Holidays Calendar for April 12, 2013
National Health Day is a public holiday in Kiribati. It was set aside to encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle. The holiday is celebrated in March or April, its date is appointed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.
The second Friday in April is a public holiday in Liberia known as Fast and Prayer Day. Although it is a legal holiday, its observance is not mandatory because the constitution of Liberia provides for freedom of religion.
April 12 is World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day in many countries around the world. This holiday was established to commemorate the first manned flight into space.
International Day for Street Children takes place annually on April 12. It was launched in 2012 to raise awareness of the plight of millions of children who depend on the streets for their survival and deserve care, protection, and respect.
World Hamster Day, also known as simply Hamster Day, is celebrated annually on April 12. This amazing holiday was created in honor of adorable rodents that are among the most popular pets in many countries, including the United States.
The Day of Silence is an annual awareness campaign coordinated by the GLSEN (formerly known as the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network). It was launched to raise awareness about the bullying and harassment that LGBTQ+ students have to face, often on a daily basis.
April 12 is annual celebration of Day of Space and Rocket Industry Workers in Ukraine. This holiday was established in 1997 by President Leonid Kuchma.
Day of Science is annually observed in Kazakhstan on April 12. This observance was established by Presidential Decree in 2011 and the first celebration took place in 2012.
Drop Everything and Read Day, commonly referred to as simply D.E.A.R. Day, is celebrated annually on April 12. It was created to remind people of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives.
National Redemption Day is a Liberian holiday celebrated on April 12. It commemorates the anniversary of the 1980 coup d’etat led by Samuel Doe and the establishment of Liberia’s Second Republic.
Halifax Day is a locally celebrated American Revolution holiday observed annually on April 12. It was established to commemorate the Halifax Resolves, the resolution adopted by North Carolina that helped pave the way for the US Declaration of Independence.
A grilled cheese sandwich is a very simple dish that requires just three basic ingredients - bread, cheese and butter - but it is one of the most popular comfort foods in the world. Celebrate National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day on April 12 and don't forget to make your favorite sandwiches for breakfast or lunch.
Despite its unusual taste (or maybe because of it), licorice is one of the most popular types of candy around the globe. It is one of those “either you love it or your hate it” kind of foods. If you love licorice, you should celebrate National Licorice Day on April 12.
National Only Child Day is observed annually on April 12. It was created to celebrate people who have no siblings and eliminate negative stereotypes associated with being an only child.
International Day of Human Space Flight is one of the UN international observances. It's annually observed on April 12, the anniversary of the first human space flight.
Bolivia, as well as other countries of South America, faces problems of child abuse and violation of children's rights. Children's Day was created to stop exploiting children and remind them about their rights. This holiday is annually celebrated on April 12.
Scouts’ Day, also known as Plastun Day, is celebrated in Ukraine on April 12 every year. This date was chosen to commemorate the creation of Plast, the oldest and largest Scouting organization in the country.
Festivals on April 12, 2013
- International Orange Blossom Carnival in Adana, Turkey
- World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, Canada
- Geneva International Jewish Film Festival in Geneva, Switzerland
- Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, USA
- Lucidity Festival in Santa Barbara, USA
- CPH:PIX Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark
- Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau, USA
- Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California in Irwindale, USA
- Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, USA
- Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival in Vancouver, Canada
- Brussels International Fantasy, Fantastic, Thriller and Science Fiction Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium
- Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia in Philadelphia, USA
- Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Mount Vernon, USA
- St. Thomas Carnival in Charlotte Amalie, American Virgin Islands
This Day in History
- 2024 Died: Roberto Cavalli, Italian fashion designer and inventor. He was known for exotic prints and for creating the sand-blasted look for jeans. Cavalli founded in own fashion house in 1975.
- 2014 The Great Fire of Valparaíso started in Chile. It destroyed at least 2,500 homes, leaving 11,000 people homeless. An additional 6,000 people were evacuated from the city.
- 2013 Died: Robert Byrne, American chess player and author, winner of the U.S. Championship in 1972 and a World Chess Championship Candidate in 1974. He represented the USA nine times in Chess Olympiads and won seven medals.
