April 12 in Pop Culture History

The Union Jack Flag

The first version of the flag was created in 1606 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England and ordered the creation of a new flag to represent the union of the two countries. The original flag combined the red cross of St. George with the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew.

It combines the flags of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, which are united under the Crown. The flag consists of three intersecting crosses: the red cross of St. George, the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew, and the red diagonal cross of St. Patrick. The red cross of St. George represents England, the white diagonal cross of St. Andrew represents Scotland, and the red diagonal cross of St. Patrick represents Northern Ireland.

In 1801, Ireland was added to the union, and the red diagonal cross of St. Patrick was added to the flag. This flag version has been used ever since, although some minor variations have occurred.

1606 – The Union Jack (the Union Flag) was adopted as the flag of English and Scottish ships.

1633 – Galileo was convicted of heresy for announcing that the Earth revolved around the Sun.

1892 – The first US Patent (#472,692) for a portable typewriter, the Blickensderfer, was issued to George Blickensderfer of Stamford, Connecticut.

1914 – Mark Strand Theatre opened in New York City. It was the first official “movie theater.”

1934 – The strongest surface wind gust ever recorded on Earth, at 231 mph, was measured on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.

1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt died while in office, and Vice President Harry Truman became President upon Roosevelt’s death.

1955 – The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, was declared safe and effective.

1961 – Aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human being to travel into space.

1969 – #1 Hit April 12, 1969 – May 23, 1969: The 5th Dimension – Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In

1974 – #1 Hit April 13, 1974 – April 19, 1974: Elton John – Bennie and the Jets

1975 – #1 Hit April 12, 1975 – April 25, 1975: Elton John – Philadelphia Freedom

1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia), named NASA’s STS-1 mission.

1985 – Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Ladyhawke, and Cat’s Eye were released in theaters.

1987 – 21 Jump Street premiered on FOX.

1992 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opened with its theme park Euro Disneyland. It was later renamed Disneyland Paris.

1994 – Laurence Canter created a software program that flooded Usenet message boards with a notice for the ‘Green Card Lottery’ to solicit business for his law firm of Canter & Siegel in an early instance of commercial spam.

1995 – Drew Barrymore appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, and because it was his birthday, she danced on his desk and flashed him on the air.

1996 – James and the Giant Peach, Fear, and Jane Eyre debuted in theaters.

2008 – #1 Hit April 12, 2008 – May 2, 2008: Mariah Carey – Touch My Body

2013 – 42 and Scary Movie 5 were released in theaters.