On this day: Richard Waghorn won the Schneider Cup

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 12 August
In 1929 Flying Officer Richard Waghorn won the Schneider Cup race in his Supermarine S6 in 39 minutes, 42 seconds. Picture: GettyIn 1929 Flying Officer Richard Waghorn won the Schneider Cup race in his Supermarine S6 in 39 minutes, 42 seconds. Picture: Getty
In 1929 Flying Officer Richard Waghorn won the Schneider Cup race in his Supermarine S6 in 39 minutes, 42 seconds. Picture: Getty

The Glorious Twelfth. Start of the grouse shooting season.

1291: The Great Cause lawsuit on Scottish succession was adjourned at Berwick.

1332: At the Battle of Dupplin Moor, near Perth, Edward Bailliol, a claimant to the Scottish throne, defeated the Regent, Earl of Mar.

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1480: Ottoman troops beheaded 800 Christians who refused to convert to Islam at the Battle of Otranto.

1492: Christopher Columbus arrived at the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.

1530: Florence was restored to Medici family in Italy by Holy Roman Empire troops.

1746: Highland dress prohibited by parliament.

1851: The first Hundred Guinea Cup was offered by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain for a race around the Isle of Wight. It was won by the United States yacht America, which beat the British Aurora. It became known as the America’s Cup.

1851: Isaac Singer patented the sewing machine.

1865: Joseph Lister performed the first surgery using antiseptic.

1877: Thomas Edison drew the sketch of his cylinder with stylus and sent it to a mechanic with the message “Make this”. It came back as the first phonograph recording machine.

1883: The last quagga, a sub-species of the zebra, died at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.

1898: Hawaiian Islands in Pacific were transferred to United States.

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1908: The first Model T Ford, affectionately known as the “Tin Lizzie”, was produced, replacing the Model A.

1918: The Allies defeated Germany at the Battle of Amiens, the last great battle on the Western Front.

1929: Flying Officer Richard Waghorn won the Schneider Cup in his Supermarine S6.

1933: Cuban dictator Machado y Morales fled after a military coup.

1936: In a demonstration baseball game at the Olympic Games in Berlin, the Rest of the World defeated USA 6-5.

1940: The Lutwaffe lost 31 aircraft during a bombing raid on British radar stations.

1941: French Marshal Henri Philippe Petain called on his countrymen to give full support to Nazi Germany.

1942: British prime minister Winston Churchill arrived in Moscow to meet Joseph Stalin.

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1953: British yachtswoman Ann Davison became the first woman to single-handedly sail across the Atlantic in her boat Felicity Ann.

1953: Soviet Union exploded its first hydrogen bomb in the Pacific – confirmed by a Moscow announcement on 20 August.

1953: The Ionian Islands were struck by a heavy earthquake, resulting in 435 deaths.

1981: IBM introduced its first personal computer, heralding a revolution in small business and home computing.

1990: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein offered to link Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait to Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and other conditions.

2000: The Russian submarine, Kursk, exploded and sank during an exercise in the Barents Sea.

2012: The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games took place in London.

2012: Golfer Rory McIlroy recorded a score of 275 to win the USPGA Championship at Kiawak Island.

BIRTHDAYS

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Mark Knopfler OBE, Glasgow-born singer, songwriter and guitarist (Dire Straits), 66; Casey Affleck, actor, 40; Mario Balotelli, Italian footballer, 25; Michael Brunson OBE, television political journalist, 75; Bobby Geddes, footballer and coach, 55; Simon Groom, former Blue Peter presenter, 65; George Hamilton, actor, 76; Pete Sampras, seven-times Wimbledon singles champion, 44; Tanita Tikaram, singer, 46; Lizzie Webb, television fitness expert, 67; François Hollande, president of France, 61; Tyson Fury, boxer, 27; Kid Creole, musician, 65; John Poindexter, former US National Security Advisor, 79.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1753 Thomas Bewick, wood engraver, illustrator and naturalist; 1762 George IV, King of UK; 1881 Cecil B DeMille, film producer; 1910 Jane Wyatt, actress; 1915 Michael Kidd, dancer, choreographer and actor; 1918 Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC, leader of the Dam Busters’ raid; 1920 Peter West, TV presenter and sports commentator; 1922 Fulton McKay, actor; 1925 Ross and Norris McWhirter twins, co-founders of Guinness Book of Records.

Deaths: 1689 Innocent XI, Italian pope; 1827 William Blake, poet and artist; 1848 George Stephenson, engineer who constructed the Rocket and first railway; 1865 Sir William Jackson Hooker, botanist; 1875 Louis II, king of Italy and Roman emperor; 1955 Thomas Mann, author; 1964 Ian Fleming, author and creator of James Bond; 1982 Henry Fonda, actor; 1988 Jean-Michel Basquiat, artist; 1992 John Cage, composer; 2000 Loretta Young, actress; 2014 Lauren Bacall, actress.