August 12

August 12 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Wednesday)

August 12 is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 141 days remain 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 United Kingdom, as it marks the traditional start of the grouse shooting season.

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 IV 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 Ottoman Empire.
• 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, 1st Count of Buenos Aires re-takes the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina 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, Netherlands.
• 1898 – An Armistice ends the Spanish–American War.
• 1898 – The 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.
• 1914 – World War I: the United Kingdom declares war on Austria-Hungary; the countries of the British Empire follow suit.
• 1914 – World War I: the Battle of Haelen a.k.a. (Battle of the Silver Helmets) last cavalry style attack from the German army on the city of Halen Belgium.
• 1944 – Waffen-SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
• 1944 – Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which time at least 40,000 people were killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.
• 1944 – Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
• 1950 – Bloody Gulch massacre : American POWs were massacred by North Korean Army.
• 1952 – The Night of the Murdered Poets: 13 prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.
• 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.
• 1958 – Art Kane photographs 57 notable jazz musicians in the black and white group portrait "A Great Day in Harlem" in front of a Brownstone in New York City.
• 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, United Kingdom.
• 1969 – Violence erupts after the Apprentice Boys of Derry march in Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom 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 1977 riots in Sri Lanka, 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.
• 1990 – Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton found to date, was discovered by Sue Hendrickson in 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. 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.

