Friday 12th of April 1715

Double murderer Jeremiah Meacham is executed by hanging at the age of 42 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.

Meacham killed his wife and her sister on 21 March 1715. Meacham was executed in front of several thousand spectators and his body was hung in gibbets.

Monday 12th of April 1869

Serial killer Henri Désiré Landru aka Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais is born in 41 Rue Puebla, Paris, XIXe, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 12th of April 1871

General and dictator Ioannis Metaxas is born in Ithakē, Ionian Islands, Greece.

Sunday 12th of April 1885

Painter Robert Delaunay known for founding the Orphism art movement is born in Rue Boissière, Paris, XVIe, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 12th of April 1895

22-year-old Minnie Flora Williams is raped, strangled and mutilated by double murderer Theodore Durrant aka The Demon in the Belfry in Emanuel Baptist Church, Bartlett Street, San Francisco, California, .

Thursday 12th of April 1917

19-year-old Andrée-Anne Babelay is murdered by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru aka Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais in l'Ermitage, Allée des Tilleuls et la Roserale, Gambais, Île-de-France, France.

The entry in Landru's black notebook for that day was "4h 3'."

Saturday 12th of April 1919

50-year-old Serial killer Henri Désiré Landru aka Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais is arrested as Lucien Guillet in 76 Rue de Rochechouart, Paris, IXe, Île-de-France, France.

At Guillet's house a drivers license with the name of Henri Désiré Landru and a little black book with eleven names of disappeared women in it was found by arresting officers Jean Belin and Riboulet. In the bedroom Landru's mistress Fernande Segret fainted and was found stark naked on the floor.

Tuesday 12th of April 1921

22-year-old Serial killer John Reginald Halliday Christie aka The Strangler of 10 Rillington Place is sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for stealing postal orders in Halifax Borough Police Court, Harrison Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 12th of April 1932

Falsetto singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim is born as Herbert Khaury in New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.

Wednesday 12th of April 1933

Soprano Montserrat Caballé is born as María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Friday 12th of April 1940

Musician, bandleader and composer Herbie Herbert Jeffrey Hancock is born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Thursday 12th of April 1945

32nd President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63 in Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia, United States.

Roosevelt said "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head" and then slumped forward in his chair.

Friday 12th of April 1946

Flemish nationalist leader August Borms is executed by the firing squad at the age of 68 in Brussel, Etterbeek, Brabant, Belgium.

Monday 12th of April 1948

Astrologer Howard Sasportas is born in Hartford, Connecticut, United States.

Wednesday 12th of April 1950

Actor and singer David Bruce Cassidy is born in Flower Hospital, 1249 Fifth Avenue, New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.

Wednesday 12th of April 1961

27-year-old Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin known for becoming the first man in space becomes the first man to fly around the world in a Vostok 1 3KA-3 in Geocentric Orbit, Space.

Monday 12th of April 1965

22-year-old Singer-songwriter and musician Johnny Hallyday aka The French Elvis marries 21-year-old Sylvie Vartan aka La Collégienne du Twist in Église Saint-Lucien, Loconville, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

Hallyday and Vartan divorced in 1980.

Monday 12th of April 1965

Triple murderess Frances Elaine Newton is born in Houston, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 12th of April 1967

Cop killer Aaron Mitchell is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 37 in San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States.

Mitchell was the only person to be executed in California during the term of Governor Ronald Reagan. Mitchell's last words were "I'm Jesus Christ."

Saturday 12th of April 1975

Dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker aka The Bronze Venus or The Black Pearl dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 69 in Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris, XIIIe, Île-de-France, France.

On 8 April 1975 Baker starred in a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris, 'Joséphine à Bobino 1975', celebrating her 50 years in show business. Four days later she was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance. She was in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.

Tuesday 12th of April 1977

42-year-old Serial killer Joseph Kallinger aka The Shoemaker sets fire to his cell in Trenton State Prison, Trenton, New Jersey, United States.

Thursday 12th of April 1984

Fashion model Luisel Ramos is born in Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Sunday 12th of April 1987

Noise music band Club Moral play their 69th concert during the Haters tour in Kijkhuis, Denneweg 56, Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

Wednesday 12th of April 1989

Political and social activist and anarchist Abbie Abbot Howard Hoffman commits suicide by swallowing 150 phenobarbital tablets and liquor at the age of 53 in 3424 Sugan Road, Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, United States.

Saturday 12th of April 1997

Two trash bags with a foot, part of a leg and a head are found, presumed victims of Unidentified serial killer Le Dépeceur de Mons aka The Trash Bag Killer in Rue du Dépot, Havré, Hainaut, Belgium.

Sunday 12th of April 1998

32-year-old Elisabetta Zoppetti is shot dead by serial killer Donato Bilancia aka Il Mostro della Liguria in Chiavari, Liguria, Italy.

Bilancia boarded the Intercity La Spezia - Venice because he "wanted to kill a woman". He broke into the bathroom of the wagon and shot Zopetti.

Monday 12th of April 1999

Spree killer Marion Albert Pruett aka The Mad Dog Killer is executed by lethal injection at the age of 50 in Cummins Unit, Varner, Arkansas, United States.

Sunday 12th of April 2009

Porn actress Marilyn Chambers dies of a cerebral hemorrhage and an aneurysm related to heart disease at the age of 57 in Santa Clarita, California, United States.

Saturday 12th of April 2014

Musician Aldo Struyf aka Aldolino and Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven aka AMVK in Frans Masereel Centrum, Masereeldijk 5, Kasterlee, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Tuesday 12th of April 2016

A large cargo ship on the horizon in Cadzand, Zeeland, Netherlands.

Sunday 12th of April 2020

Formula One racer Sterling Craufurd Moss dies of a long illness at the age of 91 in London, Mayfair, Greater London, United Kingdom.