On this day

December 19, 2012

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

Historical Context for December 19, 2012

In 2012, the world population was approximately 7,201,202,485 people[†]

Notable Deaths

Robert Bork

2012Robert Bork, American lawyer, judge, and scholar, United States Attorney General (born 1927)[†]

Robert Heron Bork was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1982 to 1988. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Senate rejected his nomination after a contentious and highly publicized confirmation hearing.

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak

2012Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (born 1944)[†]

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak was an Israeli military officer and politician. He served as Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, as a Member of the Knesset, and as Minister of Transportation and Minister of Tourism.

Larry Morris

2012Larry Morris, American football player (born 1933)[†]

Larry Cleo Morris was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Chicago Bears. The 1950 graduate of Decatur High School became an All-American playing college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before his NFL career. "The Brahma Bull" was named one of the linebackers on the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team.

Peter Struck (politician)

2012Peter Struck, German lawyer and politician, 13th German Federal Minister of Defence (born 1943)[†]

Peter Struck was the German Minister of Defence under chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 2002 to 2005. A lawyer, Struck was a member of the Social Democratic Party.

Historical Events

Park Geun-hye

2012Park Geun-hye is elected the first female president of South Korea.[†]

Park Geun-hye is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman to be elected president of South Korea, and also the first woman to be popularly elected as a head of state in East Asia. She is also the first South Korean president to be born after the founding of South Korea. Her father, Park Chung Hee, was president from 1963 to 1979, serving five consecutive terms after he seized power in 1961 and whom she served as first lady under from 1974 until his assassination in 1979.

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Headlines from December 19, 2012

Quentin’s World

By Charles McGrath

From “Reservoir Dogs” to “Django Unchained,” the writer and director Quentin Tarantino has concocted a genre of his own.

Arts&Leisure3932 words

Treasury to Sell G.M. Stake Within 15 Months

By Michael J. de la Merced and Bill Vlasic

An end to “Government Motors”: The Treasury Department plans to sell off its entire 32 percent stake in the auto maker, eliminating another reminder of the bailouts precipitated by the financial crash of 2008.

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