December 12 in History

• 1936

  December 12, 1936:

  The Xi'an Incident begins with General Chang Hsüeh-liang seizing Chiang Kai-shek, a Chinese nationalist leader for choosing to fight Chinese communists instead of the Japanese.

• 1964

  December 12, 1964:

  Kenya officially becomes a republic.

• 1966

  December 12, 1966:

  The British biographical drama film, “A Man for All Seasons” is released.

• 1970

  December 12, 1970:

  “The Tears of a Clown”, a song by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, reaches the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

• 1977

  December 12, 1977:

  The American dance drama film, “Saturday Night Fever” is released.

• 1980

  December 12, 1980:

  A notebook with handwritten texts by artist Leonardo da Vinci is sold to Armand Hammer, an oil tycoon, at an auction for $5,126,000.

• 2000

  December 12, 2000:

  The US Supreme Court awards the presidency to George W. Bush following a dispute about the vote recount in Florida.

• 2009

  December 12, 2009:

  Annise Parker wins the Houston mayoral election, making the city the largest in the US to have an openly gay mayor.

• 2014

  December 12, 2014:

  Television personality and music artist Nick Cannon files for divorce from singer Mariah Carey. 

• 2015

  December 12, 2015:

  Representatives from 195 countries adopt the language for the climate change agreement known as the Paris Agreement.