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Today in History: July 12

1096
Crusaders under Peter the Hermit reach Sofia in Hungary.

1691
William III defeats the allied Irish and French armies at the Battle of Aughrim, Ireland.

1794
British Admiral Lord Nelson loses his right eye at the siege of Calvi, in Corsica.

1806
The Confederation of the Rhine is established in Germany.

1941
Moscow is bombed by the German Luftwaffe for the first time.


1954
President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes a highway modernization program, with costs to be shared by federal and state governments.

1957
The U.S. surgeon general, Leroy E. Burney, reports that there is a direct link between smoking and lung cancer.

1974
G. Gordon Liddy, John Ehrlichman and two others are convicted of conspiracy and perjury in connection with the Watergate scandal.

1984
Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale chooses Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate.

Today in History: Born on July 12
0100
Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman.

1817
Henry David Thoreau, essayist, naturalist and poet (Walden).

1854
George Eastman, photography pioneer.

1884
Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor.

1895
Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian opera singer.


1895
R. Buckminster Fuller, architect and engineer.

1904
Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and political activist (Residence on Earth).

1908
Milton Berle, comedian, actor.

1917
Andrew Wyeth, American painter.

1934
Van Cliburn, American concert pianist.


1937
Bill Cosby, comedian, actor.

JOKE OF THE DAY
A blind Pilot walks into the plane waiving his walking stick....

Passengers, All look at each other in disbelief.

Flight Attendant, gets on the PA and announces , "Ladies and Gentlemen as you can see the captain is legally blind, but I assure you he is one of the best pilots with over 6,000 successful flights."

Next the Co-Pilot makes his way to the plane and he also is blind and uses his walking stick to make it to the cabin. The passengers seem very concerned at this point.

The Flight Attendant again takes the PA and announces, "Ladies and Gentlemen as you all saw the Co Pilot is also blind but rest assured you are in the hands of the second best pilot as he has over 5,000 successful flights."

At this point the plane begins to take off from the runway, as it gains speed the passengers grow tenser. The plane accelerates more and more approaching the end of the runway and still has not taken off.... faster and faster..still on the ground, as its almost to the end the passengers look on until eventually the Passengers scream.."OMG WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!" ..., then suddenly the plane lifts off the tarmac and begins its ascent.

At this point the Pilot turns to the CoPilot and says, "Holy Crap, the day these frickers stop screaming we're fricked!!!"