Ephemeris, 12 September

It happened one 12 September

1940 : Discovery of the Lascaux cave On September 12, 1940, four teenagers discovered a cave covered with 15 to 17,000 year-old paintings, near Montignac. 600 paintings and 1500 engravings are listed. The cave is open to the public in 1948 but closed in 1963 because of damage caused by artificial light and pollution brought about by excessive human presence. A replica of the cave will be open to the public in 1983.
1974 : Coup in Ethiopia On September 12, 1974, after a 58-year reign, the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie was overthrown in a coup by a group of Marxist military, the Derg. This was the beginning of a strong repression, summary executions and the Civil War.
1977 : Steve Biko dies On September 12, 1977, the South-African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died on arrival at a prison in Pretoria, after a journey of nearly 1,200 km from Port Elizabeth, naked and chained in a police vehicle , after suffering days of torture. His death shocked the international community which took sanctions against South Africa and will make Biko a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle.
1988 : Gilbert hit Jamaica On September 12, 1988, the Category 5 hurricane Gilbert struck Jamaica with winds of 280 km/h and a 60-mile eye. 80% of homes were damaged and 1/4 of the population was left homeless. 200 people were killed. Two days later, the hurricane hit the area of Cancun in Mexico. Half of the hotels in the region were destroyed and 200,000 people were left homeless.

Desmond Llewelyn
Actors never retire, they just get less and less work.

François 1er, King of France (1494)
Samuel Joseph May, American reformer, abolitionist and womens rights advocate (1797)
Maurice Chevalier, French actor and singer (1888)
Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1897)
Jesse Owens, American athlete (1913)
Desmond Llewelyn, Welsh actor (1914)
Han Suyin, Chinese writer (1917)
Ian Holm, English actor (1931)
Linda Gray, American actress (1940)
Michel Drucker, French TV presenter (1942)
Barry White, American singer (1944)
Irina Rodnina, Russian figure skater (1949)
Joe Pantoliano, American actor (1951)
Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer (1956)
Rachel Ward, English actress (1957)
Mylène Farmer, French singer (1961)
Darren Campbell, English athlete (1973)
Paul Walker, American actor (1973)
Jennifer Hudson, American actress (1981)
Joanne Jackson, English swimmer (1986)

Jean-Philippe Rameau, French composer (1764)
François Guizot, French historian (1874)
Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist (1977)
Anthony Perkins, American actor (1992)
Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (1993)
Tom Ewell, American actor (1994)
Jeremy Brett, English actor (1995)
Johnny Cash, American singer (2003)
Willy Ronis, French photographer (2009)
Claude Chabrol, French director (2010)