February 12

  • 2009 Hugh Leonard, pseudonym of John Keyes Byrne, dramatist and writer, notably of Da (1973), died.
  • 1997 Stephen Restorick (23) of the Royal Horse Artillery was shot dead by a sniper whilst manning a checkpoint in Bessbrook, Co. Armagh—the last British soldier to be killed before the IRA called its second ceasefire.
  • 1989 In one of the most controversial incidents of the recent ‘Troubles’, the Catholic solicitor Pat Finucane was murdered by gunmen in his own home in north Belfast.
  • 1861 Robert O’Hara Burke, County Galway-born explorer, along with three companions reached the tidal waters of the Flinders River to become the first white people to cross the Australian continent.
  • 1999 Following his impeachment by the US Senate, President Bill Clinton was acquitted on all charges.