Sunday, April 12, 2026

A fire broke out near Valparaíso, Chile, eventually destroying at least 2,500 homes and leaving approximately 11,000 people homeless (damage pictured).

Four Chadian soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing by jihadist rebels in Kidal, Mali.

The Guinea-Bissau military seized control in a coup amid a presidential election, later handing power to a transitional administration under Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo.

Husband-and-wife law partners Laurence Canter and Martha Siegel posted the first massive commercial spam on Usenet.

Bosnian War: NATO forces began Operation Deny Flight to enforce a no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered by the United Nations Security Council.

Harold Washington was elected as the first African-American mayor of Chicago.

Canadian athlete Terry Fox embarked on an east-to-west "Marathon of Hope" from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a prosthetic leg to raise funds for cancer research.

About 1,700 gravediggers in New York City began a 12-week strike, causing a delay in the burial of roughly 1,400 bodies in the city.