On this day in history - June 12

What Happened On This Day – June 12

• 2016 Mass Shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida Kills 49 People

  In what is now thought to be one of the deadliest incidents of violence against LGBTQ people in history, the shooting committed by 29-year old Omar Mateen is also the second deadliest terrorist attack on US soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

• 1994 The world's largest twinjet takes off on its maiden flight

  The Boeing 777, or Triple Seven, typically transports up to 451 passengers. It is one of Boeing's commercially most successful planes.

• 1991 Boris Yeltsin becomes Russia's first President

  After the end of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin launched radical economic reforms that aimed at dismantling socialism and restore capitalism.

• 1987 Ronald Reagan challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”

  The U.S. President held his famous speech near the Berlin Wall, one of the most important symbols for the division between East and West during the Cold War. The wall was dismantled in 1989, but many observers doubt that Reagan's famous catchphrase had any impact on this decision.

• 1964 Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison

  The South African anti-apartheid activist spent 27 years in prison. In 1993, he received the Nobel Peace Prize and one year later he became President of South Africa.