On This Day April 12

1985
First U.S. public official in space: U.S. Senator Jake Garn (R-Utah) is launched into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery as a member of its seven-man crew.

1980
Terry Fox: The cancer victim begins his run across Canada, raising $23,000,000 for cancer research. His right leg had been amputated due to bone cancer. By September he had made it half way (3,339 miles) before lung cancer forced him to stop.

1980
Olympic boycott: U.S. Olympic Committee votes not to attend the Moscow Summer Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1966
First black major-league baseball umpire: Emmett Littleton Ashford, hired the previous September by the American League, umpires at third base for the season opener. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1966
Dead Man's Curve: Jan Berry, of Jan and Dean, crashes his Corvette into a parked truck near the treacherous bend mentioned in his famous song.

1961
First man in space: Yuri A. Gagarin orbits the Earth aboard the Soviet Vostok 1.

1955
Polio: Dr. Jonas Salk reports the success of the nationwide test of his anti-polio vaccine and receives a license by the National Institutes of Health for its general use.

1954
Rock Around the Clock: Bill Haley & His Comets record the rock 'n' roll classic. It was recorded as the B-side of the soon forgotten Thirteen Women.

1938
First state to require a medical test for marriage license applicants: New York.

1934
Fastest surface wind ever recorded: Winds with gusts of up to 231 miles per hour are recorded at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire. (source: Guinness Book of World Records)

1864
Civil War - Fort Pillow Massacre: Confederate troops attack Fort Pillow in Tennessee killing 231 Union soldiers - a large number of which were black. Accusations that the soldiers were slaughtered after the fort surrendered inflamed the North. (Source: The Civil War Day by Day)

1861
Civil War: The war begins when the Confederacy fires upon Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

1853
First U.S. truancy law: New York enacts a $50 fine for parents of children between the ages of 5 and 15 who miss school.

1971
Shannen Doherty, American actress. TV: Little House on the Prairie (Jenny Wilder) and Beverly Hills 90210 (Brenda).

1944
John Kay (Joachim Krauledat), East German-born musician, lead singer with Steppenwolf. Music: Born To Be Wild (1968) and Magic Carpet Ride (1968).

1943
Bruce H. Bolinger, American cartoonist, creator of the underground comic Stranger in a Strange Land.

1940
Herbie Hancock, American jazz pianist, Oscar-winning composer. Music: Watermelon Man, Chameleon, and the score for the film Round Midnight (1986, Oscar).

1926
Jane Withers, American actress. TV: The plumber in the Comet cleanser commercials.

1923
Tiny Tim (Herbert Buckingham Khaury), American singer. Music: Tiptoe Through the Tulips (1968).

1913
Lionel Hampton, American vibes player, bandleader. Music: On the Sunny Side of the Street (1937) and Twelfth Street Rag (1939)

1724 d. 1790
Lyman Hall, American settler, Revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence, governor of Georgia (1783).

1989 b. 1921
Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr.), American welterweight boxing champion and five-time world middleweight champion.

1989 b. 1912
Herbert Mills, American singer, with the Mills Brothers, the most popular vocal group of all time.

1989 b. 1936
Abbie Hoffman (Abbott Hoffman), American political activist of the 1960s and leader of the Yippie youth movement.

1981 b. 1914
Joe Louis (Joseph Louis Barrow), American boxer, "The Brown Bomber," heavyweight champion (1937-49).

1977 b. 1894
Philip Knight Wrigley, U.S. chewing gum executive and owner of the Chicago Cubs.

1975 b. 1906
Josephine Baker, American-born French singer, actress. At the height of her career she was the highest-paid European entertainer.

1945 b. 1882
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President (1933-45). He died in office, making Vice-Pres. Harry S. Truman president.

1933 b. 1840
Alphonso David Rockwell, American physician, noted for his study of the use of electricity in medicine. He invented the first electric chair (first used in 1890).

1912 b. 1821
Clara Barton, American nurse, philanthropist, Mother of the Red Cross. Known as the "Angel of the Battlefield," she helped organize and was the first president of the American Red Cross Society (1881).

1878 b. 1823
Boss Tweed (William Marcy Tweed), American politician, boss of Tammany Hall. It is estimated he stole between $30 and $200 million from New York City. He was portrayed in the film Gangs of New York (2002).

April 12

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