1905 – King Leopold II opens Antwerp Central Station in Belgium
1914 – France and Great Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary
1960 – USAF Major Robert M. White takes the X-15 to an altitude of 41,600 meters
1977 – For the second consecutive day, Oakland’s Manny Sanguillen foils a no-hit bid
1980 – Warner Bros. Records releases “One-Trick Pony,” the fifth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon; it features the song “Late in the Evening” and is accompanied by a dramatic film of the same name, written by and starring Simon
1990 – 12th Annual Macy’s Tap-o-mania
1994 – Members of the Major League Baseball Players Association go on strike, leading to the cancellation of the World Series for only the second time in MLB history (1904) due to a labor dispute
2005 – Civil unrest is provoked in the Maldives
Author: gil7
Today in History for 12th August 2025
Historical Events
1922 – Dedication of Frederick Douglass’ home in Washington, D.C. as a national shrine
1955 – US President Eisenhower raises minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour
1958 – Art Kane photographs a group portrait of 57 leading jazz musicians assembled in front of a brownstone on 126th Street in NYC for Esquire magazine; originally titled “Harlem, 1958,” it appears as the centerfold of Esquire’s January 1959 issue celebrating the “Golden Age of Jazz”
1960 – American Ralph Boston sets a long jump world record of 8.21 m at the US Olympic trials, surpassing Jesse Owens’ record
1969 – Battle of the Bogside: RUC officers, backed by loyalists, enter the nationalist Bogside in armored cars and try to suppress the riot by using CS gas, water cannon, and eventually firearms; the almost continuous rioting lasts for two days
Famous Birthdays
1762 – George IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover (1820-30), born in St James’s Palace, London (d. 1830)
1917 – Marjorie Reynolds [Goodspeed], American actress and dancer (Holiday Inn: The Life of Riley), born in Buhl, Idaho (d. 1997)
1939 – Roy Romanow, Canadian politician (Premier of Saskatchewan 1991-2001), born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1967 – Andrew Glover, American NFL tight end (Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings), born in Gonzales, Louisiana
1973 – Latasha Byears, American WNBA player (Sacramento Monarchs), born in Memphis, Tennessee
Famous Deaths
1638 – Johannes Althusius [Althaut], German lawyer, dies at about 81
1901 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer and mineralogist (Vega Expedition), dies at 68
1935 – Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (Schottky’s theorem), dies at 84
1988 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
1990 – Sara Seegar [Stone], actor (Mystery of Room 13), dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 11th August 2025
1656 – Prince Ottavio Piccolomini, Italian nobleman, Duke of Amalfi, and field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire, dies at 56
1851 – Lorenz Oken, German naturalist, dies at 72
1890 – John Henry Newman, British thologian (Tract 90), educator, poet (Dream of Gerontius), Anglican priest, Catholic priest, cardinal and saint, dies of pneumonia at 89
1892 – Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician (b. 1813)
1984 – Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian-German chess player, dies at 67
1988 – Jean-Pierre Ponnele, French opera director (Carmina Burana), dies at 56
1996 – Mel Taylor, American rock drummer (The Ventures, 1962-73 and 1979-96), dies of cancer at 63
2005 – James Booth [David Geeves], British actor and screenwriter (Zulu, Keeping Mum), dies at 77
2010 – Geoffrey Johnson Smith, Scottish Conservative politician (1959-2001), dies at 86
2022 – Darius Danesh, Scottish pop, opera, and swing singer-songwriter (Colourblind; Live Twice) and stage actor, dies of respiratory arrest at 41
Historical Events for 11th August 2025
1963 – Kingston Trio are the mystery guests on “What’s My Line?”
