What Happened on August 12th in History
30 historical events on this date
The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra which was endemic to South Africa until it was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century. It was long thought to be a distinct species,...
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 where it is formally recognized as Hawaii.
The flag of Hawaii, also known as the Hawaiian flag, is the official flag of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It consists of a field of eight horizontal stripes, in the sequence of white, red, blue, white,...
World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary.
World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the...
World 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.
The Battle of Halen, also known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets because of the many cavalry helmets left behind on the battlefield by the German cuirassiers, took place on 12 August 1914 at the...
Waffen-SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
The Waffen-SS was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both...
Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which time at least 40,000 people are killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.
Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it...
Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes and a little over 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to...
Between 15 and 150 unarmed members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement are killed by Pakistani police.
The Babrra Massacre was a mass shooting by state police on 12 August 1948 in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. According to official figures, around 15 protestors were killed...
Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.
The Korean War was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea...
The Night of the Murdered Poets: Thirteen prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.
The Night of the Murdered Poets occurred on 12 August 1952, and it involved the execution of 13 Soviet Jews in the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow. Arrests were made in September 1948 and June 1949, with...
Thermonuclear bomb testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of "RDS-6s" (Joe 4) using a "layered" scheme.
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests have been carried out since...
The 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.
The 1953 Ionian earthquake struck the southern Ionian Islands in Greece on August 12. In mid-August, there were over 113 recorded earthquakes in the region between Kefalonia and Zakynthos, and the...
Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched.
Project Echo was the first passive communications satellite experiment. Each of the two American spacecraft, launched in 1960 and 1964, were metalized balloon satellites acting as passive reflectors...
South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres of coastline that stretches along...
Violence 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.
The Apprentice Boys of Derry are a Protestant fraternal society founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. Outside Northern Ireland, there are branches in Scotland, England,...
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.
Palestinians are an Arab national group native to the region of Palestine, descended from those who have inhabited the area over the millennia. They represent a highly homogenized community who...
The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of sixteen taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise that took place between February and October 1977 to test the vehicle's...
The 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.
The 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka followed the 1977 general elections in Sri Lanka where the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalistic Tamil United Liberation Front won a plurality of minority Sri Lankan...
The IBM Personal Computer is released.
The IBM Personal Computer, often referred to as the IBM PC, is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August...
An infamous brawl takes place at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.
On August 12, 1984, during an afternoon game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, a series of brawls broke out between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves over a series of attempted beanings...
Japan Air Lines Flight 123, a Boeing 747, crashes into Osutaka ridge in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, killing 520, becoming the worst single-plane air disaster.
Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On the evening of Monday, August 12, 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe...
Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota.
Sue, officially designated FMNH PR 2081, is one of the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever found, at over 90 percent recovered by bulk.
Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The North American Free Trade Agreement, referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc...
Major League Baseball players go on strike, eventually forcing the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the...
The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew.
The Russian Navy is the naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the...
At least two massive explosions kill 173 people and injure nearly 800 more in Tianjin, China.
On 12 August 2015, a series of explosions at the Port of Tianjin in Tianjin, Northern China, killed 173 people, according to official reports, and injured hundreds of others. The explosions occurred...
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale...
The Unite the Right rally occurs in Charlottesville, Virginia, leading to the deaths of 3 and injuring nearly 50 more.
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates,...
Thirty-nine civilians, including a dozen children, are killed in an explosion at a weapons depot in Sarmada, Syria.
Sarmada is a town in the Harem District, Idlib Governorate of Syria. It is in the extreme northwest of Syria near the border with Turkey.
Six people, five victims and the perpetrator are killed in Keyham, Plymouth in the worst mass shooting in the UK since 2010.
Plymouth is a port city and unitary authority in Devon, England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar, about 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Exeter and 193 miles...