On this day in History - Aug 12

• 30 BC - Cleopatra commits suicide after her defeat and Mark Antony's defeat at the battle of Actium.
• 0875 - Louis II Holy Roman Emperor dies.
• 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders defeat Saracens and the Kingdom of Jerusalem is established under Godfrey of Bouillon.
• 1121 - Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David the Builder won a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
• 1323 - Treaty of Nöteborg - Sweden and Novgorod (Russia) regulates the border for the first time
• 1332 - Battle of Dupplin Moor - Scots under the Earl of Mar routed by Edward Balliol
• 1484 - Pope Sixtus IV dies.
• 1484 - George of Trebizond dies. Philosopher.
• 1503 - Christian III of Denmark and Norway was born
• 1604 - Tokugawa Iemitsu was born (d. 1651). Japanese shogun
• 1612 - Giovanni Gabrieli dies. Italian composer
• 1626 - Giovanni Legrenzi was born (d. 1690). Italian composer.
• 1629 - Tsar Alexei I of Russia was born (d. 1676)
• 1633 - Jacopo Peri dies. Italian composer
• 1643 - King Afonso VI of Portugal was born (d. 1683)
• 1644 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber was born (d. 1704). Bohemian composer.
• 1647 - Johann Heinrich Acker was born (d. 1719)., German writer.
• 1666 - Antonio Balestra was born (d. 21 Apr 1740). Italian painter and printmaker. His altarpieces and history paintings, which unite late Baroque classicism with Venetian color, brought new life to north Italian painting.
• 1676 - Praying Indian John Alderman shot and killed Metacomet the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.
• 1686 - John Balguy was born (d. 1748). English philosopher.
• 1689 - Pope Innocent XI dies.
• 1696 - Maurice Greene was born (d. 1755). English composer.
• 1762 - Cuba: la ciudad de La Habana es tomada por una escuadra inglesa.
• 1774 - Robert Southey was born (d. 1843). English poet and biographer.
• 1781 - Robert Mills was born. American architect.
• 1797 - Manuel Aguilar Chacón was born. President of Costa Rica (1837-1838)
• 1806 - Santiago de Liniers re-takes the city of Buenos Aires after the first English invasion.
• 1812 - O exército anglo-português comandado por Wellington, acompanhado de algumas forças espanholas, entra em Madrid.
• 1821 - Criação da Universidad de Buenos Aires
• 1822 - Robert Stewart dies. 2nd Marquis of Londonderry, British Foreign Secretary
• 1827 - William Blake dies (b. 1757). English poet and printmaker.
• 1831 - Helena Blavatsky was born (d. 1891). Author.
• 1848 - George Stephenson dies. Locomotive designer.
• 1851 - Isaac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine
• 1854 - Count Gaston de Raousset Boulbon is executed by shooting, in regard to the Battle of Guaymas.
• 1859 - Katharine Lee Bates was born (d. 1929). American poet.
• 1864 - Sakuma Shōzan dies (b. 1811). Japanese reformer.
• 1865 - William Jackson Hooker dies (b. 1785). English botanist.
• 1866 - Jacinto Benavente was born (d. 1954). Spanish writer. Nobel Prize in Literature in 1922.
• 1875 - Nascimento de Ettore Panizza. Maestro e compositor argentino
• 1875 - Angela de la Cruz (María Ángeles Guerrero González) cria as Irmãs da Companhia da Cruz
• 1876 - Nascimento de Isidro Ballester Tormo. Arqueólogo espanhol
• 1876 - José María Medina assume (pela 4º vez) a presidência de Honduras
• 1876 - Mary Roberts Rinehart was born (d. 1958). Author.
• 1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Deimos and Fobos
• 1880 - Christy Mathewson was born (d. 1925). Baseball player.
• 1880 - Radclyffe Hall was born (d. 1943). British author.
• 1881 - Cecil B. DeMille was born (d. 1959). American director Os dez Mandamentos; Nascimento de uma Nação.
• 1883 - Pauline Frederick was born (d. 1938). Stage and film actress
• 1883 - The last quagga dies at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam
• 1884 - Frank Arthur Swinnerton was born. English writer
• 1887 - Erwin Schrödinger was born (d. 1961). Austrian physicist, Nobel was born Prize laureate
• 1888 - Criação da União Geral dos Trabalhadores - Barcelona - Espanha
• 1891 - James Russell Lowell dies (b. 1819). American poet and essayist
• 1892 - Alfred Lunt was born (d. 1977). Actor.
