1912

Events

1. 1 January

   Sun Yat-sen proclaims the Republic of China in Nanjing

   Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as provisional president of the new Republic of China. Six weeks later the last Qing emperor abdicated, ending more than two thousand years of imperial rule.

2. 

   6 January

   Alfred Wegener presents his theory of continental drift

   At a geology meeting in Frankfurt, Wegener argued that the continents had once formed a single landmass and drifted apart. Long rejected, the idea was vindicated by plate tectonics in the 1960s.

   Frankfurt

3. 12 February

   Puyi, the last Emperor of China, abdicates

   The Empress Dowager Longyu issued the edict of abdication for the six-year-old Puyi. The fall of the Qing ended more than two thousand years of imperial rule in China.

4. 

   12 March

   Juliette Gordon Low founds the Girl Scouts in Savannah

   Inspired by the Guide movement she had seen in Britain, Low gathered 18 girls for the first meeting of the American Girl Guides. Renamed the Girl Scouts in 1913, it has had tens of millions of members.

   Savannah

5. 10 April

   Titanic leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage

   RMS Titanic, the largest ship afloat, sailed from Southampton for New York via Cherbourg and Queenstown. Five days later she struck an iceberg and sank with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

   New York

6. 14 April

   Titanic strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic

   At 11.40 pm the liner struck an iceberg south of Newfoundland, opening several forward compartments to the sea. She sank less than three hours later, early on 15 April.

   Newfoundland

7. 15 April

   Titanic sinks with the loss of more than 1,500 lives

   The liner went down at 2.20 am with lifeboat places for barely half of the 2,224 aboard. The disaster led to the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea in 1914.

8. 

   5 November

   Woodrow Wilson is elected US president

   With Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft splitting the Republican vote, the Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the presidency. He created the Federal Reserve and led America into the First World War.

   United StatesFirst World WarWoodrow Wilson

9. 12 November

   Searchers find the tent of Scott's polar party

   A search party found the snow-covered tent containing the bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and two companions, eight months after their deaths returning from the South Pole. Scott's diary told their story.

10. 28 November

    Albania declares independence

    In Vlorë, Ismail Qemali raised the Albanian flag and proclaimed independence from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War. The great powers recognised the new state the following year.

    Ottoman Empire

11. 18 December

    'Piltdown Man' is presented to the Geological Society

    Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward announced fossils from Piltdown in Sussex as an early human ancestor. In 1953 they were exposed as a forgery combining a human skull and an orang-utan jaw.

12. 

    Event

    Sáenz Peña Law

    The Sáenz Peña Law was the Argentine electoral law of 1912, promoted by President Roque Sáenz Peña, which established secret, universal and compulsory male suffrage for citizens and representation for minorities.

13. Treaty

    Treaty of Fez

    The Treaty of Fez was signed on 30 March 1912 by Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco and France after the Agadir Crisis.

14. 

    Treaty · Peace

    Treaty of Ouchy

    The Treaty of Ouchy, signed at Ouchy near Lausanne on 18 October 1912, ended the Italo-Turkish War.

In the profiles

• Qing EmpireThe six-year-old Puyi abdicates, ending imperial rule in China
• Wadai EmpireFrance abolishes the Wadai sultanate
• Republic of NicaraguaUS Marines land, beginning an occupation that lasts until 1933
• Argentine RepublicThe Sáenz Peña Law introduces secret and compulsory male suffrage
• Republic of ChinaSun Yat-sen becomes provisional president at Nanjing; the last Qing emperor abdicates
• Union of South AfricaThe South African Native National Congress, later the ANC, is founded at Bloemfontein
• Bahá'í FaithʻAbdu’l-Bahá travels across North America, speaking in churches, synagogues and universities

Wars and longer events

• Balkan WarsBegan · 1912–1913
• First Balkan WarBegan · 1912–1913
• London Conference of 1912–1913Began · 1912–1913
• Italo-Turkish WarEnded · 1911–1912

Born in 1912 23

• Man Singh II of Jaipur1912–1970
• Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum1912–1990
• Alfredo Stroessner1912–2006
• Mwambutsa IV1912–1977
• Raoul Wallenberg1912–c. 1947
• Alan Turing1912–1954
• Patrick White1912–1990
• Kim Il Sung1912–1994
• Abubakar Tafawa Balewa1912–1966
• Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma1912–1991
• Dinmukhamed Kunaev1912–1993
• Ghalib Alhinai1912–2009
• Hamengkubuwono IX1912–1988
• Jorge Amado1912–2001
• Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan1912–1976
• Philibert Tsiranana1912–1978
• Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo1912–1975
• Reting Rinpoche1912–1947
• Zainal Abidin Syah1912–1967
• Fernando Belaúnde Terry1912–2002
• Alexis Kagame1912–1981
• Yusuf Lule1912–1985
• János Kádár1912–1989

Died in 1912 11

• Edward Wilmot Blyden1832–1912
• Emperor Meiji1852–1912
• Eloy Alfaro1842–1912
• Benjamín Zeledón1879–1912
• Yung Wing1828–1912
• Mataʻafa Iosefo1832–1912
• Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore1829–1912
• Arthur MacArthur Jr.1845–1912
• Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria1821–1912
• Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo1871–1912
• William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg1852–1912

Works 1

• Ulster CovenantWork / monument

States founded 9

• Beiyang government 1912 CE – 1928 CE
• Free State of Icaria 1912 CE – 1912 CE
• French protectorate in Morocco 1912 CE – 1956 CE
• Italian Islands of the Aegean 1912 CE – 1947 CE
• Italian Libya 1912 CE – 1943 CE
• Provisional Government of Albania 1912 CE – 1914 CE
• Republic of China 1912 CE – present
• Spanish protectorate in Morocco 1912 CE – 1956 CE
• Tibet (1912-1951) 1912 CE – 1951 CE

States that came to an end 6

• Free State of Icaria 1912 CE – 1912 CE
• Ganden Phodrang 1642 CE – 1912 CE
• Principality of Samos 1834 CE – 1912 CE
• Qing Empire 1644 CE – 1912 CE
• Tripolitania Vilayet 1835 CE – 1912 CE
• Wadai Empire 1611 CE – 1912 CE