July 12

1854: George Eastman, of Eastman-Kodak fame, was born. 1861: American educator, scientist, chemist, inventor and botanist, George Washington Carver, was born. 1895: R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome and after whom the Buckeyball (the Buckminster Fullerene) was named, was born. 1910:  Charles Rolls, co-founder of the Rolls-Royce company, died. 1913: Physics Nobel laureate Willis Lamb, who determined fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum, was born. 1920: The Panama Canal formally opened. 1934: Ole Evinrude, of outboard motor fame, died. 1941: Moscow was bombed by the German Luftwaffe for the first time. 1944: The RAF 616 squadron became the first air force to use jet aircraft in operational service. 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned from the army to begin his presidential campaign. 1960: The first Etch-A-Sketch went on sale. 1982: The last of the distinctive looking Checker taxicabs rolled off the assembly line in Kalamazoo, MI.