People are trapped in history and history is trapped in people, and hence, every day has been a significant one in the foibles of history. Let’s take a tour of “This Day in History – 12th November”.
1833 THE GREAT LEONID METEOR SHOWER WAS SEEN
The great Leonid meteor shower, in which hundreds of thousands of meteors were observed in one night, was seen all over North America, initiating the first serious study of meteor showers. The Leonids are famous because their meteor showers, or storms, can be among the most spectacular.
1912 SPANISH PRIME MINISTER JOSE CANALEJAS WAS ASSASSINATED
Spanish Prime Minister José Canalejas was assassinated by the anarchist Manuel Pardiñas. Canalejas believed in the possibility of a monarchy open to a thoroughgoing democratic policy both in economic and in civil and political matters. Salvador de Madariaga, the liberal historian, argued that the disasters Spain experienced during the 1930s could be traced to Canalejas’ murder, given that this murder deprived King Alfonso of one of his few genuine statesmen.
1930 THE FIRST ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN INDIA WAS HELD
The first Round Table Conference, called by the British government to consider the future constitution of India, opened in London. In total 74 delegates from India attended the Conference. However, the Indian National Congress, along with Indian business leaders, kept away from the conference. Many of them were in jail for their participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
1970 EAST PAKISTAN (PRESENT-DAY BANGLADESH) WAS STRUCK BY BHOLA CYCLONE
The Bhola cyclone struck East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing hundreds of thousands of people in the densely populated Ganges-Brahmaputra delta; it was perhaps the deadliest tropical cyclone in recorded history and one of the greatest natural disasters. This cyclone was the sixth cyclonic storm of the 1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, and also the season’s strongest.
1980 U.S SPACE PROBE VOGAYGER 1 REACHED SATURN
Voyager 1 is a space probe that was launched by NASA on September 5, 1997. The probe’s objectives included flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Although the spacecraft’s course could have been altered to include a Pluto encounter by forgoing the Titan flyby, exploration of the moon took priority because it was known to have a substantial atmosphere.
1996 INDIA WITNESSES DEADLIEST AVIATION ACCIDENT
On 12th November, 1996, a mid-air collision between Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763 (Boeing 747-168B) and Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907 (Ilyushin Il-76) over the village of Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India, results in the death of all passengers and crew on both flights (a total of 349 casualties) making it the deadliest mid-air collision in history.
2006 PROTOCOL ON EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR COMES INTO EFFECT
The Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War is an international treaty concluded in Geneva in 2003 that aims to limit the impact of cluster bombs and other unexploded devices on civilian populations after a conflict ends. It is the fifth Protocol to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. The Protocol came into effect on 12 November 2006. As of October 2020, there are 96 state parties to the agreement.
2018 AMERICAN COMIC BOOK WRITER STAN LEE DIED
American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer Stan Lee—who helped create such iconic characters and teams as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the X-Men for Marvel Comics—died at age 95 on 12th November, 2018. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics’ primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics industry.
Also read: THIS DAY IN HISTORY- NOVEMBER 11
