Today in History: 12th April
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- Galileo accused of heresy
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- the ‘Jamestown’ sails into Cobh harbour
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- Attack on Fort Sumter
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- Yuri Gagarin – 1st man in orbit
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- Gagarin on Time Magazine
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- Columbia STS-1 launches in 1981
1663: Heresy – Galileo’s trial regarding heresy against Catholic doctrine begins. He is eventually convicted of heresy for promulgating the theory that the Sun was the centre of the cosmos and the Earth revolved around it.
1770: Repeal – The British Government repeal the hated Townshend Act, a British tax on tea and glass in the American colonies
1847: Famine Aid – The American relief ship, Jamestown, lands supplies in Cobh, Co. Cork for famine victims
1861: Civil War – The first shots of the American Civil War are fired on Fort Sumter
1961: Pioneer – Yuri Gagarin (USSR) becomes the first man in space on board Vostok-1
1981: Shuttle – The first space shuttle, Columbia (STS-1) is launched from Cape Canaveral