Births

• 1503 – Christian III of Denmark (d. 1559)
• 1566 – Isabella Clara Eugenia Spanish wife of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria (d. 1633)
• 1604 – Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese 3rd shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty (d. 1651)
• 1629 – Alexis 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 – George IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1830)
• 1774 – Robert Southey, English poet and biographer (d. 1843)
• 1831 – Helena Blavatsky, Russian scholar and 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 Adolf Hitler (d. 1907)
• 1866 – Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1954)
• 1866 – Henrik Sillem, Dutch sports shooter (d. 1907)
• 1867 – Edith Hamilton, German-American author and educator (d. 1963)
• 1872 – Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1956)
• 1876 – Mary Roberts Rinehart, American author (d. 1958)
• 1877 – Albert Bartha, Hungarian military officer and politician (d. 1960)
• 1880 – Radclyffe Hall, English poet, novelist, and activist (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)
• 1883 – Martha Hedman, Swedish-American actress (d. 1974)
• 1883 – Marion Lorne, American actress (d. 1968)
• 1885 – Jean Cabannes, French physicist (d. 1959)
• 1886 – Keith Murdoch, Australian journalist (d. 1952)
• 1887 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
• 1889 – Zerna Sharp, American author and educator (d. 1981)
• 1891 – C. E. M. Joad, English philosopher and broadcaster (d. 1953)
• 1892 – Alfred Lunt, American actor (d. 1977)
• 1897 – Maurice Fernandes, Guyanese cricketer (d. 1981)
• 1899 – Ben Sealey, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1963)
• 1902 – Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician, 1st Vice President of Indonesia (d. 1980)
• 1904 – Tamás Lossonczy, Hungarian painter (d. 2009)
• 1906 – Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (d. 1985)
• 1906 – Tedd Pierce, American animator, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (d. 1988)
• 1907 – Benjamin Henry Sheares, Singaporean politician, 2nd President of Singapore (d. 1981)
• 1909 – Bruce Matthews, Canadian army officer and businessman (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Yusof bin Ishak, Singaporean politician, 1st President of Singapore (d. 1970)
• 1910 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (d. 2006)
• 1911 – Cantinflas, Mexican actor, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
• 1912 – Samuel Fuller, American director (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Richard L. Bare, American director
• 1914 – Gerd Buchdahl, German philosopher (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Ruth Lowe, Canadian pianist and songwriter (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Sickan Carlsson, Swedish actress and singer (d. 2011)
• 1915 – Michael Kidd, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
• 1916 – Ioan Dicezare, Romanian fighter pilot (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Guy Gibson, English aviator, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1944)
• 1919 – Vikram Sarabhai, Indian physicist (d. 1971)
• 1922 – Fulton Mackay, Scottish actor (d. 1987)
• 1923 – John Holt, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Derek Shackleton, English cricketer (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq,Pakistani politician, 6th President of Pakistan (d. 1988)
• 1925 – Dale Bumpers, American politician, 38th Governor of Arkansas
• 1925 – Guillermo Cano Isaza, Colombian journalist (d. 1986)
• 1925 – Norris McWhirter, Scottish writer and activist co-founder of the Guinness World Records (d. 2004)
• 1925 – Ross McWhirter, Scottish writer and activist, co-founder of the Guinness World Records (d. 1975)
• 1925 – George Wetherill, American physicist (d. 2006)
• 1926 – John Derek, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1926 – Joe Jones, American singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Wallace Markfield, American author (d. 2002)
• 1927 – Porter Wagoner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007)
• 1928 – Charles Blackman, Australian artist
• 1928 – Bob Buhl, American baseball player (d. 2001)
• 1928 – Dan Curtis, American director and producer (d. 2006)
• 1929 – Buck Owens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Buckaroos) (d. 2006)
• 1930 – George Soros Hungarian-American businessman, financier, and philanthropist
• 1930 – Jacques Tits, Belgian-French mathematician
• 1931 – William Goldman, American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter
• 1932 – Sirikit, Thai Queen, wife of Bhumibol Adulyadej
• 1932 – Dallin H. Oaks, American attorney, jurist, author, and religious leader, apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• 1932 – Charlie O'Donnell, American game show announcer (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Parnelli Jones, American race car driver
• 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 City
• 1939 – Michael D. Antonovich, American politician
