Thursday 12th of January 1860

Murderer Patrick Maude is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Newark, New Jersey, United States.

The execution took place in the large hall of the jail, used as a dining-room, and was witnessed by about 300 persons. The gallows was erected at the north end of the hall, and consisted of a cross-beam supported by two uprights. A rope, to the end of which was attached a hook, passed over a pulley in the centre of the cross beam, and thence down one of the uprights through the floor. Attached to the end were five fifty-sixty pound weights, held by a catch, so arranged that by springing it with a treadle the weights would fall a distance of six feet.

Wednesday 12th of January 1876

Writer, journalist and social activist Jack London is born as John Griffith Chaney in San Francisco, California, United States.

Monday 12th of January 1891

Biochemist Jack Cecil Drummond is born in Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.

Thursday 12th of January 1893

Reichsmarschall and Nazi leader Hermann Wilhelm Göring is born in Marienbad Sanatorium, Hausstätterstraße 22, Rosenheim, Bayern, Germany.

Saturday 12th of January 1918

Spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is born as Mahesh Prasad Varma in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.

The birth name, birth date, and caste of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi are not known with certainty, in part because of the tradition of ascetics and monks to relinquish family connections. Various accounts give the year of his birth as 1911, 1917 or 1918. Authors Paul Mason and William Jefferson say that he was born 12 January 1917 in Jabalpur. The place of birth given in his passport is Pounalulla, India, and his birth date 12 January 1918.

Tuesday 12th of January 1926

Start of the second trial against 25-year-old Accomplice of serial killer Fritz Haarmann aka Der Hannover Werwolf Hans Grans in Schwürgericht, Volgersweg 65, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Thursday 12th of January 1928

Murderer Henry Judd Gray aka The Putty Man is executed by Old Sparky by Robert Elliott at the age of 36 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

Thursday 12th of January 1928

Murderess Ruth Brown Snyder aka The Granite Woman is executed by Old Sparky by Robert Elliott at the age of 33 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

Snyder's execution by 'State Electrician' Robert G. Elliott was caught on film by a photograph of her as the electricity was running through her body with the aid of a miniature plate camera custom-strapped to the ankle of Chicago Tribune photographer Tom Howard.

Monday 12th of January 1942

Leader of the Weather Underground Bernardine Rae Dohrn is born as Ohrnstein in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

Wednesday 12th of January 1944

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Inge Viett is born in Stemwarde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Thursday 12th of January 1950

Cop killer Ricky Ray Rector is born in Conway, Arkansas, United States.

Thursday 12th of January 1950

64 die in HMS Truculent (P315) collision in Thames Estuary, Essex, United Kingdom.

The Swedish oil tanker Divina's bow struck the Trucluent by the starboard bow hydroplane and remained locked together for a few seconds before the submarine sank.

Monday 12th of January 1953

Victim of Gustaaf Van Eyken aka De Vampier van Muizen Marie-Thérèse Rosseel is born in Brugge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Tuesday 12th of January 1960

Writer and aeronautical engineer Nevil Shute dies of a stroke at the age of 61 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Tuesday 12th of January 1960

24-year-old Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas aka The Hand of Death stabbs his mother Viola to death in Tecumseh, Michigan, United States.

"All I remember was slapping her alongside the neck, but after I did that I saw her fall and decided to grab her. But she fell to the floor and when I went back to pick her up, I realized she was dead. Then I noticed that I had my knife in my hand and she had been cut."

Thursday 12th of January 1961

38-year-old Writer Norman Kingsley Mailer is released on a 2500$ bail after being arrested for stabbing his wife in New York City, New York, United States.

Sunday 12th of January 1975

24-year-old Caryn Ilene Campbell is abducted and bludgeoned to death by serial killer Ted Bundy aka The Only Living Witness in Wildwood Inn, 100 Elbert Lane, Snowmass, Colorado, United States.

Campbell was found on 18 February 1975 in Owl Creek Road, Aspen.

Monday 12th of January 1976

Writer Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie known for creating Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple dies of natural causes at the age of 86 in Winterbrook House, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Monday 12th of January 1981

36-year-old Serial killer Dennis Andrew Nilsen aka Killing For Company calls in sick at work to dissect two bodies of recent murder victims in 195 Melrose Avenue, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

The victims remain unidentified as 'Starving Hippie' and 'Blue Eyed Scot'.

Wednesday 12th of January 1983

Cult leader Lindbergh Sanders aka The Black Jesus is shot dead with 6 other cult members in a 30-hour gun-fight with the police at the age of 49 in 2239 Shannon Street, Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

Earlier that day Sanders had taken police officer Robert S. Hester hostage. During the shootout Hester was brutally beaten to death. The other victims were Sanders's 26-year-old son Larnell, 18-year-old Michael Delane Coleman, 20-year-old Earl Thomas, 18-year-old Andrew (JuJu) Houston and Cassell Harris. The identity of one victim was not released.

Wednesday 12th of January 1983

Soviet Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny dies of cancer at the age of 80 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Sunday 12th of January 1986

81-year-old Marjem Jurblum is tortured and killed by serial killer Thierry Paulin aka Le Tueur de la Pleine Lune in 7 Rue Pelée, Paris, XIe, Île-de-France, France.

Tuesday 12th of January 1988

Start of the trial against 25-year-old Serial killer Kenneth Erskine aka The Stockwell Strangler in Old Bailey Criminal Court, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 12th of January 2000

Double murderer Earl Carl Heiselbetz is executed by lethal injection at the age of 49 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 12th of January 2000

My favourite foodstall is hauled away for major streetcleaning at the busstop in Taling Chan, Central Thailand, Thailand.

Wednesday 12th of January 2022

Lead singer of the Ronettes Ronnie Spector aka The Bad Girl of Rock and Roll dies of cancer at the age of 79 in Danbury, Connecticut, United States.

Thursday 12th of January 2023

Singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley dies of small bowel obstruction at the age of 55 in West Hills Hospital, Los Angeles, California, United States.

The autopsy stated that the opioids in her system did not contribute to Presley's death.