On August 12, 30 B.C., Cleopatra, queen of Egypt and lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, takes her life following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome.

On Aug. 12, 1867, President Andrew Johnson sparked impeachment proceedings against him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with whom he had clashed over Reconstruction policies.

1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway first opened.

In 1939, “The Wizard of Oz,”starring Judy Garland, had its world premiere at the Strand Theater in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, three days before opening in Hollywood.

In 1953, the Soviet Union tested its first H-bomb.

In 1978, the Commodores started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Three Times A Lady’, also No.1 in the UK and becoming Motown’s biggest British selling single. Lionel Richie wrote the song about his love for his wife, mother and grandmother hence ‘Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady.’

In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer in New York.

In 1990, fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson discovers three huge bones jutting out of a cliff near Faith, South Dakota. They turn out to be part of the largest-ever Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, a 65 million-year-old specimen dubbed Sue, after its discoverer.

In 1994, baseball players went on strike rather than allow team owners to limit their salaries.