• 1897 - Otto Struve was born. Ucranian astronomer
• 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 Hawaii to the United States.
• 1900 - Wilhelm Steinitz dies (b. 1836). Chess player.
• 1901 - Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld dies (b. 1832). Finnish-Swedish explorer.
• 1904 - Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov was born (d. 1918). Tsarevich
• 1906 - Pauline Frederick was born (d. 1990). Journalist
• 1906 - Tedd Pierce was born (d. 1972). Animator
• 1907 - Joe Besser was born (d. 1988). American actor and comedian.
• 1907 - Nascimento, em São Martinho de Anta (Vila Real) de Adolfo Correia da Rocha que usou o pseudónimo literário de Miguel Torga (m.17 Jan 1995). Formado em Medicina pela Universidade deCoimbra (1933), especializou-se em Otarrinolaringologia. Da sua obra fazem parte. A criação doMundo, Bichos, Contos da Montanha, Novos Contos da Montanha, Diário. Foi vária vezes candidato ao Nobel da Literatura que não obteve. Recebeu o prémio Camões em 1989. De personalidade individualista a sua obra traduz um desespero humanista. (Nota do autor: Um dos autores e poetas portugueses que mais aprecio).
• 1908 - First Model T Ford built
• 1911 - Mário Moreno, Cantinflas, was born (d. 1993). Actor.
• 1911 - Jane Wyatt was born. Actress.
• 1912 - Edson Carneiro was born (d. 1972). Brazilian writer.
• 1914 - Great War - Britain declares war on Austria-Hungary; British Empire countries automatically included.
• 1914 - Beginning of the Battle of Cer between Austria-Hungary and Serbia
• 1914 - John Philip Holland dies (b. 1840). Submarine designer.
• 1916 - Lila Ripoll was born. Brazilian poetess.
• 1917 - John Lee Hooker was born. American musician and singer
• 1918 - Anna Held dies (b. 1872). Actress amd singer.
• 1923 - Vatrslav Jagić dies (b. 1838). Croatian philologist
• 1924 - Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was born (d. 1988). Leader of Pakistan
• 1924 - Derek Shackleton was born. English cricketer.
• 1925 - The first cast of Alpha Psi Omega, drawn from The Masquers of Fairmont College, West Virginia, was initiated.
• 1925 - Norris McWhirter was born (d. 2004). Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records
• 1925 - Ross McWhirter was born (d. 1975). Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records
• 1926 - John Derek was born (d. 1998). Actor
• 1927 - Mstislav Rostropovich was born. Russian cellist
• 1927 - Porter Wagoner was born. Singer
• 1928 - Bob Buhl was born (d. 2001). Baseball player.
• 1928 - Dan Curtis was born. Film and television producer and director
• 1928 - Leos Janacek dies (b. 1854). Czech composer
• 1928 - Charles Blackman was born. Australian painter.
• 1929 - Buck Owens was born. Singer
• 1930 - George Soros was born. American businessman Soros Fund Management
• 1931 - William Goldman was born. Screenwriter.
• 1933 - Parnelli Jones was born. Race car driver.
• 1933 - Renuncia do presidente cubano Gerardo Machado y Morales e início do mandato de Carlos M. de Céspedez y de Quezada.
• 1934 - Hendrik Petrus Berlage dies (b. 1856). Dutch architect.
• 1939 - George Hamilton was born. Actor.
• 1943 - Bobby Peel dies (b. 1857). English cricketer.
• 1948 - Harry Brearley dies. Inventor of stainless steel.
• 1949 - Mark Knopfler was born. Musician
• 1949 - Fernando Collor de Mello was born. President of Brazil
• 1952 - The Night of Murdered Poets - 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.
• 1953 - Carlos Mesa was born. Presiden of Bolívia
• 1953 - Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates its first hydrogen bomb.
• 1954 - Pat Metheny was born. Guitarist.
• 1955 - Thomas Mann dies (b. 6 Jun 1875). German writer, Nobel Prize laureate in 1929.
• 1955 - James B. Sumner dies (b. 1887). American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1960 - Echo I, the first communications satellite, launched
• 1964 - Ian Fleming dies. British novelist
• 1966 - John Lennon apologized at a Chicago news conference for saying the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus."
