THURSDAY, Feb. 12, 2026

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

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"

1941-First injection of penicillin into a patient by British physician Charles Fletcher at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England

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

1973-First U.S. POWs in North Vietnam released; 116 of 456 flown to Philippines

1974-Heads of state of Algeria, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia discuss oil strategy in view of the progress in Arab-Israeli disengagement

1988-U.S. Navy frigate USS Yorktown bumped by Russian frigate Bezzavetny in the Black Sea in dispute over right of innocent passage

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, claiming it is a nuclear device that can be weaponized

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