August 12 in History

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, which were initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. Their aim was to return the Holy Land to Christian rule after its conquest by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century. By the 11th century, although Jerusalem had then been ruled by Muslims for hundreds of years, the practices of the Seljuk rulers in the region began to threaten local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest impetus for the First Crusade came in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent ambassadors to the Council of Piacenza to request military support in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, at which Pope Urban II gave a speech supporting the Byzantine request and urging faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

The Battle of Harim (Harenc) was fought on 12 August 1164 at Harim, Syria, between the forces of Nur ad-Din, and a combined army from the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, the Byzantine Empire, and Armenia. Nur ad-Din won a crushing victory, capturing most of the leaders of the opposing army.

The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a maritime republic with its capital in Venice, on the northeastern coast of Italy. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 by Paolo Lucio Anafesto, over the course of its 1,100 years of history it established itself as one of the major European commercial and naval powers. Initially extended in the Dogado area, during its history it annexed a large part of Northeast Italy, Istria, Dalmatia, the coasts of present-day Montenegro and Albania as well as numerous islands in the Adriatic and eastern Ionian seas. At the height of its expansion, between the 13th and 16th centuries, it also governed Crete, Cyprus, the Peloponnese, a number of Greek islands, as well as several cities and ports in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as the Treaty of Oreshek or the Treaty of Pähkinäsaari, was the peace treaty signed at Oreshek Fortress (Swedish: Nöteborg; Finnish: Pähkinälinna) on 12 August 1323. It was the first agreement between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic regulating their border on the Karelian Isthmus and parts of modern-day Finland. Three years later, Novgorod signed the Treaty of Novgorod with the Norwegians. The border between Sweden and Russia did not change until the signing of the Treaty of Teusina in 1595, as all future Russian–Swedish treaties until then confirmed the border.

Andronikos IV Palaiologos or Andronicus IV Palaeologus (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Andrónikos Komnēnós Palaiológos; 11 April 1348 – 25/28 June 1385) was the eldest son of Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos. Appointed co-emperor from 1352, he had a troubled relationship with his father: he launched a failed rebellion in 1373, usurped the throne in 1376–1379, and remained engaged in a bitter struggle with his father, John V, until his death in 1385. This civil war depleted Byzantium's scarce resources and greatly facilitated the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, most notably through the cession of Gallipoli by Andronikos. He was also the father of John VII.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish transatlantic voyages in the name of the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The naval Battle of Zonchio (Turkish: Sapienza Deniz Muharebesi, also known as the Battle of Sapienza or the First Battle of Lepanto) took place on four separate days: 12, 20, 22, and 25 August 1499. It was a part of the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1499–1503. During its course, the Venetians attempted to intercept an Ottoman fleet en route to conquer Lepanto, but were hampered by miscoordination and repeatedly failed to engage the Ottomans. With their failure at checking their advance, Lepanto fell shortly after. The Ottomans emerged as a serious naval force in the Mediterranean with their victory, followed by a series of similar successes during the war.

Charles de La Vieuville (1582 – 9 January 1653) first styled Marquis of La Vieuville but later created 1st Duke of La Vieuville was an important French noble and Superintendent of Finances of France from 1623 to 1624 and once again from 1651 to 1653 .

The Second Battle of Mohács, also known as the Battle of Harsány Mountain, was fought on 12 August 1687 between the forces of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV, commanded by the Grand Vizier Sarı Süleyman Pasha, and the forces of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, commanded by Charles of Lorraine. The result was a decisive victory for the Austrians. The Second Battle of Mohács can be seen as a complete reversal of the First Battle of Mohács, as its aftermath led into the reconquest of the historical territories of Kingdom of Hungary and re-establishment of the kingdom under Habsburg rule.