• 1966 - Massacre of Braybrook Street as three policemen are shot dead in East Acton, London.
• 1967 - Emil Kostadinov was born. Bulgarian football player.
• 1968 - Angus Walters dies (b. 1882). Canadian sailor.
• 1969 - Battle of the Bogside, Catholic community of Derry engage in two-day "battle" with Royal Ulster Constabulary
• 1971 - Michael Ian Black, was born. Comedian
• 1971 - Pete Sampras was born. Tennis player
• 1972 - Rebecca Gayheart was born. Actress.
• 1972 - Takanohana Kōji was born. Sumo wrestler
• 1973 - Richard Reid was born. English bomber.
• 1973 - Karl Ziegler dies (b. 1898). German chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate on 1963.
• 1973 - Walter Rudolf Hess dies (b. 1881). German physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1974 - Matt Clement was born. Major League Baseball pitcher.
• 1975 . Portugal : È apresentado o documento COPCON.O Comando Operacional do Continente reforça o papel político das Assembleias Populares
• 1976 - Antoine Walker was born. Basketball player
• 1977 - Plaxico Burress was born. American football player
• 1978 - Japan and China sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China.
• 1979 - Ernst Boris Chain dies (b. 1906). German-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
• 1980 - Signing of the Montevideo Treaty, which established the Latin American Integration Association.
• 1980 - Dominique Swain was born. American actress
• 1981 - The IBM PC, an early personal computer, is introduced.
• 1982 - Henry Fonda dies (b. 1905). American actor (My darling Clementine)
• 1982 - Joe Tex (Joseph Arrington) dies (b. 1933). American singer
• 1982 - Salvador Sanchez dies (b. 1959). Mexican boxer .
• 1982 - Varlam Shalamov dies (b. 1907). Russian writer.
• 1984 - Carlos Lopes ganha a maratona dos Jogos Olímpicos de Los Angeles
• 1985 - Manfred Winkelhock dies. Race car driver
• 1985 - Kyu Sakamoto dies (b. 1941). Singer.
• 1985 - Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, crashes into Mount Ogura in Gunma Prefecture Japan killing 520 in the world's worst single-plane air disaster. Four people miraculously survive.
• 1988 - Leah Pipes was born. Actress.
• 1989 - William Shockley dies (b. 1910). American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1990 - Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, discovered near Faith, South Dakota.
• 1992 - John Cage dies. American composer.
• 1992 - Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for NAFTA.
• 1994 - The Woodstock '94 rock concert takes place.
• 1994 - Major League Baseball players go on strike. The work stoppage will force the cancellation of the World Series.
• 1997 - Luther Allison dies. Blues musician
• 2000 - Loretta Young dies. Actress
• 2000 - Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea.
• 2002 - Morre Helena Vaz da Silva (n. 3 Jul 1939). Jornalista portuguesa. Presidente do Centro Nacional de Cultura. Deputada europeia.
• 2002 - Enos Slaughter dies. Baseball player
• 2002 - Ed Headrick dies. Developer of the Frisbee.
• 2004 - Sweden's nine millionth inhabitant is born.
• 2004 - Lee Hsien Loong is sworn in as Singapore's 3rd Prime Minister.
• 2004 - Sir Godfrey Hounsfield dies (b. 1919). English electrical engineer and inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 2004 - Portugal perde com o Iraque 2-4 no Torneio de Futebol dos Jogos Olímpicos
• 2004 - Peter Woodthorpe dies (b. 1931). British actor.
• 2005 - John Loder dies (b. 1946). Co-founder of the anarcho-punk band CRASS
• 2005 - Abertura oficial em Luanda (Angola) dos V Jogos Desportivos da Comunidade de Países da Língua Portuguesa (CPLP)
• 2005 - Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is fatally shot by a sniper in 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
• Roman Catholicism - the feast of St. Clare
• Glorious Twelfth at the Yorkshire Dales
• Zaraday (Discordianism)
• Zimbabwe - Defence Force Day
• International Ponce de Leon day
• Grantobiss William Ellis' day of birth
• Dia Internacional da Juventude. A 17 de Dezembro de 1999, a Assembléia Geral da ONU aprovou a recomendação da Conferência Mundial de Ministros da Juventude (Lisboa, 8-12 de Agosto de 1998) no sentido de que 12 de Agosto fosse declarado Dia Internacional da Juventude (resolução 54/120 I).