This Day In History, April 12th.
Five Historical Events That Happened on April 12th.
1861: Confederate soldiers stormed Fort Sumter in South Carolina, sparking the start of the American Civil War.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away in 1945 at Warm Springs, Georgia, handing the power over to Vice President Harry S. Truman.
In 1961, Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union, traveling in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, became the first person to circle the Earth.
NASA launched STS-1, the first space shuttle mission, in 1981. John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen, two astronauts, were in charge of controlling the Columbia spacecraft.
Jim Gary, a sculptor well-known for his dinosaur works fashioned from vehicle parts, passed away in Ruxton, Maryland, in 1990. Numerous museums throughout the world have on display Gary's creations.
The American Civil War began when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
Fort Sumter, a federal fort situated in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, was bombarded by Confederate forces led by General P.G.T. Beauregard on April 12, 1861. The attack on the fort, which was commanded by Major Robert Anderson, signaled the start of the American Civil War, which would run until 1865. After a two-day siege, the Confederates ultimately took control of the fort, forcing the Union soldiers to withdraw. President Abraham Lincoln requested 75,000 men to put down the uprising and save the Union after the attack on Fort Sumter.
April 12th, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman to assume the presidency.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was 63 years old, passed unexpectedly on April 12, 1945, when he was at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt had been president since 1933 and was halfway through his fourth term when he passed away. His death occurred as the Allies were edging closer to winning World War II, a pivotal moment in world history. Shortly after Roosevelt's passing, Vice President Harry S. Truman took the oath of office as president. He would later make a number of significant choices, including the deployment of atomic bombs against Japan and the founding of the United Nations.
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to space, completing one orbit of Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
The first human to enter space was Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. On board the Vostok 1 spacecraft, which was launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, he made one orbit of the planet. Gagarin's 108-minute trip took him 327 kilometers (203 miles) above the planet's surface at its highest point. Gagarin's historic launch proved the Soviet Union's technological dominance at the time and marked a significant turning point in the space competition between the US and the USSR. Gagarin rose to fame internationally and was revered in the Soviet Union as a hero after his trip, which opened the door for more human space exploration.
The first space shuttle mission, STS-1, was launched by NASA. The spacecraft, named Columbia, was piloted by astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen.
NASA launched STS-1, the first space shuttle mission, on April 12, 1981. John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen, two astronauts, were in charge of controlling the Columbia spacecraft. For the first time ever, a spacecraft was sent into orbit and then brought back to Earth like an airplane during this mission. During its two-day journey, the Columbia orbited the Earth 37 times before touching down at California's Edwards Air Force Base. A crucial turning point in the development of the space shuttle program, which would go on to launch dozens of flights and transform human spaceflight over the following three decades, was the successful STS-1 mission.
Jim Gary, a sculptor known for his dinosaur creations made from automobile parts, died in Ruxton, Maryland. Gary's work has been displayed in museums around the world.
Jim Gary, a sculptor well-known for his dinosaur works constructed from vehicle parts, died on April 12, 1990, in Ruxton, Maryland. Gary was a self-taught artist who started making sculptures in the 1970s out of junkyard-found vehicle components. He quickly gained notoriety for his distinctive aesthetic and his skill at sculpting ancient monsters from scrap metal. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City are just two of the places that have shown Gary's artwork. People are still awed and inspired by the inventiveness and brilliance of his sculptures.