Historical Events on August 12
- 1099: Godfrey of Bouillon commands a group of Crusaders and defeat Fatimid forces that are led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah during the Battle of Ascalon; It’s the last engagement of the First Crusades.
- 1121: King David IV leads the Georgian army to a victory against the Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
- 1687: Charles of Lorraine defeaths the Ottoman Empire during the Battle of Mohács.
- 1765: The Treaty of Allahabad is signed.
- 1806: The First Count of Buenos Aires, Santiago de Liniers, recaptures Buenos Aires, Argentina after the first British invasion.
- 1831: William I of the Netherlands is force to abandon his Belgian Revolution suppression tactics when French intervention forces intervene.
- 1851: Isaac Singer receives his grant for his new invention – the sewing machine.
- 1898: ‘Iolani Palace in Hawaii lowers the Hawaiian flag and raises the American flag in an annexation ceremony that shows that the sovereignty of the island country has been transferred to the U.S.
- 1914: The U.K declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1914: The Battle of Halen begins.
- 1944: Over 550 people are massacred by the Waffen SS in Sant’Anna di Stazzema.
- 1944: The Wola Massacre ends – a week long event which resulted in the death of at least 40,000 people due to mass executions.
- 1944: General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque liberates the French city of Alençon. It’s the first French city to be liberated by French forces.
- 1950: The North Korean Army massacres American POWs during the Bloody Gulch Massacre which takes place during the Korean War.
- 1952: 13 Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Soviet Union during the Night of the Murdered Poets.
Famous Birthdays on August 12
- American actress Rebecca Gayheart is born in 1971.
- American tennis player Pete Sampras in born in 1971.
- Irish footballer Mark Kinsella is born in 1972.
- American basketball player and sportscaster Jonathan Coachman is born in 1973.
- American actor Casey Affleck is born in 1975.