Today In History

Today in History - Aug. 12

By The Associated Press The Associated Press
Sunday, August 12, 2012 12:00 AM EDT
  • Email
  • Print

Today is Sunday, Aug. 12, the 225th day of 2012. There are 141 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 12, 1912, comedy producer Mack Sennett founded the Keystone Pictures Studio in Edendale, Calif.

On this date:

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

In 1898, fighting in the Spanish-American War came to an end.

In 1902, International Harvester Co. was formed by a merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Co., Deering Harvester Co. and several other manufacturers.

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Hugo Black to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1944, during World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England.

In 1953, the Soviet Union conducted a secret test of its first hydrogen bomb.

In 1960, the first balloon communications satellite — the Echo 1 — was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral.

In 1962, one day after launching Andrian Nikolayev into orbit, the Soviet Union also sent up cosmonaut Pavel Popovich; both men landed safely Aug. 15.

In 1978, Pope Paul VI, who had died Aug. 6 at age 80, was buried in St. Peter's Basilica.

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150, at a press conference in New York.

In 1985, the world's worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people. (Four people survived.)

In 1992, after 14 months of negotiations, the United States, Mexico and Canada announced in Washington that they had concluded the North American Free Trade Agreement. Avant-garde composer John Cage died in New York at age 79.

Ten years ago: Iraq's information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (moh-HAH'-mehd sah-YEED' ah-sah-HAHF'), told the Arabic satellite television station Al-Jazeera that there was no need for U.N. weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad and branded as a "lie" allegations that Saddam Hussein still had weapons of mass destruction.


Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Email
  • Print

Video

AC360 Daily Podcast 5/17/2013 Play

AC360 Daily Podcast 5/17/2013

The police officers who rescued the Cleveland missing...

Play Video

Customer tips waitress $446 Play

Customer tips waitress $446

A kind customer at an Indianapolis fast-food burger...

Play Video

Car plows into Va. Parade Play

Car plows into Va. Parade

A car plows into a crowd viewing a parade in Damascus,...

Play Video

Train derailment delays service Play

Train derailment delays service

Officials are trying to figure out how a commuter train...

Play Video

Slideshow

AP

Missing Women Escape

The amazing story of 3 Ohio women who escaped torture after being held captive for over a decade.

Most Popular

Watch Now

Play
 

Flash is required to view this content. Please install the Adobe Flash Player.

Quick Vote


Do you think the Obama administration was involved in the unfair targeting of conservative groups by the IRS?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Unsure