August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 141 days remaining until the end of the year.
It is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. It is also known as the "Glorious Twelfth" in the UK, as it marks the traditional start of the grouse shooting season.
[edit] Events
- 30 BC – Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty, commits suicide, allegedly by means of an asp bite.
- 1099 – First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah. This is considered the last engagement of the First Crusade.
- 1121 – Battle of Didgori: the Georgian army under King David the Builder wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
- 1164 – Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
- 1323 – Signature of the Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod (Russia), that regulates the border between the two countries for the first time.
- 1480 – Battle of Otranto: Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam.
- 1499 – First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.
- 1624 – The president of Louis XIII of France's royal council is arrested, leaving Cardinal Richelieu in the role of the King's principal minister.
- 1676 – Praying Indian John Alderman shoots and kills Metacomet, the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.
- 1687 – Battle of Mohács: Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottomans.
- 1793 – The Rhône and Loire (Lêre) départments are created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire is split into two.
- 1806 – Santiago de Liniers re-takes the city of Buenos Aires after the first British invasion.
- 1831 – French intervention forces William I of the Netherlands to abandon his attempt to suppress the Belgian Revolution.
- 1851 – Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine.
- 1877 – Asaph Hall discovers the Mars moon Deimos.
- 1883 – The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
- 1898 – An Armistice ends the Spanish-American War.
- 1898 – The Hawaiian flag is lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawai`i to the United States.
- 1914 – World War I: the United Kingdom declares war on Austria-Hungary; the countries of the British Empire follow suit.
- 1944 – Waffen SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
- 1944 – Alençon is liberated by General Leclerc, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
- 1952 – The Night of the Murdered Poets: 13 prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow.
- 1953 – Nuclear weapons testing: the Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of Joe 4, the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.
- 1953 – The islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia in Greece are severely damaged by an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale.
- 1960 – Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched.
- 1964 – South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.
- 1964 – Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers, escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England.
- 1969 – Violence erupts after the Apprentice Boys of Derry march in Derry, Northern Ireland, resulting in a three-day communal riot known as the Battle of the Bogside.
- 1976 – Between 1,000 and 3,500 Palestinians are killed in the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, one of the bloodiest events of the Lebanese Civil War
- 1977 – The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
- 1977 – The Sri Lankan riots of 1977, targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamil people, begin, less than a month after the United National Party came to power. Over 300 Tamils are killed.
- 1978 – The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China is signed.
- 1980 – The Montevideo Treaty, establishing the Latin American Integration Association, is signed.
- 1981 – The IBM Personal Computer is released.
- 1982 – Mexico announces it is unable to pay its enormous external debt, marking the beginning of a debt crisis that spreads to all of Latin America and the Third World.
- 1985 – Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes into Osutaka ridge in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520, to become the worst single-plane air disaster.
- 1992 – Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
- 1994 – Major League Baseball players go on strike. This will force the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
- 2000 – The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
- 2005 – Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is fatally shot by an LTTE sniper at his home.
- 2007 – The bulk carrier M/V New Flame collides with the oil tanker Torm Gertrud at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, ending up partially submerged.
[edit] Births
- 1503 – King Christian III of Denmark and Norway (d. 1559)
- 1566 – Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain (d. 1633)
- 1604 – Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese shogun (d. 1651)
- 1629 – Tsar Alexei I of Russia (d. 1676)
- 1644 – Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Bohemian composer (d. 1704)
- 1647 – Johann Heinrich Acker, German writer (d. 1719)
- 1686 – John Balguy, English philosopher (d. 1748)
- 1696 – Maurice Greene, English composer (d. 1755)
