On this day: August 12

Events on August 12

• 1099 Crusades: Fatimid forces under al-Afdal Shahanshah began retreating to Egypt after the Battle of Ascalon, concluding the First Crusade. Wikipedia
• 1121 Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David IV wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi. Wikipedia
• 1164 Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch. Wikipedia
• 1323 The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod Republic is signed, regulating the border between the two countries for the first time. Wikipedia
• 1492 Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World. Wikipedia
• 1499 First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets. Wikipedia
• 1687 Battle of Mohács: Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia
• 1806 Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires re-takes the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina after the first British invasion. Wikipedia
• 1851 Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine. Wikipedia
• 1883 The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Wikipedia
• 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 where it is formally recognized as Hawaii. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary. Wikipedia
• 1914 World War I: Belgian troops won a victory at the Battle of Halen, but were ultimately unable to stop the German invasion of Belgium. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: In Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Italy, the Waffen-SS and the Brigate Nere murdered about 560 local villagers and refugees and burned their bodies. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Waffen-SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which at least 40,000 people are killed indiscriminately or in mass executions. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, becoming the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces. Wikipedia
• 1950 Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army. Wikipedia
• 1964 South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies. Wikipedia
• 1977 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. Wikipedia
• 1990 Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota. Wikipedia
• 2000 Kursk, an Oscar-class submarine of the Russian Navy, suffered an on-board explosion and sank in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing 118 people. Wikipedia
• 2000 The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew. Wikipedia
• 2015 At least two massive explosions kill 173 people and injure nearly 800 more in Tianjin, China. Wikipedia
• 2016 Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Wikipedia
• 2021 Six people, including the perpetrator, were killed in a mass shooting in Plymouth, England. Wikipedia

Born on August 12

• 1762 George IV of the United Kingdom (died 1830) Wikipedia
• 1774 Robert Southey, English poet and author (died 1843) Wikipedia
• 1831 Helena Blavatsky, Russian theosophist and scholar (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1860 Klara Hitler, Austrian mother of Adolf Hitler (died 1907) Wikipedia
• 1866 Jacinto Benavente, Spanish playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1954) Wikipedia
• 1881 Cecil B. DeMille, American director and producer (died 1959) Wikipedia
• 1887 Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961) Wikipedia
• 1904 Idel Jakobson, Latvian-Estonian NKVD officer (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1924 Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistani general and politician, 6th President of Pakistan (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1925 Norris McWhirter, Scottish publisher and activist co-founded the Guinness World Records (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1925 Ross McWhirter, Scottish publisher and activist, co-founded the Guinness World Records (died 1975) Wikipedia
• 1930 George Soros, Hungarian-American businessman and investor, founded the Soros Fund Management Wikipedia
• 1932 Sirikit, Queen mother of Thailand (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1949 Mark Knopfler, Scottish-English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Wikipedia
• 1954 François Hollande, French lawyer and politician, 24th President of France Wikipedia
• 1971 Pete Sampras, American tennis player Wikipedia
• 1975 Casey Affleck, American actor Wikipedia
• 1983 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Dutch footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Mario Balotelli, Italian footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 Cara Delevingne, English model and actress Wikipedia
• 1993 Ewa Farna, Czech singer-songwriter Wikipedia
• 1999 Matthijs de Ligt, Dutch footballer Wikipedia

Died on August 12

• 30 BC Cleopatra, Egyptian queen (born 69 BC) Wikipedia
• 1689 Pope Innocent XI (born 1611) Wikipedia
• 1827 William Blake, English poet and painter (born 1757) Wikipedia
• 1944 Jacques Pellegrin, French zoologist (born 1873) Wikipedia
• 1955 Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1875) Wikipedia
• 1955 James B. Sumner, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1887) Wikipedia
• 1964 Ian Fleming, English spy, journalist, and author (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1973 Karl Ziegler, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1973 Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1881) Wikipedia
• 1979 Ernst Boris Chain, German-Irish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1982 Henry Fonda, American actor (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 1989 William Shockley, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 2004 Godfrey Hounsfield, English biophysicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2014 Lauren Bacall, American model, actress, and singer (born 1924) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Euplius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eusebius of Milan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Herculanus of Brescia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Innocent XI Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jænberht Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jane Frances de Chantal Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Karl Leisner Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Muiredach (or Murtagh) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Porcarius II Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Victoria Díez Bustos de Molina Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: August 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Glorious Twelfth (United Kingdom) Wikipedia
• HM the Queen Mother's Birthday and National Mother's Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
• International Youth Day (United Nations) Wikipedia
• Russian Air Force Day (Russia) Wikipedia
• Sea Org Day (Scientology) Wikipedia
• World Elephant Day (International) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “August 12” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.