What Happened in April 1912

Historical Events

  • Apr 2 Sun Yet Sen forms Guomindang Party in China

Titanic Undergoes Trials

Apr 2 Titanic undergoes sea trials under its own power

  • Apr 4 Army fires on striking mine workers at Lena-gold fields in Siberia
  • Apr 4 Chinese republic proclaimed in Tibet
  • Apr 8 Steamers collide on the Nile, drowning 200
  • Apr 9 1st exhibition baseball game at Fenway Park (Red Sox vs Harvard)
  • Apr 10 RMS Titanic sets sail from Southampton for her maiden (and final) voyage
  • Apr 11 Cornerstone of Technion laid in Haifa, Palestine
  • Apr 11 RMS Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland, for NY
  • Apr 11 The UK Parliament introduce a Irish home rule bill, granting Ireland its own bicameral parliament and be required to send a representative to the British House of Commons; Protestants in Ulster resist
  • Apr 13 Royal Flying Corps forms (later Royal Air Force)

Titanic Hits Iceberg

Apr 14 RMS Titanic, the world's largest ocean liner, hits an iceberg at 11.40pm off Newfoundland, sinks in the early hours of 15 April

  • Apr 15 16th Boston Marathon won by Mike Ryan in race record 2:21:18.2

Titantic Sinks

Apr 15 RMS Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM off Newfoundland as the band plays on, with the loss of between 1,490 and 1,635 people

1st Woman Pilot Crosses Channel

Apr 16 Harriet Quimby becomes the 1st female pilot to fly across English Channel

  • Apr 16 Pirates turn a rare 5-3-7 doubleplay (left fielder covers 2nd base)

1st Unofficial Gold Record

Apr 17 1st unofficial gold record (Al Jolson's "Ragging The Baby To Sleep")

  • Apr 18 Cunard liner RMS Carpathia brings 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic to New York City
  • Apr 18 Tripolitan War: in continuing hostilities, Turkey closes the Dardanelles Straits after an Italian naval bombardment of the coastline
  • Apr 20 Fenway Park officially opens, Red Sox beat NY Highlanders 7-6 in 11
  • Apr 20 Tiger Stadium in Detroit opens, Tigers beat Cleveland Indians 6-5
  • Apr 26 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)
  • Apr 27 Relief laws in Netherlands replace those of 1854
  • Apr 29 108°F (42°C), Tuguegarao, Philippines (Oceania record)

Tod und Teufel

Apr 29 Frank Wedekind's play "Tod und Teufel" premieres in Berlin


1912 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Apr 2 Herbert Mills, American singer, (The Mills Brothers), born in Piqua, Ohio (d. 1989)
  • Apr 2 Ollie O'Toole, American comedian, impressionist, and actor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1992)
  • Apr 3 Addeke H Boerma, Dutch economist and general manager (FAO) (d. 1992)
  • Apr 3 Bert Bakker, Dutch publisher (Free Netherlands), born in Huizum, Netherlands (d. 1969)
  • Apr 5 John Le Mesurier, British actor (The Italian Job, Jabberwocky, Dad's Army), born in Bedford, England (d. 1983)
  • Apr 8 Alois Brunner, Austrian Nazi, assistant to Adolf Eichmann (convicted in absentia for crimes against humanity), born in Nádkút, Austria-Hungary (d. c. 2010)

Sonja Henie (1912-1969)

Apr 8 Norwegian figure skater (Olympic gold 1928, 32, 36), and actress (My Lucky Star), born in Oslo, Norway

  • Apr 9 Lew Kopelew, Russian author, born in Kiev, Russian Empire (d. 1997)
  • Apr 9 Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin, hero, born in Tendring, Essex (d. 1994)
  • Apr 10 Clarke Hinkle, American NFL fullback (Green Bay Packers), born in Toronto, Ohio (d. 1988)
  • Apr 10 Roy Hofheinz, American judge and engineer (Houston Astrodome), born in Beaumont, Texas (d. 1982)
  • Apr 11 John Larkin, American actor (Saints & Sinners, The Satan Bug, 12 O'Clock High), born in Oakland, California (d. 1965)
  • Apr 12 Eric Feldary, Hungarian actor (Hold Back the Dawn; 16 Fathoms Deep), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1968)
  • Apr 12 Georges Franju, French film director (Judex; Les Yeux sans visage - Eyes Without A Face), born in Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine, France (d. 1987)
  • Apr 12 Harold Maguire, British air marshal, born in Kilkishen, Ireland (d. 2001)
  • Apr 12 Walter "Walt" Gorney, American character actor (Friday the 13th; Trading Places), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2004)
  • Apr 13 Roy Winsor, American producer (Search for Tomorrow, Love of Life), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1987)
  • Apr 14 Belinda Quirey, British dance historian and teacher, born in UK (d. 1996)
  • Apr 14 Piet van Egmond, Dutch organist and conductor (Netherlands Chamber Orchestra), born in Amsterdam (d. 1982)
  • Apr 14 Robert Doisneau, French photographer (The Kiss), born in Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, France (d. 1994)

