August 12

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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.

Events

30 BC - Cleopatra commits suicide after her lover, Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium.
1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces under Al-Afdal Shahanshah. Considered the last engagement of the First Crusade.
1121 - Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David the Builder won a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
1164 - Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
1281 - The fleet of Qubilai Khan is destroyed by a typhoon while approaching Japan.
1323 - Treaty of Nöteborg - Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) regulates the border for the first time.
1332 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor - Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar routed by Edward Balliol.
1480 - Battle of Otranto - Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam.
1499 - First act of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.
1676 - Praying Indian John Alderman shot and killed Metacomet the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.
1687 - Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohács.
1793 - The Rhône department was created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire (Lêre).
1806 - Santiago de Liniers re-takes the city of Buenos Aires after the first British invasion.
1833 - Chicago was founded.
1851 - Isaac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine.
1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Deimos.
1883 - The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.
1898 - Armistice ends the Spanish-American War.
1898 - The Hawaiian flag is lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the American flag to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawai`i to the United States.
1908 - First Model T Ford built.
1914 - World War I - Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; British Empire countries automatically included.
1925 - The first cast of Alpha Psi Omega, drawn from The Masquers of Fairmont College, West Virginia, was initiated.
1943 - Alleged date of the first Philadelphia Experiment test on United States Navy ship USS Eldridge.
1944 - Waffen SS troops massacre more than 500 civil people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
1944 - Alençon liberated by General Leclerc, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by the Allied forces.
1952 - The Night of the Murdered Poets - Thirteen most prominent Jewish intellectuals were murdered in Moscow.
1953 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project proceeded with the detonation of Joe 4, the first Soviet thermonuclear weapon.
1960 - Echo I, the first communications satellite, launched
1964 - South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to its racist policy.
1964 - Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England.
1969 - Battle of the Bogside, Catholic community of Derry engage in two-day battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary
1972 - The last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam.
1977 - The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
1978 - Japan and the People's Republic of China sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
1980 - Signing of the Montevideo Treaty, which established the Latin American Integration Association.
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 spread to all of Latin America and the Third World.
1985 - Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes into Mount Ogura in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520. It is the worst single-plane air disaster.
1990 - Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, is discovered near Faith, South Dakota.
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. The work stoppage forces the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
2000 - The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy exploded and sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
2004 - New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey comes out publicly as a gay man.
2005 - Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is fatally shot by a sniper at his home.
2005 - An F2 tornado strikes the coal mining town of Wright, Wyoming, destroying nearly 100 homes and killing two people.
2005 - Civil unrest provoked in the Maldives
2005 - An F1 tornado strikes Glen Cove, New York, a rare event on Long Island
2007 - Bulk carrier M/V New Flame collides with oil tanker Torm Gertrud at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar, ending up partially submerged.

