August 12

30BC Cleopatra, the ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt committed suicide in Alexandra on August 12, 30 BC by inducing an Egyptian cobra to bite her after her lover Mark Antony had killed himself. (Dying of snakebite Egyptians believed conferred immorality.) Cleopatra's death ended the line of all Egyptian pharaohs as Egypt became a Roman province.

The Death of Cleopatra (1796–1797), by Jean-Baptiste Regnault

1647 Matthew Hopkins was England's Witchfinder General. In one year alone, Hopkins managed to hang over 100 suspected witches on the premise that if a suspected woman floats after being thrown into the water, she is a witch, if she drowns, she isn't. Hopkins died on August 12, 1647. According to legend, the Witchfinder General became a suspect himself, was tested by his own methods and when he floated was hung as a sorcerer. However, it is more likely that he died of pleural tuberculosis.

1750 Philanthropist Jonas Hanway was born on August 12, 1712.  Hanway became the first Englishman to display an umbrella as part of a city "uniform" in around 1750. He had to suffer ridicule by carrying one habitually in London, suitably fortified against the inclement English climate. The hackney coachmen tried to hoot and hustle him down as they saw a threat to their livelihood in the new contraption. But in spite of the abuse, Hanway continued to carry his "guard from chilly showers." 

1762 George IV of the United Kingdom was born at St James's Palace, London, on August 12, 1762. He was the first child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his father's final mental illness. However, once he became king in 1820, George's s heavy drinking, indulgent lifestyle, callousness and weak-mindedness made him unable to govern effectively.

1827 English poet, painter, and printmaker William Blake died on August 12, 1827 in London. Though Blake's vast output of visionary art and poetry is revered now, in his own time they were regarded as convincing evidence of insanity. "There is no doubt this poor man was mad, but there is something, in the madness of this man which interest me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott," said Wordsworth said of him." By the end of the 19th century, Blake was recognized as the genius he was.

1848 After George Stephenson, the "father of railways," settled into semi-retirement, he spent his time supervising his mining interests in Derbyshire. The tunneling for the North Midland Railway revealed a rich seam of coal lying under Chesterfield town and he formed a company to work it. Six months after marrying his third wife, Stephenson contracted pleurisy and died aged 67 at Tapton House in Chesterfield, Derbyshire on August 12, 1848.

1851 Isaac M. Singer of Pittstown, New York invented the first sewing machine with an overhanging arm, making it possible to sew on any part of the garment. His sewing machine was patented on August 12, 1851. Singer also patented the foot treadle and the spring-equipped presser foot for holding down the fabric while sewing. The first sewing machines were powered by hand or foot. Singer Sewing Co demonstrated the first workable electric sewing machine at the Philadelphia electric exhibition in 1885.

 

1883 The quagga was a unique subspecies of the plains zebra that was native to South Africa. It had a distinctive appearance, with stripes only on the front part of its body, while the back resembled that of a horse.  Tragically, the quagga became extinct in the late 19th century due to extensive hunting and habitat loss. The last known quagga in captivity, a female, died on August 12, 1883, at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.

1898 The Hawaiian flag was lowered from Iolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony on August 12, 1898 and temporarily replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States. The Hawaiian flag is the only U.S. state flag to feature the Union flag of the United Kingdom, a remnant of the British Empire's influence on Hawaiian history.

1908 While attending a revival meeting in December 1907, Aimee McPherson met Robert Semple, a Pentecostal missionary from Ireland. They married on August 12, 1908, in a Salvation Army ceremony. After embarking on an evangelistic tour to China, Robert contracted dysentery and died in Hong Kong. McPherson became a Pentecostal evangelist whose preaching style  and pioneering use of modern media in religious services were a major influence on 20th century Charismatic Christianity.

1960 Green Eggs and Ham is one of Dr Seuss's "Beginner Books." It was the result of a bet between Seuss and Bennett Cerf, Dr. Seuss's publisher, who challenged him to write a story using no more than 50 different words. Seuss won the bet and Green Eggs and Ham was published on August 12, 1960.

1964 James Bond creator Ian Fleming died of a heart attack in Canterbury, Kent during the early morning of August 12, 1964. His reported last words were an apology to the ambulance drivers for having inconvenienced them, saying "I am sorry to trouble you chaps. I don't know how you get along so fast with the traffic on the roads these days."

1978 The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft was launched August 12, 1978, into a heliocentric orbit. Thought to be shutdown in 1997, it was actually discovered in 2008 still be fully operational with plenty of fuel. Through efforts of crowd funding and approval from NASA, a group successfully established contact and fired the engines for the first time since 1987.

1981 The IBM Personal Computer was introduced on August 12, 1981. Pricing for the IBM model number 5150 started at US$1,565 (equivalent to $4,073 in 2015) for a configuration with 16K RAM, Color Graphics Adapter, and no disk drives.

1994 Major League Baseball (MLB) players went on strike on August 12, 1994, which had significant repercussions for the sport. This labor strike led to the cancellation of the remainder of the 1994 MLB season, including the playoffs and the World Series. It was the first time the World Series had been canceled since 1904.

2014 Lauren Bacall died on August 12, 2014 aged 89, after suffering a stroke at home. Lauren Bacall was the last surviving legendary actor or actress mentioned in Madonna's hit song "Vogue." Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio (the only non actor mentioned), Marlon Brando, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, and Lana Turner all previously passed away.