On This Day for February 12 - Chile's independence from Spain declared, Abraham Lincoln is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. February 12 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Abraham Lincoln READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1818 Chile's independence from Spain declared READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2019: As per the terms of the Prespa Agreement (2018), the Republic of Macedonia formally changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. [Sort fact from fiction in our European history quiz.] 2002: Slobodan Milošević , president of Yugoslavia in 1997–2000, went on trial for war crimes in The Hague, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; he died four years later, before the trial had ended. [Watch a video about the International Criminal Court.] 1994: Thieves broke into the National Gallery in Oslo and stole The Scream (later recovered), one of several versions Norwegian artist Edvard Munch made of his most famous painting. [Read more about this and other notable art thefts.] 1934: American basketball player Bill Russell, one of the greatest defensive centres in NBA history and the first Black coach of a major professional American sports team (the Boston Celtics), was born. [ See if Bill Russell made our list of the 10 greatest basketball players of all time.] 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. 1809: British naturalist Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, was born. [ What Darwin got right (and wrong) about evolution.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1809 Abraham Lincoln president of United States 1809 Charles Darwin British naturalist 1884 Alice Roosevelt Longworth American politician and socialite 1934 Bill Russell American basketball player 1948 Ray Kurzweil American computer scientist and futurist 1893 Omar Nelson Bradley United States general SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2021 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help