| 12 November 1035 | England, Denmark, Norway [political events] | Following the death of Cnut, king of England, Denmark, and, nominally, Norway, dies. He is succeeded by his son Harthacnut in Denmark, with Harold Harefoot, another son, his regent in England. In Norway, Magnus I, the son of St Olaf, is established as king in a revolt against Cnut. |
| 12 November 1035 | Denmark, England, Norway [births and deaths] | Cnut (Canute I) the Great, powerful Danish king of England 1016–35, of Denmark (as Cnut II) 1019–35, and of Norway 1028–35, dies (c. 40). |
| 12 November 1840 | France [births and deaths] | Auguste Rodin, French sculptor reknowned for his realistic treatment of the human figure, born in Paris, France (–1917). |
| 12 November 1867 | China [births and deaths] | Sun Zhong Shan (Sun Yat-sen), leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Guomindang) which overthrows the Manchu dynasty, first president of the Republic of China 1911–12, and de facto ruler 1923–25, born in Xiangshan, Guangdong Province, China (–1925). |
| 12 November 1874–12 August 1877 | Africa [exploration] | Welsh-born US journalist and explorer Henry Stanley explores the shores of Lake Victoria and circumnavigates Lake Tanganyika before travelling down the Congo River (now the Zaïre) to Africa's west coast, establishing beyond argument that Lake Victoria is the principal source of the Nile. |
| 12 November 1915 | Pacific, United Kingdom [colonies and mandate] | Britain annexes the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (modern Tuvalu and Kiribati) in the Pacific Ocean, converting the protectorate into a colony. |
| 12 November 1918 | Austria-Hungary [political events] | Emperor Charles I abdicates in Austria and, on 13 November, in Austria-Hungary. |
| 12 November 1944 | Norway, UK, Germany [World War II (1939–45)] | British bombers sink the last German battleship, Tirpitz, in the Tromsö fjord, Norway, enabling Britain's large ships to be released for service in the Pacific. |
| 12 November 1948 | Japan [crime and punishment] | The main Japanese war crimes trial ends in Tokyo. The former prime minister during World War II, Hideki Tojo, and six others are sentenced to death; 16 receive life imprisonment; and two are given lesser sentences. |
| 12 November 1971 | USA [Vietnam War (1954–75)] | The US president Richard Nixon proclaims the end of the US offensive role in the Vietnam War and withdraws 45,000 more troops. |
| 12 November 1981 | UK [women's rights] | The General Synod of the Church of England votes to recognize the sacraments of the Free Churches and their women ministers and to allow women to be ordained as deacons. |
| 12 November 1987 | USSR [law and government] | Boris Yeltsin is dismissed as chief of the Moscow Communist Party after he criticizes the slow pace of reforms. |
| 12 November 2001 | USA [transport disasters] | The US city of New York suffers further tragedy in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 11 September as an American Airlines passenger aircraft crashes into the residential neighbourhood of Queens, killing about 265 people. |
