What happend on 12th December

11.12
13.12
1963

Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1950

Paula Ackerman, the first woman appointed to perform rabbinical functions in the United States, leads the congregation in her first services.

1948

Batang Kali Massacre, Malaysia

1946

A fire at a New York, New York ice plant spreads to a nearby tenement killing 37 people.

1942

A fire in a hostel in St. John's, Newfoundland kills 100 people.

1941

United States seizes French ship Normandie.

1939

Finland defeated the Soviet Union in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, their first major victory in the Winter War.

1937

Panay incident

1925

Reza Pahlavi takes control of Iran as Shah

1917

In Nebraska, Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys (in 1979 it was opened to girls as well).