• 1939 – Skip Caray, American sportscaster (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 keyboard player and songwriter (Sparks)
• 1946 – Deborah Howe, American author
• 1946 – Terry Nutkins, English television host and author
• 1947 – Sam Rosen, American sportscaster
• 1948 – Sue Monk Kidd, American author
• 1949 – Panagiotis Chinofotis, Greek politician
• 1949 – Mark Knopfler, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer (Dire Straits and The Notting Hillbillies)
• 1949 – Lou Martin, Irish pianist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2012)
• 1949 – Rick Ridgeway, American mountaineer
• 1950 – Jim Beaver, American actor and scriptwriter
• 1951 – Willie Horton, American murderer and rapist
• 1952 – Chen Kaige, Chinese director
• 1954 – Ibolya Dávid, Hungarian lawyer and politician
• 1954 – François Hollande, French politician, 24th President of France
• 1954 – Sam J. Jones, American actor
• 1954 – Pat Metheny, American guitarist and composer (Pat Metheny Group)
• 1955 – Ann M. Martin, American author
• 1955 – Terry Taylor, American 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, English musician and composer (Culture Club)
• 1961 – Lawrence Hayward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Felt, Denim, and Go Kart Mozart)
• 1961 – Mark Priest, New Zealand cricketer
• 1963 – Kōji Kitao), Japanese sumo wrestler (the 60th Yokozuna)
• 1963 – Sir Mix-a-Lot, American rapper and producer
• 1965 – Peter Krause, American actor
• 1967 – Andy Hui, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (Big Four)
• 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, German-English singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Stuart Williams, Nevisian cricketer
• 1970 – Charles Mesure, English-Australian actor
• 1970 – Jim Schlossnagle, American baseball coach
• 1970 – Anthony Swofford, American novelist
• 1971 – Michael Ian Black, American comedian, actor, writer, and director
• 1971 – Yvette Nicole Brown, American actress
• 1971 – Rebecca Gayheart, American actress
• 1971 – Pete Sampras, American tennis player
• 1972 – Del the Funky Homosapien, American rapper and producer (Hieroglyphics, Deltron 3030, and Gorillaz)
• 1972 – Mark Kinsella, Irish footballer
• 1972 – Takanohana Kōji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 65th Yokozuna
• 1972 – Gyanendra Pandey, Indian cricketer
• 1973 – Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi theologian and political leader
• 1973 – Joseba Beloki, Spanish cyclist
• 1973 – Jonathan Coachman, American wrestler and sportscaster
• 1973 – Todd Marchant, American ice hockey player
• 1973 – Richard Reid, English terrorist, attempted the 2001 shoe bomb plot
• 1974 – Matt Clement, American baseball player
• 1975 – Casey Affleck, American actor and director
• 1976 – Wednesday 13, American singer-songwriter and musician (Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13, Murderdolls, Bourbon Crow, and Gunfire 76)
• 1976 – Pedro Collins, Barbadian cricketer
• 1976 – Mikko Lindström, Finnish singer and guitarist (HIM and WhoCares)
• 1976 – Brad Lukowich, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1976 – Richard McCourt, English comedian and actor
• 1976 – Henry Tuilagi, Samoan rugby player
• 1976 – Antoine Walker, American basketball player
• 1977 – Plaxico Burress, American football player
• 1977 – Jesper Grønkjær, Danish footballer
• 1977 – Park Yong-ha, South Korean singer and actor (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-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Relient K)
• 1980 – Jade Villalon, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (Sweetbox)
• 1981 – Tony Capaldi, Irish footballer
• 1981 – Djibril Cissé, French footballer
• 1982 – Iza Calzado, Filipino actress
• 1982 – Alexandros Tzorvas, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dutch footballer
• 1983 – Manoa Vosawai, Italian rugby player
• 1983 – Mark Webster, Welsh darts player
• 1984 – Yua Aida, Japanese model
• 1984 – Martin Goeres, German actor and stuntman
• 1984 – Marian Rivera, Filipino actress
• 1985 – Franck Moutsinga, German rugby player
• 1985 – Charlotte Salt, English actress
• 1986 – Kyle Arrington, American football player
• 1986 – Electra Avellan, Venezuelan actress
• 1986 – Elise Avellan, Venezuelan actress
• 1986 – Holley Ann Dorrough, American model
• 1987 – Sabrina Herft, Sri Lankan model, Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2012
• 1988 – Justin Gaston, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1988 – Leah Pipes, American actress
• 1989 – Tom Cleverley, English footballer
• 1990 – Mario Balotelli, Italian footballer
• 1990 – Enzo Pineda, Filipino actor and dancer
• 1990 – Marvin Zeegelaar, Dutch footballer
• 1990 – Martin Zurawsky, German footballer
• 1991 – Jesinta Campbell, Australian model, Miss Universe Australia 2010
• 1991 – Buster Söderström, Swedish actor
• 1992 – Teo Gheorghiu, Swiss-Canadian pianist and actor
• 1992 – Jacinta Wawatai, New Zealand actress
• 1993 – Ewa Farna, Czech singer
• 1993 – Imani Hakim, American actress

