A few of the great historical events that happened today in history, February 12th!

1294	Kublai Khan, the conqueror of Asia, dies at the age of 80.
1554	Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the throne of England for nine days, was beheaded after being charged with treason.
1709	Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish seaman whose adventures inspired the creation of Daniel Dafoe’s Robinson Crusoe, is taken off Juan Fernandez Island after more than four years of living there alone. Alexander Selkirk
1733	English colonists led by James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, Ga.
1793	The first fugitive slave law, requiring the return of escaped slaves, is passed.
1809	Naturalist Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England.
1818	Chile gains independence from Spain.
1836	Mexican General Santa Anna crosses the Rio Grande en route to the Alamo.
1870	Women in the Utah Territory gained the right to vote.
1909	The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is formed. NAACP Logo
1912	China becomes a republic following the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty.
1915	The cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C.
1921	Winston Churchill of London is appointed colonial secretary.
1924	George Gershwin’s groundbreaking symphonic jazz composition Rhapsody in Bluepremieres with Gershwin himself playing the piano with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra.
1929	Charles Lindbergh announces his engagement to Anne Morrow.
1931	Japan makes its first television broadcast–a baseball game.
1935	The Macon, the last U.S. Navy dirigible, crashes off the coast of California, killing two people.
1938	Japan refuses to reveal naval data requested by the U.S. and Britain.
1940	The Soviet Union signs a trade treaty with Germany to aid against the British blockade.
1944	Wendell Wilkie enters the American presidential race against Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1949	Moslem Brotherhood chief Hassan el Banna is shot to death in Cairo. Hassan el Banna
1953	The Soviets break off diplomatic relations with Israel after the bombing of Soviet legation.
1966	The South Vietnamese win two big battles in the Mekong Delta.
1972	Senator Edward Kennedy advocates amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters.
1974	The Symbionese Liberation Army asks the Hearst family for $230 million in food for the poor.
1980	The Lake Placid Winter Olympics open in New York.
1987	A Court in Texas upholds $8.5 billion of a fine imposed on Texaco for the illegal takeover of Getty Oil.
1999	The U.S. Senate fails to pass two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. He had been accused of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives.
2000	Charles M. Schulz, creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip, died at age 77.
2002	The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic began in The Hague.
2004	Defying a California law, San Francisco officials began performing weddings for same-sex couples.
2009	A commuter plane crashed into a suburban Buffalo, N.Y., home, killing all 49 aboard and a person in the house.

Today in History facts are from various sites including, but not limited too: the History Channel, The New York Times, WHG Historynet.com, and HistoryOrb.com.