The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on 16 August 1765, between the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, son of the late Emperor Alamgir II, and Robert Clive, of the East India Company, in the aftermath of the Battle of Buxar of 22 October 1764. The treaty was handwritten by I'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim scribe and diplomat to the Mughal Empire. The treaty marked the political and constitutional involvement of the British in India. Based on the terms of the agreement, Alam granted the East India Company Diwani rights, or the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor from the eastern province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. These rights allowed the company to collect revenue directly from the people of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In return, the Company paid an annual tribute of twenty-six lakh rupees while securing for Shah Alam II the districts of Kora and Allahabad. The East India Company appointed William Mustoe as Collector to run the administration of this. The tribute money paid to the emperor was for the maintenance of the Emperor's court in Allahabad. The accord also dictated that Shah Alam be restored to the province of Varanasi as long as he continued to pay a certain amount of revenue to the company. Awadh was returned to Shuja-ud-Daula, but Allahabad and Kora were taken from him. The Nawab of Awadh Shuja ud Daulah also had to pay fifty lakhs of rupees as war indemnity to the East India Company. Moreover, the two signed an alliance by which the company promised to support the Nawab against outside attacks provided he paid for services of the troops sent to his aid. This alliance made the Nawab dependent on the company. This was a turning point in Indian history.

The Anjala League of 1788 was a scheme by disgruntled Swedish officers to end Gustav III's Russian War of 1788–1790. Declaring Finland an independent state was not a part of the original plot, but one of the conspirators Johan Anders Jägerhorn, who handed the note to Empress Catherine the Great, made such claims in Saint Petersburg.

Rhône is a French department located in the east-central administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Rhône, its prefecture is Lyon. Its sole subprefecture is Villefranche-sur-Saône. Including the Metropolis of Lyon, it had a population of 1,914,667 in 2023; excluding the Metropolis of Lyon, it had 478,313 inhabitants.

Santiago Antonio María de Liniers y Bremond, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, KOM, OM was a Spanish military officer and a viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Although born Jacques de Liniers in France, he is more widely known by the Spanish form of his name.

William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange, the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and Wilhelmina of Prussia, William experienced significant political upheavals early in life. He fought against the French invasion during the Flanders campaign, and after the Batavian Revolution in 1795, his family went into exile. He briefly ruled the Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda before Napoleon's French troops' occupation forced him out of power. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, William was invited back to the Netherlands, where he proclaimed himself Sovereign Prince of the United Netherlands. In 1815, William raised the Netherlands to a kingdom and concurrently became the grand duke of Luxembourg. His reign saw the adoption of a new constitution, which granted him extensive powers. He was a strong proponent of economic development, founding several universities and promoting trade. However, his efforts to impose the Reformed faith and the Dutch language in the mostly Catholic and partly French-speaking southern provinces, combined with economic grievances, sparked the Belgian Revolution in 1830. Unable to suppress the rebellion, William ultimately accepted Belgian independence in 1839 under the Treaty of London. William's later years were marked by dissatisfaction with constitutional changes and personal reasons, leading to his abdication in 1840 in favor of his son, King William II. He spent his final years in Berlin, where he died in 1843.

Isaac Merritt Singer (October 27, 1811 – July 23, 1875) was an American inventor, actor, and businessman. He made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and was the founder of what became one of the first American multi-national businesses, the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Many others, including Walter Hunt and Elias Howe, had patented sewing machines before Singer, but his success was based on the practicality of his machine, the ease with which it could be adapted to home use and its availability on an installments payment basis. Singer died in 1875, dividing his $13 million fortune unequally among 20 of his living children by his wives and various mistresses, although one son, who had supported his mother in her divorce case against Singer, received only $500. Altogether, he fathered 26 children by five different women.

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (5 April 1827 – 10 February 1912) was an English surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Lister revolutionised the craft of surgery by the use of close anatomical observation, in the same manner that John Hunter revolutionised the science of surgery. From a technical viewpoint, Lister was not an exceptional surgeon, but his research into bacteriology and infection in wounds revolutionised surgery throughout the world. Lister's contributions were four-fold. Firstly, as a surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, he introduced carbolic acid (modern-day phenol) as a steriliser for surgical instruments, patients' skins, sutures, surgeons' hands, and wards, promoting the principle of antiseptics. Secondly, he researched the role of inflammation and tissue perfusion in the healing of wounds. Thirdly, he advanced diagnostic science by analysing specimens using microscopes. Fourthly, he devised strategies to increase the chances of survival after surgery. His most important contribution, however, was recognising that putrefaction in wounds is caused by germs, in connection to Louis Pasteur's then-novel germ theory of fermentation. Lister's work led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients, leading to him being distinguished as the "father of modern surgery".

