So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

October 12th


- Christian Feast Day:
- Children's Day or Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida (Brazil)
- Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances:
Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)
- Día de la Raza, "Day of the Race" (Latin America)
- Día de la Resistencia Indígena, "Day of Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela)
- Día de las Américas, "Day of the Americas" (Uruguay)
- Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)
- Discovery Day (the Bahamas)
- Freethought Day (United States)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968.
- Mother's Day (Malawi)
- National Coming Out Day (United Kingdom)
- Rise Above Day

October 12th


- 2005 - The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched carrying Fèi Jùnlóng and Niè H?ishèng for five days in orbit.
- 2002 - Terrorists detonate bombs in the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and wounding over 300.
- 2000 - The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39
- 1999 - Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.
- 1999 - The Day of Six Billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born.
- 1997 - Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock.
- 1994 - NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).
- 1991 - Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by republic's Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
- 1988 - Jaffna University Helidrop: Commandos of Indian Peace Keeping Force raided the Jaffna University campus to capture the LTTE chief and walked into a trap.
- 1988 - Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down executional style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.
- 1986 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China
- 1984 - Brighton hotel bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Thatcher escapes but the bomb kills five people and wounds 31.
- 1983 - Japan's former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed and is sentenced to 4 years in jail.
- 1979 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published.
- 1979 - The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.
- 1976 - The People's Republic of China announces that Hua Guofeng is the successor to the late Mao Zedong as chairman of Communist Party of China.
- 1972 - En route to the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial brawl involving more than 100 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk
- 1970 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas
- 1968 - Equatorial Guinea becomes independent from Spain
- 1967 - Vietnam War: US Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile because of North Vietnam's opposition
- 1964 - The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits
- 1962 - Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million in damages
- 1960 - Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at United Nations General Assembly meeting to protest a Philippine assertion of Soviet Union colonial policy being conducted in Eastern Europe
- 1960 - Inejiro Asanuma, Chair of the Japanese Socialist Party, is assassinated in Japan by Otoya Yamaguchi, a 17-year-old. The cameras were rolling at the time, so the moment was caught on film.
- 1959 - At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
- 1953 - "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" opens at Plymouth Theatre, New York
- 1945 - World War II: Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor.
- 1942 - World War II: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Got? dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.
- 1933 - The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island, is acquired by the United States Department of Justice
- 1928 - An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston
- 1918 - A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Minnesota.
- 1917 - World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single day loss of life in New Zealand history.
- 1915 - World War I: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium
- 1901 - President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
- 1892 - The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools, as part of a celebration marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage.
- 1871 - Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) enacted by British rule in India, which named over 160 local communities 'Criminal Tribes', i.e. hereditary criminals. Repealed in 1949, after Independence of India.
- 1823 - Charles Macintosh, of Scotland, sells the first raincoat.
- 1822 - Peter I of Brazil is proclaimed the emperor of the Brazil
- 1810 - First Oktoberfest: The Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
- 1793 - The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid on the campus of the University of North Carolina
- 1792 - First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York
- 1773 - America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds' in Virginia
- 1692 - The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips.
- 1654 - The Delft Explosion devastates the city in the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people.
- 1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 1492 - Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean, specifically in The Bahamas. The explorer believes he has reached South Asia
- 1398 - The Treaty of Salynas is signed between Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Teutonic Knights, who received Samogitia.
- 1279 - Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon
- 1216 - King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash, probably near Fosdyke, perhaps near Sutton Bridge
- 539 - 539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.