- 1720 – Konrad Ekhof, German actor (d. 1778)
- 1762 – King George IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1830)
- 1774 – Robert Southey, English poet and biographer (d. 1843)
- 1831 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist (d. 1891)
- 1856 – Diamond Jim Brady, American financier (d. 1917)
- 1859 – Katharine Lee Bates, American poet (d. 1929)
- 1860 – Klara Hitler, Austrian mother of dictator Adolf Hitler (d. 1907)
- 1866 – Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1954)
- 1867 – Edith Hamilton, German-born American classicist (d. 1963)
- 1872 – Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1956)
- 1876 – Mary Roberts Rinehart, American mystery writer (d. 1958)
- 1877 – Albert Bartha, Hungarian military officer and politician (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Radclyffe Hall, British poet, novelist and LGBT activist (d. 1943)
- 1880 – Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (d. 1925)
- 1881 – Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (d. 1959)
- 1883 – Pauline Frederick, American actress (d. 1938)
- 1883 – Martha Hedman, Swedish-American actress (d. 1974)
- 1883 – Marion Lorne, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1885 – Jean Cabannes, French physicist (d. 1959)
- 1886 – Sir Keith Murdoch, Australian journalist and newspaper owner (d. 1952)
- 1887 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1961)
- 1889 – Zerna Sharp, American writer and educator (Dick and Jane) (d. 1981)
- 1891 – C. E. M. Joad, English philosopher and broadcaster (d. 1953)
- 1892 – Alfred Lunt, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1897 – Maurice Fernandes, Guyanese West Indies cricketer (d. 1981)
- 1899 – Ben Sealey, Trinidadian West Indies cricketer (d. 1963)
- 1902 – Mohammad Hatta, first Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1980)
- 1904 – Tamás Lossonczy, Hungarian painter (d. 2009)
- 1904 – Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia, only son of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1906 – Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (d. 1985)
- 1906 – Tedd Pierce, American animator (d. 1972)
- 1907 – Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Benjamin Henry Sheares, second President of Singapore (d. 1981)
- 1909 – Bruce Matthews, Canadian Army officer and businessman (d. 1991)
- 1910 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1910 – Yusof bin Ishak, first President of Singapore (d. 1970)
- 1911 – Cantinflas, Mexican actor (d. 1993)
- 1912 – Samuel Fuller, American film director (d. 1997)
- 1913 – Richard Bare, American director
- 1914 – Gerd Buchdahl, German philosopher (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and composer (I'll Never Smile Again) (d. 1981)
- 1915 – Sickan Carlsson, Swedish actress and singer (d. 2011)
- 1915 – Michael Kidd, American choreographer (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Guy Gibson, British aviator, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1944)
- 1919 – Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (d. 1971)
- 1922 – Fulton Mackay, Scottish actor (d. 1987)
- 1923 – John Holt, Jamaican West Indies cricketer (d. 1997)
- 1924 – Derek Shackleton, English cricketer (d. 2007)
- 1924 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 6th President of Pakistan (d. 1988)
- 1925 – Dale Bumpers, American politician
- 1925 – Norris McWhirter, Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records (d. 2004)
- 1925 – Ross McWhirter, Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records (d. 1975)
- 1925 – George Wetherill, American physicist (d. 2006)
- 1926 – John Derek, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1926 – Joe Jones, American R&B singer (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Wallace Markfield, American writer (d. 2002)
- 1927 – Porter Wagoner, American singer (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Charles Blackman, Australian artist
- 1928 – Bob Buhl, American baseball player (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Dan Curtis, American film and television producer and director (d.2006)
- 1929 – Buck Owens, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1930 – George Soros Hungarian-born American financier and political activist
- 1930 – Jacques Tits, Belgian mathematician
- 1931 – William Goldman, American screenwriter
- 1932 – Dallin H. Oaks, American The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apostle and former Utah Supreme Court Justice
- 1932 – Charlie O'Donnell, American game show announcer (d. 2010)
- 1932 – Sirikit, Queen consort of Thailand, wife of Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)
- 1933 – Parnelli Jones, American race car driver and team owner
- 1935 – John Cazale, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1937 – Walter Dean Myers, American novelist and poet
- 1938 – Jean-Paul L'Allier, Canadian politician, 38th Mayor of Quebec
- 1939 – Michael D. Antonovich, American politician
- 1939 – Skip Caray, American TV and radio baseball announcer (Atlanta Braves) (d. 2008)
- 1939 – George Hamilton, American actor
- 1939 – Roy Romanow, Canadian politician
- 1940 – Eddie Barlow, South African cricketer (d. 2005)
- 1941 – Réjean Ducharme, Canadian novelist and playwright
- 1941 – Dana Ivey, American actress
- 1942 – Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, German physician
