On this day: July 12
The Medal of Honor is authorized, The Cos and a favorite toy are both born, Walter Mondale makes a historic choice and "E.T." breaks box office records, all on this day.
100 B.C.: Julius Caesar is born in Rome (although some reports also list July 13 as his birthdate).
100 B.C.: Julius Caesar is born in Rome (although some reports also list July 13 as his birthdate).
1804: Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton dies a day after being shot in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.
1817: Writer Henry David Thoreau is born.
1854: George Eastman, who would go on to found the Eastman Kodak Company and invent roll film, is born.
1862: The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress. Pictured are the three current designs for the medal.
1864: Generally recognized as the birthdate of George Washington Carver, inventor of peanut butter and more than 400 plant products, although the exact day and year of his birth are unknown.
1901: Cy Young wins his 300th game, leading the Boston Americans (soon to be known as the Red Sox) over the Philadelphia A's. Young will win 211 more games, for a total of 511, the most in major-league history.
1908: Comedian Milton Berle is born.
1909: Congress approves a resolution proposing the 16th Amendment, which, upon ratification in 1913, establishes the federal income tax.
1937: Comedian Bill Cosby is born.
1954: The Major League Baseball Players Association, which had organized informally in 1946 as a "players' fraternity," is founded.
1960: The first Etch-A-Sketch rolls off a factory line in Bryan, Ohio.
1962: The Rolling Stones perform their first ever concert, at the Marquee Club in London.
1971: The Australian Aboriginal flag is flown for the first time.
1971: Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi is born.
1977: Brock Lesnar, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, is born.
1979: The Chicago White Sox host "Disco Demolition Night" at Comiskey Park. The event, which included an on-field detonation of a crate of disco records, was marred by a near-riot that ensued after rowdy fans surged onto the field. The game was called and the White Sox later forfeited.
1982: "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" breaks box-office records by surpassing the $100-million mark of ticket sales in the first 31 days of its opening. Less than a year later that record was broken by "Return of the Jedi," which made the $100-million mark in 23 days. Several films, including "The Avengers," "The Dark Knight" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," now hold the current record of two days.
1984: Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale names U.S. Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York to be his running mate, making her the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket.
1993: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes northern Japan, killing 196 people.
2000: The movie "X-Men" premieres on Ellis Island in New York.
2011: TV writer Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," dies at age 94.
