TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – AUG 12
0030 Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, commits suicide.
1099 At the Battle of Ascalon 1,000 Crusaders, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, route an Egyptian relief column heading for Jerusalem, which had already fallen to the Crusaders.
1121 Battle of Didgori: the Georgian army under King David the Builder wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi
1480 Battle of Otranto – Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam
1624 Cardinal Richelieu was named chief minister of France by king Louis XIII.
1676 King Philip’s War (vs Wampanoag Indians) ends in New England
1791 Black slaves on the island of Santo Domingo rise up against their white masters.
1851 American inventor Isaac Singer patents the sewing machine
1863 Confederate raider William Quantrill leads a massacre of 150 men and boys in Lawrence, Kansas.
1883 The last quagga dies in captivity at the Natura Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam
1896 Gold is discovered near Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. After word reaches the United States in June of 1897, thousands of Americans head to the Klondike to seek their fortunes.
1898 The Spanish American War officially ends after three months and 22 days of hostilities.
1908 Henry Ford’s company builds the first Model T car
1922 The home of Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C. is dedicated as a memorial.
1935 President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill.
1955 Pres Eisenhower raises minimum wage from $0.75 to $1 an hour
1961 The erection of the Berlin Wall begins, preventing access between East and West Germany.
1976 About 3000 refugees are killed during a massacre at a Palestinian refugee camp
1977 Space shuttle Enterprise makes its first free flight and landing.
1981 Computer giant IBM introduces its first personal computer.
1992 The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is concluded between the United States, Canada and Mexico, creating the world’s wealthiest trade bloc.
2000 Russian Navy submarine K-141 Kursk explodes and sinks with all hands during military exercises in the Barents Sea.
2013 Notorious Boston gangster James (Whitey) Bulger was found guilty of 31 of the 32 charges he faced, including murder, extortion, money laundering, drug dealing and possession of weapons.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
