On this day 12th October

Some notable facts about this date, for more, visit http://www.onthisday.com

Facts

539 BC The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon

1279 Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon

1492 Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall on Caribbean island he names San Salvador (likely Watling Island, Bahamas).

1915 Ford Motor Company under Henry Ford manufactures its 1 millionth Model T automobile

1999 The Day of Six Billion: the proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born

Deaths

632 Edwin of Deira, King of Northumbria and Bretwalda

1654 Rembrandt Carel Fabritius, painter, is injured in the Delft Explosion and later dies of his injuries

1845 Elizabeth Fry, English prison reformer, social reformer and Quaker Minister who is depicted on the British £5 note, dies of a stroke at 65

1870 Robert E. Lee, American General who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War, dies of pneumonia at 63

1940 Tom Mix, American actor (Texan, Hidden Gold), dies at 60

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

2011 Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist (created C programming language, helped developed Unix), dies at 70