The United Nations has designated International Youth Day (IYD) as a day of awareness. The goal of the day is to bring attention to a specific set of cultural and legal issues concerning youth. The first IYD occurred on August 12, 2000.

Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger (12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), also known as Erwin Schrodinger or Erwin Schroedinger, was an Austrian-Irish physicist who developed a number of fundamental results in quantum theory, including the Schrödinger equation, which calculates a system's wave function and how it changes dynamically in time.

Gulshan Kumar Dua (May 5, 1956 – August 12, 1997) was an Indian businessman, film and music producer, and the founder of the Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series) music label in Bollywood. He founded T-Series in the 1980s and helped it become a major record label in the 1990s.

Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (August 12, 1919 – December 30, 1971) was an Indian physicist and astronomer who pioneered space research and contributed to the development of nuclear power in India. In 1966, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, and in 1972, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. He is known around the world as the "Father of the Indian Space Program."

Henry Ford was serious about creating a low-cost automobile, something that modern automakers don't seem to care about. The automobile era began on August 12, 1908, when the first Ford T model car was assembled in Detroit's Piquette Avenue Park.

Thomas Edison's work on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone, led to the development of the phonograph. In 1877, Edison was developing a machine that would transcribe telegraphic messages into indentations on paper tape, which could then be sent repeatedly over the telegraph.

Sara Ali Khan Pataudi is an Indian film actress who was born on August 12, 1995. She is the daughter of actors Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan and was born into the Pataudi family. Khan began her acting career after graduating from Columbia University with the 2018 films Kedarnath and Simmba. Both films were commercial successes, with the former earning her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Cara Delevingne, an English actress, has appeared in movies like Paper Towns, Suicide Squad, Tulip Fever, and London Fields. She is also a very successful fashion model who has posed for many of the top companies in the world, including Chanel, Burberry, H&M, and Zara. She has additionally performed as a model at a number of prestigious fashion shows.

In a five-wicket win over England at The Oval on August 12, 1972, Australia's Ian and Greg Chappell became the first pair of brothers to each score a century in a single Test innings.

 After a year of development, the IBM PC debuted on August 12, 1981. Pricing began at $1,565 for a configuration that included 16 KB of RAM, a Color Graphics Adapter, and no disc drives. The price was set to compete with similar machines on the market.

According to reports, an explosion at a weapons depot in a rebel-held town in northwestern Syria killed at least 39 civilians, including a dozen children. Bulldozers were used by rescue workers to remove rubble and extract people trapped in two buildings flattened by the explosion in Sarmada, Idlib province.

Susan Hendrickson, a fossil hunter, discovers three massive bones jutting out of a cliff near Faith, South Dakota, on August 12, 1990. They turn out to be part of the world's largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, a 65 million-year-old specimen named Sue after its discoverer.