Today in History - History - October 12th

1833Charles Darwin begins return trip to Buenos Aires

1987George Harrison releases "Got My Mind Set On You"

1792First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York

1915Theodore Roosevelt criticizes US citzens who identify themselves, with dual nationalities

1986Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China

1900The first modern submarine is commissioned by the U.S.Navy as the USS Holland, named for its designer John Philip Holland

1973Nixon nominates Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as VP

1960Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe on his desk at UN General Assembly session

1960JFK & Richard Nixon's third presidential debate

1492Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall on Caribbean island he names San Salvador (likely Watling Island, Bahamas). The explorer believes he has reached East Asia (OS 21 Oct)

1935Luciano Pavarotti, Modena Italy, operatic tenor (Oh Giorgio, 3 Tenors), (d. 2007)

1968Hugh Jackman, Australian actor and singer (X-men, Real Steel)

1822"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" author Victor Hugo (20) weds Adele Fourcher

1893Education pioneer Booker T. Washington (37) weds Margaret James Murray

1942Jazz musician Louis Armstrong (41) weds dancer Lucille Wilson (28)

1991Steven Spielberg weds Kate Capshaw

1929US military leader George Marshall (48) weds Katherine Tupper

1980Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman (43) weds businesswoman Lisa Gottsegen (26) in Roxbury, Connecticut

1999Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player, dies of congestive heart failure at 63

1870Robert E. Lee, US General of Confederate Army, dies at 63

1997John Denver, American country music star (Country Boy), dies in a plane crash at 53

1845Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer and philanthropist (b. 1780)