| 12 June 918 | Mercia, Wessex, England [political events] | On the death of his sister Aethelflaed, the ‘Lady of the Mercians’, King Edward the Elder annexes Mercia to his kingdom of Wessex. He also completes the conquest of the Danish Midlands. |
| 12 June 1042 | Byzantine Empire [political events] | The Byzantine empresses Zoe and Theodora prove incapable of governing effectively. Zoe therefore remarries, and her husband Constantine IX Monomachus succeeds as emperor. |
| 12 June 1183 | England [revolution] | Following the death of the ‘young king’ Henry, the first rebellion of King Henry II of England's sons collapses. |
| 12 June 1444 | Ottoman Empire, Albania [diplomacy] | The Ottoman sultan Murad II makes a truce for ten years at Szeged, Bulgaria, with the crusaders, with the Albanian nationalist Skanderbeg, and with George Barnkovic, who is restored as despot of Serbia. |
| 12 June 1519 | Florence [births and deaths] | Cosimo I the Great de' Medici, Duke of Florence 1537–74 and Grand Duke of Tuscany 1569–74, born in Florence, Italy (–1574). |
| 12 June 1866 | Austrian Empire, France [treaties] | A secret treaty is agreed between Austria and France, by which the French emperor, Napoleon III, promises French neutrality in Austria's coming war with Prussia provided that Austria cedes Venice, which France will in turn hand over to Italy. |
| 12 June 1917 | Greece [law and government] | Following threats of invasion from the Allies, the pro-German King Constantine I of Greece abdicates in favour of his second son, Alexander (–1920). |
| 12 June 1924 | [births and deaths] | George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st president of the USA 1989–93, a Republican, born in Greenwich, Connecticut. |
| 12 June 1929 | [births and deaths] | Anne Frank, German Jew whose diary written while hiding from the Nazis has been translated into over 30 languages, born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany (–1945). |
| 12 June 1936 | France [industrial relations] | A strike by 300,000 workers results in social reforms in France, including a 40-hour working week and paid holiday. |
| 12 June 1982 | USA [political events] | Approximately 550,000 protesters against nuclear arms march though New York City. |
| 12 June 1989 | USSR, West Germany [treaties] | Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and West German chancellor Helmut Kohl sign the ‘Bonn Document’, affirming the right of European states to determine their own political systems. |
| 12 June 2003 | Ethiopia [archaeology] | A US-Ethiopian team of scientists reports in Nature magazine the discovery in the Afar region of Ethiopia of three skulls of Homo sapiens from 160,000 years ago, representing the oldest fossils yet found of modern humans and an important link in human ancestry. |
| 12 June 2003 | UK [political events] | In a controversial UK government reshuffle, Prime Minister Tony Blair abolishes the longstanding position of lord chancellor. Lord Falconer assumes the new post of constitutional affairs secretary. Former Leader of the Commons John Reid takes over the health portfolio from Alan Milburn (who had earlier resigned from the cabinet) to be replaced in that post by Peter Hain, who doubles as secretary of state for Wales. Transport secretary Alistair Darling takes on additional responsibility for Scotland. A new supreme court is planned to replace the current law lords. |
| 12 June 2003 | UK [industrial relations] | A damaging 10-month industrial dispute between the UK Government and the Fire Brigades Union finally ends in a compromise 16% pay deal tied to changes in work practices. |
