Daily Calendar for Saturday, December 12, 2026
Daily Calendar
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Saturday, December 12, 2026
Died
- Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett (introduced the poinsettia plant to the U.S.) –
- Robert Browning (poet) –
- Henrietta Swan Leavitt (astronomer) –
- Dee Brown (author) –
- Keiko the killer whale (star of the Free Willy movies, died at 27 of pneumonia in a Norwegian fjord) –
- Peter Boyle (actor) –
- Tom Laughlin (actor) –
Born
- Edvard Munch (artist) –
- Frank Sinatra (singer) –
- Bob Barker (game show host and animal activist) –
- Edward "Ed" Koch (former mayor of New York City) –
- Connie Francis (singer) –
- Dionne Warwick (singer ) –
- Madeleine Wickham (author, aka Sophie Kinsella) –
- Jennifer Connelly (actress) –
- Katrina Elam (country music singer) –
Events
- Pennsylvania ratified the Constitution and became the second state in the Union –
- Joseph Hayne Rainey became the first African-American to serve as a U.S. representative –
- Golf was played for the first time in the U.S. at Franklin Park, Boston –
- George Grant received patent for improved golf tee –
- Father Edward Flanagan founded a home for boys in Omaha, Nebraska—the start of Boys Town –
- The OSCAR-1 amateur radio satellite is launched into orbit from Lompoc, California, transmitting “HI” in Morse code. –
- Orange soil discovered by Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt during their second day of exploration on the lunar surface –
- Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones accepted a knighthood from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace –
- Jean Chretien stepped down after 10 years as Canada’s popular and often argumentative prime minister. Paul Martin, a former finance minister, inherited his post, becoming the 21st prime minister. –
Weather
- Snow accumulated to 16 inches in Nantucket, Massachusetts –
- Baltimore received 12 inches of snow in the first of three major storms that winter –
- 20.4 inches of snow covered Newark, New Jersey –
- Albany, New York, registered a low of -12 degrees F –
- After a two-day storm, 17.1 inches of snow covered Minneapolis, Minnesota. The snow event set an all-time record for two-day snowfall in December. The weight of the snow caused a tear in the roof of the Metrodome and deflated it, forcing the Vikings-Giants game to be rescheduled and moved to Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. –