Holidays Calendar for February 12, 2019
The citizens of Myanmar annually celebrate Union Day on February 12. This holiday commemorates the Panglong Agreement signed in 1947.
National Sports Day is a public holiday in Qatar celebrated on Tuesday in the second week of February each year. It was first held in 2012.
World Cholangiocarcinoma Day is an international awareness day held annually on February 12. Its mission is to raise public awareness of a relatively rare form of cancer, the rates of which have been rising worldwide over the past few decades.
Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, saw numerous anti-government riots on February 12-14, 1990. Memorial Day, that is observed on February 12, commemorates the death of 25 killed citizens of Dushanbe.
February 12, 1809 is the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the USA. Today February 12 is Lincoln's Birthday, that is a legal holiday in some states.
February 12 is National Freedom to Marry Day. This is an unofficial holiday, but it is popular among same-sex couples.
Georgia Day is celebrated on February 12 to commemorate the arrival of the first settlers to the Province of Georgia, the last to be founded and the southernmost of the Thirteen Colonies which declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States of America.
NAACP Day, also known as NAACP Founders Day, is celebrated annually on February 12. It commemorates the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909.
National Plum Pudding Day is a food holiday celebrated annually on February 12, which is quite strange as plum pudding is a traditional Christmas dessert. Well, maybe this is your chance to try your hand at learning to cook the perfect Christmas pudding in order to wow your guests next Christmas.
UN Observances
International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism
International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism is a United Nations international day observed every year on February 12. It was established in 2022 to raise awareness of violent extremism and the threats it poses.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Day is an annual observance held on February 12. It was launched by the Public Health Agency of Canada and is mainly observed in Canada, but some other countries (for example, India) celebrate it, too.
The birthday of Charles Darwin has been celebrated by the scientists for ages, but the idea of making Darwin Day an international observance came up only in the 1990s.
Youth Day in Venezuela is celebrated on February12. This holidays commemorates all teenagers who fought and died in the Battle of La Victoria during the Venezuelan War of Independence.
Red Hand Day is observed annually on February 12. This observance was created to draw attention to the fates of children soldiers, children, who are used in wars and armed conflicts.
Festivals on February 12, 2019
- Taipei International Book Exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan
- Health Harmony Soul in Gold Coast, Australia
- South Bohemian International Beer Festival (Zlatá Pivni Pečet) in České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York, USA
- Carnival of Cento in Cento, Italy
- Carnival of Foiano della Chiana in Foiano della Chiana, Italy
- Arizona Renaissance Festival in Apache Junction, USA
- Carnival of Ovar in Ovar, Portugal
- Chicago Auto Show in Chicago, USA
- Florida Renaissance Festival in Deerfield Beach, USA
- Carnival of Viareggio in Viareggio, Italy
- Perth Festival in Perth, Australia
- Quebec Winter Carnival in Quebec City, Canada
- Havana International Book Fair in Havana, Cuba
- Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Berlin, Germany
This Day in History
- 2019 Macedonia officially changed its name to North Macedonia, settling a long-standing naming dispute with Greece. However, it is still unofficially referred to as "Macedonia".
- 2017 Died: Al Jarreau, American singer and musician. He received a total of seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more.
- 2016 Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.
- 2010 The XXI Olympic Winter Games opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were the third Olympic games hosted by Canada.
- 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York, after experiencing an aerodynamic stall. All 49 people on board died.
- 2007 Died: Peggy Gilbert (born Margaret F. Knechtges), American jazz saxophonist and bandleader whose career lasted for more than 80 years.
- 2002 The trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, began at The Hague, with Milošević defending himself.
- 1994 Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream was stolen from the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway. It was recovered several months later.
- 1989 Died: Thomas Bernhard, Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet who is considered one of the most influential German-speaking authors of the postwar era.
- 1984 Died: Julio Cortázar, Argentinian short story writer, novelist, poet, and essayist. He is known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom.
- 1980 Born: Christina Ricci, American actress whose breakthrough role was Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel.
- 1979 Born: Jesse Spencer, Australian actor and musician best known for his role as Dr. Robert Chase on the American medical drama House, M.D.
- 1974 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature, was arrested and deported the next day from the Soviet Union and stripped of his Soviet citizenship.
- 1969 Born: Darren Aronofsky, American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His best-known films include Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan.
- 1968 Born: Josh Brolin, American actor known for playing Thanos in the MCU and for his roles in The Goonies, No Country for Old Men, Milk, Men in Black 3, Dune, and other films.
- 1963 Born: Jacqueline Woodson, American author of books for children and adolescents. One of her best-known works is Miracle's Boys.
- 1961 The Soviet Union launched Venera 1, which became the first spacecraft to fly past Venus. Unfortunately it returned no data due to the loss of radio contact.
- 1949 Died: Hassan al-Banna, Egyptian educator and imam who founded the Muslim Brotherhood, a large and influential Muslim revivalist organization.
- 1942 Born: Ehud Barak (bork Ehud Brog), Israeli politician, the 10th Prime Minister of Israel (from 1991 to 2001) and the former leader of the Labor party.
- 1934 Austrian Civil War (also known as the February Uprising) began. It was a series of confrontations between socialist and conservative-fascist forces.
- 1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by Mary White Ovington, William English Walling, and Henry Moskowitz.
- 1908 Born: Jean Effel (pseudonym of François Lejeune), French journalist, illustrator, caricaturist, and painter. His greatest work is the cartoon cycle The Creation of the World.
- 1894 French anarchist Émile Henry detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian railway station Gare Saint-Lazare. 1 person was killed and 20 were injured.
- 1881 Born: Anna Pavlova, Russian prima ballerina who was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev.
- 1834 Died: Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher, theologian, and biblical scholar who influenced on the evolution of Higher Criticism.
- 1832 Ecuador annexed the Galápagos Islands, naming them the Archipelago of Ecuador. The first governor brought a group of convicts to populate them.
- 1828 Born: George Meredith, English poet and novelist of the Victorian era. His friends in the literary circles included Robert Louis Stevenson, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and others.
- 1809 Born: Charles Darwin, English naturalist and geologist who is best known for his theory of evolution first published in his book On the Origin of Species.
- 1809 Born: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. He led the United States through the Civil War and managed to preserve the Union, abolish slavery, and strengthen the government.
- 1804 Died: Immanuel Kant, German philosopher who is considered a central figure of modern philosophy. His major work is the Critique of Pure Reason.
- 1763 Died: Pierre de Marivaux, French novelist and playwright who wrote numerous comedies such as The Triumph of Love, The Game of Love and Chance and other.
- 1624 Died: George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He founded George Heriot's School in Edinburgh which was originally established as a hospital.
- 1571 Died: Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician. He is known for having played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.
- 1554 Died: Lady Jane Grey (also known as The Nine Days' Queen), English noblewoman and de facto monarch of England from July 10 until July 19, 1553.