Deaths

• 30 BC – Cleopatra VII, Egyptian queen (b. 69 BC)
• 875 – Louis II of Italy (b. 825)
• 1424 – Yongle Emperor of China (b. 1360)
• 1484 – George of Trebizond, Greek philosopher and scholar (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 the elder, Italian composer (b. 1543)
• 1612 – Giovanni Gabrieli, Italian composer (b. 1557)
• 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, English general (b. 1714)
• 1809 – Mikhail Kamensky, Russian field marshal (b. 1738)
• 1810 – Étienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist (b. 1725)
• 1822 – Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Irish-English politician (b. 1769)
• 1827 – William Blake, English poet and painter (b. 1757)
• 1829 – Charles Sapinaud de La Rairie, French general (b. 1760)
• 1848 – George Stephenson, English engineer (b. 1781)
• 1849 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American politician, 4th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
• 1851 – John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, English lawyer and activist (b. 1801)
• 1861 – Eliphalet Remington, American inventor and businessman, founded Remington Arms (b. 1793)
• 1864 – Sakuma Shōzan, Japanese politician and scholar (b. 1811)
• 1865 – William Jackson Hooker, English botanist (b. 1785)
• 1891 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and essayist (b. 1819)
• 1896 – Thomas Chamberlain, American military officer (b. 1841)
• 1900 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian chess player (b. 1836)
• 1901 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer (b. 1832)
• 1904 – William Renshaw, British tennis player (b. 1861)
• 1914 – John Philip Holland, Irish engineer, designed the HMS Holland 1 (b. 1840)
• 1918 – Anna Held, Polish-American actress and singer (b. 1872)
• 1918 – William Thompson, American archer (b. 1848)
• 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, designed the Beurs van Berlage (b. 1856)
• 1935 – Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (b. 1851)
• 1941 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer (b. 1857)
• 1941 – Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon, English politician, 56th Governor General of Canada (b. 1866)
• 1943 – Vittorio Sella, Italian photographer (b. 1859)
• 1944 – Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., American navy officer and pilot (b. 1915)
• 1948 – Harry Brearley, English inventor, developed stainless steel (b. 1871)
• 1952 – David Bergelson, Ukrainian-Soviet writer (b. 1884)
• 1955 – Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1875)
• 1955 – James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
• 1959 – Mike O'Neill, Irish-American baseball player (b. 1877)
• 1964 – Ian Fleming, English intelligence officer, journalist, and author (b. 1908)
• 1967 – Esther Forbes, American novelist (b. 1891)
• 1973 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• 1973 – Karl Ziegler, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
• 1979 – Ernst Boris Chain, English biochemist, Nobel Prize 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 guitarist and songwriter (b. 1941)
• 1985 – Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1941)
• 1985 – Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
• 1988 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter (b. 1960)
• 1989 – Samuel Okwaraji, Nigerian footballer (b. 1964)
• 1989 – William Shockley, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
• 1990 – B. Kliban, American cartoonist (b. 1935)
• 1990 – Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress (b. 1903)
• 1992 – John Cage, American composer (b. 1912)
• 1996 – Robert Gravel, Canadian actor and director (b. 1945)
• 1996 – Mark Gruenwald, American writer, illustrator, and editor (b. 1953)
• 1996 – Viktor Hambardzumyan, Soviet-Armenian scientist (b. 1908)
• 1997 – Luther Allison, American guitarist (b. 1939)
• 1999 – Jean Drapeau, Canadian politician (b. 1916)
• 2000 – Gennady Lyachin, Russian captain (b. 1955)
• 2000 – Loretta Young, American actress (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Enos Slaughter, American baseball player (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Godfrey Hounsfield, English engineer and inventor, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
• 2004 – Peter Woodthorpe, English actor (b. 1931)
• 2005 – John Loder, English sound engineer and producer (Crass) (b. 1946)
• 2007 – Merv Griffin, American actor, singer, and producer, created Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Mike Wieringo, American writer and illustrator (b. 1963)
• 2008 – Christie Allen, English-Australian singer (b. 1954)
• 2010 – Isaac Bonewits, American writer and activist, founded Ár nDraíocht Féin (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Richie Hayward, American drummer and songwriter (Little Feat and Fraternity of Man) (b. 1946)
• 2010 – André Kim, South Korean fashion designer (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Guido de Marco, Maltese politician, 6th President of Malta (b. 1931)
• 2011 – Robert Robinson, English journalist and author (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Eileen Beasley, Welsh educator and activist (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Jimmy Carr, American football player (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Prabuddha Dasgupta, Indian photographer (b. 1956)
• 2012 – Alex Falconer, Scottish politician (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Jerry Grant, American race car driver (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Joe Kubert, American illustrator, founded The Kubert School (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Frank Martin, American attorney and politician (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Édgar Morales Pérez, Mexican politician
• 2012 – Alf Morris, English politician (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Jackie Watters, Scottish footballer (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Euplius
  • Herculanus of Brescia
  • Pope Innocent XI
  • August 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Glorious Twelfth (United Kingdom)
• HM the Queen's Birthday and National Mother's Day (Thailand)
• International Youth Day (United Nations)
• The first day of Awa Dance Festival (Tokushima)
• The Feast of the Prophet and his Bride (Thelema)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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