- 1943 – Deborah Walley, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1945 – Ron Mael, American keyboardist (Sparks)
- 1946 – Terry Nutkins, British TV presenter
- 1947 – Sam Rosen, American sportscaster
- 1949 – Panagiotis Chinofotis, Greek politician
- 1949 – Mark Knopfler, British singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dire Straits)
- 1949 – Rick Ridgeway, American mountaineer
- 1950 – Jim Beaver, American actor and writer
- 1951 – Willie Horton, American murderer and rapist
- 1952 – Chen Kaige, Chinese film director
- 1954 – Ibolya Dávid, Hungarian lawyer and politician
- 1954 – Sam J. Jones, American actor
- 1954 – Pat Metheny, American guitarist
- 1955 – Ann M. Martin, American children's writer
- 1955 – Terry Taylor, American professional wrestler
- 1956 – Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
- 1956 – Sidath Wettimuny, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1957 – Friedhelm Schütte, German footballer
- 1958 – Jürgen Dehmel, German bass player and songwriter (Nena)
- 1959 – Amanda Redman, English actress
- 1960 – Laurent Fignon, French cyclist (d. 2010)
- 1960 – Greg Thomas, England cricketer
- 1960 – Eduardo Tokeshi, Peruvian artist
- 1961 – Roy Hay, British guitarist and keyboardist (Culture Club)
- 1961 – Lawrence Hayward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Felt, Denim, Go Kart Mozart)
- 1961 – Mark Priest, New Zealand cricketer
- 1963 – Kōji Kitao (Futahaguro Koji), Japanese sumo wrestler (the 60th Yokozuna) and professional wrestler
- 1963 – Sir Mix-a-Lot, American rapper
- 1965 – Peter Krause, American actor
- 1967 – Andy Hui, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1967 – Andrey Plotnikov, Russian race walker
- 1967 – Regilio Tuur, Dutch boxer
- 1968 – Thorsten Boer, German footballer
- 1968 – Andras Jones, American actor
- 1969 – Aga Muhlach, Filipino actor
- 1969 – Tanita Tikaram, British singer
- 1969 – Stuart Williams, Nevisian West Indies cricketer
- 1970 – Charles Mesure, British actor
- 1970 – Jim Schlossnagle, American baseball coach
- 1970 – Anthony Swofford, American novelist
- 1971 – Michael Ian Black, American comedian
- 1971 – Yvette Nicole Brown, American actress
- 1971 – Rebecca Gayheart, American actress
- 1971 – Pete Sampras, American tennis player
- 1972 – Mark Kinsella, Irish footballer
- 1972 – Takanohana Kōji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 65th Yokozuna
- 1972 – Gyanendra Pandey, Indian cricketer
- 1972 – Del the Funky Homosapien, American hip hop artist
- 1973 – Joseba Beloki, Spanish cyclist
- 1973 – Jonathan Coachman, American professional wrestler and executive
- 1973 – Todd Marchant, American ice hockey player
- 1973 – Richard Reid, British terrorist (the "Shoe Bomber")
- 1973 – Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi theologian and political leader
- 1974 – Matt Clement, American baseball player
- 1975 – Casey Affleck, American actor
- 1976 – Pedro Collins, Barbadian cricketer
- 1976 – Mikko Lindström, Finnish guitarist (HIM)
- 1976 – Brad Lukowich, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Richard McCourt, English children's television presenter
- 1976 – Henry Tuilagi, Samoan rugby union footballer
- 1976 – Antoine Walker, American basketball player
- 1976 – Wednesday 13, American vocalist (Wednesday 13, Murderdolls)
- 1977 – Plaxico Burress, American football player
- 1977 – Jesper Grønkjær, Danish footballer
- 1977 – Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor and singer (d. 2010)
- 1978 – Chris Chambers, American football player
- 1978 – Hayley Wickenheiser, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – D.J. Houlton, American baseball player
- 1979 – Cindy Klassen, Canadian speed skater
- 1979 – Austra Skujytė, Lithuanian athlete
- 1980 – Maggie Lawson, American actress
- 1980 – Dominique Swain, American actress
- 1980 – Matt Thiessen, Canadian singer-songwriter (Relient K)
- 1980 – Jade Villalon, American singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Tony Capaldi, Northern Irish footballer
- 1981 – Djibril Cissé, French footballer
- 1982 – Iza Calzado, Filipino TV actress
- 1982 – Alexandros Tzorvas, Greek footballer
- 1983 – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Manoa Vosawai, Italian rugby player
- 1983 – Mark Webster, Welsh Dart player
- 1984 – Marian Rivera, Filipino actress
- 1985 – Franck Moutsinga, German rugby player
- 1988 – Justin Gaston, American actor, model and singer
- 1988 – Leah Pipes, American actress
- 1989 – Tom Cleverley, English footballer
- 1990 – Marvin Zeegelaar, Dutch footballer
- 1990 – Mario Balotelli, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Enzo Pineda, Filipino television actor
[edit] Deaths
- 30 BC – Cleopatra VII (b. 69 BC)
- 875 – Louis II of Italy, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 825)
- 1424 – Yongle Emperor of China (b. 1360)
- 1484 – Pope Sixtus IV (b. 1414)
- 1484 – George of Trebizond, Greek philosopher (b. 1395)
- 1512 – Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (b. 1463)
- 1577 – Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (b. 1513)
- 1588 – Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder, Italian composer (b. 1543)
- 1612 – Giovanni Gabrieli, Italian composer
- 1633 – Jacopo Peri, Italian composer (b. 1561)
- 1638 – Johannes Althusius, German writer (b. 1557)
