February 12

Events

• 1878: 2,000 Cretan rebels attack fort Icedin at Chania.
• 1900: The Maritime Hospital of Piraeus is founded.
• 1911: A number of professors from the University of Athens petition Parliament to declare the Katharevousa version of the Greek language as the one and only official language of the Greek state.
• 1943: Greek guerrilas attack and defeat an Italian battalion at Oxynia, Thessaly.
• 1945: The Varkiza Agreement is signed - it was an agreement that terminated institutionally the political and military fighting of December 1944 ("December events") and aimed at reconciliating the opposite blocs of the country.
• 1946: The second general council of the Communist Party of Greece takes place which decides to boycott the upcoming elections in favour of armed struggle.
• 1949: During the Greek Civil War, communist forces are repelled at Florina.
• 1962: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin visits Athens and utters his famous quote: "In this country, half the people sell lottery tickets and the other half buy them!"
• 1979: Weapons are stolen from an army base in Rethymno, Crete.
• 1981: Former Queen Frederika is buried in Tatoi, Greece.

Births

• 1925: Christos Samaras, EOKA fighter.
• 1933: Costa-Gavras, film producer.
• 1956: Velimir Zajec, footballer.
• 1959: Angeliki Nikolouli, reporter.
• 1982: Louis Tsatoumas, athlete (long jump)

Deaths

• 1873: Spyridon Trikoupis, politician
• 1980: Georgia Vasiliadou, stage and screen actress
• 2004: Theodoros Polykandriotis, Laika composer
• 2011: Konstantinos Kosmopoulos, Mayor of Thessaloniki.