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What happened in history on this day: August 12?
On August 12 in ...
- 1862 - CSA General John Hunt Morgan and his raiders capture Gallatin, Texas.
- 1862 - John Gault receives a patent on encasing postage stamps under a mica window and in a circular brass backing, for use as currency.
- 1867 - President Andrew Johnson defies US Congress, suspending Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
- 1877 - Thomas Edison invents the Edisonphone, a sound recording device.
- 1896 - Gold is discovered at Dawson on the Klondike River in Alaska.
- 1898 - Peace protocol is signed by US President McKinley and Spanish Ambassador, ending hostilities in the Spanish-American War.
- 1903 - Colombia rejects the Hay-Herrán Treaty with the USA for $10 million for canal concession, wanting $15 million.
- 1936 - 120 degrees F (49 degrees C), Seymour, Texas (state record hot).
- 1955 - US President Dwight Eisenhower raises minimum wage from US$0.75 to $1 an hour.
- 1959 - First ship-firing of a Polaris missile, Observation Island.
- 1960 - Echo I, first communications satellite, is launched.
- 1960 - US Air Force Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 41,600m.
- 1964 - Race riot in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA.
- 1965 - Race riot in West Side of Chicago, Illinois.
- 1965 - Disneyland (Ahaneim, California) welcomes its 50-millionth guest, Mary Adams.
- 1966 - The General Services Administration turns the New Orleans Mint over to the state of Louisiana.
- 1970 - US President Richard Nixon signs H.R. 17070 Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, creating the US Postal Service, effective July 1, 1971.
- 1972 - Last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam.
- 1976 - First approach and lands test (ALT) of NASA space shuttle orbiter Enterprise.
- 1977 - Space shuttle Enterprise makes first atmospheric flight.
- 1981 - At the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, and in Boca Raton, Florida, IBM announces the IBM Personal Computer, model 5150. The PC features a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 CPU, 16 kB RAM (expandable to 256 kB), 40 kB ROM, one 5.25-inch floppy drive (160 kB capacity), for US$1565. A fully loaded version with color graphics costs US$6000.
- 1988 - Richard Thornburgh becomes US Attorney General.
- 1990 - The most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ("Sue") is discovered near Faith, South Dakota.
- 1991 - Creditors vote to support Greyhound Bus reorganization plan.
- 1994 - Woodstock 1994 begins in Saugerties, New York. It is the 25-year anniversary of Woodstock in 1969.
- 2002 - In Arlington, Virginia, US Airways declares bankruptcy.
- 2004 - New Jersey Governor James McGreevey announces that he is "a gay American" and will resign effective November 15, 2004.
- 2018 - NASA launches the unmanned Parker Solar Probe to study the Sun at close range and the solar wind.
Births on August 12
- 1881 - Birth of Cecil B deMille in Massachusetts, USA; film director (The Ten Commandments) (dies 1959).
- 1893 - Birth of Howard Smith in Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA; actor (Harvey Griffin - Hazel).
- 1912 - Birth of Jane Wyatt in Campgaw, New Jersey, USA; actress (Father Knows Best, Star Trek).
- 1921 - Birth of Marjorie Reynolds in Buhl, Idaho, USA; actress (Peggy - Life of Riley).
- 1926 - Birth of John Derek in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor/director (10, Annapolis Story) (dies 1998).
- 1927 - Birth of Ralph Waite in White Plains, New York, USA; actor (John - The Waltons, Roots).
- 1929 - Birth of Buck Owens AKA Alvis Edgar Owens Junior in Sherman, Texas, USA; country music star ("I've Got a Tiger by the Tail", "Act Naturally", "Waiting in Your Welfare Line"), host (Hee Haw TV show).
- 1931 - Birth of William Goldman; American author (Lord of the Flies, Nobel Prize 1983).
- 1939 - Birth of George Hamilton in Memphis, Tennessee, USA; actor (Love at first Bite, Where the Boys Are, Dynasty TV show).
- 1941 - Birth of Deborah Walley in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA; actress (Mothers-in-Law).
- 1951 - Birth of Charles E Brady Junior in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA; US Navy Commander/astronaut.
- 1954 - Birth of Sam J Jones in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Chris - Code Red, The Highway Man, Hollywood Safari).
Deaths on August 12
- 1982 - Henry Fonda, American actor (On Golden Pond), dies at age 77 from heart disease (born 1905).
- 1989 - Death of William Shockley, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910).
- 2007 - Death of Merv Griffin at age 82 of prostate cancer; singer (Freddy Martin's Orchestra, "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"), TV host (Tonight Show, Merv Griffin Show), TV show creator (Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune).
- 2009 - Death of Les Paul at age 94 from complications of pneumonia in New York, USA; guitarist ("Mockin' Bird Hill", "How High the Moon", "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise"). guitar designer (marketed by the Gibson company), built the first eight-track tape recorder, invented "sound-on-sound" recording or overdubbing, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (1978) and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (1988).
- 2022 - Death of Teddy Ray at age 32 from drowning in Rancho Mirage, California, USA; actor (Pause With Sam Jay TV show).
- 2022 - Death of Anne Heche at age 53 following a car crash; American actor (Another World TV show (1987-1991), Donnie Brasco movie (1997), Six Days, Seven Nights movie (1998), Men in Trees TV show (2006-2008), Girl in Room 13 movie (2022)).
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