

On June 12, 2016, gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

People gather at a memorial on the lawn of the Dr. Phillips Center for the performing arts before holding a candlelight vigil after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 13, 2016. File Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI UPI Members of the Wrigley Little League Dodgers of Los Angeles wear the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson as they stand on the baseline during a tee ball game on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2007. On June 12, 1974, after 35 years of existence, the Little League organization asked Congress to change the wording of its charter to allow girls to play on teams. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI UPI Medgar Evers, field secretary for the NAACP, was shot to death by a sniper early June 12, 1963, outside his home in Jackson, Miss. Evers had just stepped out of his car (rear) and started toward the carport when he was hit in the back by a high-powered rifle. UPI File Photo UPI People enjoy the weather in Central Park in New York City on May 3, 2020. On June 12, 1982, the park was host to an estimated 1 million people gathered to call for world nuclear disarmament, the largest disarmament rally in U.S. history. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI UPI Visitors to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Grand Hall view the Hall of Fame member plaques in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 25, 2014. On June 12, 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI UPI
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Today is Friday, June 12, the 163rd day of 2026 with 202 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune and Saturn. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mercury and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Gemini. They include artist Egon Schiele in 1890; artist/writer Djuna Barnes in 1892; entrepreneur David Rockefeller in 1915; cartoonist Dave Berg in 1920; U.S. President George H.W. Bush in 1924; musician Vic Damone in 1928; diarist Anne Frank in 1929; actor/musician Jim Nabors in 1930; musician Chick Corea in 1941; sportscaster Marv Albert in 1941 (age 85); actor Sonia Manzano in 1950 (age 76); musician Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) in 1950 (age 76); actor Timothy Busfield in 1957 (age 69); musician Meredith Brooks in 1958 (age 68); musician John Linnell (They Might Be Giants) in 1959 (age 67); comedian Scott Thompson in 1959 (age 67); musician Bardi Martin (Candlebox) in 1969 (age 57); actor Rick Hoffman in 1970 (age 56); actor Jason Mewes in 1974 (age 52); actor Timothy Simons in 1978 (age 48); musician Robyn in 1979 (age 47); model Adriana Lima in 1981 (age 45); musician John Gourley (Portugal. The Man) in 1981 (age 45); software developer Blake Ross in 1985 (age 41); actor Dave Franco in 1985 (age 41); actor Georgina Campbell in 1992 (age 34); musician Don Toliver in 1994 (age 32); actor Spencer MacPherson in 1997 (age 29); actor Scarlett Spears in 2017 (age 9).
On this date in history:
In 1935, U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. The park opened to visitors in July 1944.
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In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.
In 1963, a sniper killed civil rights leader Medgar Evers outside his home in Jackson, Miss.
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states couldn't outlaw interracial marriages.
In 1971, Tricia Nixon, daughter of U.S. President Richard Nixon, married Edward Finch Cox in the first wedding in the Rose Garden of the White House. The event featured a 7-foot-tall, 350-pound lemon wedding cake.
In 1974, after 35 years of existence, the Little League organization asked Congress to change the wording of its charter to allow girls to play on teams. A decade later, Belgian outfielder Victoria Roche became the first girl to play on the championship roster of the Little League Baseball World Series.
In 1979, Bryan Allen, 26, pedaled the 70-pound Gossamer Albatross 22 miles on the first human-powered flight across the English Channel.
In 1982, an estimated 700,000 people gathered in New York's Central Park to call for world nuclear disarmament.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan asked Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
In 1991, Boris Yeltsin became the first freely elected Russian president. Yeltsin, a key figure in the demise of the Soviet Union, was president until his resignation in 1999.
In 2010, Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old California girl trying to sail solo around the world, was rescued by a French fishing vessel after her boat lost its mast in rough weather in the Indian Ocean.
In 2012, Ron Barber, former aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was seriously wounded in a shooting rampage, won a special election to replace her. Six people were killed and a dozen others, including Barber, were wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011, attack by Jared Lee Loughner.
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In 2014, former President George H.W. Bush parachuted from a helicopter near his summer home at Kennebunkport, Maine, on his 90th birthday. Bush jumped in tandem with Mike Elliott, a retired member of the Army's Golden Knights parachute team.
In 2016, gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people in a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. It was the deadliest attack on the American LGBTQ community in U.S. history and the shooter pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
In 2018, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took part in a summit in Singapore to discuss denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.
In 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation banning police from using chokeholds on citizens and making race-based false police reports a crime.
In 2025, Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, killing 242 people on board and several others on the ground. There was a sole survivor aboard the plane.
A thought for the day: "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." -- Jewish-Dutch writer Anne Frank