MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · December 12
THE DAY IN HISTORY · DECEMBER 12
December 12 in history
1936 — The Xi’an Incident
12 Dec 1936 — Zhang Xueliang — whose Manchuria Chiang would not fight for — kidnaps his own commander-in-chief to force a united front against Japan. Stalin urges Chiang’s release; Zhou Enlai negotiates it. Civil war is suspended by mutiny: the CCP survives 1936 because a warlord wanted his homeland back.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE CHINA IN REVOLUTION MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
1937 — The USS Panay
12 Dec 1937 — Japanese aircraft sink an American gunboat evacuating civilians up the Yangtze, in plain daylight. Tokyo apologizes and pays; Washington accepts — and remembers.
READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE THE ROAD TO WAR MAP → · THE FULL STORY →
1963 — Nairobi — Uhuru
12 Dec 1963 — Jomo Kenyatta, jailed by Britain as a Mau Mau leader, becomes independent Kenya’s premier — preaching Harambee, “pulling together,” and a startling reconciliation with the settlers who stayed.
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