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, but mtDNA studies have supported it being a subspecies of plains zebra. A more recent study suggested that it was the southernmost cline or ecotype of the species.

The flag of Hawaii (Hawaiian: Ka Hae Hawaiʻi), also known as the Hawaiian flag, is the official flag of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Along with the flag of Texas, it is one of two state flags to have previously served as a national flag of an independent country. It consists of a field of eight horizontal stripes, in the sequence of white, red, blue, white, red, blue, white, red, with a British Union Jack depicted as a canton in the upper-left corner. The flag has been in use since 1845. The use of the Union Jack is a legacy of the British Royal Navy's historical relations with the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and, in particular, the pro-British sentiment of its first ruler, King Kamehameha I. The kingdom was never formally part of the British Empire. The flag design was retained after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, after U.S. annexation in 1898, and after statehood in 1959.

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. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, World War I caused 15 to 22 million deaths, including those resulting from war crimes and genocides. The war also contributed to the spread of the Spanish flu pandemic. The conflict saw important developments in weaponry, including machine guns, artillery, aircraft, chemical weapons, and tanks.

The Battle of Halen (German: Gefecht bei Halen), also known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets (Dutch: Slag der Zilveren Helmen; French: Bataille des casques d'argent) because of the many cavalry helmets left behind on the battlefield by the German cuirassiers, took place on 12 August 1914 at the beginning of the First World War, between German forces led by Georg von der Marwitz and Belgian troops led by Léon De Witte. The name of the battle alludes to the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where 500 pairs of golden spurs were recovered from the battlefield. Halen (Haelen in French) was a small market town and a convenient river crossing of the Gete and was situated on the principal axis of advance of the Imperial German army. The battle was a Belgian tactical victory but did little to delay the German invasion of Belgium.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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 into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", was the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918); the Nazis called it the Thousand-Year Reich, but it ended just 12 years later in May 1945, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered Berlin, ending World War II in Europe.

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 the intercommunality of Alençon.

The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was supported by the United Nations led by the United States under the auspices of the United Nations Command (UNC). After the end of World War II in 1945, Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for 35 years, was divided by the Soviet Union and the United States into two occupation zones at the 38th parallel, with plans for a future independent state. The zones formed their own governments in 1948 due to political disagreements. North Korea was led by Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, and South Korea by Syngman Rhee in Seoul; both claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. Both sides engaged in extensive border clashes while Rhee's government suppressed communist uprisings at Jeju and Yeosu-Suncheon. On 25 June 1950, North Korea launched an invasion of South Korea. In the absence of the Soviet Union's representative, the UN Security Council denounced the invasion, calling on member states to help repel the invasion. UN forces under the unified command comprised 21 countries, with the US providing around 90% of military personnel. On 27 June 1950 President Harry S. Truman ordered US air and sea forces to aid South Korea. Seoul was captured by the KPA on 28 June, and by early August, the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) and its allies were nearly defeated, holding onto only the Pusan Perimeter in the peninsula's southeast. On 15 September, UN forces landed at Inchon near Seoul, cutting off KPA troops and supply lines. UN forces broke out from the perimeter on 18 September, recaptured Seoul, and invaded North Korea in October, capturing Pyongyang and advancing towards the Yalu River (border with China). On 19 October, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war on the side of the North. UN forces retreated from North Korea in December, following the PVA's first and second offensive. Communist forces captured Seoul again in January 1951 before losing it to a UN counter-offensive two months later. After an abortive Chinese spring offensive, UN forces retook territory roughly up to the 38th parallel. Armistice negotiations began in July 1951, but dragged on as the fighting became a war of attrition and the North suffered devastating damage from UN bombing, destroying virtually all of North Korea's major cities. Combat ended on 27 July 1953 with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which allowed the exchange of prisoners and created a 4-kilometre wide (2.5 mile) Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the frontline, with a Joint Security Area at Panmunjom. The industrial warfare was defined by armored offensives, with the North's initial invasion and later by UN forces, tunnel warfare by Chinese forces, and the first large jet aircraft battles. The conflict caused around one million military deaths and an estimated 1.5 million to 3 million civilian deaths. Alleged war crimes include the mass killing of alleged communists by South Korea, the Seoul National University Hospital massacre by North Korea, and the carpet bombing of North Korea by the UNC. North Korea became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history. No peace treaty has been signed; the Korean conflict remains a frozen conflict, which has occasionally flared, such as in the 1966–1969 DMZ Conflict.

