On This Day for August 12 - Phonograph invented by Thomas Alva Edison, William Blake is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, [click here to view](. August 12 [William Blake, oil on canvas by Thomas Phillips, 1807; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.]( FEATURED BIOGRAPHY 1757 William Blake [READ MORE]( [Thomas Alva Edison demonstrating his tinfoil phonograph, photograph by Mathew Brady, 1878.]( FEATURED EVENT 1877 Phonograph invented by Thomas Alva Edison [READ MORE]( Advertisement Advertisement [Earth's To-Do List]( MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY [Bacall, Lauren] 2014: American actress [Lauren Bacall]( was known for her portrayals of provocative women who hid their soft core underneath a layer of hard-edged pragmatism—died in New York. 2007: American television producer and talk-show host [Merv Griffin]( hosted the long-running series The Merv Griffin Show (1962–63, 1965–86) and was the creator of two of television's most successful game shows, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune—died in Los Angeles. [John Lennon.] 1966: During a press conference, [John Lennon]( of the [Beatles]( apologized for saying that his band was “more popular than Jesus now”; the comment had sparked protests and album burnings. [People from East and West Berlin gathering at the Berlin Wall on November 10, 1989, one day after the wall opened.] 1961: [East Germany]( began construction of the [Berlin Wall]( which served as a symbol of the [Cold War]( separating East Berlin from West [Berlin]( until 1989. [Schrödinger, Erwin] 1887: Austrian theoretical physicist [Erwin Schrödinger]( who shared the 1933 [Nobel Prize for Physics]( for his contributions to the wave theory of matter and to other fundamentals of [quantum mechanics]( was born in Vienna. [Cecil B. DeMille.] 1881: American filmmaker [Cecil B. DeMille]( was a [cinema]( legend known for using spectacle in such movies as The Ten Commandments (1956)—was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts. [SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY]( ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1930 [George Soros]( American financier 1954 [François Hollande]( president of France 1762 [George IV]( king of United Kingdom 1887 [Erwin Schrödinger]( Austrian physicist 1881 [Cecil B. DeMille]( American film director 1907 [Boy Charlton]( Australian athlete [SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY]( Advertisement FOLLOW: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, [click here](. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2019 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [Privacy Policy]( • [Help](