Today in News History

On July 12, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1789, In response to the dismissal of the French finance minister Jacques Necker, the radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gives a speech which results in the storming of the Bastille two days later. In 1872, Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (died 1945) was born. In 1913, The Second Revolution breaks out against the Beiyang government, as Li Liejun proclaims Jiangxi independent from the Republic of China. In 1967, Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey. In 1973, A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States. In 1995, Chinese seismologists successfully predict the 1995 Myanmar-China earthquake, reducing the number of casualties to 11. In 1998, The Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers. In 2006, The 2006 Lebanon War begins. In 2007, U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet. In 2012, Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.