12 April in World History

In Soviet times, this day was marked as Cosmonautics Day, because on 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin, launching aboard the spacecraft Vostok-1, became the first human to travel in space. In the Western world this day is known as Yuri's Night.

On 12 April 1970, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-8 sank with its entire crew in the Bay of Biscay - an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean bordering the coasts of France and Spain - after a four-day fire on board.

On 12 April 1955, the United States introduced vaccination against poliomyelitis (polio), a disease that was widespread in North America and Europe in the mid-20th century. The vaccine was developed and patented by American scientist Jonas Salk, of Jewish origin.

On 12 April 1861, the American Civil War began, fought between the United States and eleven Confederate States of America that had seceded from the USA and formed a new state under President Jefferson Davis. The war lasted from 1861 to 1865. The President of the USA at the time was Abraham Lincoln.

On 12 April 1995, Yahoo - one of the world's leading internet search engines - began operations. The international internet corporation Yahoo! was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo on 1 March 1995 in California, USA.