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 all defendants having been convicted of espionage and treason, as well as many other crimes. Following their arrests and detention, they were tortured, beaten, and isolated for three years before being formally charged. There were five Yiddish writers among these defendants, all of whom were part of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee.

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 1945. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Because of their destruction and fallout, testing has seen opposition by civilians as well as governments, with international bans having been agreed on. Thousands of tests have been performed, with most in the second half of the 20th century.

The 1953 Ionian earthquake (also known as the Great Kefalonia 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 most destructive was the August 12 earthquake. The event measured 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale, raised the whole island of Kefalonia by 60 cm (24 in), and caused widespread damage throughout the islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos. The maximum felt intensity of shaking was X (extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Between 445 and 800 people were killed.

Project Echo was a passive communications satellite experiment designed by the American National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) as the first test of man-made satellite communication in history. Each of the two spacecraft, launched in 1960 and 1964, were metalized balloon satellites acting as passive reflectors of microwave signals. Communication signals were transmitted from one location on Earth and bounced off the surface of the satellite to another Earth location.

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. The country consists of nine provinces, and is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. South Africa also encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres, the country has a population of over 63 million people, making it the sixth-most populated country in Africa, and 24th-most in the world. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital. The largest and most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban.

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, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and Canada. In 2021, the society had over 10,000 members worldwide, with membership open to Protestant men only. The society commemorates the 1689 Siege of Derry, a failed attempt by the Roman Catholic James II to capture the city, which was at the time a Protestant stronghold. Apprentice Boys parades once regularly led to virulent opposition from the city's Catholic majority, but recently a more conciliatory approach has taken place and now the parades are virtually trouble-free. The 2014 "Shutting of the Gates" parade was described as "the biggest in years" and was violence-free.

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 share a cultural and ethnic identity, and close linguistic and cultural ties with other Levantine Arabs.

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 flight characteristics. Of the sixteen taxi-tests and flights, eleven saw Enterprise remain mated to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), while the final five had the shuttle separate from the SCA, with the on-board crew flying and landing the spacecraft.

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 Tamil votes. In the elections, the party stood for secession. An official government estimate put the death toll at 125, whereas other sources estimate that around 300 Tamils were killed by Sinhalese mobs. Human rights groups, such as the UTHR-J, accused the newly elected UNP-led government of orchestrating the violence.

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 12, 1981, it was created by a team of engineers and designers at International Business Machines (IBM), directed by William C. Lowe and Philip Don Estridge in Boca Raton, Florida.

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 structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff. After flying under minimal control for 32 minutes, the plane crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, 100 kilometres from Tokyo.

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 in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994, and superseded the 1988 Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Canada. The NAFTA trade bloc formed one of the largest trade blocs in the world by gross domestic product.

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 United States and 1 in Canada. MLB is the oldest major professional sports league in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier baseball league in the world. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day held during the last week of March or the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. MLB is headquartered in New York City.

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 Commonwealth of Independent States.

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 at a container storage station in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China. The first two explosions occurred 33 seconds apart. The second explosion was much larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Fires caused by the initial explosions continued to burn uncontrolled throughout the weekend, resulting in eight additional explosions on 15 August.

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 protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war even though clashes have continued into 2026.

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, neo-fascists, white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias. The organizers' stated goals included the unification of the American white nationalist movement and opposing the proposed removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's former Lee Park.

Plymouth is a port city and unitary authority in Devon, England. It is located on the county's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar, about 36 miles (58 km) south-west of Exeter and 193 miles (311 km) south-west of London. It is the most populous settlement in Devon.