October 12th


- 2001 - Raymond Ochoa, American actor
- 1992 - Taylor Horn, American singer and actress
- 1992 - Josh Hutcherson, American actor
- 1991 - Nicolao Dumitru, Italian footballer
- 1990 - Henri Lansbury, English footballer
- 1988 - Sam Whitelock, New Zealand rugby player
- 1986 - Sergio Peter, German footballer
- 1986 - Emmanuel Nwachi, Nigerian footballer
- 1985 - Mike Green, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 - Alex Brosque, Australian footballer
- 1981 - Shola Ameobi, English footballer
- 1981 - Tom Guiry, American actor
- 1981 - Brian Kerr, Scottish footballer
- 1981 - Sneha, Indian actress
- 1981 - Sun Tiantian, Chinese female tennis player
- 1980 - Ledley King, English footballer
- 1979 - Jordan Pundik, American singer (New Found Glory)
- 1978 - Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist
- 1978 - Marko Jaric, Serbian basketball player
- 1977 - Jessica Barker, Canadian actress
- 1977 - Bode Miller, American alpine ski-racer
- 1977 - Javier Toyo, Venezuelan footballer
- 1976 - Sarah Lane, American television personality
- 1975 - Marion Jones, American track and field athlete
- 1974 - Stephen Lee, English snooker player
- 1974 - Kate Beahan, Australian actress
- 1974 - Marie Wilson, Canadian actress
- 1973 - Lesli Brea, Dominican baseball player
- 1973 - Martin Corry, English rugby player
- 1972 - Irina Pantaeva, Russian supermodel and actress
- 1972 - Juan Manuel Silva, Argentine racing driver
- 1972 - Tom Van Mol, Belgian football player
- 1972 - Mechele Linehan, American convicted murderess
- 1971 - Ahn Jae Wook, South Korean actor and composer
- 1971 - Tony Fiore, American baseball player
- 1971 - Steve Johnston, Australian speedway rider
- 1970 - Kirk Cameron, American actor
- 1970 - Tanyon Sturtze, American baseball player
- 1970 - Charlie Ward, American pro basketball player
- 1970 - Julian, American pornographic actor
- 1969 - Martie Maguire, American musician (Dixie Chicks)
- 1969 - Judit Mascó, Spanish model
- 1969 - Željko Milinovi?, Slovenian footballer
- 1969 - Dwayne Roloson, Canadian hockey player
- 1969 - José Valentín, American baseball player
- 1968 - Bill Auberlen, American race car driver
- 1968 - Hugh Jackman, Australian actor and singer
- 1968 - Adam Rich, American actor
- 1967 - Paul Laine Canadian singer composer
- 1966 - Jonathan Crombie, Canadian actor
- 1966 - Wim Jonk, Dutch football player
- 1966 - Brian Kennedy, Northern Irish musician and author
- 1965 - Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Canadian hockey player
- 1965 - Scott O'Grady, American military officer
- 1963 - Raimond Aumann, German footballer
- 1963 - Lane Frost, American professional bull rider (d. 1989)
- 1963 - Satoshi Kon, Japanese anime director (d. 2010)
- 1963 - Alan McDonald, Northern Irish footballer
- 1963 - Luis Polonia, Dominican baseball player
- 1962 - Carlos Bernard, American actor
- 1962 - Chris Botti, American jazz musician
- 1962 - John Coleman, English football manager and player
- 1962 - Branko Crvenkovski, Macedonian politician
- 1962 - Deborah Foreman, American actress
- 1960 - Carlo Perrone, Italian football manager and player
- 1960 - Hiroyuki Sanada, Japanese actor
- 1959 - Anna Escobedo Cabral, 42nd Treasurer of the United States
- 1958 - Steve Austria, American politician
- 1958 - Bryn Merrick, British musician, (The Damned)
- 1957 - Kristen Bjorn, British film director
- 1956 - David Vanian, British singer, (The Damned)
- 1955 - Einar Jan Aas, Norwegian footballer
- 1955 - Ante Gotovina, Croatian general
- 1955 - Brigitte Lahaie, French talk show host and actress
- 1955 - Aggie MacKenzie, Scottish television presenter
- 1955 - Jane Siberry, Canadian musician
- 1953 - Les Dennis, British comedian and presenter
- 1953 - Serge Lepeltier, French politician
- 1952 - Danielle Proulx, Quebec actress
- 1951 - Sally Little, South-African-born American golfer
- 1951 - Ed Royce, American politician
- 1950 - Susan Anton, American actress
- 1950 - Robin Askwith, English actor
- 1950 - Caroline Ellis, English actress
- 1950 - Dave Freudenthal, American politician and 31st Governor of Wyoming
- 1950 - Kaga Takeshi, Japanese actor
- 1949 - Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, Venezuelan international terrorist
- 1949 - Stan Hansen, American professional wrestler
- 1949 - Dave Lloyd, British cyclist
