Significant diplomatic, political, cultural, technological, human and military developments have taken place globally on February 12 across centuries. The following timeline traces key events from the 16th century till 2016. These events had far-reaching consequences regionally and internationally.
Vasco Da Gama’s second Indian voyage- 1502
Portuguese explorer, nobleman and mariner Vasco Da Gama set sail from Lisbon on his second voyage to India. He was appointed Governor of India in 1524 by the Portuguese authorities.
Execution of Jane Grey- 1554
Teenaged Lady Jane Grey, the English queen for about nine days, was executed for treason at the Tower of London under the queenship of her cousin Mary I.
Birth of Abraham Lincoln- 1809
Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He went on to become the president of the US in 1861 and is remembered for abolishing chattel slavery via the 13th Amendment. He won reelection in 1865, after having led the US during the Civil War, when the southern American states attempted to secede from the US. He was assassinated in 1865.
Birth of Dayanand Saraswati- 1824
Dayanand Saraswati, a philosopher who founded the Arya Samaj, was born. Arya Samaj is known for its veneration of the Vedas and for its rejection of moorti pooja. It played a key role in the reconversion to Hinduism of some non-Hindus in India.
Opening of the first artificial ice rink in the US- 1879
The first artificially frozen, or refrigerated, ice rink in the United States was installed at the old Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1879. It covered almost 6000 square feet.
Last Chinese Qing emperor abdicates- 1912
The last Qing Emperor of China, 6-year-old Puyi, abdicated after the Xinhai Revolution. Puyi, in the 1930s and 1940s, collaborated with the Japanese authorities during the Japanese imperial occupation of Manchuria by serving as the puppet emperor of Manchuria. WW2’s end was followed by his fleeing, capture by the Soviet Red Army, imprisonment, testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, repatriation to Communist China and re-education as a war criminal. He was freed in 1959.
Winston Churchill appointed British Colonial Secretary- 1921
Winston Churchill, the British PM from 1940-1945 and from 1951-1955 and remembered for his victorious leadership during WWII, was appointed the Secretary of State for the Colonies. He is also remembered for his controversial views on Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi and on the Indian ability to lead a sovereign national life.
Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull detained- 1967
Prominent English musicians-songwriters Keith Richards and Mick Jagger and English singer Marianne Faithfull were arrested for drug possession during a raid at Richards’ Sussex residence.
Gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s elder brother Shabir Kaskar killed- 1981
Shabir Ibrahim Kaskar, the elder brother of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, was shot dead in Bombay by the Pathan gang at a petrol pump in Prabhadevi.
Mars map posted on Flickr- 2016
Britain’s Ordnance Survey, utilising NASA data, posts map of Mars on Flickr, an image and video-hosting service.
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