August 12

30BC – Cleopatra Philopator Antoninus commits suicide purportedly by being bit by an asp.

1099 – The last battle of the First Crusade near Ascalon is a victory for Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon over the army of Al-Afdal Shahanshah

1121 – The last battle of the Georgian Crusade near Didgori is a victory for the Georgian army of King David IV over the Seljuk army of Najm ad-Din Ilghazi

1164 – Near Harim Syria, the army of Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the combined Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, the Byzantine Empire, and Armenia.

1492 – Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands to rest and restock supplies before continuing on his first voyage to the new world.

1499 – The first naval engagement of the Battle of Zanchio begins between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.

1687 – The army of the Holy Roman empire, commanded by Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed IV commanded by Sari Süleyman Paşa near Nagyharsány Hill between Mohács and Siklós castle, Hungary.

1851 – Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine.

1861 – Eliphalet Remington dies at home in Ilion New York.

1865 – Joseph Lister performs the first surgery under his antiseptic protocols

1881 – Cecil B. DeMille is born in Ashfield, Massachusetts

1898 – The Republic of Hawaii is formally annexed by the United States

1914 – The United Kingdom, and the rest of the British Empire, declares war on Austria-Hungary

1944 – In retaliation for Italian Resistance operations, Waffen SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Italy

1945 – Several officers of the Japanese Imperial Army meet with War Minister Korechika Anami requesting he do whatever he can to prevent acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. Refusing to confirm he would do so, the officers decide they have no choice but to attempt a coup d’état.
The U.S. announces that it would accept the Japanese surrender, making clear that Hirohito could remain emperor only in a purely ceremonial capacity.

1950 – North Korean Army troops massacre 75 American POWs west of Masan, South Korea

1960 – Echo 1A, manufactured by Bell Labs, NASA’s first successful communications satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral.

1977 –  Shuttle Enterprise, an unpowered test version, piloted by former astronaut Fred Haise and future astronaut Gordon Fullerton, is separated in flight from the 747 jet carrying it aloft, and is flown on its own for the first time.

1981 – The IBM Personal Computer is released.

1990 –  Air Force SSG John Campisi of the 55th Organizational Maintenance Squadron is struck and killed by a vehicle, becoming the first U.S. service member to die in Operation Desert Shield.

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, forcing the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.

2014 – American actress Betty “Lauren Bacall” Bogart, dies at her apartment in New York City, age 89