Historical Events on April 12.

1.  1606, 12th April: Great Britain recognized the Union Jack as its national flag.

2.  1945, 12th April: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office.

3.  1961, 12th April: The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first manned orbital flight, Vostok 1.

4.  1967, 12th April: Kailashnath Wanchu became the 10th Chief Justice of India.

5.  1997, 12th April: Prime Minister of India H D Deve Gowda resigned.

6.  1998, 12th April: Bharat Ratna awarded to C. Subramaniam.

7.  2009, 12th April: Zimbabwe announced the end of its official currency ‘Zimbabwe Dollar’.

Famous Birthdays & Birth Anniversaries on April 12.

1.  1482: Rana Sanga, an Indian ruler of Mewar.

2.  1885: R D Banerji, an eminent Indian Archaeologist & Museum expert.

3.  1917: Vinoo Mankad, an Indian cricketer.

4.  1924: F. N. Souza, a Goan artist.

5.  1935: Lalji Tandon, as the 18th Governor of Madhya Pradesh and 28th Governor of Bihar. 

6.  1943: Sumitra Mahajan, an Indian politician.

7.  1954: Safdar Hashmi, a communist playwright and director.

Death Anniversaries of famous people on April 12.

1.  1720: Balaji Vishwanath Bhat, the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas.

2.  1817: Charles Messier, a French astronomer.

3.  1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States.

4.  2001: Dewang Mehta, the president of NASSCOM.

5.  2001: Harvey Ball, an American commercial artist.

6.  2006: Rajkumar, an Indian film actor and playback singer in the Kannada cinema.