November 12th Major News Events

1944 Philippines - - Sea Battle

The long battle in the Philippines had continued. Apparently, within a couple of days the Americans had regained their confidence. They just destroyed an entire Japanese convoy of six destroyers and four transports. However, the battle in Leyte, Philippines was not over with yet.

1954 U.S.A. - - Ellis Island

Ellis Island in New York closes after providing the gateway for 12 million immigrants from 1892 - 1924. From 1924 to 1954 it was mostly used as a detention and deportation center for illegal immigrants .

1955 U.S.A. - - Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry - popular for such hits as "Johnny B. Goode" and "Roll Over Beethoven" - is named by a Billboard poll as the most promising R&B artist of the year. He proved the pollsters right be becoming a huge success in more than one genre of music.

1963 Japan - - Disasters

Leftist political representatives blamed the Japanese conservative government for the mine and rail disasters that occurred just a few days beforehand. The Socialist, Democratic Socialist, and Communist Parties decided to do their own investigation of these two tragedies which had occurred within six hours. The mine disaster occurred at Omuta, on the Southern Island of Kyushu, and the train pile-up occurred at Yokohama. The investigations made by different political party representatives were connected to winning over the Japanese people come time for the upcoming election.

1970 U.S.A. - - Exploding Whale

1970 : The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting eight-ton sperm whale near Florence, Oregon with half a ton of dynamite, leading to the now infamous exploding whale incident. The explosion caused large pieces of blubber to land some distance away from the beach and left much of the whale intact.

1972 Canada - - Oil Corporation

Members of a local Canadian government were discussing the possibility of a national oil corporation forming. Energy Minister Donald McDonald was just interviewed by CTV regarding this matter. A decision was expected to be made within a month.

1972 U.S.A. - - Dollar Value

The dollar was valued at a record high. On certain European markets, it equaled approximately 2.61 German marks .

1979 U.S.A. - - U.S. Embassy Hostages

Following the taking of 66 Americans as Hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, President Jimmy Carter bans the import of oil from Iran .

1980 Space - - Voyager 1

Voyager 1 space probe reaches Saturn and sends back pictures including the planet and yellow and orange clouds circling the planet at several hundred miles an hour.

1982 Poland - - Lech Walesa

Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity movement, is released after 11 months .

1984 UK - - Pound Note Ends

The English pound note is to disappear and be replaced by the one pound coin which were introduced last April.

1985 U.S.A. - - Intelligence

The United States government introduced plans for a new Soviet intelligence program.

1990 Japan - - Emperor of Japan

Crown Prince Akihito, is crowned as the 125th Emperor of Japan two years after the death of his father.

1990 Switzerland - - World Wide Web

Sir Tim Berners-Lee with help from Robert Cailliau publish a formal proposal for the World Wide Web on this day in History.

1991 Indonesia - - Santa Cruz Massacre

Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd of pro independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, East Timor killing an estimated 250 East Timorese protesters.

1995 Germany - - Bill Clinton

President Bill Clinton of the United States had announced that U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany would be assigned to Bosnian peace-keeping tasks.

1996 India - - Plane Crash

A mid air collision between Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 763 ( Boeing 747-168B ) and Air Kazakhstan Flight 1907 ( Ilyushin Il-76 ) over the village of Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India results in the death of all passengers and crew on both flights a total of 349 making it the most deadly mid air collision in history.

1999 Turkey - - Earthquake

A second large earthquake strikes Turkey just 3 months after the August 17th quake which left some 17,000 people dead and thousands more homeless. Turkey has issued an international appeal for winter tents to shelter tens of thousands of people left homeless by this earthquake .

1999 U.S.A. - - Easing Of Financial Regulations

President Bill Clinton signs the financial services reform bill allowing banks, investment firms and insurance companies to sell each other's products.

2001 U.S.A. - - American Airlines Flight 587

American Airlines Flight 587 ( Airbus A300 ) on route to Dominican Republic crashes shortly after takeoff into the Belle Harbor residential area of Queens killing all 260 people aboard the plane and 5 people on the ground .

2002 Egypt - - Osama Bin Laden

2002 : News broke out that al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden appeared in a tape recording. Effort was being made regarding the authenticity of this recording. If these tapes were proven "real", it would be the closest big of evidence revealed regarding Bin Laden's schemes to this date. He was one of the prime suspects of the World Trade Center and government bombings that occurred on September 11, 2001.

2004 U.S.A. - - Scott Peterson

A jury in Redwood City, Calif., convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay.

2006 World - - Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War comes into effect

The 2003 Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War was an international treaty signed in 2003 that aimed to limit the impact of cluster bombs and other unexploded devices on civilian populations when conflicts end. It came into effect on November 12, 2006.

2007 Russia - - Russia and India sign deal on the production of military aircraft

Russia and India will be jointly developing a new military transport aircraft under a deal that was signed by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan during his visit to Moscow. After talks in the Kremlin between Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two sides also signed an agreement on India's debt to Moscow

2008 Iraq - - Third day of bombs in Baghdad

At least twenty-one people have been killed, and more than eighty-five injured in bombs in Baghdad. The most serious attack resulted in about twelve people being killed and sixty injured when simultaneous car and roadside bombs detonated.

2009 Nepal - - Protests in Kathmandu

Thousands of protestors from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal blocked entry points to Singha Durbar, which is the official seat of Nepalese government, as part of a two-day restoration what they call "civilian supremacy". They blocked eight access points to the principal government secretariat, and were led by the Maoist chairman and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,' Mohan Vaidya ‘Kiran' and Baburam Bhattarai. The Nepalese capital was badly disrupted by the Maoists, who chanted slogans against the government and blocked all of the roads that lead to Singha Durbar.

2011 Venezuela - - MLB Player Abducted in Venezuela

2011 : Major League Baseball player Wilson Ramos was kidnapped in Venezuela by armed men but was found alive soon after by security forces. Ramos plays as a catcher for the Washington Nationals and was visiting his mother in Valencia, Venezuela.

2011 Italy - - Silvio Berlusconi Resigns As Italy's Prime Minister

Silvio Berlusconi officially resigned from his post as prime minister of Italy after spending seventeen years at the forefront of Italian politics. Berlusconi, who had been unpopular with voters for many years prior to his resignation due to scandals and corruption, had finally resigned over the loss of his majority during a financial crisis.

2012 Kenya - - Police Attacked in Kenya

Officials believe at least forty-two police officers were killed but there could be more dead in an attack in Samburu, Kenya after cattle rustlers ambushed them.

2013 United States - - New World Trade Center Tallest

The newly built One World Trade Center in New York City is the tallest building in the United States after a Height Committee ruled that the 408 foot needle at the top of the tower counted towards the height. The building that had previously occupied that place was the Willis Tower in Chicago.