Human Saga

On January 12

No pivotal events are recorded on exactly January 12 in the Human Saga — here is the surrounding week in history.

This week in history (Jan 9 – Jan 15)

14 January 1761Third Battle of Panipat checks Maratha expansionMilitary & conflict

On 14 January 1761 the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, allied with the Rohillas and the Nawab of Awadh, crushed the Maratha army under Sadashivrao Bhau at Panipat north of Delhi.

On 10 January 1776 the English-born radical Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a roughly fifty-page pamphlet that made a plain-language argument for American independence and against hereditary monarchy.

15 January 2001Wikipedia is launchedCulture, arts & philosophy

On 15 January 2001 Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that anyone could edit.

11 January 2002Guantánamo Bay detention camp opensPolitics & governance

On 11 January 2002 the first twenty detainees in the US 'War on Terror' arrived at Camp X-Ray, a hastily built facility at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

10 January 20252024 confirmed as first year above 1.5 °CEnvironment & climate

Climate agencies including the EU's Copernicus service confirmed 2024 as the warmest year in the instrumental record and the first full calendar year more than 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial baseline — the threshold central to the Paris…

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