Births

1503 - 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)
1643 - King Afonso VI of Portugal (d. 1683)
1644 - Heinrich Ignaz 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)
1856 - "Diamond Jim" Brady, American financier (d. 1917)
1859 - Katharine Lee Bates, American poet (d. 1929)
1866 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1954)
1867 - Edith Hamilton, German classicist (d. 1963)
1872 - Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1956)
1876 - Mary Roberts Rinehart, American author (d. 1958)
1880 - Radclyffe Hall, British author (d. 1943)
1880 - Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (d. 1925)
1881 - Cecil B. DeMille, American director (d. 1959)
1883 - Pauline Frederick, American actress (d. 1938)
1885 - Jean Cabannes, French physicist (d. 1959)
1885 - Marion Lorne, American actress (d. 1968)
1886 - Sir Keith Murdoch, Australian journalist and newspaper owner (d. 1952)
1887 - Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1961)
1889 - Zerna Sharp, American writer and educator (Dick and Jane) (d. 1981)
1892 - Alfred Lunt, American actor (d. 1977)
1902 - Mohammad Hatta, Vice President of Indonesia 1945-1956 (d. 1980)
1904 - Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia, only son of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
1906 - Harry Hopman, Australian-born tennis player and coach (d. 1985)
1906 - Tedd Pierce, American animator (d. 1972)
1907 - Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (d. 1988)
1909 - Richard Bare, American director
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)
1914 - Gerd Buchdahl, German philosopher (d. 2001)
1914 - Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and composer (I'll Never Smile Again) (d. 1981)
1915 - Michael Kidd, American choreographer (d. 2007)
1918 - Guy Gibson, British aviator, awarded Victoria Cross (d. 1944)
1919 - Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (d. 1971)
1924 - Derek Shackleton, English cricketer (d. 2007)
1924 - Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, leader of Pakistan (d. 1988)
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 scientist (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, film and television producer and director
1929 - Buck Owens, American singer (d. 2006)
1930 - George Soros Hungarian-American financier and political activist
1930 - Jacques Tits, Belgian mathematician
1931 - William Goldman, American screenwriter
1932 - Charlie O'Donnell, American game show announcer
1932 - Somdej Phra Nangchao Sirikit Phra Boromarajininat HM Queen Sirikit of Thailand
1933 - Parnelli Jones, American race car driver and team owner
1935 - John Cazale, Italian-American actor (d. 1978)
1937 - Walter Dean Myers, African-American author
1938 - Jean-Paul L'Allier, Canadian Mayor of Quebec
1939 - George Hamilton, American actor
1939 - Roy Romanow, Canadian politician
1939 - Michael D. Antonovich, American politician
1941 - Réjean Ducharme, Quebec novelist and playwright
1943 - Deborah Walley, American actress (d. 2001)
1944 - Peter Hofmann, German tenor
1947 - Ron Mael, American musician (Sparks)
1947 - Sam Rosen, American sportscaster
1949 - Panagiotis Chinofotis, Greek politician
1949 - Mark Knopfler OBE, Scottish guitarist (Dire Straits)
1950 - Jim Beaver, American actor and writer
1951 - Willie Horton, American murderer and rapist
1952 - Chen Kaige, Chinese film director
1954 - Sam J. Jones, American actor
1954 - Pat Metheny, American guitarist
1955 - Ann M. Martin, American author
1955 - Terry Taylor, American retired professional wrestler
1956 - Bruce Greenwood, Canadian actor
1960 - Laurent Fignon, French cyclist
1961 - Roy Hay, British guitarist and keyboardist (Culture Club)
1961 - Lawrence Hayward, English musician (Felt, Denim, Go Kart Mozart)
1962 - Miss Cleo, American psychic
1963 - Sir Mix A Lot, American rapper
1965 - Peter Krause, American actor
1966 - Les Ferdinand, English footballer
1967 - Regilio Tuur, Dutch boxer
1967 - Andrey Plotnikov, Russian race walker
1967 - Andy Hui, Hong Kong actor and singer
1968 - Andras Jones, American actor
1969 - Aga Muhlach, Filipino actor
1970 - Anthony Swofford, American novelist
1970 - Jim Schlossnagle, baseball coach
1970 - Charles Mesure, British actor
1971 - Michael Ian Black, American comedian
1971 - Rebecca Gayheart, American actress
1971 - Pete Sampras, American tennis player
1972 - Mark Kinsella, Irish footballer
1972 - Takanohana, Sumo yokozuna
1973 - Joseba Beloki, Spanish cyclist
1973 - Jonathan Coachman, American professional wrestler and executive
1973 - Todd Marchant, American ice hockey player
1973 - Richard Reid (shoe bomber)
1973 - Yvette Nicole Brown, American actress
1973 - Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr - son of Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr
1973 - Grey DeLisle, American voice actress
1974 - Matt Clement, American baseball player
1975 - Casey Affleck, American actor
1975 - David Filmore, American actor
1976 - Mikko Viljami "Linde" Lindström, Finnish guitarist
1976 - Antoine Walker, American basketball player
1976 - Wednesday 13, American musician (Wednesday 13, Murderdolls)
1976 - Brad Lukowich, Canadian ice hockey player
1976 - Richard McCourt, English children's television presenter
1976 - Henry Tuilagi, Samoan rugby player
1977 - Plaxico Burress, American football player
1977 - Jesper Grønkjær, Danish footballer
1977 - Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor and singer
1978 - Hayley Wickenheiser, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 - Chris Chambers, American football player
1979 - D.J. Houlton, American baseball player
1979 - Cindy Klassen, Canadian speed skater
1980 - Maggie Lawson, American actress
1980 - Dominique Swain, American actress
1980 - Matt Thiessen, Canadian-born musician (Relient K)
1980 - Jade Villalon, American singer/songwriter
1981 - Tony Capaldi, Northern Ireland footballer
1981 - Djibril Cissé, French footballer
1982 - Alexandros Tzorvas, Greek footballer
1984 - Marian Rivera, Filipino actress
1988 - Leah Pipes, American actress

Deaths

30 BC - Cleopatra (b. 69 BC)
875 - Louis II Holy Roman Emperor (b. 825)
1424 - Yongle, Emperor of China (b. 1460)
1484 - George of Trebizond, Greek philosopher (b. 1395)
1484 - Pope Sixtus IV (b. 1414)
1512 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (b. 1463)
1577 - Thomas Smith, English diplomat and scholar (b. 1513)
1588 - Alfonso Ferrabosco (I), 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)
1848 - George Stephenson, British locomotive designer (b. 1781)
1861 - Eliphalet Remington, American inventor, designer of the Remington rifle (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, officer of the 20th Maine at the Battle of Gettysburg
1900 - Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian chess player (b. 1836)
1901 - Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer (b. 1832)
1914 - John Philip Holland, Irish submarine designer (b. 1840)
1918 - Anna Held, Polish-born actress and singer (b. 1872)
1922 - Arthur Griffith, President of Ireland (b. 1871)
1928 - Leoš Janáček, Czech composer (b. 1854)
1934 - Hendrik Petrus Berlage, Dutch architect (b. 1856)
1935 - Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (b. 1851)
1943 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (b. 1857)
1944 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., brother of President John F. Kennedy (b. 1915)
1948 - Harry Brearley, English inventor (b. 1871)
1952 - David Bergelson, 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 (James Bond) (b. 1908)
1968 - Esther Forbes, Amarican novelist (b. 1891)
1973 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1881)
1973 - Karl Ziegler, German chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1898)
1979 - Ernst Boris Chain, German-born biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906)
1982 - Henry Fonda, American actor (b. 1905)
1982 - Salvador Sanchez, Mexican boxer (b. 1959)
1982 - Varlam Shalamov, Russian writer (b. 1907)
1985 - Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (plane crash) (b. 1941)
1985 - Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
1988 - Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haitian-American artist (b. 1960)
1988 - Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja, religious Guru from India (b. 1895)
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)
1997 - Luther Allison, American musician (b. 1939)
1999 - Jean Drapeau, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal (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, co-founder of the anarcho-punk band CRASS (b. 1946)
2007 - Merv Griffin, American television host and game show creator (b. 1925)
2007 - Mike Wieringo, American comic book artist (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances

United Nations - International Youth Day (since 1999)
Glorious Twelfth at the Yorkshire Dales
Thailand - The Queen's Birthday, Mother's Day
RC Saints

*Saint Euplus, deacon, martyr [Cologne, Paderborn, Trier]

*Saint Herculanus of Brescia

External links

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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 21:55:15 PDT (GMT -0700)
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