Cleopatra, the Egyptian ruler, killed herself on August 12, 30 BCE by inducing an asp to bite her.
It was today in 1883 that the quagga, a type of South African zebra, went extinct.
And on August 12, 1990, fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson discovered the largest-ever Tyrannosaurus skeleton-- a 65 million-year-old specimen which was nicknamed Sue in her honor.