Thursday, July 12, is the 194th day of 2012. There are 172 days left in the year.
Today’s birthdays: Movie director Monte Hellman is 83. Pianist Van Cliburn is 78. Comedian Bill Cosby is 75. Singer-musician Christine McVie is 69. Actress Denise Nicholas is 68. Singer-songwriter Butch Hancock is 67. Fitness guru Richard Simmons is 64. Actor Jay Thomas is 64. Singer Walter Egan is 64. Writer-producer Brian Grazer is 61. Actress Cheryl Ladd is 61. Country singer Julie Miller is 56. Gospel singer Sandi Patty is 56. Actress Mel Harris is 56. Actor Buddy Foster is 55. Rock guitarist Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum) is 50. Actress Judi Evans is 48. Rock singer Robin Wilson (Gin Blossoms) is 47. Actress Lisa Nicole Carson is 43. Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi is 41. Country singer Shannon Lawson is 39. Rapper Magoo is 39. Actress Anna Friel is 36. Rhythm-and-blues singer Tracie Spencer is 36. Actor Steve Howey is 35. Actor Topher Grace is 34. Actress Michelle Rodriguez is 34. Country singer-musician Kimberly Perry (The Band Perry) is 29. Actor Erik Per Sullivan is 21.
In 1543, England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr.
In 1862, President Lincoln signed a bill passed by Congress authorizing the Medal of Honor.
In 1909, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, allowing for a federal income tax.
In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale said he’d chosen Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his running mate, the first woman to run for vice president on a major-party ticket.
In 1991, Hitoshi Igarashi, who had translated Salman Rushdie’s ‘‘The Satanic Verses,’’ was found stabbed to death, nine days after the novel’s Italian translator was attacked in Milan.
In 2001, Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant tortured in a New York police station, agreed to an $8.7 million settlement with the city and police union.
In 2011, President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Sergeant 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry, who’d lost his right hand grabbing a live grenade to save his comrades in Afghanistan.