- 2010 A train ran into a landslide and derailed near Merano, Italy. 9 people died, 28 were injured.
- 2004 Died: Moran Campbell, Canadian physician and academic, inventor of the venturi mask, an air-entrainment mask used to deliver a known oxygen concentration to patients on controlled oxygen therapy.
- 2002 A female suicide bomber blew herself up at the entrance to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market. 7 people were killed, 104 were wounded.
- 2001 Died: Harvey Ball, American illustrator. He is recognized as the inventor of the popular smiley face graphic picture, which became an enduring and notable international icon.
- 1997 Died: George Wald, American neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate for his discoveries relating vision.
- 1994 Born: Saoirse Ronan, American-born Irish actress whose notable film credits include Atonement, The Lovely Bones, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women.
- 1992 The Euro Disney Resort officially opened with its theme park Euro Disneyland. Subsequently the resort and its park changed their name to Disneyland Paris.
- 1987 Born: Brendon Urie, American singer, songwriter, musician, and occasional actor best known as the former lead vocalist and frontman of the pop rock band Panic! at the Disco.
- 1981 Space shuttle Columbia was launched for the first time to conduct the STS-1 mission.
- 1979 Born: Claire Danes, American actress who first gained recognition for starring in My So-Called Life. Her accolades, as of 2024, include three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.
- 1979 Born: Jennifer Morrison, American actress and director best known for her television roles as Allison Cameron on House and Emma Swan on Once Upon a Time.
- 1971 Born: Shannen Doherty, American actress, producer and television director, best known for the roles as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed.
- 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into outer space and perform a manned orbital flight.
- 1956 Born: Andy García, American actor. He first rose to prominence acting in The Untouchables and received an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Godfather Part III.
- 1954 Born: Jon Krakauer, American author, known for his best-selling non-fiction novels Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven.
- 1953 Died: Lionel Logue, Australian actor and speech and language therapist. He treated King George VI, who had a pronounced stammer.
- 1946 Born: Ed O'Neill, American actor, best known for his roles as Al Bundy in the sitcom Married... with Children and patriarch Jay Pritchett in the sitcom Modern Family.
- 1945 Died: Franklin D. Roosevelt, American lawyer and politician, the 32nd President of the United States.
- 1938 Died: Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass voice, he enjoyed an important international career at major opera houses.
- 1937 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tested the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft.
- 1934 The strongest surface wind gust in the world at 231 mph was measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
- 1933 Born: Montserrat Caballé, Spanish operatic soprano. Widely considered to be one of the best sopranos of the 20th century, she won a variety of musical awards throughout her six-decade career.
- 1932 Born: Jean-Pierre Marielle, French actor, winner of a Golden Goblet Award. He is best known for roles in the films Les Milles, Little Lili, All the Mornings of the World, Les Galettes de Pont-Aven.
- 1927 Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Republic of China, ordered to execute members of the Communist Party of China. This event marked the end of the First United Front (a union of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China).
- 1917 World War I: Vimy Ridge was successfully taken by Canadian forces from the Germans.
- 1912 Died: Clara Barton, American nurse and humanitarian, founder of the American Red Cross and a prominent nurse in the American Civil War.
- 1903 Born: Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate for developing and applying dynamic models for the analysis of economic process.
- 1884 Born: Otto Fritz Meyerhof, German physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate for his work on muscle metabolism.
- 1839 Born: Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer of Central and East Asia. He made significant contributions to European knowledge of Central Asia and described the only extant species of Przewalski's horse, a wild horse named after him.
- 1831 The Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester collapsed due to mechanical resonance induced by troops marching in step. This incident made the British Army issue an order to break step when crossing a bridge.
- 1817 Died: Charles Messier, French astronomer, notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of nebulae and star clusters known as the 110 "Messier objects".
- 1782 Died: Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet and librettist, who is considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.
- 1748 Born: Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist, notable for publishing the first natural classification of flowering plants. His system remains in use today.
- 1705 Born: William Cookworthy, English minister pharmacist and innovator. He discovered china clay in Cornwall and founded a works at Plymouth for the production of Plymouth Porcelain.