August 12
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1415
Zheng Heâs treasure fleet returns
On this day in 1415, the largest wooden ships ever built brought home a remarkable prize for the emperor of imperial Chinaâs Ming dynasty. Adm. Zheng Heâs so-called Treasure Fleet returned from its fourth expedition, a voyage lasting a year and a half that reached as far as the Persian Gulf and the Maldives. Wherever Zheng traveled, he cultivated alliances, bringing gifts that included silk, porcelain, tea, clothing, and other luxury goods. On this expedition, he also returned with a special tribute, a giraffe.
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© Pictures From HistoryâUniversal Images Group/Getty Images; Photo Illustration EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-cwpbh-04044)
On this day in 1877, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison made perhaps his most original discovery, the phonograph, and his early recordings were indentations embossed into a sheet of tinfoil by a vibrating stylus. [Take our quiz about inventors and their inventions.]
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Featured Biography
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/Shutterstock.com
English poet and painter William Blake, who died this day in 1827, created a hand-illustrated series of lyric and epic poems that form one of the most strikingly original bodies of work in the Western cultural tradition.
Famous Birthdays
More on August 12
© Photo 12/Alamy
2014
American actress Lauren Bacallâwho was known for her portrayals of provocative women who hid their soft core underneath a layer of hard-edged pragmatismâdied at age 89. [Test your knowledge of women in classic cinema.]
© Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
1994
Major League Baseball players went on strike. The work stoppage resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the MLB season, including the World Series, which was not played for the first time since 1904.
Courtesy of The Field Museum, Chicago; photo, John Weinstein
1990
The most complete and best-preserved skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex was found on South Dakotaâs Cheyenne River Sioux reservation, and it was nicknamed Sue, after Susan Hendrickson, the paleontologist who discovered the dinosaur fossil. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about dinosaurs.]
© Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
1970
The Paris Saint-Germain menâs team was founded through the merger of the football (soccer) clubs Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain. [Find out how many times PSG players have won the Ballon dâOr.]
© Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
1966
During a press conference, John Lennon of the Beatles apologized for saying that his band was âmore popular than Jesus nowâ; the comment had sparked protests and album burnings. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about the Beatles.]
John WatermanâFox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1961
The East German state began construction of the Berlin Wall, which eventually surrounded West Berlin, preventing access to it from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. It served as a potent symbol of the Cold War until it was opened in 1989. [Read about five famous walls, including the Berlin Wall.]
NASA
1960
The communications satellite Echo 1 was launched. An aluminum-coated Mylar balloon, it was used for experimental telephone, data, and facsimile transmissions, and it helped proved the concept of relaying radio signals through space.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
1944
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.âU.S. naval pilot, son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., and brother of President John F. Kennedyâdied in a plane crash while flying on a secret mission during World War II. [Explore the Kennedy family tree.]
Historia/REX/Shutterstock.com
1887
Theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who shared the 1933 Nobel Prize for Physics for his contributions to the wave theory of matter and to other fundamentals of quantum mechanics, was born in Vienna. [How much do you know about Schrödingerâs cat?]
Image courtesy of the Internet Archive (at archive.org) in association with Biodiversity Heritage Library, Harvard University Museum of Comparitive Zoology (CC BY SA-3.0)
1883
The last known quagga, a type of zebra native to South Africa, died in the Amsterdam zoo.
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1881
American filmmaker Cecil B. DeMilleâwho was a cinema legend known for using spectacle in such movies as The Ten Commandments (1956)âwas born in Ashfield, Massachusetts. [Test your knowledge of cinema.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1851
Isaac Merrit Singer patented his sewing machine and formed I.M. Singer & Company to market the product. [Take our quiz about inventors and their inventions.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital file no. cph 3c00678)
1676
Metacom, intertribal chief of the Wampanoag, was killed, ending the conflict between Native peoples and English settlers known as King Philipâs War.