Historical timeline for July 12

A bar fire kills 33 people in Bangkok, Thailand.

Gazpromavia Flight 9608 crashes in Russia's Kolomensky District near Kolomna, killing three.

Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.

A tank truck explosion kills more than 100 people in Okobie, Nigeria.

Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.

U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

A cross-border raid by Hezbollah militants starts the 2006 Lebanon War.

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

France win their first World Cup title, defeating defending champions Brazil 3–0.

The Ulster Volunteer Force attack a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.

Chinese seismologists successfully predict the 1995 Myanmar–China earthquake, reducing the number of casualties to 11.

The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.

The Australian Aboriginal flag is flown for the first time.

Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.

Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.

ČSA Flight 511 crashes at Casablanca–Anfa Airport in Morocco, killing 72.

Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people.

Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.