WEDNESDAY, Feb. 12, 2025

1700-The Great Northern War begins in Northern Europe between Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia and the Swedish Empire.

1879-First artificial ice rink in North America at Madison Square Garden, NYC

1912-The last Qing Emperor of China, Puyi (age 6) abdicates after losing the support of the Chinese people and thus the "mandate of heaven"

1934-Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss government bans Social Democrat party

1947-French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

1950-Albert Einstein warns against the hydrogen bomb

1999-U.S. President Bill Clinton acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial

2001-NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lands in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid

2013-North Korea allegedly conducts its third nuclear test, saying it was a nuclear device that could be weaponized

2016-Pope Francis meets Patriarch Kirill in Havana - first meeting between Catholic and Russian Orthodox church heads for nearly 1,000 years