1862: Medal of Honor created. President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, “to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.”
1910: Charles Rolls, aged 32, pioneering pilot and co-founder of Rolls-Royce, was killed when he crashed his biplane in a flying competition in the Southbourne district of Bournemouth. He was the first Briton to be killed in a flying accident. Rolls is commemorated in Monmouth and his grave is in the Monmouthshire church of Llangattock-Vibon-Avel, where many of the Rolls family lie buried in various family tombs.
1920: The Moscow Peace Treaty is signed. Also known as the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, the treaty was signed between Lithuania and the Soviet Union. It recognized Lithuanian sovereignty in exchange for its neutrality and for safe passage for Russian troops to Poland.
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1957: US Surgeon General Leroy Burney connects smoking with lung cancer.
1962: First performance of the Rolling Stones
The British rock band performed for the first time as a group at the Marquee Club in London.
1967: Race riots break out in Newark, New Jersey, killing 26 people and injuring several others
The violence began when two white policemen arrested a black cab driver.
1975: São Tomé and Príncipe gains independence from Portuguese rule
The island nation was discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century. For over 200 years, its economy was run by African slaves who cultivated sugar, coffee, and cocoa. Manuel Pinto da Costa became the first president of the newly independent country.
1984: Geraldine Ferraro designated running mate of Walter Mondale
Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale put forward Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate on this day in 1984, making her the first woman ever nominated for vice president by a major U.S. political party. Ferraro, a daughter of Italian immigrants, had previously gained recognition as a vocal advocate of women’s rights in Congress. Ferraro became the first female vice presidential candidate to represent a major political party.
1990: Boris Yeltsin resigns from the Communist Party. Just two days after Mikhail Gorbachev was re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, announces his resignation from the Party. Yeltsin’s action was a serious blow to Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together.
1998: FIFA World Cup Final, Stade de France, Saint-Denis: Zinedine Zidane scores twice as France wins first World Cup beating Brazil, 3-0
2003: President George Bush of the USA wound up a five-day visit to five African nations in Abuja, Nigeria with a meeting with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
2009: MEND leader, Henry Okah agreed to the terms of a government amnesty programme.
2017: Ghana-born Nana Twumasi-Ankrah, now an officer in the British army, is appointed by the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II as the first back Equerry, a senior position in the royal household that combines diplomatic and security skills. He will be chosen to escort the Queen’s coffin when she dies in 2022.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY: July 12
Bill Cosby, 87 years
William Henry Cosby Jr. is an American former comedian, actor, spokesman, and media personality who was born on 12 July 1937. He started his career as a stand-up comedian before moving into television with “I Spy”. Cosby performed in and produced children’s TV shows such as “The Electric Company” before creating the hugely successful “The Cosby Show” (1984-1992), significant for featuring an affluent African American family.
In 2014 Cosby became the subject of numerous allegations of sexual abuse, drug-facilitated rape, and other accusations of sexual misconduct dating back decades. In 2015 he was charged by police but the case ended in a mistrial. A new trial found him guilty of sexual assault in 2018.
Malala Yousafzai, 27 years
Malala was born on 12 July 1997. She is known for her human rights advocacy for the education of women in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.
On the 9th of October 2012, as she tried to board her school bus, she was stopped, asked by name, and shot three times, including once to the face. The assassination attempt, blamed on the Taliban sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Yousafzai.
Despite the attack and continued death threats from the Taliban, she has continued to advocate for worldwide access to education, especially for young girls and women.
In 2014 she became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize recipient.