Kim Il-sung (1912-1994)

Apr 15 Founder, dictator and Supreme Leader of North-Korea (1948-94), born in Mangyongdae, Japanese Korea

  • Apr 16 Catherine Scorsese [Cappa], Italian-American actress (The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear), born in New York City (d. 1997)
  • Apr 16 David Langton [Basil Muir Langton-Dodds], Scottish actor (The Avengers, Quintet, St Joan, Abandon Ship), born in Motherwell, Scotland (d. 1994)
  • Apr 16 Garth Williams, American illustrator (Charlotte's Web), born in New York City (d. 1996)
  • Apr 16 John Halas, Hungarian-American cartoonist and animator (Animal Farm), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1995)
  • Apr 17 Isador Caplan, British lawyer and Aldeburgh Festival pioneer, born in Blackpool, England (d. 1995)
  • Apr 18 Wendy Barrie, British-American TV hostess (Wendy Barrie Show), born in British Hong Kong (d. 1978)
  • Apr 19 Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (AEC, Plutonium, Nobel 1951), born in Ishpeming, Michigan (d. 1999)
  • Apr 19 William Murray, British teacher and educationalist, born in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland (d. 1995)
  • Apr 20 David Townsend, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, HS 36; Durham CCC), born in Norton-on-Tees, England (d. 1997)
  • Apr 20 Ed Jones, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee, born in Yorkville, Tennessee (d. 1999)
  • Apr 20 Frederick Craig Riddle, British violist, born in Liverpool (d. 1995)
  • Apr 20 Soewarsih Djojopoespito, Indonesian writer (Toe the Line), born in Bogor, Indonesia (d. 1977)
  • Apr 21 Eve Arnold, American photojournalist (Marilyn Monroe), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
  • Apr 21 Feike Asma, Dutch organist and conductor, born in Den Helder, Amsterdam (d. 1984)
  • Apr 21 Marcel Camus, French film director (Orfeu Negro), born in Chappes, France (d. 1982)
  • Apr 22 Kathleen Ferrier, English contralto singer (Orfeo Ed Evridice), born in Higher Walton, Lancashire (d. 1953)
  • Apr 22 Miguel Querol Gavalda, Spanish musicologist and composer, born in Ulldecona, Spain (d. 2002)
  • Apr 25 Gladys Presley, mother of Elvis, born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1958)
  • Apr 26 A. E. van Vogt, Canadian sci-fi author (Wizard of Linn), born in Gretna, Manitoba (d. 2000)
  • Apr 27 Franz Weyergans, Belgian writer and translator (Les Gens Heureux), born in Seraing, Belgium (d. 1974)
  • Apr 27 Frederick R. Weisman, philanthropist, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1994)
  • Apr 27 Renato Rascel [Ranucci], Italian actor (7 Hills of Rome, Secrets of Santa Vittoria), born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy (d. 1991)
  • Apr 28 Odette Hallowes, British classified agent in France (WWII), born in Amiens, France (d. 1995)
  • Apr 29 Italo Valenti, Italian sculptor, born in Milan (d. 1995)
  • Apr 29 Richard Carlson, American stage and screen actor (All I Desire,; I Led 3 Lives), screenwriter and director (Riders to the Stars), born in Albert Lea, Minnesota (d. 1977)
  • Apr 29 Terence de Vere White, Irish novelist (An Affair with the Moon), born in Dublin (d. 1994)
  • Apr 30 Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado, Deputy Prime Minister of Spain (1976-81) and Minister of Defense (1977-79), born in Madrid (d. 1995)
Born in 1912

Famous Weddings

Erle Stanley Gardner

Apr 9 Detective writer Erle Stanley Gardner (22) weds Natalie Talbert

Famous Deaths

  • Apr 4 Charles Brantley Aycock, 50th Governor of North Carolina (1901-05), dies at 52
  • Apr 4 Isaac Kauffman Funk, American publisher (Funk & Wagnalls), dies at 72

Clara Barton (1821-1912)

Apr 12 American nurse and founder of the American Red Cross, dies of tuberculosis at 90

  • Apr 13 Ishikawa Takuboku, Japanese author, dies at 26
  • Apr 14 Henri Brisson, French statesman (b. 1835)

Edward Smith (1850-1912)

Apr 15 English naval captain of the RMS Titanic, dies when the ship sinks in the Atlantic Ocean aged 62

John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912)

Apr 15 American business magnate, real estate developer (Astoria Hotel) and soldier (richest passenger aboard the Titanic), dies aboard the Titanic at 47, presumed drowned

  • Apr 15 William T. Stead, British newspaper editor (The Pall Mall Gazette), dies in the sinking of the Titanic at 62

Bram Stoker (1847-1912)

Apr 20 Irish theater manager and author (Dracula), dies at 64

  • Apr 20 H. H. Holmes [Herman Webster Mudgett], American serial killer associated with 27 deaths, dies at 64
  • Apr 24 Justin M'Carthy, Irish politician and novelist (Miss Misanthrope), dies at 81
  • Apr 30 František Kmoch, Czech composer and conductor, dies at 63