Some Interesting Facts for August 12th Famous people born on this date... 1759 Thomas Boswick, English artist, "British Birds", "Aesop's Fables" 1762 George IV, king of England (1820-30) 1781 Robert Mills, architect (Washington Monument) 1831 Helena Petrovan Blavatsky, theosophist 1849 Abbott Thayer, US painter, discoverer of camouflage in animal world 1856 "Diamond Jim" Brady, financier, philanthropist 1859 Katherine Lee Bates, poet-educator, wrote "America the Beautiful" 1866 Jacinto y Martinez, writer, "The Vulgar," "Brute Force" 1876 Mary Roberts Rinehart, mystery writer 1881 Cecil B. DeMille, filmaker, "Cleopatra," "Samson & Delilah," "The Story of Dr. Wassell," "The Crusades," "Greatest Show On Earth," "Unconquered," "Till I Come Back For You," "The Ten Commandments," "King of Kings," "Felix in Hollywood," "Dream Girl" 1882 Vincent Bendix, inventor, automobile self starter, Bendix Corp 1892 Ray Schalk, baseball player who revolutionized the way the catching position was played 1911 Mario Moreno, alias Cantinflas, "Around the World in 80 days" 1912 Jane Wyatt, actress, "Tom Sawyer," "House by the River," "Katherine" 1912 Ben Hogan, golfer 1913 Kurt Kasznar, actor, "The Ambushers" 1919 Michael Kidd (Milton Greenwald), choreographer 1921 Marjorie Reynolds, actress, "Doomed to Die," "His Kind of Woman" 1925 Ross McWhirter, publisher, "Guiness Book of World Records" 1926 John Derek, actor/dir, "Rogues of Sherwood Forest," "Mask of the Avenger," "Thunderbirds," "Omar Khayyam," "Exodus," "Bolero," "Fantasies," "Tarzan the Ape Man" 1927 Porter Wagoner, singer, "Honkytonk Man," "Paradise Park" 1929 Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens, country musician, "Tiger By the Tail" 1931 William Goldman, author/screenwriter, "Lord of the Flies," "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid," "Marathon Man," "Masquerade," "Magic," "The Hot Rock," "Year of the Comet," "Malice" 1936 John Poindexter, naval officer & former Natl Security advisor 1939 George Hamilton, actor, "Love @ 1st bite," "Zorro the Gay Blade" 1941 Jennifer Warren, actor, "Life Stinks," "The Beans of Egypt, Maine," "Slap Shot," "Mutant" 1941 Deborah Walley, actor, "Gidget Goes Hawaiian," "Beach Blanket Bingo" 1947 Albie Donnelly, musician, sessioned for Boomtown Rats 1948 Ron Mael, musician, group: Sparks 1949 Mark Knopfler, musician, group: Dire Straits 1950 August Darnell, musician, group: Kid Creole and the Coconuts 1954 Pat Metheny, musician, rock-jazz performer, "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls" 1956 Bruce Greenwood, actor, "Wild Orchid," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Cell 213" 1961 Roy Hay, musician, group: Culture Club 1961 Pete De Freitas musician, group: Echo & the Bunnymen 1972 Rebecca Gayheart, the Noxzema Girl, actor, "90210" Events on this day in history... RC Feasts: St Anicetus, St Just, St Innocent XI, St Jambert 3113bc Start of Mayan calendar 30bc Cleopatra VII takes own life 1099 Battle of Ascalon I, Crusaders defeat Muslims 1492 Columbus discovered the Canary Islands 1508 Juan Ponce De Leon landed in Puerto Rico 1552 Emperor Charles V grants religious freedom in treaty of Passau 1553 Michael Servetus arrested in Geneva 1591 Death of Dick, a cat, in Leith, Scotland 1658 "Rattle Watch," first police force in America (New Amsterdam) 1676 Metacomet aka.'King Philip,' ambushed by R.I. colonists 1684 Nicolo Amati died, Italian violin maker 1687 Battle of Mohacs, HRE defeats the Turks 1762 The British capture Cuba from Spain after a two month siege 1791 Black slaves on Santo Domingo rise up against their white masters 1812 British commander the Duke of Wellington occupies Madrid, Spain 1812 Dr. J. Lister becomes 1st surgeon to disinfectant during operation 1827 William Blake, English poet, dies 1851 Issac Singer granted a patent for his sewing machine 1862 Gen. John Hunt Morgan & his raiders capture Gallatin, TX 1863 1st cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC area) 1864 After a week of heavy raiding, the Confederate cruiser TALLAHASSEE claims six Union ships captured 1874 Waterspout passes over a 600 acre pond for 10 min. & sucks up 11,668 tons of water, Langley, SC 1877 Thomas Edison invents the phonograph 1882 Paul Henry discovers asteroid #227 Philosophia 1888 Bertha, wife of inventor Karl Benz, makes 1st motor tour 1896 Gold is discovered near Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada 1898 US formally annexes Hawaii 1898 Spanish-American War ended 1899 Mt Rainier becomes the nation's 3d Natl park 1908 Henry Ford's first Model T rolls off the assembly line 1914 England declares war on Austria-Hungary 1914 Monte Negro declares war on Germany 1915 "Of Human Bondage," by William Somerset Maugham, published 1922 The home of Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C. is dedicated as a memorial 1923 K. Reinmuth discovers 1,000th asteroid, names it Giuseppe Piazzi 1935 Babe Ruth's final game at Fenway Park, 41,766 on hand 1941 French Marshal Henri Philippe Ptain announces full French collaboration with Nazi Germany 1942 Some 150 objects