12 July

100 BC  Julius Caesar (born), Roman General (died 44 BC)

1493    Hartmann Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published.

1536    Desiderius Erasmus (died), Dutch priest and philosopher (born 1466)

1543    King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.

1561    Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow is consecrated.

1562    Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatán, burns the sacred books of the Maya.

1584    Steven Borough (died), English explorer (born 1525)

1596    Michael I of Russia (born), Tsar of All Russia (died 1645)

1664    Stefano della Bella (died), Italian engraver (born 1610)

1682   Jean Picard (died), French astronomer (born 1620)

1712    Richard Cromwell (died), English politician (born 1626)

1730    Josiah Wedgwood (born), English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (died 1795)

1776    Captain James Cook begins his third voyage.

1789    French revolutionary and radical journalist Camille Desmoulins gave a speech in response to the dismissal of Jacques Necker France’s finance minister the day before. The speech calls the citizens to arms and leads to the Storming of the Bastille two days later.

1799    Ranjit Singh conquers Lahore and becomes Maharaja of The Punjab (Sikh Empire) .

1801    French Revolutionary Wars: British Royal Navy ships inflict heavy damage against Spanish and French ships in the Second Battle of Algeciras.

1804   Alexander Hamilton (died), American general, economist, and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (born 1755)

1804   Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies a day after being shot in a duel.

1807   Thomas Hawksley (born), English engineer (died 1893)

1812    War of 1812: the United States invades Canada at Windsor, Ontario.

1813    Claude Bernard (born), French physiologist (died 1878)

1817    Henry David Thoreau (born), American philosopher and author (died 1862)

1824   Eugène Boudin (born), French painter (died 1898)

1828   Nikolay Chernyshevsky (born), Russian philosopher (died 1889)

1849   Dolley Madison (died), American wife of James Madison, 4th First Lady of the United States (born 1768)

1850   Otto Schoetensack (born), German anthropologist (died 1912)

1854    George Eastman (born), American innovator and entrepreneur (died 1933)

1862   The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.

1884   Amedeo Modigliani (born), Italian painter and sculptor (died 1920)

1884   Louis B. Mayer (born), Belarusian-American film producer (died 1957)

1892   Alexander Cartwright (died), American fireman, invented baseball (born 1820)

1895    Buckminster Fuller (born), American architect, engineer, and author, designed the Montreal Biosphère (died 1983)

1895    Kirsten Flagstad (born), Norwegian soprano (died 1962)

1895    Oscar Hammerstein II (born), American songwriter, director, and producer (died 1960)

1908   Milton Berle (born), American comedian, actor, and singer (died 2002)

1910    Charles Rolls (died), English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (born 1887)

1917    Andrew Wyeth (born), American painter (died 2009)

1917    The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona.

1934    Ole Evinrude (died), Norwegian-American inventor and businessman, invented the outboard motor (born 1877)

1934    Van Cliburn (born), American pianist (died 2013)

1937    Bill Cosby (born), American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter

1941    Benny Parsons (born), American race car driver (died 2007)

1943    Christine McVie (born), English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack)

1944    Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (died), American general and politician, Governor of Puerto Rico (born 1887)

1945    Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (died), German field marshal (born 1895)

1948   Arab–Israeli War: Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.

1948   Richard Simmons (born), American fitness trainer and actor

1949    Rick Hendrick (born), American businessman, founded Hendrick Motorsports

1950    Eric Carr (born), American drummer and songwriter (Kiss) (died 1991)

1951    Brian Grazer (born), American screenwriter and producer, founded Imagine Entertainment

1951    Cheryl Ladd (born), American actress and singer

1952    Philip Taylor Kramer (born), American bass player (Iron Butterfly) (died 1995)

1960   Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.

1962    The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at the Marquee Club in London, England, United Kingdom.

1967    The Newark riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.

1971    Kristi Yamaguchi (born), American figure skater

1971    The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time.

1972    Brett Reed (born), American drummer (Rancid and Devils Brigade)

1973    Lon Chaney, Jr. (died), American actor (born 1906)

1975    São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

1979    The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from United Kingdom.

1980   Katherine Legge (born), English race car driver

1983   Chris Wood (died), English saxophonist (Traffic and Ginger Baker’s Air Force) (born 1944)

1996    John Chancellor (died), American journalist (born 1927)

1996    Jonathan Melvoin (died), American keyboard player (The Smashing Pumpkins) (born 1961)

2007   U.S. Army Apache helicopters perform airstrikes in Baghdad, Iraq; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

2008  Tony Snow (died), American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (born 1955)

2012   Roger Payne (died), English mountaineer (born 1956)

2013   Amar Bose (died), American businessman, founded the Bose Corporation (born 1929)

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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