A Day in the Past

On this day: 12 September

147 things happened on 12 September, from 490 BC to 2014. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.

Printable worksheet Take the quiz

In the UK 6

UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Around the world 40

1966 60 years ago

Gemini 11, the penultimate mission of NASA's Gemini program, and the current human altitude record holder (except for the Apollo lunar missions and Artemis II).

Space Find out more: Gemini 11 (Wikipedia)
1984 42 years ago

Dwight Gooden sets the baseball record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 276, previously set by Herb Score with 246 in 1954. Gooden's 276 strikeouts that season, pitched in 218 innings, set the current record.

Sport Find out more: Dwight Gooden (Wikipedia)

Quick quiz

Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!

  1. In which year did this happen: “Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of the nuclear”?

    1. 1914
    2. 1885
    3. 1933
    Show the answer

    C: 1933. 1933 — that’s 93 years ago. Find it on the page

  2. In which year did this happen: “The Scottish Cup match between Arbroath and Bon Accord ended 36–0”?

    1. 1885
    2. 1609
    3. 1986
    Show the answer

    A: 1885. 1885 — that’s 141 years ago. Find it on the page

  3. Which of these happened first?

    1. Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of the nuclear
    2. The Scottish Cup match between Arbroath and Bon Accord ended 36–0
    3. Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River
    Show the answer

    C: Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River. 1933: Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of the nuclear · 1885: The Scottish Cup match between Arbroath and Bon Accord ended 36–0 · 1609: Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River Find it on the page

  4. “Henry Hudson begins his exploration of the Hudson River” happened in 1609. How many years ago was that?

    1. 407 years
    2. 427 years
    3. 417 years
    Show the answer

    C: 417 years. 2026 − 1609 = 417. Find it on the page

Born on this day 37

Famous people whose birthday is 12 September.

Remembering 19

Well-known people who died on 12 September.

Special days 15

Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 12 September somewhere in the world.

For older readers 30 Show stories about war, disasters, crime and other difficult history

Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.

Where these facts come from

Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “September 12” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.