On this day: July 12

Events on July 12

• 70 The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple. Wikipedia
• 1191 Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre. Wikipedia
• 1470 The Ottomans capture Euboea. Wikipedia
• 1562 Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred idols and books of the Maya. Wikipedia
• 1580 The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published. Wikipedia
• 1776 Captain James Cook begins his third voyage. Wikipedia
• 1806 At the insistence of Napoleon, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and thirteen minor principalities leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine. Wikipedia
• 1916 First World War: Second Lieutenant Kléber Dupuy defeated a German attack on Fort Souville at a key moment of the Battle of Verdun. Wikipedia
• 1918 The Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621. Wikipedia
• 1920 The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: German and Soviet forces engaged each other at the Battle of Prokhorovka (tanks pictured), one of the largest tank battles in military history. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Battle of Kursk: German and Soviet forces engage in the Battle of Prokhorovka, one of the largest armored engagements of all time. Wikipedia
• 1948 Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla. Wikipedia
• 1961 Indian city Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams, killing at least two thousand people. Wikipedia
• 1961 ČSA Flight 511 crashes at Casablanca–Anfa Airport in Morocco, killing 72. Wikipedia
• 1962 The English rock band the Rolling Stones played their first concert at the Marquee Club in London. Wikipedia
• 1975 São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal. Wikipedia
• 1979 The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1998 France defeated the defending champions Brazil 3–0 to win their first FIFA World Cup title. Wikipedia
• 1998 France win their first World Cup title, defeating defending champions Brazil 3–0. Wikipedia
• 2001 Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station. Wikipedia
• 2006 Hezbollah forces crossed the Israel–Lebanon border and attacked Israeli military positions while firing rockets and mortars at Israeli towns, sparking a five-week war. Wikipedia
• 2006 A cross-border raid by Hezbollah militants starts the 2006 Lebanon War. Wikipedia
• 2007 Two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters conducted a series of air-to-ground attacks in Baghdad. Wikipedia
• 2007 U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet. Wikipedia
• 2026 A bar fire kills 33 people in Bangkok, Thailand. Wikipedia

Born on July 12

• 100 BC Julius Caesar, Roman politician and general (died 44 BC) Wikipedia
• 1813 Claude Bernard, French physiologist and academic (died 1878) Wikipedia
• 1817 Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (died 1862) Wikipedia
• 1854 George Eastman, American businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (died 1933) Wikipedia
• 1881 Natalia Goncharova, Russian theatrical costume and set designer, painter and illustrator (died 1962) Wikipedia
• 1884 Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (died 1920) Wikipedia
• 1884 Louis B. Mayer, Russian-born American film producer, co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (died 1957) Wikipedia
• 1895 Buckminster Fuller, American architect and engineer, designed the Montreal Biosphère (died 1983) Wikipedia
• 1904 Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1905 Prince John of the United Kingdom, Youngest son of George V and Mary of Teck (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1913 Willis Lamb, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1928 Elias James Corey, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1935 Satoshi Ōmura, Japanese biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1937 Bill Cosby, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1937 Lionel Jospin, French civil servant and politician, 165th Prime Minister of France (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1948 Richard Simmons, American fitness trainer and actor (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1957 Catherine Connolly, Irish politician, 10th President of Ireland Wikipedia
• 1978 Michelle Rodriguez, American actress Wikipedia
• 1991 James Rodríguez, Colombian footballer Wikipedia
• 1995 Luke Shaw, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1997 Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani-English activist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 2000 Vinícius Júnior, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on July 12

• 1536 Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch priest and philosopher (born 1466) Wikipedia
• 1712 Richard Cromwell, English academic and politician (born 1626) Wikipedia
• 1804 Alexander Hamilton, American general, economist, and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1755) Wikipedia
• 1845 Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian linguist, poet, and playwright (born 1808) Wikipedia
• 1855 Pavel Nakhimov, Russian admiral (born 1802) Wikipedia
• 1910 Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (born 1877) Wikipedia
• 1926 Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist and spy (born 1868) Wikipedia
• 1931 Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1866) Wikipedia
• 1935 Alfred Dreyfus, French colonel (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1949 Douglas Hyde, Irish scholar and politician, 1st President of Ireland (born 1860) Wikipedia
• 2000 Charles Merritt, Canadian colonel and politician, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2020 Kelly Preston, American actress and model (born 1962) Wikipedia
• 2024 Ruth Westheimer, German-American sex therapist (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2026 Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar (born 1952) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Eastern Orthodox) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hermagoras and Fortunatus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jason of Thessalonica (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Gualbert Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Jones Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Drostan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nabor and Felix Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nathan Söderblom (Lutheran, Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Veronica Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Viventiolus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• The second day of Naadam (Mongolia) Wikipedia
• The Twelfth, also known as Orangemen's Day (Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Republic of Ireland, Australia, Newfoundland and Labrador) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 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.