July 12
1543
England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.
1690
Protestant William of Orange defeated Roman Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland.
1862
Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.
1960
The first Etch-A-Sketch went on sale.
1979
Kiribati, formerly the Gilbert Islands, gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
1984
Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale announced his choice of running-mate, Geraldine Ferraro; Ferraro is first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket.
Birthdays
Henry David Thoreau
1817–62, American author and naturalist, born in Concord, Massachusetts, graduate of Harvard, 1837.
Josiah Wedgwood
potter (1730)
George Eastman
inventor, industrialist (1854)
Amedeo Modigliani
painter (1884)
R. Buckminster Fuller
architect and engineer (1895)
Pablo Neruda
poet, diplomat (1904)
Andrew Wyeth
painter (1917)
Bill Cosby
comedian (1937)
Kristi Yamaguchi
figure skater (1971)
Malala Yousafzai
peace activist (1997)