Today in History for 12th August 2025

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Historical Events

1922 - Dedication of Frederick Douglass' home in Washington, D.C. as a national shrine
1955 - US President Eisenhower raises minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour
1958 - Art Kane photographs a group portrait of 57 leading jazz musicians assembled in front of a brownstone on 126th Street in NYC for Esquire magazine; originally titled "Harlem, 1958," it appears as the centerfold of Esquire's January 1959 issue celebrating the "Golden Age of Jazz"
1960 - American Ralph Boston sets a long jump world record of 8.21 m at the US Olympic trials, surpassing Jesse Owens' record
1969 - Battle of the Bogside: RUC officers, backed by loyalists, enter the nationalist Bogside in armored cars and try to suppress the riot by using CS gas, water cannon, and eventually firearms; the almost continuous rioting lasts for two days

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Famous Birthdays

1762 - George IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover (1820-30), born in St James's Palace, London (d. 1830)
1917 - Marjorie Reynolds [Goodspeed], American actress and dancer (Holiday Inn: The Life of Riley), born in Buhl, Idaho (d. 1997)
1939 - Roy Romanow, Canadian politician (Premier of Saskatchewan 1991-2001), born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1967 - Andrew Glover, American NFL tight end (Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings), born in Gonzales, Louisiana
1973 - Latasha Byears, American WNBA player (Sacramento Monarchs), born in Memphis, Tennessee

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Famous Deaths

1638 - Johannes Althusius [Althaut], German lawyer, dies at about 81
1901 - Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer and mineralogist (Vega Expedition), dies at 68
1935 - Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (Schottky's theorem), dies at 84
1988 - Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
1990 - Sara Seegar [Stone], actor (Mystery of Room 13), dies at 76

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