Significant Events and Birthdays on August 12
Today is Wednesday, August 12, 2026. This marks the 224th day of the year, leaving 141 days remaining. A notable historical event on this date occurred in 1990 when fossil collector Sue Hendrickson unearthed a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in South Dakota. This skeleton, named ‘Sue’ after Hendrickson, is displayed at Chicago’s Field Museum.
Key Historical Events on August 12
In 1867, President Andrew Johnson was at risk of impeachment after he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton amidst conflicts over Reconstruction policies. Despite this, Johnson was acquitted by the Senate.
The Spanish-American War concluded in 1898. In 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, future home to the Indianapolis 500, opened.
On this day in 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed when his Navy plane exploded over England.
The Soviet Union secretly tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1953. The United States launched the Echo 1, the initial balloon communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral in 1960.
IBM launched its inaugural personal computer, the model 5150, in New York in 1981.
The world’s worst single-aircraft disaster occurred in 1985 when a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 crashed, resulting in 520 deaths. Four passengers survived.
In 1994, the eighth baseball work stoppage began as players struck in protest against salary cap proposals.
In 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk and its 118-man crew were lost during an exercise in the Barents Sea.
James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, a feared mob boss and former FBI informant, was convicted in 2013 for 11 murders and numerous crimes. He received a life sentence and was killed in prison in 2018.
The 2017 Charlottesville attack saw a car driven into a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many.
In 2022, novelist Salman Rushdie was attacked and stabbed before giving a lecture in New York.
Notable Birthdays on August 12
- Investor George Soros turns 96.
- Actor George Hamilton is 87.
- Musician Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is 77.
- Singer Kid Creole is 76.
- Film director Chen Kaige is 74.
- Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is 72.
- Actor Bruce Greenwood is 70.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Lynette Woodard is 67.
- Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 63.
- Actor Peter Krause is 61.
- Tennis legend Pete Sampras is 55.
- Actor-comedian Michael Ian Black is 55.
- Actor Yvette Nicole Brown is 55.
- Actor Casey Affleck is 51.
- Boxer Tyson Fury is 38.
- Actor Lakeith Stanfield and NBA star Khris Middleton are 35.
- Actor Cara Delevingne is 34.
- Tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas is 28.