February 12
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Featured Event
Børre Høstland/The Fine Art Collections, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design; Gift of Olaf Schou 1910, NG.M.00939 (CC BY 4.0)
Thieves steal The Scream
Thieves broke into the National Gallery in Oslo on this day in 1994 and stole The Scream, Edvard Munch’s most famous painting. “Thanks for the poor security,” said a note they reportedly left at the scene. The painting was recovered a few months later, largely undamaged. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We—even we here—hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.
Born this day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president (1861–65), preserved the Union during the American Civil War, brought about the emancipation of enslaved people, and was an eloquent spokesman for democracy.
Famous Birthdays
More on February 12
© Andrew Milligan—PA Images/Getty Images
2026
Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics. Heraskevych, a Ukrainian skeleton sledding athlete, planned to compete wearing a helmet with images of Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022; the International Olympic Committee barred him, saying the helmet violated its rules against political speech.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2019
The Republic of Macedonia formally changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. [Sort fact from fiction in our European history quiz.]
Staff Sgt. Brian Schlumbohm/U.S. Air Force
2002
Slobodan Milošević, president of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000, went on trial at The Hague for war crimes during the Kosovo conflict. He died in 2006, before the trial had ended.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1953
The government of Egypt government signed an agreement with Britain granting self-government for the Sudan and self-determination within three years for the Sudanese. [Read about the decolonization of Africa.]
© Joe Maher/Getty Images
1947
Fashion designer Christian Dior introduced the Dior Bar suit, a stark departure from practical wartime styles. With its full skirt, tight waist, and pronounced bust, Dior described this “New Look” as “the return to an ideal of civilized happiness.” [Learn more about the people, places, and events that shaped the 1940s.]
© Jerry Coli/Dreamstime.com
1934
Bill Russell, one of the greatest defensive centers in NBA history and the first Black coach of a major professional American sports team (the Boston Celtics), was born in Monroe, Louisiana. [See if Bill Russell made our list of the 10 greatest basketball players of all time.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1912
Puyi, the last emperor of China, abdicated at the end of the Chinese Revolution. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about China.]
© Library of Congress—Corbis/Getty Images
1909
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded, its goal being the elimination of systemic racism in the United States. Its creation was the result of outrage on the part of white and Black Americans in the aftermath of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908. [Why is Black History Month celebrated in February?]
State Library of Victoria, Australia; gift of Mrs. T. Cameron, 1980 (accession no. H84.458/13)
1851
Gold was discovered in east-central New South Wales, sparking Australia’s first gold rush. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Australia.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1818
Chile formally declared independence, exactly one year after revolutionary forces led by José de San Martín won a decisive victory over Spanish royalists at Chacabuco.
Julia Margaret Cameron/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ds-16381)
1809
Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, was born in England. [What Darwin got right (and wrong) about evolution.]
© Photos.com/Getty Images
1804
Immanuel Kant, one of the foremost thinkers of the Enlightenment, died in what is now Kaliningrad, Russia. [Explore the history of Western philosophers.]
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1554
At age 16 Lady Jane Grey, titular queen of England, was executed in London by order of Mary I. [Test your knowledge of the queens in England.]