TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: July 12
1096 Crusaders under Peter the Hermit reached Sofia, Bulgaria. There they met their Byzantine escort, which brought them safely the rest of the way to Constantinople. by August 1.
1290 Jews are expelled from England by order of King Edward I
1543 England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.
1679 Britain’s King Charles II ratifies Habeas Corpus Act allowing prisoners right to be imprisoned to be examined by a court
1790 French Revolution: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is adopted, putting the Catholic Church in France under the control of the state
1804 Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies after being shot in a pistol duel by Vice President Aaron Burr
1812 US forces led by Gen Hull invade Canada (War of 1812)
1862 The U.S. Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.
1864 U.S. President Abraham Lincoln witnessed the battle where Union forces repelled Jubal Early’s army on the outskirts of Washington, DC.
1909 16th Amendment approved (power to tax incomes)
1933 A minimum wage of 40 cents an hour was established in the U.S.
1957 The U.S. surgeon general, Leroy E. Burney, reports that there is a direct link between smoking and lung cancer.
1960 The first Etch-A-Sketch went on sale.
1967 Race riots break out in Newark, New Jersey, killing 26 people and injuring several others
1974 G. Gordon Liddy, John Ehrlichman and two others are convicted of conspiracy and perjury in connection with the Watergate scandal.
1982 FEMA promises survivors of a nuclear war will get their mail
1982 The last of the distinctive-looking Checker taxicabs rolled off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, MI.
1984 Walter F. Mondale Names Geraldine A. Ferraro as Running Mate in Presidential Elections
1990 Russian republic president Boris N. Yeltsin announced his resignation from the the Soviet Communist Party.
1998 1.7 billion people watched soccer’s World Cup finals between France and Brazil. France won 3-0.
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
