Historical Events on Tuesday, 12th August

12/08/2021

Six people, five victims and the perpetrator are killed in Keyham, Plymouth in the worst mass shooting in the UK since 2010.

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

---

12/08/2018

Thirty-nine civilians, including a dozen children, are killed in an explosion at a weapons depot in Sarmada, Syria.

Sarmada is a town in the Harem District, Idlib Governorate of Syria. It is in the extreme northwest of Syria near the border with Turkey.

---

12/08/2017

The Unite the Right rally occurs in Charlottesville, Virginia, leading to the deaths of 3 and injuring nearly 50 more.

The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11 and 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.

---

12/08/2016

Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

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. Post-war clashes and disputes have continued into 2026.

---

12/08/2015

At least two massive explosions kill 173 people and injure nearly 800 more in Tianjin, China.

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.

---

12/08/2000

The Russian Navy submarine Kursk explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise, killing her entire 118-man crew.

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.

---

12/08/1994

Major League Baseball players go on strike, eventually forcing the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.

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 one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional 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.

---

12/08/1992

Canada, Mexico and the United States announce completion of negotiations for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

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.

---

12/08/1990

Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found to date, is discovered by Sue Hendrickson in South Dakota.

Sue, officially designated FMNH PR 2081, is one of the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossils ever found, at over 90 percent recovered by bulk.

---

12/08/1985

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.

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.

---

12/08/1984

An infamous brawl takes place at the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.

On August 12, 1984, during an afternoon game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, a series of brawls broke out between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves over a series of attempted beanings and retaliations. The game ended with a record 13 ejections and also 5 arrests, with a few spectators getting involved in the ruckus.

---

12/08/1981

The IBM Personal Computer is released.

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.

---

12/08/1977

The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

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 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.

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.

---

12/08/1976

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.

Palestinians are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. They represent a highly homogeneous community who share a cultural and ethnic identity, speak Palestinian Arabic and share close religious, linguistic, and cultural ties with other Levantine Arabs.

---

12/08/1969

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.

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 aims to commemorate the 1689 Siege of Derry, a failed attempt by the 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.

---

12/08/1964

South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. Its nine provinces are 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; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it 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. 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.

---

12/08/1960

Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched.

Project Echo was the first passive communications satellite experiment. Each of the two American 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.

---

12/08/1953

Thermonuclear bomb testing: The Soviet atomic bomb project continues with the detonation of "RDS-6s" (Joe 4) using a "layered" scheme.

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 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.

The 1953 Ionian 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.

---

12/08/1952

The Night of the Murdered Poets: Thirteen prominent Jewish intellectuals are murdered in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union.

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 falsely accused 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.

---

12/08/1950

Korean War: Bloody Gulch massacre: Seventy-five American POWs are massacred by the North Korean Army.

The Korean War was an armed conflict the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea and South Korea 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). The conflict was one of the first major proxy wars of the Cold War and one of its deadliest conflicts on noncombatants, especially civilians. It is estimated that 1.5 to 3 million Korean civilians were killed during the war. The Korean War was the first time the United Nations Security Council authorized the use of force under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.

---

12/08/1948

Between 15 and 150 unarmed members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement are killed by Pakistani police.

The Babrra Massacre was a mass shooting by state police on 12 August 1948 in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. According to official figures, around 15 protestors were killed while around 40 were injured. However, Khudai Khidmatgar sources maintained that around 150 were killed and 400 were injured. It is also referred as the Karbala of Pathans.

---

12/08/1944

Waffen-SS troops massacre 560 people in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.

The Waffen-SS was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. With the start of World War II, tactical control was exercised by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, with some units being subordinated to the Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS directly under Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's control. It was disbanded in May 1945.

---

Nazi German troops end the week-long Wola massacre, during which time at least 40,000 people are killed indiscriminately or in mass executions.

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", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, ending World War II in Europe.

---

Alençon is liberated by General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, the first city in France to be liberated from the Nazis by French forces.

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.

---

12/08/1914

World War I: France, the United Kingdom and the British Empire declare war on Austria-Hungary.

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. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

---

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.

The Battle of Halen, also known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets 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 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.

---

12/08/1898

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.

The flag of Hawaii, also known as the Hawaiian flag, is the official flag of the U.S. state of Hawaii. 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.

---

12/08/1883

The last quagga dies at the Natura Artis Magistra, a zoo in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra that 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.

---

12/08/1865

Joseph Lister, British surgeon and scientist, performs the first antiseptic surgery.

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, 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.

---

12/08/1851

Isaac Singer is granted a patent for his sewing machine.

Isaac Merritt Singer 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.

---

12/08/1831

French intervention forces William I of the Netherlands to abandon his attempt to suppress the Belgian Revolution.

William I was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840.

---

12/08/1806

Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires re-takes the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina after the first British invasion.

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.

---

12/08/1793

The Rhône and Loire départments are created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire is split into two.

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.

---

12/08/1788

The Anjala conspiracy is signed.

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.

---

12/08/1765

Treaty of Allahabad is signed. The Treaty marks the political and constitutional involvement and the beginning of Company rule in India.

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.

---

12/08/1687

Battle of Mohács: Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman Empire.

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.

---

12/08/1676

Praying Indian John Alderman shoots and kills Metacomet, the Wampanoag war chief, ending King Philip's War.

Praying Indian is a 17th-century term referring to Native Americans of New England, New York, Ontario, and Quebec who converted to Christianity either voluntarily or involuntarily. Many groups are referred to by the term, but it is more commonly used for tribes that were organized into praying towns. Praying towns were villages established by missionaries such as the Puritan leader John Eliot and Jesuit missionaries who established the St. Regis and Kahnawake and the missions among the Huron in western Ontario.

---

12/08/1624

Charles de La Vieuville is arrested and replaced by Cardinal Richelieu as the French king's chief advisor.

Charles de La Vieuville 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.

---

12/08/1499

First engagement of the Battle of Zonchio between Venetian and Ottoman fleets.

The naval Battle of Zonchio 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.

---

12/08/1492

Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by 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.

---

12/08/1323

The Treaty of Nöteborg between Sweden and Novgorod Republic is signed, regulating the border between the two countries for the first time.

The Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as the Treaty of Oreshek or the Treaty of Pähkinäsaari, was the peace treaty signed at Oreshek Fortress 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.

---

12/08/1164

Battle of Harim: Nur ad-Din Zangi defeats the Crusader armies of the County of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch.

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.

---

12/08/1121

Battle of Didgori: The Georgian army under King David IV wins a decisive victory over the famous Seljuk commander Ilghazi.

The Battle of Didgori was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljuk Empire at the narrow place of Didgori, 40 km west of Tbilisi, on August 12, 1121. The large Muslim army, under the command of Ilghazi, was unable to maneuver and suffered a devastating defeat due to King David IV's effective military tactics.

---

12/08/1099

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.

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—which had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century—to Christian rule. 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.

---