History at a glance

TODAY is Sunday December 12 the 346th day of the year. There are

19 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, announces his intention to reinstate the monarchy

and proclaim himself Emperor of China.

1925 – The Majlis of Iran votes to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Iran, starting the Pahlavi dynasty. 1936 – Xi’an Incident: The Generalissimo of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, is kidnapped by Zhang

Xueliang.

1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident – Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS

Panay on the Yangtze river in China.

1941 – World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor

and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.

1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on

the United States. India declares war on Japan.

1941 – Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery 1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.

1979 – Coup d’état of December Twelfth: South Korean Army Major General Chun Doo-hwan orders the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Jeong Seung-hwa without authorization from President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination of ex-President Park Chung-hee.

1991 – The Russian Federation gains independence from the USSR.

2007 – The U.N. war crimes tribunal sentenced former Bosnian Serb general Dragomir Milosevic to 33 years imprisonment for ordering the deadly shelling of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. More than 10,000 people were killed in the Muslim-held part of Sarajevo in fighting and sniper attacks during the conflict.