August 12

Today in History
• 1336 - English King Edward III ends wool export to Flanders
• 1480 - Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam
• 1492 - Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World
• 1658 - 1st American police force forms (New Amsterdam)
• 1676 - 1st war between American colonists and Indians ends in New England
• 1833 - The town of Chicago is incorporated (population 350)
• 1863 - 1st cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, BC)
• 1865 - Joseph Lister performs 1st antiseptic surgery


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Garage Sale Day
• IBM PC Day
• International Youth Day
• Milkman Day
• National Vinyl Record Day
• Thailand Mother's Day
• The Glorious Twelfth
• World Elephant Day

Birthdays
• 1503 - Christian III, king of Denmark/Norway, 1534-59
• 1566 - Isabella Clara Eugenia, Sovereign of the Netherlands (1598-1621)
• 1629 - Tsar Alexei I of Russia
• 1762 - George IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
• 1820 - Oliver Mowat, a founder of the Canadian Confederation
• 1852 - Fr. Michael J. McGivney, Catholic priest, and founder the Knights of Columbus
• 1868 - Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, 22nd Governor of New South Wales
• 1910 - Yusof bin Ishak, first President of Singapore