Anniversaries 12 April

Birth

Ali al-Rida24

eighth of the Twelve Imams 770–818

Muhammad al-Taqi25

ninth of the Twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'ism 811–835

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford7

English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era 1550–1604

Johann Martin Usteri1

Swiss poet 1763–1827

Henry Clay23

American politician from Kentucky 1777–1852

Donald Grant Mitchell4

American writer 1822–1908

Edward Walter Maunder1

English astronomer studying sunspots 1851–1928

Ioannis Metaxas1

Greek politician 1871–1941

Pierre Piobb1

French ophthalmologist (1874-1942) 1874–1942

Robert Delaunay8

French painter 1885–1941

Gladys Taber1

American writer 1899–1980

Swami Narayanananda10

Indian guru 1902–1988

Philip Wylie12

American writer 1902–1971

Jan Tinbergen21

Dutch economist 1903–1994

Claud Cockburn9

Irish journalist 1904–1981

Robert Lee Scott Jr.1

Brigadier General in the United States Air Force 1908–2006

Frederick Franck30

Dutch painter 1909–2006

Dilgo Khyentse17

Bhutanese Buddhist Lama 1910–1991

Armen Alchian11

American economist 1914–2013

Peter Newmark2

English translation scholar 1916–2011

Beverly Cleary9

American writer of children's books 1916

Anna Kamieńska4

Poet, writer and translator 1920–1986

Said Ramadan3

Egyptian political activist 1926–1995

James Hillman5

American psychologist 1926–2011

Bryan Magee7

British politician 1930–2019

Alan Ayckbourn6

English playwright 1939

John Hagee17

American pastor, theologian and saxophonist 1940

Jacob Zuma11

4th President of South Africa 1942

Federico Hernández Denton2

American judge 1944

Roy McDonald (politician)2

American politician 1947

Tom Clancy83

American author 1947–2013

David Letterman12

American comedian and actor 1947

Joschka Fischer7

German politician 1948

Leonard Paul Blair1

Catholic archbishop 1949

Scott Turow3

American writer 1949

Donal McKeown2

Roman Catholic bishop 1950

Peter Liu Cheng-chung1

Chinese priest 1951

Gary Soto2

American poet and writer 1952

Salam Fayyad2

Palestinian politician 1952

Chiu Kuo-cheng1

Taiwanese military officer 1953

Jon Krakauer54

American outdoors writer and journalist 1954

Andy García1

American actor and director 1956

Liu Xiao Ling Tong3

Chinese actor 1959

Lisa Gerrard5

Australian musician, singer and composer 1961

Lydia Cacho1

Mexican journalist 1963

Jay Leiderman26

lawyer 1971

Nicholas Brendon1

actor 1971

Carolina la O1

Colombian musician 1975

Guy Berryman2

bassist 1978

Jennifer Morrison3

American actress, model, film producer 1979

Claire Danes5

American actress 1979

Tulsi Gabbard30

U.S. Representative from Hawaii's 2nd congressional district 1981

Ted Ginn, Jr.9

American football wide receiver, kick returner 1985

Jamelle Bouie3

American columnist and political correspondent 1987

Arjun Nair3

cricketer 1998

Death

Seneca the Younger225

Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4–65 BC

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet6

French bishop and theologian 1627–1704

George Cheyne (physician)1

British doctor 1671–1743

Pietro Metastasio9

Italian poet and librettist (born 3 January 1698, died 12 A… 1698–1782

Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon3

French writer 1707–1777

Charles Burney4

English music historian 1726–1814

Arthur Young7

English writer 1741–1820

Clara Barton1

American Civil War nurse 1821–1912

William M. Tweed2

United States politician 1823–1878

Thomas De Witt Talmage7

American Presbyterian preacher, clergyman and reformer duri… 1832–1902

William Graham Sumner9

American academic 1840–1910

Franklin D. Roosevelt190

32nd President of the United States 1882–1945

Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz7

Philosopher, logician 1890–1963

Igor Tamm1

Russian physicist 1895–1971

Alan Paton14

South African writer and activist 1903–1988

Joe Louis2

American boxer 1914–1981

Sugar Ray Robinson9

American boxer 1921–1989

William Sloane Coffin4

American activist 1924–2006

John Maddox2

Welsh chemist, physicist, journalist and editor 1925–2009

Robert Byrne4

American chess player and writer 1928–2013

Arnold Wesker3

British dramatist 1932–2016

Brennan Manning52

writer, American Roman Catholic priest and United States Ma… 1934–2013

Abbie Hoffman43

American political and social activist 1936–1989

Tommy Smith (footballer, born 1945)3

Former English professional association footballer 1945–2019

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick4

American academic 1950–2009