12 August in history
6 events that happened on 12 August, from 1099 to 2000.
1099 CE 927 years ago
Crusaders defeat a Fatimid army at Ascalon
A month after taking Jerusalem, the crusaders surprised and routed an Egyptian relief army near Ascalon. The victory, the last battle of the First Crusade, secured the new Latin kingdom.
1759 CE 267 years ago
Frederick the Great is crushed at Kunersdorf
A Russian and Austrian army destroyed Frederick II's Prussian force near Frankfurt an der Oder. Frederick wrote that all was lost, but his enemies failed to follow up and Prussia survived.
✦ Anniversary of the day
1851 CE 175 years ago
Isaac Singer patents his improved sewing machine
Isaac Singer received a US patent for a sewing machine with an up-and-down needle and foot treadle. Sold on instalment plans, Singer machines brought sewing machines into homes worldwide.
1944 CE 82 years ago
SS troops massacre villagers at Sant'Anna di Stazzema
Waffen-SS soldiers killed some 560 civilians, many of them women and children, in the Tuscan village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema. It was one of the worst atrocities of the German occupation of Italy.
1981 CE 45 years ago
IBM launches its Personal Computer
IBM unveiled the IBM PC model 5150, running Microsoft's MS-DOS. Its open design was widely copied, and 'PC compatible' machines came to dominate business and home computing.