fly over in straight lines of 10 or 12 objects, no wings or tails according to witness, Sgt Brickner, Tulagi, Solomon Is. 1943 'Philadelphia Experiment' allegedly conducted on this date 1949 3d Geneve Convention relative to the treatment of POW's 1953 Ann Davidson becomes 1st woman to sail solo across the Atlantic 1953 USSR conducted a secret test of its 1st H-bomb 1955 Pres Eisenhower raises minimum wage from $0.75 to $1 an hour 1956 William Shatner marries Gloria Rand 1959 Integration begins at 4 Little Rock High Schools, AR 1959 1st ship firing of a Polaris missile, Observation Island 1960 Pete Best auditions for and becomes a Beatle 1961 The erection of the Berlin Wall begins 1964 Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, dies 1964 Race riot in Elizabeth NJ 1965 Race riot in West Side of Chicago 1967 Iron ore ship SANTA FE sinks in the Gulf of Pefias killing 39, off S. Chile 1969 American installations at Quan-Loi, Vietnam, comes under VC attack 1969 Giant waterspout spotted off Key West, FL 1970 Janis Joplin gives her final concert, at Harvard University 1970 The US Post Office becomes an independent govt corporation 1971 Syria breaks diplomatic ties with Jordan 1972 As U.S. troops leave Vietnam, B-52's make their largest strike of the war 1977 1st test of the Space Shuttle ENTERPRISE 1978 The first papal funeral ever held outdoors was conducted for Pope Paul VI, in St. Peter's Square 1978 Sino-Japanese treaty signed 1980 1st Panda born in captivity outside China, lives 8 days, Mexico City 1981 IBM introduced Microsoft DOS 1.0 (PC-DOS) as main system 1982 Henry Fonda dies at 77 1982 DJ averages bottoms out at 776.92 1982 Joe Tex dies, singer 1987 Stock Market crashes 1988 Richard Thornburgh sworn in as new Attorney General 1991 BankAmerica & Security Pacific to merge 1991 Iraqi 'supergun' revealed by UN, using U2 spy plane 1991 Seaweed clogs intake pipes, shuts down Crystal R. Nuke plant 1992 Shipments of OS/2 pass 1 million mark 1992 John Cage died on this day, avante-garde composer, "4'33," "O'O," 1992 Canada, Mexico & the US announced the N American Free Trade Agreement 1992 4 NW utilities put forth plan for wind turbines, Rattlesnake Hills 1993 Maritime memorial dedicated, Astoria, OR 1993 Joan Collins reaches settlement in $20 mil suit w/ the Globe which published topless pictures of her saying: "everybody is entitled to their privacy" 1994 U.S. govt recalls 250,000 flammable rayon skirts from India 1994 Burst 36" water main floods out the "House of Blues," L.A. 1994 'Spiderman' burgler gets 20 yrs for 2,289 burglaries, Sydney 1994 Major league baseball players go on strike 1995 Boston sponsors 'Back to the Beach' day, harbor safe for swimming 1995 Lightning knocks out Miami airport radar for 84 minutes 1996 "Back to the Future part 3" movie set burns to the ground after lightning strike 1997 Flash flood sweeps thru Antelope Canyon killing 12, AZ 1997 Elvis statue unveiled, the 1st one was destroyed by over zealous fans, Memphis 1999 Great fireball crosses sky & splits in 2 before crashing to ground causing fires, nr Gallipoli, Turkey 1999 Power blackout darkens part of South Loop, 1 day after re-opening of Oriental Inst. exhibit at the 'U' of Chicago 2000 Up to 1' of rain falls on parts of the NE, state of emergency declared in Sparta, NJ 2002 1000s lose power as 100 mph winds lash KS 2002 Sightseeing boat AMADEUS sinks after being swaped by flood-swollen Salzach R., Salzburg 2010 Severe thunder storm moves through DC Metro region, numerous roads closed, downed trees and power lines 2014 Record rainfall from Detroit to DC, flooding slows vehicle production 2015 Hisashi Iwakuma of the Mariners throws No-No against Orioles 2015 American skier Lindsey Vonn fractures ankle in practice, NZ 2015 Lady Gaga stumbles leaving the Pump restaurant, Hollywood 2015 Lightning strikes tree, pieces damage Ty Fergeson's truck & house, Tacoma 2015 40 Army Ranger students & 4 instructors injured by nearby lightning strike while training on how to protect themselves from lightning, Eglin AFB, FL 2015 Violent storm outbreak causes flash flooding, damage across Calabria region, 40k affected in Rossana, site of the Abbey of Suffering & Star Tower, S Italy 2015 Ceiling collapses during 'Theory of a Deadman' show, First Ave nightclub (featured in Prince's 'Purple Rain'), Minneapolis Diversions 1927 "Wings" opened at the Criterion 1967 Fleetwood Mac makes its stage debut, London 1988 New movies: "The Last Temptation Of Christ," "Young Guns" 1994 Woodstock (Greedstock, Woodstalag) '94 opens, Saugerites, NY 1994 "Natural Born Killers" released in USA theatres 1995 "The Mask" TV cartoon based on Jim Carrey movie, debuts on CBS 1996 AC/DC does their "Ball Breaker" tour concert, Key Arena, Seattle 2005 New movies: "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," "The Great Raid," "The Skeleton Key," "Asylum," "Grizzly Man," "Pretty Persuasion" 2011 New movies: "Thirty Minutes or Less," "Final Destination 5," "The Last Circus," "Senna," "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie" -- Remember: J=RAY