2016 Mass Shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida Kills 49 People
In what is now thought to be one of the deadliest incidents of violence against LGBTQ people in history, the shooting committed by 29-year old Omar Mateen is also the second deadliest terrorist attack on US soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
1994 The world's largest twinjet takes off on its maiden flight
The Boeing 777, or Triple Seven, typically transports up to 451 passengers. It is one of Boeing's commercially most successful planes.
1991 Boris Yeltsin becomes Russia's first President
After the end of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin launched radical economic reforms that aimed at dismantling socialism and restore capitalism.
1987 Ronald Reagan challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”
The U.S. President held his famous speech near the Berlin Wall, one of the most important symbols for the division between East and West during the Cold War. The wall was dismantled in 1989, but many observers doubt that Reagan's famous catchphrase had any impact on this decision.
1964 Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison
The South African anti-apartheid activist spent 27 years in prison. In 1993, he received the Nobel Peace Prize and one year late he became President of South Africa.
Births On This Day – 12 June
1971 Mark Henry
American weightlifter, wrestler
1941 Roy Harper
English singer-songwriter, guitarist, poet, actor
1929 Anne Frank
German/Dutch author, Holocaust victim
1924 George H. W. Bush
American politician, 41st President of the United States
1897 Anthony Eden
British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Deaths On This Day – 12 June
2010 Al Williamson
American illustrator
2006 György Ligeti
Romanian/Austrian composer
1994 Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Russian/French rabbi
1980 Billy Butlin
South African/English businessman, founded Butlins
1963 Medgar Evers
American civil rights activist