet still in him, Roosevelt still delivers his scheduled speech.
November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1912: Democratic challenger Woodrow Wilson wins a landslide victory over Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. Taft's base was undercut by Progressive Party candidate (and former Republican) Theodore Roosevelt, who finished second, ahead of Taft.
November 11 - Khios declares its independence from the ottoman empire.
November 27 - Spain declares a protectorate over the north shore of Morocco.
November 28 - Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
December 3 - First Balkan War ends - Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with Turkey, ending the two-month long war.

Sea Scouting begins under the aegis of the Boy Scouts of America
Kazimierz Funk identifies vitamins.
The first blues song, "The Memphis Blues," is published.

Year in topic

Births

January 1 - Kim Philby, spy
January 7 - Charles Addams, cartoonist
January 8 - José Ferrer, actor (d. 1992)
January 14 - Rudolf Hagelstange, German lyricist, narrator and essayist (d. 1984)
January 16 - Franz Tumler, Austrian narrator (d. 1998)
January 28 - Jackson Pollock, painter, initiator of Dripping painting (d. 1956)
January 30 - Barbara W. Tuchman, historian (d. 1989)
February 6 - Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler's mistress (d. 1945)
February 11 - Roy Fuller English poet/novelist.
February 11 - Rudolf Firkusny Napajedla, Czechoslovakian, pianist.
February 18 - Heinz Kühn, politician (d. 1992)
February 19 - Stan Kenton, musician (d. 1979)
February 20 - Pierre Boulle, author
February 27 - Lawrence Durrell, writer (d. 1990)
March 5 - David Astor, British newspaper publisher
March 8 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
March 12 - Irving Layton, poet
March 14 - Les Brown, band leader (d. 2001)
March 15 - Lightnin' Hopkins, musician (d. 1982)
March 16 - Pat Nixon, actress, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
March 17 - Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist (d. 1987)
March 18 - Lucien Laurin, Secretariat's Hall of Fame trainer (d. 2000)
March 22 - Karl Malden, actor
March 23 - Wernher von Braun, physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
March 27 - James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
March 31 - Hermann Höcherl, politician (d. 1989)
April 8 - Sonja Henie, Olympic and World Champion figure skater (d. 1969)
April 26 - A.E. van Vogt, science fiction writer (d. 2000)
April 28 - Odette Sansom, SOE agent, WW II heroine (d. 1995)
May 9 - Pedro Armendáriz, actor (d. 1963)
May 12 - Archibald Cox, Watergate special prosecutor
May 14 - Ben Hogan, golfer (d. 1997)
May 16 - Studs Terkel, writer
May 18 - Walter Sisulu, anti-apartheid activist (d. 2003)
May 18 - Perry Como, singer (d. 2001)
May 23 - John Payne, actor (d. 1989)
May 27 - Sam Snead (d. 2002)
May 28 - Patrick White, author (d. 1990)
May 30 - Joseph Stein, playwright
May 31 - Alfred Deller, singer, early modern countertenor (d. 1979)
June 6 - Maria Montez, actress (d. 1951)
June 23 - Alan Turing, mathematician (d. 1954)
June 26 - Jay Silverheels, actor (d. 1980)
July 1 - David R. Brower, major environmentalist (d. 2000)
July 14 - Woody Guthrie, folk musician (d. 1969)
July 17 - Art Linkletter, television host
August 14 - John Jacob Astor V, member of the Astor family
August 30 - Nancy Wake, WW II heroine
September 5 - John Cage, American composer
September 12 - Jacques Fath, French couturier (d. 1954)
September 19 - Kurt Sanderling, conductor
September 21 - Chuck Jones, animator
September 22 - Martha Scott, American actress (d. 2003)
September 29 - Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director
October 5 – Karl Hass, convicted Nazi war criminal (d. 2004)
October 17 - Pope John Paul I (d. 1978)
October 21 - Georg Solti, conductor (d. 1997)
October 22 - Johan Hendrik Weidner, Belgian born WW II hero (d. 1994)
November 4 - Vadim Salmanov, composer
October 27 - Conlon Nancarrow, composer (d. 1997)
November 21 - Eleanor Powell, actress, dancer (d. 1982)
November 26 - Eugene Ionesco, playwright (d. 1994)
December 12 - Henry Armstrong, American boxing champion (d. 1988)
(unknown) - Laurence Henry Hicks, composer

Deaths:

January 28 - Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist.
February 16 - Nikolai of Japan, Eastern Orthodox monk priest, saint.
March 29 - Robert Falcon Scott, explorer
March 30 - Karl May, author
April 15 - Most of crew and passengers on the Titanic
April 15 - John Jacob Astor IV, businessman aboard the Titanic
April 15 - Benjamin Guggenheim, businessman, aboard the Titanic
May 14 - August Strindberg
May 25 - Austin Lane Crothers, politician.
May 30 - Wilbur Wright of the Wright brothers, American co-inventor of the airplane.
July 30 - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor of Japan.

Nobel Prizes

Physics - Nils Gustaf Dalén
Chemistry - not awarded
Medicine - Alexis Carrel
Literature - Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann
Peace - Elihu Root

Heads of State

China -
1. Xuantong Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (1908-1912)
2. Sun Yat-Sen, President of the Republic of China (1912-1913)
Denmark -
1. Frederick VIII, King of Denmark (1906-1912)
2. Christian X, King of Denmark (1912-1947)
France - Armand Fallières, President of France (1906-1913)
Germany - Wilhelm II, German Kaiser (1888-1918)
Holy See - Pope Pius X, Bishop of Rome (1903-1914)
Japan -
1. Mutsuhito, Meiji Emperor (1867-1912)
2. Yoshihito, Taisho Emperor (1912-1926)
Norway - Haakon VII, King of Norway (1905-1957)
Ottoman Empire - Mehmed V, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1909-1918)
Russia - Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia (1894-1917)
Spain - Alfonso XIII of Spain, King of Spain (1886-1931)
United States - William Howard Taft, President of the United States (1909-1913)