Today in History July 12

AD 70 – The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after six months of battle. Three days later they breach the walls, which enables the army to destroy the Second Temple.

1806 – Sixteen German imperial states leave the Holy Roman Empire and form the Confederation of the Rhine.

1920 – The Soviet-Lithuanian Peace Treaty is signed, by which Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of Lithuania.

1948 – Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion orders the expulsion of Palestinians from the towns of Lod and Ramla.

1962 – The Rolling Stones perform their first concert, at London’s Marquee Club.

1973 – A fire destroys the entire sixth floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States.

2007 – U.S. Army Apache helicopters perform airstrikes in Baghdad; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

1730 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (d. 1795)

1817 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (d. 1862)

1854 – George Eastman, founded Eastman Kodak (d. 1933)

1884 – Louis B. Mayer, Russian-born American film producer, co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (d. 1957)

1884 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1920)

Bucky’s Dymaxium

1895 – Buckminster Fuller, American architect and engineer, designed the Montreal Biosphère (d. 1983)

1917 – Andrew Wyeth, American artist (d. 2009)

1925 – Roger Smith, American businessman (d. 2007)

1934 – Van Cliburn, American pianist and composer (d. 2013)

1937 – Robert McFarlane, United States National Security Advisor

1997 – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani-English activist, Nobel Prize laureate

Deaths

1804 – Alexander Hamilton, general, economist, and politician, First Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1755)

1910 – Charles Rolls, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1887)

1929 – Robert Henri, American painter and educator (b. 1865)

1935 – Alfred Dreyfus, French colonel (b. 1859)

2003 – Benny Carter, trumpet player, saxophonist, and composer (b. 1907)