Today-History-July12

--- Today in History for July 12: On this date: In 1191, the armies of the Third Crusade (1189-92), led by England's King Richard I (The Lionhearted), captured the Syrian seaport of Acre, now located in northern Israel.

--- Today in History for July 12: On this date: In 1191, the armies of the Third Crusade (1189-92), led by England's King Richard I (The Lionhearted), captured the Syrian seaport of Acre, now located in northern Israel. In 1543, England's King Henry VIII married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, who outlived him. In 1690, Protestant forces led by William of Orange defeated the Roman Catholic army of James II at the "Battle of the Boyne" in Ireland.

The victory established Protestant domination in Northern Ireland. In 1750, Quebec's first medical code imposed a mandatory exam for doctors and set fines for those not qualified. In 1776, Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth, England, on a voyage to Vancouver Island.

In 1812, American Gen. William Hull invaded Canada from Detroit with 2,500 men in the opening campaign of the War of 1812. He expected to be welcomed as a liberator, but was beaten back three times at Duck River and hurried back to Detroit a month later. In August, Hull surrendered at Detroit to Gen. Issac Brock.

In 1836, Canada's first railway, the Champlain and St. Lawrence, started service between Laprairie and St. Jean, Que. In 1843, Mormon church founder Joseph Smith announced that he had received a divine revelation sanctioning polygamy among his newly-organized religious followers. In 1849, famed Canadian doctor Sir William Osler was born in Bond Head, Ont.

Osler studied and taught medicine in Toronto, Montreal, England and the United States. Called the "most influential physician in history," Osler pioneered medical training that combined clinical observation with lab research. His 1892 textbook, "The Principles and Practice of Medicine," was considered authoritative for more than 30 years.

Osler died in 1919. In 1855, world champion sculler Edward (Ned) Hanlan was born in Toronto. He held the rowing title for six years before losing in 1884, and lost only six races out of more than 350.

In 1906, Alfred Dreyfus, a young Jewish staff officer in the French army, was acquitted of treason. The verdict ended an infamous case of anti-Semitism that lasted a decade. In 1920,