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On This Day October 12
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Biography of the Day
[Luciano Pavarotti, 1993.]( [Luciano Pavarotti](
Born on this day in Modena, Italy, in 1935, [Luciano Pavarotti]( an operatic lyric [tenor]( noted for his mastery of the highest notes of a tenor's range, is considered one of the finest [bel canto]( [opera]( singers of recent times.
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On This Day
[Landing of Columbus, oil on canvas by John Vanderlyn, 1846; in the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
]( 1492: New World sighted
The New World was “discovered” this day in 1492 when land (most likely [San Salvador]( was sighted in the [Caribbean]( from the Pinta, one of the three ships that participated in [Christopher Columbus]( historic first voyage.
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More Events On This Day
2001: [Kofi Annan, 1996.]( centennial [Nobel Prize]( for Peace was awarded to the [United Nations]( and the organization's secretary-general, [Kofi Annan](.
2000: [USS Cole]( preparing to refuel in the Yemeni port of [Aden]( the [USS Cole]( a U.S. naval destroyer, was attacked by suicide bombers associated with [al-Qaeda]( 17 sailors were killed and 39 wounded.
1998: American college student [Matthew Shepard]( died in Fort Collins, Colorado, several days after being beaten by two men and left in the cold in Laramie, Wyoming; Shepard's [homosexuality]( was believed to have motivated the attack, and his death contributed to the expansion of federal hate-crime legislation.
1898: A landmark in [labour union]( history, a coal-mine riot took place in [Virden]( Illinois, when strikebreakers were brought in.
1896: [Eugenio Montale]( Montale]( Italian poet, prose writer, editor, and translator who won the [Nobel Prize]( for Literature in 1975, was born in Genoa.
1866: [Ramsay MacDonald.]( MacDonald]( the first [Labour Party]( prime minister of the [United Kingdom]( the Labour governments of 1924 and 1929–31 and in the national coalition government of 1931–35—was born.
1810: [Patrons in a beer garden during Oktoberfest]( first [Oktoberfest]( was celebrated in [Munich]( in the form of a horse race held in honour of the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria (who later became King [Louis I]( to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
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