What Happened on April 12?

April 12 is Yuri's Night — celebrating the first human in space — on the same date the space shuttle first launched in 1981, the Civil War began at Fort Sumter in 1861, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945.

• 1861 — The Civil War begins with the attack on Fort Sumter

  Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's harbor, starting the American Civil War — a four-year conflict that decided that the United States would stay united and led to the end of slavery. Read the full story →

• 1934 — Mount Washington Observatory records the fastest surface wind ever measured

  On April 12, 1934, weather observers at the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, clocked a gust at 231 miles per hour — a record that stood for decades. Read the full story →

• 1945 — President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies; Harry Truman becomes president

  President Franklin D. Roosevelt — elected four times and leader through the Great Depression and most of World War II — passed away suddenly, and Vice President Harry S. Truman took the oath of office. Read the full story →

• 1961 — Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space

  Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin rode Vostok 1 around Earth in just 108 minutes, becoming the first human being ever to fly in space. Read the full story →

• 1981 — Space shuttle Columbia launches on the first shuttle mission

  Exactly twenty years after Gagarin's flight, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen blasted off aboard Columbia, the world's first reusable spacecraft. Read the full story →

Famous birthdays

Henry Clay (1777–1852) · Beverly Cleary (1916–2021) · Tom Clancy (1947–2013)

Days & observances

Yuri's Night / International Day of Human Space Flight · National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day · National Licorice Day · National Walk on Your Wild Side Day