Today in History - onthisday.com

 

Sept 12

                                                          

1624 The first submarine is publicly tested in London on the Thames for King James I 

1758 French astronomer Charles Messier mistakes the Crab Nebula for a comet while searching for Halley's Comet, leading him to begin his Messier Catalogue 

1909 World's first patent for synthetic rubber is granted to German chemist Fritz Hofmann

1910 Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony "Symphony of a Thousand" premieres in Munich with 1,028 musicians

United States' first known female police officer, Alice Stebbins Wells, is appointed by the LAPD

1940 Four teenagers follow their dog down a hole near Lascaux, France, and discover 17,000-year-old drawings now known as the Lascaux Cave Paintings

1958 US Supreme Court orders the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, to integrate

1959 Luna 2 is launched by the Soviet Union, becoming the first spacecraft to impact the Moon

1992 Stefan Edberg beats Michael Chang 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in 5 hours and 26 minutes, the longest match in US Open history at the time (eclipsed in 2024)