- 1949 - Paul Went, English footballer
- 1948 - Rick Parfitt, British musician (Status Quo)
- 1948 - Hans Sprenger, German footballer
- 1947 - Chris Wallace, American journalist
- 1947 - George Lam, Hong Kong singer
- 1945 - Aurore Clément, French actress
- 1945 - Dusty Rhodes, American professional wrestler
- 1944 - Angela Rippon, British television personality
- 1942 - Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1995)
- 1942 - Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter (Black Panther Party) (d. 1969)
- 1941 - Michael Mansfield, English barrister
- 1938 - Bob Miller, American NHL broadcaster
- 1937 - Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (d. 1969)
- 1937 - Robert Mangold, American artist
- 1935 - Tony Kubek, American baseball player
- 1935 - Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor (d. 2007)
- 1935 - Sam Moore, American R&B singer (Sam & Dave)
- 1935 - Don Howe, English football player and manager
- 1934 - Richard Meier, American architect
- 1934 - Albert Shiryaev, Russian mathematician
- 1933 - Guido Molinari, Canadian painter (d. 2004)
- 1932 - Dick Gregory, American comedian and activist
- 1932 - Ned Jarrett, American race car driver
- 1931 - Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist (d. 2002)
- 1930 - Denis Brodeur, French-Canadian hockey photographer
- 1930 - Milica Kacin Wohinz, Slovenian historian
- 1929 - Robert Coles, American psychologist and author
- 1929 - Magnús Magnússon, Icelandic television presenter (d. 2007)
- 1925 - Denis Lazure, Quebec politician (d. 2008)
- 1924 - Doris Grau, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1923 - Goody Petronelli, American boxing trainer and manager
- 1921 - Art Clokey, American animator (Gumby) (d. 2010)
- 1920 - Christy Ring, Irish hurler (d. 1979)
- 1919 - Gilles Beaudoin, Quebec politician (d. 2007)
- 1917 - Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2004)
- 1916 - Alice Childress, American actress and playwright (d. 1994)
- 1913 - Alice Chetwynd Ley, British romance writer (d. 2004)
- 1910 - Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and translator (d. 1985)
- 1910 - Bob Sheppard, American baseball announcer (d.2010)
- 1908 - Paul Engle, American writer (d. 1991)
- 1908 - Ann Petry, American novelist (d. 1997)
- 1906 - Joe Cronin, American baseball player and executive (d. 1984)
- 1906 - John Murray, American playwright (d.1984)
- 1904 - Ding Ling, Chinese writer (d. 1986)
- 1904 - Lester Dent, American writer (d. 1959)
- 1896 - Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
- 1894 - Elisabeth of Romania (d. 1956)
- 1893 - Velvalee Dickinson, American spy (d. 1980)
- 1892 - Gilda dalla Rizza, Italian soprano (d. 1975)
- 1891 - Edith Stein, Carmelite Catholic nun (d. 1942)
- 1887 - Paula von Preradovi?, Croatian-Austrian poet (d. 1951)
- 1880 - Louis Hémon, French novelist (d. 1913)
- 1875 - Aleister Crowley, English occultist and author (d. 1947)
- 1874 - Jimmy Burke, American baseball player (d. 1942)
- 1872 - Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (d. 1958)
- 1866 - Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1937)
- 1865 - Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
- 1860 - Elmer Sperry, American inventor (d. 1930)
- 1855 - Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor (d. 1922)
- 1840 - Helena Modjeska, Polish actress (d. 1909)
- 1801 - Friedrich Frey-Herosé, Swiss statesman (d. 1873)
- 1798 - Pedro I of Brazil (d. 1834)
- 1792 - Christian Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1860)
- 1725 - Etienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist (d. 1810)
- 1712 - William Shippen, American physician and statesman (d. 1801)
- 1710 - Jonathan Trumbull, American politician and 16th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1785)
- 1602 - William Chillingworth, English religious leader (d. 1644)
- 1576 - Thomas Dudley, English-born American colonial magistrate (d. 1653)
- 1558 - Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (d. 1618)
- 1558 - Jacques Sirmond, French scholar and Jesuit (d. 1651)
- 1537 - King Edward VI of England (d. 1553)
- 1490 - Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (d. 1548)
- 1350 - Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscovy (d. 1389)
- 1008 - Emperor Go-Ichij? of Japan (d. 1036)