Historical Events On April 12

Today is Saturday, April 12, the 102nd day of 2014. There are 263 days left in the year. On April 12, 1954, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission opened a hearing on whether Dr. J. Robert

Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, should have his security clearance reinstated amid questions about his loyalty (it wasn't). Bill Haley and His Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" in New York for Decca Records.

In 1606, England's King James I decreed the design of the original Union Flag, which combined the flags of England and Scotland.

In 1776, North Carolina's Fourth Provincial Congress authorized the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress to support independence from Britain.

In 1861, the American Civil War began as Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

In 1912, Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, died in Glen Echo, Md., at age 90.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.
In 1955, the Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and effective.

In 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Ala., charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit. (During his time behind bars, King wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail.")

Ten years ago: Abelardo Flores and Fatima Holloway pleaded guilty in Houston to taking part in a smuggling scheme that resulted in the deaths of 19 immigrants abandoned in a sweltering truck trailer.

Five years ago: American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates by U.S. Navy snipers who shot and killed three of the hostage-takers. Actress Marilyn Chambers, who'd starred in the 1972 adult film "Behind the Green Door," was found dead at her home in Canyon Country, Calif., 10 days before her 57th birthday.

One year ago: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting South Korea, delivered a stark warning to North Korea not to test-fire a mid-range missile while tamping down anxiety caused by a new U.S.