On This Day in History – June 12

by hpmom June 12, 2025

June 12, 2025

1381 – The Peasants’ Revolt begins in England as rebels storm London in protest of taxes and feudal oppression.
1898 – The Philippines declares independence from Spain after more than 300 years of colonial rule.
1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong is granted the patent for FM radio technology.
1963 – Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi.
1987 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivers his famous “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” speech in Berlin.
1991 – Boris Yeltsin is elected the first President of the Russian Federation in the country’s first democratic presidential election.
2016 – A mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, leaves 49 people dead and dozens injured, marking one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st President of the United States and former Vice President under Ronald Reagan.
Anne Frank (1929–1945), German-Dutch Jewish diarist whose writings became one of the most significant records of the Holocaust.
Jim Nabors (1930–2017), American actor and singer, best known for his role as Gomer Pyle.
Chick Corea (1941–2021), American jazz pianist and composer known for his pioneering work in jazz fusion.
Jason Mewes (born 1974), American actor and comedian, best known for playing Jay in Jay and Silent Bob films.
Adriana Lima (born 1981), Brazilian supermodel and Victoria’s Secret Angel.
Chris Young (born 1985), American country music singer and songwriter.

Medgar Evers (1925–1963), American civil rights activist and World War II veteran, assassinated for his activism.
Karl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), Prussian general and military theorist, author of On War.
Gregory Peck (1916–2003), American actor known for his role as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.
David Rockefeller (1915–2017), American banker and philanthropist, former chairman of Chase Manhattan Corporation.

Independence Day (Philippines) – Celebrates the 1898 declaration of independence from Spanish colonial rule.
Russia Day (Russia) – Commemorates the 1990 declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union.
World Day Against Child Labour – Recognized by the United Nations to raise awareness and promote efforts to end child labor worldwide.
Loving Day (U.S.) – Marks the anniversary of the 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws banning interracial marriage.

Anne Frank received her famous diary as a birthday gift on June 12, 1942, just weeks before her family went into hiding.
Ronald Reagan’s “tear down this wall” speech became a defining moment of Cold War rhetoric and is often quoted as symbolic of the fall of communism.
Medgar Evers’ assassination helped galvanize the American civil rights movement and led to national outrage.
The Philippines’ declaration of independence in 1898 occurred under revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo, though full independence came in 1946.
Loving Day is named after Richard and Mildred Loving, whose landmark case ended race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.