- 1648 – Ibrahim I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1615)
- 1674 – Philippe de Champaigne, French painter (b. 1602)
- 1689 – Pope Innocent XI (b. 1611)
- 1778 – Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, British general and politician (b. 1714)
- 1809 – Mikhail Kamensky, Russian field marshal (b. 1738)
- 1810 – Etienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist (b. 1725)
- 1822 – Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, English politician and statesman (b. 1769)
- 1827 – William Blake, English poet and artist (b. 1757)
- 1829 – Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie, French royalist general and counterrevolutionary (b. 1760)
- 1848 – George Stephenson, British locomotive designer (b. 1781)
- 1849 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American politician, 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
- 1851 – John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, British barrister and a pioneer in women's education in India (b. 1801)
- 1861 – Eliphalet Remington, American inventor (b. 1793)
- 1864 – Sakuma Shōzan, Japanese reformer (b. 1811)
- 1865 – William Jackson Hooker, English botanist (b. 1785)
- 1891 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and essayist (b. 1819)
- 1896 – Thomas Chamberlain, American Civil War military figure (b. 1841)
- 1900 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian chess player (b. 1836)
- 1901 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-born Swedish explorer (b. 1832)
- 1904 – William Renshaw, British tennis player (b. 1861)
- 1914 – John Philip Holland, Irish submarine designer (b. 1840)
- 1918 – Anna Held, Polish-born American actress and singer (b. 1872)
- 1922 – Arthur Griffith, Irish politician (b. 1871)
- 1924 – Sándor Bródy, Hungarian author and journalist (b. 1863)
- 1928 – Leoš Janáček, Czech composer (b. 1854)
- 1934 – Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Dutch architect (b. 1856)
- 1935 – Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (b. 1851)
- 1941 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer (b. 1857)
- 1941 – 1st Marquess of Willingdon, Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India (b. 1866)
- 1943 – Vittorio Sella, Italian photographer (b. 1859)
- 1944 – Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., brother of President John F. Kennedy (b. 1915)
- 1948 – Harry Brearley, English inventor (b. 1871)
- 1952 – David Bergelson, Ukrainian-born Soviet Yiddish language writer (b. 1884)
- 1955 – Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1875)
- 1955 – James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1887)
- 1959 – Mike O'Neill, Irish-born American baseball player (b. 1877)
- 1964 – Ian Fleming, English novelist, creator of James Bond (b. 1908)
- 1967 – Esther Forbes, American novelist (b. 1891)
- 1973 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1881)
- 1973 – Karl Ziegler, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1898)
- 1979 – Sir Ernst Boris Chain, British biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906)
- 1982 – Henry Fonda, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1982 – Salvador Sánchez, Mexican boxer (b. 1959)
- 1982 – Varlam Shalamov, Russian writer (b. 1907)
- 1984 – Lenny Breau, American jazz guitarist (b. 1941)
- 1985 – Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (b. 1941)
- 1985 – Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
- 1988 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter and graffiti artist (b. 1960)
- 1989 – William Shockley, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- 1989 – Samuel Okwaraji, Nigerian footballer (b. 1964)
- 1990 – B. Kliban, American cartoonist (b. 1935)
- 1990 – Dorothy Mackaill, British-born American actress (b. 1903)
- 1992 – John Cage, American composer (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Robert Gravel, French-Canadian actor and theatrical director (b. 1945)
- 1996 – Mark Gruenwald, American comic book writer and editor (b. 1953)
- 1996 – Viktor Hambardzumyan, Soviet Armenian scientist (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Luther Allison, American blues guitarist (b. 1939)
- 1999 – Jean Drapeau, Canadian politician (b. 1916)
- 2000 – Loretta Young, American actress (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Enos Slaughter, American baseball player (b. 1916)
- 2004 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and inventor, Nobel laureate (b. 1919)
- 2004 – Peter Woodthorpe, British actor (b. 1931)
- 2005 – John Loder, English sound engineer and record producer (b. 1946)
- 2007 – Merv Griffin, American television host and game show creator (b. 1925)
- 2007 – Mike Wieringo, American comic book artist (b. 1963)
- 2008 – Christie Allen, English-born Australian pop singer (b. 1954)
- 2009 – Les Paul, American guitarist (b. 1915)
- 2010 – Isaac Bonewits, American writer and neopaganist (b. 1949)
- 2010 – Richie Hayward, American musician (Little Feat) (b. 1946)
- 2010 – André Kim, South Korean Fashion Designer (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Guido de Marco, Maltan politician and diplomat (b. 1931)
- 2011 – Jani Lane, American musician (Warrant) (b. 1964)
- 2011 – Robert Robinson, British television presenter (Ask The Family, Call My Bluff) (b. 1927)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
