AUGUST 12
1604 Tokugawa Iemitsu (å¾³å· å®¶å
, August 12, 1604 â June 8, 1651) was the third shÅgun of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the forefront of shogunate negotiations with the Imperial court. Iemitsu ruled from 1623 to 1651; during this period he crucified Christians, expelled all Europeans from Japan and closed the borders of the country, a foreign politics policy that continued for over 200 years after its institution. It is debatable whether Iemitsu can be considered a kinslayer for making his younger brother Tadanaga commit suicide by seppuku.
1819 Daniel Davidson Bidwell (August 12, 1819 â October 19, 1864) was a civic leader in Buffalo, New York, before the outbreak of the American Civil War. He enlisted early in the war and then was appointed colonel of a regiment of infantry. He was promoted to general in command of a brigade in early 1864, leading it until he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek.
1829 John Horace Forney CSA (August 12, 1829 â September 13, 1902) was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
1833 William Price Sanders (August 12, 1833 â November 19, 1863) was an officer in the Union Army in the American Civil War who died at the Siege of Knoxville.
1909 Air Marshal Sir Maurice Lionel Heath, KBE, CB, CVO, DL (12 August 1909 â 9 July 1998) was a British senior Royal Air Force officer who became Commander of British Forces Arabian Peninsula.
1918 Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (12 August 1918 â 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the “Dam Busters” raid in 1943, resulting in the breaching of two large dams in the Ruhr area of Germany. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, in the aftermath of the raid in May 1943 and became the most highly decorated British serviceman at that time. He completed over 170 war operations before dying in action at the age of 26.
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