1970 – Two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers are killed by the Irish Republican Army when they set off a booby trap bomb planted in a car near Crossmaglen, County Armagh
1973 – The birth of hip-hop: DJ Kool Herc uses two turntables, playing the same record simultaneously to create the “merry-go-round” technique, at a party in the Bronx
1977 – Geoff Boycott scores his 100th first-class century against Australia at Headingley
1978 – Funeral of Pope Paul VI is held in Vatican
1982 – The South African Defence Force (SADF) raids Southern Angola
2011 – Rock group “The Go-Go’s” receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the former nightclub called “The Masque”
2024 – Thousands of people evacuate near the Greek capital of Athens as large wildfires threaten the city after the hottest June and July on record
Today in History for 11th August 2025
Historical Events
1984 – Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench’s #5 uniform
1984 – A British 1-2 in the 1,500 m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title
1991 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Crooked Stick GC: John Daly wins by 3 strokes from fellow American Bruce Lietzke
1997 – Benin legalizes January 10 as a Voodoo holiday
2005 – American Justin Gatlin becomes only the second athlete to achieve the sprint double, winning the 200 m in 20.04 at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland
Famous Birthdays
1911 – Henry Kulky [Kulakowich], American actor (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Love Nest), born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York (d. 1965)
1949 – Tim Hutchinson, American politician (Rep-R-Arkansas 1997-2003), born in Bentonville, Arkansas
1953 – Hulk Hogan [Terry Bollea], American pro wrestler (WWF heavyweight champion 1984-89; WWE HOF) and actor (Suburban Commando, Thunder in Paradise), born in Augusta, Georgia (d. 2025)
1970 – Andy Bell, Welsh guitarist, bassist (Ride; Oasis; Hurricane #1), singer-songwriter,a nd record producer, born in Cardiff, Wales
1983 – Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor (Thor, Avengers), born in Melbourne, Victoria
Famous Deaths
1937 – Edith Wharton, American Pulitzer prize-winning novelist (Ethan Frome, House of Mirth), dies at 75
1982 – Tom Drake [Alfred Sinclair Alderdice], American actor (Meet Me In St. Louis; Warlock), dies of lung cancer at 63
1994 – Mark “Red” Mitchell, American actor (JFK; 8 Seconds; Want to Live), dies when his car is struck by a train at 33
2021 – Dick Huddart, English rugby league second rower (16 Tests Great Britain; St. Helens, St. George), dies at 85
2023 – Alexandru Penciu, Romanian rugby union fullback, centre (34 caps; Locomotiva PTT, CSA Steaua București, Rugby Rovigo), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 10th August 2025
794 – Fastrada, 3rd wife of French King Charles the Great, dies at 30
1655 – Louis de Vadder, Flemish painter, dies at 50
1717 – Nicolaas Witsen, Dutch statesman and mayor of Amsterdam, dies at 76
1843 – Jakob F. Fries, German philosopher, dies at 69
1896 – Otto Lilenthal, German aviation pioneer, killed from injuries sustained during a glider test at 48
1915 – Henry Moseley, English physicist (relationship between atomic number and charge of the atomic nucleus), shot and killed at Gallipoli during WWI, at 27
1979 – Walther Gerlach, German physicist who, with Otto Stern, co-discovered spin quantization in a magnetic field (Stern–Gerlach effect), dies at 90
2002 – Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic), dies of pancreatic cancer at 40
2002 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist, dies at 75
2022 – Vesa-Matti Loiri, Finnish actor (Jake in “Pojat”) and musician (Eino Leino), dies at 77
Historical Events for 10th August 2025
1885 – Leo Daft opens America’s first commercially operated electric streetcar in Baltimore
1920 – Allies recognize Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania
1940 – Dutch Prince Bernhard Fund forms
1942 – General Bernard Montgomery is appointed commander of the British 8th Army in North Africa
1965 – USAF test pilot Joe Engle in the X-15 reaches an altitude of 51.3 miles (82.6 km) and a top speed of 3,550 mph (5,713 km/h) (Mach 5.20)
1969 – Don Sutton breaks his 13-game losing streak to the Cubs with a 4-2 win
1988 – Alan Ayckbourn’s play “Man of the Moment” premieres at Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough
