01011212 This Day In History, December 12

627: The Battle of Nineveh (the former capital of the Assyrian Empire; see The Nineveh Prophecies and Israel In History and Prophecy: The Lost Ten Tribes). A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh (see also Israel In History and Prophecy: Babylon and Persia).

1098: The Massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan during the First Crusade (see Constantine's Crusades In History And Prophecy). Church of Rome "Crusaders" massacred about 20,000 citizens of the town.

1408: The Order of the Dragon, a royal order of knights, was created by Sigismund of Luxembourg, then King of Hungary (see also The Dragons Of The Bible).

1479: German Emperor Frederick III (see The Holy Roman Empire Of The German Nation) expelled the Jews from Schlettstadt Alsace.

1753: George Washington, then a loyal British military officer in Virginia, delivered an ultimatum to the French forces at Fort Le Boeuf, south of Lake Erie, reiterating Britain's claim to the entire Ohio river valley.

1792: Ludwig van Beethoven, aged 22 and newly arrived in Vienna, noted in his diary he had 15 ducats - enough for his first music lesson with Franz Joseph Haydn.

1896: In London, Guglielmo Marconi gave the first public exhibition of "wireless" radio.

1911: King George V of Britain held a coronation durbar (the room in the palace of a native prince of India in which audiences and receptions occur) in Delhi. The Indian capital was moved there from Calcutta.

1913: The famous painting "Mona Lisa" was recovered 2 years after having been stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris.

1915: Yuan Shikai, the President of the Republic of China, announced that he was reinstating the monarchy and proclaiming himself as Emperor of China.

1925: The Majlis of Iran voted to crown Reza Khan as the new Shah of Persia.

1930: The Spanish Revolution began.

1931: While facing a growing communist challenge, Chiang Kai-shek resigned as president of the Nanking government but continued as leader of the Nationalist government which still held control of much of China.

1943: The German Army began "Operation Winter Tempest," the attempt to relieve the Sixth Army which was then trapped in Stalingrad, Russia.

1963: Kenya was granted independence from the United Kingdom.

1964: Kenya became a republic. Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of Kenya.

1969: Greece withdrew from the Council of Europe shortly before it was to have been expelled because of its military regime.

1979: The port of Tumaco, Colombia, was hit by an earthquake measuring 8.0; 600 died and 80,000 were made homeless.

1985: Arrow Air (a Florida charter cargo and passenger airline) Flight 1285 crashed after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256 people, including 236 members of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division who were on their way home for Christmas.

1991: The Russian Federation became independent from the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) - an ironic change since "Russia" and "the USSR" were often regarded as the same.