From Historynet: Today in History February 12

1294          Kublai Khan , the conqueror of Asia, dies at the age of 80.

1554          Lady Jane Grey , the Queen of England for thirteen days, is beheaded on Tower Hill. She was barely 17 years old.

1709          Alexander Selkirk , the Scottish seaman whose adventures inspired the creation of Daniel Dafoe's  Robinson Crusoe, is taken off Juan Fernandez Island after more than four years of living there alone.

1793          The first fugitive slave law, requiring the return of escaped slaves, is passed.

1818          Chile gains independence from Spain.

1836          Mexican General Santa Anna  crosses the Rio Grande en route to the Alamo.

1909          The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is formed.

1912          China becomes a republic following the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty.

1921          Winston Churchill  of London is appointed colonial secretary.

1924          George Gershwin's  groundbreaking symphonic jazz composition Rhapsody in Blue premieres with Gershwin himself playing the piano with Paul Whiteman's  orchestra.

1929          Charles Lindbergh  announces his engagement to Anne Morrow .

1931          Japan makes its first television broadcast--a baseball game.

1935          The Macon, the last U.S. Navy dirigible, crashes off the coast of California, killing two people.

1938          Japan refuses to reveal naval data requested by the U.S. and Britain.

1940          The Soviet Union signs a trade treaty with Germany to aid against the British blockade.

1944          Wendell Wilkie  enters the American presidential race against Franklin D. Roosevelt .

1949          Muslim Brotherhood chief Hassan el Banna  is shot to death in Cairo.

1953          The Soviets break off diplomatic relations with Israel after the bombing of Soviet legation.

1966          The South Vietnamese win two big battles in the Mekong Delta.

1972          Senator Edward Kennedy  advocates amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters.

1974          The Symbionese Liberation Army asks the Hearst family for $230 million in food for the poor.

1980          The Lake Placid Winter Olympics open in New York.

1987          A Court in Texas upholds $8.5 billion of a fine imposed on Texaco for the illegal takeover of Getty Oil.

1999          The U.S. Senate fails to pass two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton . He had been accused of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives.