Date·Lore

On This Day · The 255th day of the year

September 12

September 12 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1847 and 2003. Mexican–American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.

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Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on September 12?

September 12 is the 255th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1847 and 2003. Famous people born on September 12 include Stanisław Lem, Irène Joliot-Curie and Louis C.K..

The shape of the day

September 12's recorded history is unusually compressed, gathered within recent centuries rather than reaching into antiquity. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Virgo is the sign for September 12 — read more on the Virgo page, or see September's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on September 12

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game Femboy Futa House
  • Game NHL 26

2024

  • Game Wild Bastards
  • Game DeathSprint 66
  • Game Caravan SandWitch
  • Game Evotinction
  • Game NanoApostle
  • Game Hollowbody
  • Game Fears to Fathom: Woodbury Getaway
  • Game The Jackbox Naughty Pack
  • Game Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown
  • Movie The Wild Robot
  • TV Valley of Hearts

2023

  • Game Eternights
  • Game MythForce
  • TV Wild heart

2022

  • TV The Jennifer Hudson Show
  • TV Sherri
  • TV STAT

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1847

    Mexican–American War

    Mexican–American War: the Battle of Chapultepec begins.

  2. 1890

    Harare

    Salisbury, Rhodesia, is founded.

  3. 1910

    Gustav Mahler

    Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Munich (with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players. Mahler's rehearsal assistant conductor was Bruno Walter).

  4. 1933

    Leo Szilard

    Leó Szilárd, waiting for a red light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction.

  5. 1938

    Adolf Hitler

    Adolf Hitler demands autonomy and self-determination for the Germans of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

  6. 1942

    World War II

    World War II: RMS Laconia, carrying civilians, Allied soldiers and Italian POWs is torpedoed off the coast of West Africa and sinks with a heavy loss of life.

  7. 1962

    John F. Kennedy

    US President John F. Kennedy delivers his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University.

  8. 1983

    Soviet Union

    The USSR vetoes a United Nations Security Council Resolution deploring the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

  9. 2003

    Typhoon Maemi

    Typhoon Maemi, the strongest recorded typhoon to strike South Korea, made landfall near Busan.

  10. 2003

    United Nations

    The United Nations lifts sanctions against Libya after that country agreed to accept responsibility and recompense the families of victims in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Famous birthday twins

Born on September 12

Stanisław Lem

b. 1921

Polish philosopher and author

Irène Joliot-Curie

b. 1897

French chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

Louis C.K.

b. 1967

American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter

Fernando de Souza

b. 1980

Brazilian footballer

Desmond Llewelyn

b. 1914

Welsh-English soldier and actor

Emmy Rossum

b. 1986

American singer and actress

Jesse Owens

b. 1913

American sprinter and long jumper

Heinrich Hoffmann (photographer)

b. 1885

German photographer and art dealer

Deaths

  • 2003Johnny Cash
  • 1965Raja Aziz Bhatti
  • 1918George Reid
  • 1764Jean-Philippe Rameau
  • 1660Jacob Cats
  • 1185Andronikos I Komnenos

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Ailbe (Elvis, Eilfyw) of Emly
  • —Christian feast day: Ebontius
  • —Christian feast day: Guy of Anderlecht
  • —Christian feast day: The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • —Christian feast day: John Henry Hobart (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: Laisrén mac Nad Froích
  • —Christian feast day: Sacerdos of Lyon
  • —Christian feast day: September 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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