12th july

EVENTS OF THE DAY

927 – Æthelstan, King of England, secures a pledge from Constantine II of Scotland that the latter will not ally with Viking kings, beginning the process of unifying Great Britain.

1191 – Third Crusade: Saladin's garrison surrenders to Philip Augustus, ending the two-year siege of Acre.

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

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 Yucatan, burns the sacred books of the Maya.

1580 – The Ostrog Bible, one of the early printed Bibles in a Slavic language, is published.

1690 – Battle of the Boyne (Julian calendar) – The armies of William III defeat those of the former James II.

1691 – Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar) – The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland.

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 called the citizens to arms and led to the Storming of the Bastille two days later.

1790 – The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed in France by the National Constituent Assembly.

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

1806 – Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.

1806 – Liechtenstein was given full sovereignty after its accession to the Confederation of the Rhine .

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

1843 – Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, received a revelation regarding polygamy.

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

1879 – The National Guards Unit of Bulgaria is founded.

1913 – Second Balkan War: Serbian forces begin their siege of the Bulgarian city of Vidin; the siege is later called off when the war ends.

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

1918 – The Japanese Imperial Navy battleship Kawachi blows up at Shunan, western Honshu, Japan, killing at least 621.

1920 – The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed. Soviet Russia recognises independent Lithuania.

1932 – Hedley Verity takes a cricket world record 10 wickets for 10 runs in a county match for Yorkshire

1943 – World War II: Battle of Prokhorovka – German and Soviet forces engage in the largest tank engagement of all time.

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

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

1961 – Pune floods due to failure of the Khadakwasla and Panshet dams. Half of Pune is submerged, more than 100,000 families need to be relocated and the death tally exceeds 2,000.

1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first ever concert, at the Marquee Club in London.

1967 – The Newark riots began in Newark, New Jersey.

1970 – A fire consumes the wooden home of Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt and irretrievably destroys about 90 percent of his output.

1971 – The Australian Aboriginal flag is flown for the first time.

1973 – A fire destroys the entire 6th floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.

1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

1979 – The island nation of Kiribati becomes independent from Great Britain.

1979 – Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park Chicago, IL

2006 – The Hezbollah initiate Operation True Promise.

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