On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 2012, the world population was approximately 7,201,202,485 people[†]
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of July 18, 2012, covering July 18, 2012.
Chris Brown
Katy Perry
Justin Bieber
Maroon 5
Linkin Park
Gotye
fun.
Kenny Chesney
Adele
The Black Keys
2012Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Lithuanian-Israeli rabbi and author (born 1910)[†]
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was a Haredi rabbi and posek who lived in Jerusalem. Until his death at the age of 102, Rav Elyashiv was the paramount leader of both Israel and the Diaspora Lithuanian-Haredi community, and many Ashkenazi Jews regarded him as the posek ha-dor, the contemporary leading authority on halakha, or Jewish law.
2012Jean François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1928)[†]
Jean François-Poncet was a French politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1978 to 1981. From 1983 until 2011, he was a member of the Senate for Lot-et-Garonne.
2012Dawoud Rajiha, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (born 1947)[†]
Dawoud Abdallah Rajiha was a Syrian military officer who served as the Minister of Defense of Syria from August 2011 to July 2012 when he was assassinated along with other senior government officials and military officers in a bombing claimed by Syrian rebel forces during the country's Civil War. From 2009 to 2011, Rajiha served as chief of staff of the Syrian Army.
2012Assef Shawkat, Syrian general and politician (born 1950)[†]
Assef Shawkat was a Syrian military officer and intelligence chief who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012. He was the brother-in-law of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, having married his older sister Bushra.
2012Hasan Turkmani, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (born 1935)[†]
Hasan Ali Turkmani was a Syrian military officer and politician who served as Syria's Minister of Defense from 2004 to 2009.
2012Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor (born 1942)[†]
Rajesh Khanna was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. Considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is known as the first Superstar of Hindi cinema. His accolades include five Filmfare Awards, and in 2013, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.
2012At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.[†]
The 2012 Burgas bus bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by a suicide bomber on a passenger bus transporting Israeli tourists at the Burgas Airport in Burgas, Bulgaria, on 18 July 2012. The bus was carrying 42 Israelis, mainly youths, from the airport to their hotels, after arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv. The explosion killed the Bulgarian bus driver and five Israelis and injured 32 Israelis, resulting in international condemnation of the bombing.
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Msgr. Gerald Ryan, 92, New York City’s oldest working priest, has been a quiet force behind his Bronx community, and retirement is not in his vocabulary.
A small but growing group of children of the Chinese elite is calling for reform as a leadership change looms, but the exact meaning of “reform” is being debated.
A hundred years ago, craft guilds, facing a new world of corporations, rebuilt their power as industry-based unions. Their clout and numbers again in decline, another reinvention may be called for.
Chris Christie’s prospects of being Mitt Romney’s No. 2 pick seem to be fading, and the New Jersey governor is trying to reconcile pursuit of the spotlight with his job.
Northern Mali has become a magnet for Islamic extremists who have imposed a strict form of justice that is prompting tens of thousands of people to flee what some are likening to an African Afghanistan.
A bombing in Damascus killed at least three of President Bashar al-Assad’s most senior aides, including his minister of defense and brother-in-law, suggesting that the uprising had reached a decisive moment.
At 86, Jerry Lewis is revisiting his past by directing a musical version of “The Nutty Professor” in Nashville.
Researchers have found genetic weak spots in colon cancer tumors that could lead to potent treatments, signaling hope against a cancer that is now almost always fatal once it spreads.
Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight Rises” wraps up his post-Sept. 11 epic of ambivalent good vs. multidimensional evil with a burst of light.
A bus carrying Israeli tourists exploded in a fireball outside an airport in Bulgaria, and an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Iran was behind the attack.
The Pay With Square service makes transactions easier than ever. If a retailer has your name and photo in its system, you only have to announce yourself to pay your bill.
The dazzling hotel and night life complex, a staple of the Manhattan circuit, has finally washed up on Brooklyn’s shores, bringing with it the kind of crowds eager to be among those discovering the Next Big Thing.