Did you know
In 1990, Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
August 12 in History
1990 — Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota
August 12 spans 48 recorded events across recorded history, from 1099 to 2021. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
48 events
1099 – 2021
Today in history
More major events on August 12
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 1960 Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched. Source
- 1323 The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod Republic is signed, regulating the border between the two countries for the first time. Source
- 1099 First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah. This is considered the last engagement of the First Crusade. Source
Did you know
South Dakota is a landlocked state in the North Central region of the United States. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
South Dakota is named after the Dakota Sioux tribe, which comprises a large portion of the population and has historically dominated the territory. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
South Dakota is the 17th-largest by area, the fifth-least populous, and the fifth-least densely populated of the 50 United States. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
Pierre is the state capital, and Sioux Falls, with a population of about 213,900, is the most populous city. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
1099
First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid forces led by Al-Afdal Shahanshah.
This is considered the last engagement of the First Crusade.
1121
Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David IV wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.
Part of the Georgian–Seljuk wars in 1121
1164
Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.
Part of the Crusades (1164)
1204
The Republic of Venice acquires the right to Crete from Boniface I of Montferrat.
Maritime republic in Italy (697–1797)
1323
The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod Republic is signed, regulating the border between the two countries for the first time.
1323 treaty between Sweden and Novgorod
1376
Andronikos IV Palaiologos enters Constantinople by force and captures his father, emperor John V Palaiologos, and his younger brothers during the Byzantine civil war of 1373–1379.
Byzantine emperor from 1376 to 1379
1492
Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.
Italian navigator and explorer (1451–1506)
1499
First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.
1499 naval battle of the Ottoman–Venetian War
1624
Charles de La Vieuville is arrested and replaced by Cardinal Richelieu as the French king's chief advisor.
French noble and Superintendent of Finances of France from 1623 to 1653
1676
Praying Indian John Alderman shoots and kills Metacomet, the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.
17th-century term for Christian American-Indians
1687
Battle of Mohács: Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman Empire.
Part of the Great Turkish War
1765
Treaty of Allahabad is signed.
The Treaty marks the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of Company rule in India.
1788
The Anjala conspiracy is signed.
Scheme by disgruntled Swedish officers to end Gustav III's Russian War of 1788–90
1793
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
1806
Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires re-takes the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina after the first British invasion.
18/19th-century French soldier in service of Spain; colonial official in New Spain
1831
French intervention forces William I of the Netherlands to abandon his attempt to suppress the Belgian Revolution.
King of the Netherlands from 1815 to 1840
1851
Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine.
American inventor and businessman (1811–1875)
1865
Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs the first antiseptic surgery.
English scientist, surgeon and antiseptic pioneer (1827–1912)
1883
The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Extinct subspecies of plains zebra from South Africa and Namibia
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.
U.S. state flag
1914
World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1914
World War I: The Battle of Halen a.k.a.
Battle of the Silver Helmets a clash between large Belgian and German cavalry formations at Halen, Belgium.
1944
Waffen-SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
Military branch of the SS (1933–1945)
1944
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 to 1945
1944
Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.
Prefecture and commune in Normandy, France
1948
Between 15 and 150 unarmed members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement are killed by Pakistani police.
1948 mass shooting by police in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
1950
Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.
1950–1953 conflict on the Korean Peninsula
1952
The Night of the Murdered Poets: Thirteen prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.
1952 execution of thirteen Soviet Jews
1953
Thermonuclear bomb testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of "RDS-6s" (Joe 4) using a "layered" scheme.
Controlled detonation of nuclear weapons for scientific or political purposes
1953
The 7.2 Ms Ionian earthquake shakes the southern Ionian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme).
Between 445 and 800 people are killed.
1960
Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched.
First passive communications satellite experiment
1964
South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.
Country in Southern Africa
1969
Violence erupts after the Apprentice Boys of Derry march in Derry, Northern Ireland, resulting in a three-day communal riot known as the Battle of the Bogside.
Protestant fraternal society based in Northern Ireland
1976
Between 1,000 and 3,500 Palestinians are killed in the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, one of the bloodiest events of the Lebanese Civil War.
Arab national group of the Levant
1977
The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
Trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise
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.
1984
An infamous brawl takes place at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.
Baseball brawl between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves
1985
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 Japan
1992
Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Trade bloc in North America (1994–2020)
1994
Major League Baseball players go on strike, eventually forcing the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
North American professional baseball league
2000
The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew.
Naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces
2015
At least two massive explosions kill 173 people and injure nearly 800 more in Tianjin, China.
Explosions at the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China
2016
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
2011–2024 armed conflict in Syria
2017
The Unite the Right rally occurs in Charlottesville, Virginia, leading to the deaths of 3 and injuring nearly 50 more.
2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
2018
Thirty-nine civilians, including a dozen children, are killed in an explosion at a weapons depot in Sarmada, Syria.
Town in Idlib, Syria
2021
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 in Devon, England