June 12 in history — What Happened Today in History

Russia Day: The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, crashes short of the runway at Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, killing all 22 people on board.

The Central African Republic's former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.

Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

A nuclear disarmament rally and concert is held in New York City.

The first of the Indiana Jones film franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is released in theaters.

Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man-powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.

State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain: Judge Jagmohanlal Sinha rules against Indira Gandhi in a case on her election to the Indian Parliament, and that she should be banned from holding any public office, triggering a political crisis.

The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws that prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela's original 5-year sentence is extended to life sentence for high treason together with Denis Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi and Walter Sisulu in the Rivonia Trial for sabotage in South Africa.

NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith during the civil rights movement.

The film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, is released in US theaters. It was the most expensive film made at the time.

Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him at the time the youngest unmartyred saint in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged ten and nine at the time of their deaths, are declared as saints.

An Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes near Bahrain International Airport, killing 46 people.

World War II: Battle of Carentan: American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division secure the town of Carentan, Normandy, France.

The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine). Around 1,180 Jews are led to the city's old Jewish graveyard and shot.

Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.

World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.

Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.

The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.

A ceasefire is negotiated between Bolivia and Paraguay, ending the Chaco War.

Mikhail Tukhachevsky orders the use of chemical weapons against the Tambov Rebellion, bringing an end to the peasant uprising.

Massacre of Phocaea: Turkish irregulars slaughter 50 to 100 Greeks and expel thousands of others in an ethnic cleansing operation in the Ottoman Empire.

The Reichstag approves new legislation continuing Germany's naval expansion program, providing for construction of 38 battleships over a 20-year period. Germany's fleet would be the largest in the world.

New Richmond tornado: The ninth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.

Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines' independence from Spain.

American Civil War, Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: Ulysses S. Grant gives the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory when he pulls his Union troops from their position at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.

Beginning of the Invasion of Algiers: Thirty-four thousand French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch.

Ibrahim Jeilan, Ethiopian runner

Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer

Mauricio Isla, Chilean footballer

Salim Mehajer, Australian politician

Dave Franco, American actor

Blake Ross, American computer programmer, co-created Mozilla Firefox

Sam Thaiday, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

Kendra Wilkinson, American model, actress, and author

James Kwalia, Kenyan-Qatari runner

Bruno Soriano, Spanish footballer

Bryan Habana, South African rugby player

Christine Sinclair, Canadian soccer player

Shailaja Pujari, Indian weightlifter

Teresita Barajuen, Spanish nun (born 1908)

Jason Leffler, American racing driver (born 1975)

Hector Bianciotti, Argentinian-French journalist and author (born 1930)

Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, Danish-German psychoanalyst and author (born 1917)

Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (born 1946)

Elinor Ostrom, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1933)

Pahiño, Spanish footballer (born 1923)

Frank Walker, Australian judge and politician, 41st Attorney General of New South Wales (born 1942)

René Audet, Canadian bishop (born 1920)

Al Williamson, American illustrator (born 1931)

Miroslav Dvořák, Czech ice hockey player (born 1951)

Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer and manager (born 1932)

Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (born 1915)