It happened today – this day in history – June 12

1381: Rebels arrive at Blackheath during the peasants’ revolt

1665: New Amsterdam legally becomes an English colony and is renamed New York after the Duke of York.

1673: Charles II’s brother, James, Duke of York resigns as Lord High Admiral.

1683: The Rye House plat against Charles II is uncovered.

1867: Austro-Hungarian Empire forms.

1897: Possibly the most severe earthquake in history strikes Assam, India, Shockwaves are felt over an area the size of Europe. On the same day, revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain.

1900: The Reichstag passes the second Navy Bill, which calls for doubling the German Navy within 20 years.

1919: Walter Hagen defeats Mike Brady by 1 stroke in an 18-hole playoff to win his second and final US Open golf tournament.

1923: Harry Houdini frees himself from a straight jacket while suspended 40ft upside down in New York.

1926: Brazil leaves the League of Nations.

1930: German boxer Max Schmeling beats Jack Sharkey by disqualification in Round 4, the first time a world heavyweight title is won on a foul.

1931: Al Capone is indicted on 5,000 counts of prohibition and perjury.

1937: After a one-day show trial, eight Soviet generals are sentenced to death and executed by the NKVD.

1942: Dutch girl Anne Frank gets a diary as a 13^th birthday present.

1944: The first V-1 rocket assault on London.

1948: Ben Hogan dominated the final two rounds to win the US Open Men’s Golf tournament.

1952: USSR declares peace treaty with Japan invalid.

1954: Bill Haley and his Comets release Rock Around The Clock.

1957: Death of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey aged 53.

1959: Singles chart:

1. A Fool Such As I – Elvis Presley
2. Roulette – Russ Conway
3. It Doesn’t Matter Anymore – Buddy Holly
4. It’s Late – Ricky Nelson
5. Dream Lover – Bobby Darin
6. I’ve Waited So Long – Anthony Newley
7. Side Saddle – Russ Conway
8. A Teenager In Love – Marty Wilde
9. I Go Ape – Neil Sedaka
10. Come Softly To Me – Frankie Vaughan and The Kaye Sisters

1960: Album chart:

1. South Pacific – Original Soundtrack
2. Can Can – Original Soundtrack
3. This Is Hancock – Tony Hancock
4. Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! – Original Soundtrack
5. Cliff Sings – Cliff Richard
6. The Flower Drum Song – Original Broadway Cast
7. Gigi – Original Soundtrack
8. Songs For Swingin’ Sellers – Peter Sellers
9. The Five Pennies – Original Soundtrack
10. Elvis Golden Records Volume 2 – Elvis Presley

1964: The leader of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, Nelson Mandela, is given a life sentence for sabotage.

1965: The Beatles are awarded MBEs in the Queen’s birthday honours list prompting MP Hector Dupuis to say: “British Royalty has put me on the same level as a bunch of vulgar numbskulls”.

1967: The US Supreme Court unanimously ends laws against interracial marriage.

1972: A bare footed Ronnie Spector left her husband Phil’s Beverly Hills mansion for the last time, leaving behind her adopted sons.

1973: Six Protestant civilians are killed and 33 wounded by a Provisional IRA car bomb in Coleraine.

On TV this day (Tuesday)

1975: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is barred from holding office for six years after she found guilty of electoral corruption.

1976: The Who, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers appeared at Swansea City Football Club.

1978: Serial killer David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”) is sentenced by the New York Supreme Court to 25 years to life.

1981: Larry Holmes TKO’s Leon Spinks in Round 3 for the WBC heavyweight boxing title.

1982: Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and Gary ‘US’ Bonds all appeared at a rally for nuclear disarmament in Central Park, New York to over 450,000 fans.

1983: Death of actress Norma Shearer aged 82

1986: Derek Hatton, controversial deputy leader of Liverpool Council, is expelled from the Labour Party for belonging to the left wing Militant faction.

1987: Central African Republic ex-emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa is sentenced to death.

1989: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson admits using steroids.

1991: Boris Yelstin is elected President of the Russian Federation.

1994: Nicole Brown Simpson, ex-wife of American football star and actor O.J. Simpson is stabbed to death along with friend Ron Goldman at her home in the Brentwood area of LA. On the same day, jazz legend Cab Calloway suffers a massive stroke at his home in White Plaines, New York.

1997: The Globe theatre opens in London – a replica of Shakespeare’s original Globe theatre (1599-1642) with a performance of Henry V, after a campaign by actor Sam Wanamaker.

1999: A NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force KFor enters the province of Kosovo in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

2003: Film star Gregory Peck dies of pneumonia aged 87.

2012: An Australian coroner’s report rules that a dingo was responsible for the death of baby Azaria Chamberlain in 1980. The case had received worldwide coverage at the time with parents Lindy and Michael Chamberlain wrongly convicted of murder.

2013: Mumford & Sons bassist Ted Dwane was rushed into hospital to have an operation to remove a blood clot on his brain.

2015: Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command Nasser al-Wuhayshi (Osama Bin Laden’s former private secretary) is killed in a US air strike in Yemen.

2016: A gunman claiming allegiance to Islamic State opens fire at gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 and injuring 53 – the worst mass shooting in the US. On the same day, the show “Hamilton” wins 11 Tony awards.

2018: A summit begins in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung-un.

2019: Radiohead scuppered a blackmail attempt by releasing 18 hours of music recorded during the making of their classic album OK Computer. Tapes from the sessions had been stolen by hackers who demanded $150,000 for their return. Instead, the band released the tapes in full. On the same day, violent protests break out in Hong Kong as tens of thousands of protesters block and try to storm government buildings to stop extradition law.

BIRTHDAYS: Roy Harper, singer-songwriter, 80; Bun E Carlos (Brad Carlson), drummer, (Cheap Trick) 70; Richard Ayoade, actor/director, 45; Robyn (Carlsson), singer, 42; Dave Franco, actor, 36; Philippe Coutinho (Correia), footballer, 29.