This Day in History on 12th April

The historical events hold a lot of value for aspirants who are sitting for UPSC competitive exams including the IAS Exam. 

On this page, we will list all historical events that occurred on 12th April. The students can refer to them while preparing for all competitive exams and banking exams.

Important Days

  • Children’s Day (Bolivia)
  • Cosmonautics Day (Russia)
  • International Day of Human Space Flight
  • Halifax Day (North Carolina)
  • National Redemption Day (Liberia)

Important Events

1606: Great Britain recognized the Union Jack as its national flag.

1752: Agreement to save the king between Shinde and Holkar.

1799: The Church Missionary Society was organized in London under the original name of the Society for Missions in Africa and the East. This Anglican missions agency currently works in fields located in Africa, Ceylon, India, Pakistan, Iran and Palestine.

1881: William Carey fort was appointed the Professor of Bengali Language in fort at William College, Calcutta.

1801: Ranjit Singh proclaimed himself Maharaja of Punjab

1913: Gandhiji in Indian Opinion draws attention to new Immigration Bill’s failure to fulfil terms of Provisional Settlement of 1911. Kasturba decides to join Passive Resistance struggle.

1917: Mulvantrai Himatlal Mankad better known as “”Vinoo Mankad””, cricketer (India’s greatest all-rounder to his time), was born at Jamna

1936: Nehru urges Socialism for India.

1942: Nehru pledges ‘no surrender’ to the Axis despite the rejection of Britain’s plans at New Delhi.

1945: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office.

1961: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.

1967: Judge Kailas Nath Wanchoo became the Chief Justice of India. He helded this office till 24/02/1968.

1967: U. Thant,UN Secretary General, receives the first Nehru Award for international understanding.

1978: After several state victories, Congress party-I (for Indira) is recognized as official opposition.

1978: India’s first double decker train was started between Victoria Terminus (CST) and Pune which beared the name as “Janta Express”, which is now known under the name of Shivaji’s fort as “Singhgarh Expr”

1983: Richard Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’ wins 8 Oscars.

1987: V. P. Singh resigns as Defence Minister of India, K. C. Pant appointed in his place.

1991: Lok Sabha elections announced for May 20, 23, 26; Punjab Assam, J&K polls deferred.

1997: Maharashtra assembly adopts bill banning interviews for admitting students to pre-primary schools.

1997: Prime Minister of India H D Deve Gowda resigned.

1998: Bharat Ratna awarded to C. Subramaniam.

2000: Ban on LTTE for two more years from May 14, says the Union Home Minister L. K. Advani.

2009: Zimbabwe announced the end of its official currency ‘Zimbabwe Dollar’.

Birthday / Anniversary

1482: Rana Sanga, an Indian ruler of Mewar.

1621: Guru Teg Bahadur Singh, Sikh Guru, was born.

1871: Gangadhar Balkrishna Deshpande, editor in modern era and dictionary creator, was born.

1873: Kumaran Asan, famous Malyalam poet and social reformer, was born at Kayikkara, Kerala.

1885: R D Banerji, an eminent Indian Archaeologist & Museum expert.

1912: Kirpal Singh Narang, social reformer and educationist, was born at Amritsar (Punjab).

1917: Vinoo Mankad, an Indian cricketer.

1924: F. N. Souza, a Goan artist.

1935: Lalji Tandon, as the 18th Governor of Madhya Pradesh and 28th Governor of Bihar.

1943: Sumitra Mahajan, an Indian politician.

1954: Safdar Hashmi, a communist playwright and director.

Death / Death Anniversary

1720: Balaji Vishwanath Bhat, the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas.

1817: Charles Messier, a French astronomer.

1906: Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya, Indian scholar, academic, and philanthropist (b. 1836)

1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States.

1992: M. Basavapunniah (77), a Communist leader, passed away.

1992: The 350-tonne Buddha statue salvaged from the Hussain Sagar where it had sunk in 1990.

2001: Dewang Mehta, the president of NASSCOM.

2001: Harvey Ball, an American commercial artist.

2006: Rajkumar, an Indian film actor and playback singer in the Kannada cinema.

2012: Mohit Chattopadhyay, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1934)

Further Reading

Month-wise This Day in History

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