In History, Today on November 12

Astronaut Wang Yaping becomes the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk, during the Shenzhou 13 mission to the Chinese space station module Tianhe.

Venice, Italy, experienced its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with water levels reaching 1.87 meters (6.14 feet), causing extensive damage to historic sites and buildings.

A powerful earthquake strikes the Iran-Iraq border region, killing over 600 people and injuring thousands more.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission successfully lands its Philae probe on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, marking the first time a spacecraft has landed on a comet.

The Arab League suspends Syria's membership in response to the Syrian government's violent crackdown on protesters during the Syrian Civil War.

American Airlines Flight 587 crashes in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens, New York City, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor of Japan, following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito, marking the beginning of the Heisei era.

The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn, providing unprecedented data and images of the planet and its rings.

The Bhola cyclone, the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, strikes the densely populated Ganges Delta region of then-East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people.

Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia join the United Nations, reflecting the post-World War II decolonization movement and the expansion of the UN.

An international military tribunal in Tokyo sentences seven Japanese military and government officials to death for war crimes committed during World War II.

The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened to traffic, connecting San Francisco and Oakland across San Francisco Bay.

Hugh Gray takes the first known photos of the Loch Ness Monster, sparking widespread interest and debate about the creature's existence.

Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, marking a significant power shift in the Soviet Union and consolidating Joseph Stalin's control.

The frozen bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, eight months after their deaths during the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.

The treaty of the Durand Line was signed between British India and the Emirate of Afghanistan, establishing the Durand Line, a 2,430 km border between India and Afghanistan.

Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform, widely changing practices in surgical procedures.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a prominent American suffragette and women's rights activist, was born.

Andrew Ellicott Douglass, the American astronomer and pioneer of dendrochronology (tree-ring dating), was born.

North Carolina ratified the Bill of Rights.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz demonstrated integral calculus for the first time.

Francisco Pizarro and his men arrived in the town of Cajamarca in the Inca Empire and prepared for their meeting with the Inca Emperor Atahualpa.

The Battle of Posada took place where the Wallachian Voivode Basarab I defeated the Hungarian King Charles I Robert.

Canute the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, dies. His death leads to a succession crisis and the eventual end of the North Sea Empire.

The Tibetan Empire, under the leadership of Trisong Detsen, launched an attack on the Tang dynasty's capital, Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an), during the An Lushan Rebellion. The Tibetans briefly occupied the city, marking a significant moment in the Tibetan Empire's expansion and its interactions with China.