2021 – Forest fires kill 65 people, including 25 soldiers, in Algeria’s Kabylie region during heatwave conditions
Today in History for 10th August 2025
Historical Events
1511 – Portuguese troops occupy parts of Malacca
1664 – Austria and the Ottoman Empire sign the Peace of Vásvár
1936 – First time Olympic cycling road race is conducted as a mass start event with Frenchmen Robert Charpentier and Guy Lapébie taking gold and silver, and France winning the team gold medal
1980 – Canadian Open Women’s Golf (Peter Jackson Classic), Richelieu Valley GC: Pat Bradley wins by one from JoAnn Carner for her first of six major titles
2017 – 100-year-old fruitcake by Huntley and Palmers is deemed “almost eatable” after being discovered in a hut used by Captain Scott’s expedition in Antarctica
Famous Birthdays
1874 – Tod Sloan, American thoroughbred jockey (1,000 Guineas 1899 [Sibola], Ascot Gold Cup 1900 [Merman]; created monkey crouch riding style), born in Bunker Hill, Indiana (d. 1933)
1913 – Noah Beery Jr, American actor (Rockford Files, Quest, Doc Elliot, Gung Ho!, Heaven With a Gun), born in New York City (d. 1994)
1965 – Claudia Christian, American actress (Babylon 5), and author, born in Glendale, California
1966 – Hansi Kürsch, German heavy metal singer-songwriter, band bassist (Blind Guardian), born in Lank-Latum, West Germany
1967 – Philippe Albert, Belgian soccer defender (41 caps; Charleroi, KV Mechelen, Anderlecht, Newcastle United), born in Bouillon, Belgium
Famous Deaths
258 – Saint Lawrence, Christian martyr, dies in Rome during persecutions by Emperor Valerian, burned to death
1862 – Hon’inbō Shūsaku, Japanese professional Go player, dies at 33
1976 – Jerry Gray [Generoso Graziano], American violinist, arranger (Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller). and composer(“Pennsylvania 6-5000″,”A String of Pearls”), dies at 61
1999 – Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Eminent Sanskrit Scholar in India (b. 1899)
2008 – Isaac Hayes, American Southern soul musician, singer-songwriter, Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer (“Theme from Shaft”), and actor (The Rockford Files – “Gandolf Fitch”; South Park -“Chef”), dies of a likely stroke at 65
Famous Deaths for 9th August 2025
1727 – Johann Philipp Treiber, German composer dies at 52
1744 – James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (George Frideric Handel) (b. 1673)
1911 – John Gates (“Bet-a-million” Gates), American inventor and industrialist who established the market for barbed wire fencing, dies following an unsuccessful operation to remove a throat tumor at 56
1961 – Walter Bedell Smith, U.S. Army general (WWII) and head of CIA (1950-52), dies at 75
1973 – Dean Corll, American serial killer (Houston mass murders), fatally shot by an accomplice at 33
1996 – Frank Whittle, English RAF engineer air officer and inventor of the turbojet engine, dies at 89
2000 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician and leader of Egypt’s Wafd Party, dies at 88
2014 – Michael Brown, American shooting victim whose death provoked nationwide protests and civil unrest, shot dead by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson at 18
2020 – Martin Birch, British sound engineer (Fleetwood Mac; Deep Purple) and record producer (Whitesnake; Iron Maiden), dies at 71
2023 – (Jaime Royal) “Robbie” Robertson, Canadian-Mohawk singer-songwriter and rock guitarist (The Band – “The Weight”; “Up On Cripple Creek”), and soundtrack composer (Martin Scorsese films), dies of prostate cancer at 80
Historical Events for 9th August 2025
1855 – Battle of Acapulco during the Mexican Liberal Uprising
1936 – Helen Stephens claims the women’s sprint double at the Berlin Olympics, winning the 100 m and participating as part of the victorious American 4 x 100 m relay team
1976 – Clive Lloyd scores a double century in 120 minutes, WI vs. Glamorgan
1978 – USSR performs an underground nuclear test
1987 – LA Rams beat Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in London (NFL expo)
1992 – XXV Summer Olympic Games close at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain
1992 – Cuban boxer Félix Savón wins the first of three consecutive Olympic heavyweight gold medals when he dominates Nigerian David Izonritei on points at the Barcelona Games
2024 – Passenger plane crashes in the Brazilian city of Vinhedo, killing all 61 people on board on a flight to São Paulo