August 12Birthdays & History

On this day: August 12 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1099First 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.Middle EastEurope
2. 1121Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David IV wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.Middle East
3. 1164Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.Africa
4. 1204The Republic of Venice acquires the right to Crete from Boniface I of Montferrat.Europe
5. 1323The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod Republic is signed, regulating the border between the two countries for the first time.Europe
6. 1376Andronikos IV Palaiologos enters Constantinople by force and captures his father, emperor John V Palaiologos, and his younger brothers during the Byzantine civil war of 1373–1379.Middle EastEurope
7. 1492Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.Europe
8. 1499First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.EuropeMiddle East
9. 1624Charles de La Vieuville is arrested and replaced by Cardinal Richelieu as the French king's chief advisor.Europe
10. 1676Praying Indian John Alderman shoots and kills Metacomet, the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.Asia
11. 1687Battle of Mohács: Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman Empire.Middle East
12. 1765Treaty of Allahabad is signed. The Treaty marks the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of Company rule in India.Asia
13. 1788The Anjala conspiracy is signed.Europe
14. 1793The Rhône and Loire départments are created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire is split into two.Europe
15. 1806Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires re-takes the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina after the first British invasion.Latin AmericaEurope
16. 1831French intervention forces William I of the Netherlands to abandon his attempt to suppress the Belgian Revolution.Europe
17. 1851Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine.North America
18. 1865Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs the first antiseptic surgery.Europe
19. 1883The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.Europe
20. 1898The Hawaiian flag is lowered from ʻIolani 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 Hawaii to the United States where it is formally recognized as Hawaii.North America
21. 1914World War I: The Battle of Halen a.k.a. Battle of the Silver Helmets, a clash between large Belgian and German cavalry formations at Halen, Belgium.Europe
22. 1914World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary.Europe
23. 1944World War II: Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, becoming the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.Europe
24. 1944World War II: Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which at least 40,000 people are killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.Europe
25. 1944World War II: Waffen-SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.Europe
26. 1948Between 15 and 150 unarmed members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement are killed by Pakistani police.Asia
27. 1950Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.AsiaNorth America
28. 1952The Night of the Murdered Poets: Thirteen prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.Europe
29. 1953The 7.2 Ms Ionian earthquake shakes the southern Ionian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 445 and 800 people are killed.Europe
30. 1953Thermonuclear bomb testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of "RDS-6s" (Joe 4) using a "layered" scheme.Europe
31. 1960Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched.North America
32. 1964South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.Africa
33. 1969Violence 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.Europe
34. 1976Between 1,000 and 3,500 Palestinians are killed in the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, one of the bloodiest events of the Lebanese Civil War.Middle East
35. 1977The Sri Lanka Riots, targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils, begin, less than a month after the United National Party came to power. Over 300 Tamils are killed.Asia
36. 1977The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.World
37. 1981The IBM Personal Computer is released.North America
38. 1984An infamous brawl takes place at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.North America
39. 1985Japan Air Lines Flight 123, a Boeing 747, crashes into Osutaka ridge in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520, becoming the worst single-plane air disaster.Asia
40. 1990Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota.North America
41. 1992Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).North AmericaLatin America
42. 1994Major League Baseball players go on strike, eventually forcing the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.North America
43. 2000The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew.Europe
44. 2015At least two massive explosions kill 173 people and injure nearly 800 more in Tianjin, China.Asia
45. 2016Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).Middle East
46. 2017The Unite the Right rally occurs in Charlottesville, Virginia, leading to three deaths and injuring nearly 50 more.North America
47. 2018Thirty-nine civilians, including a dozen children, are killed in an explosion at a weapons depot in Sarmada, Syria.Middle East
48. 2021Six people, five victims and the perpetrator are killed in Keyham, Plymouth in the worst mass shooting in the UK since 2010.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "August 12" / CC BY-SA 4.0