✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 224th day of the year

August 12

A look at August 12 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including François Hollande and Djibril Cissé, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2021

    Plymouth

    Six people, five victims and the perpetrator are killed in Keyham, Plymouth in the worst mass shooting in the UK since 2010.

    City and unitary authority
  2. 1985

    Japan Air Lines Flight 123

    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.

    1985 aviation accident in
  3. 1964

    South Africa

    South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.

    Country in Southern Africa
  4. 1952

    Night of the Murdered Poets

    The Night of the Murdered Poets: Thirteen prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.

    1952 execution of thirteen
  5. 1950

    Korean War

    Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.

    1950–1953 conflict in Korean
  6. 1944

    Nazi Germany

    Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which time at least 40,000 people are killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.

    German state from 1933
  7. 1914

    World War I

    World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  8. 1883

    Quagga

    The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Extinct subspecies of plains
  9. 1793

    Rhône (department)

    The Rhône and Loire départments are created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire is split into two.

    Department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
  10. 1492

    Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.

    Italian navigator and explorer
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Famous birthday twins

Born on August 12

François Hollande

b. 1954

French lawyer and politician, 24th President of France

Djibril Cissé

b. 1981

French footballer

Erwin Schrödinger

b. 1887

Austrian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Pete Sampras

b. 1971

American tennis player

Danny Graham (footballer)

b. 1985

English footballer

Tom Cleverley

b. 1989

English footballer

Dorothy E. Denning

b. 1945

American computer scientist and academic

George Soros

b. 1930

Hungarian-American businessman and investor, founded the Soros Fund Management

Deaths

  • 1982Henry Fonda, American actor
  • 1955Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1827William Blake, English poet and painter
  • 1612Giovanni Gabrieli, Italian organist and composer
  • 1424Yongle Emperor, emperor of the Ming Empire
  • -30Cleopatra, Egyptian queen (born 69 BC)

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Euplius
  • —Christian feast day: Eusebius of Milan
  • —Christian feast day: Herculanus of Brescia
  • —Christian feast day: Pope Innocent XI
  • —Christian feast day: Jænberht
  • —Christian feast day: Jane Frances de Chantal
  • —Christian feast day: Muiredach (or Murtagh)
  • —Christian feast day: Porcarius II

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