Today in News History

On July 12, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1709, Johan Gottschalk Wallerius, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (died 1785) was born. In 1916, Alexander Prokhorov, Australian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002) was born. In 1916, Mortimer Caplin, American tax attorney, educator, and IRS Commissioner (died 2019) was born. In 1930, Mike Foster, American politician, 53rd Governor of Louisiana (died 2020) was born. In 1944, Michael Levy, Baron Levy, English philanthropist was born. In 1953, Piyasvasti Amranand, Thai businessman and politician, Thai Minister of Energy was born. In 1978, Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain killing 216 tourists. In 1999, Jan Sloot, Dutch computer scientist and electronics technician (born 1945) passed away. In 2007, Ed Mirvish, American-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded Honest Ed's (born 1914) passed away. In 2013, Emik Avakian, Iranian-American inventor (born 1923) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.