August 12

Events

• 30 BC: Cleopatra VII, last of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty to rule Egypt, commits suicide by having an asp bite her.
• 1906: Prince George resigns as High Commissioner of Crete.
• 1932: Archaeologists discover many important finds in the area of the Ancient Agora of Athens.
• 1953: A major earthquake (7.2 on the Richter scale) destroys much of Kefallonia and the surrounding areas, claiming the lives of 455 persons.

Births

• 1971: Pete Sampras, Greek-American tennis player
• 1998: Stefanos Tsitsipas, tennis player

Deaths

• 30 BC: Cleopatra VII of Egypt
• 1613: Vitsentzos Kornaros, Cretan poet.
• 2012: Giorgos Lazaridis, playwright