On this day, Aug. 12

1760 James Boggs, Allegheny’s first white settler, built his cabin.

1867 President Andrew Johnson sparked a move to impeach him as he defied Congress by suspending Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, with whom he had clashed over Reconstruction policies. (Johnson was acquitted by the Senate.)

1927 The widening of Grant Street, Downtown, was started.

1960 The first balloon communications satellite — the Echo 1 — was launched by the United States from Cape Canaveral.

1992 The Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Bill Clinton campaigned before the American Federation of Teachers at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

2017 A car plowed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and hurting more than a dozen others. (The attacker, James Alex Fields, was sentenced to life in prison on 29 federal hate crime charges, and life plus 419 years on state charges.)

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin Today’s birthdays: Actor George Hamilton, 82. Actor Dana Ivey, 80. Actor Jennifer Warren, 80. Rock singer-musician Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), 72. Actor Jim Beaver, 71. Singer Kid Creole, 71. Jazz musician Pat Metheny, 67. Actor Sam J. Jones, 67. Actor Bruce Greenwood, 65. Country singer Danny Shirley, 65. Pop musician Roy Hay (Culture Club), 60. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot, 58. Actor Peter Krause, 56. Actor Brent Sexton, 54. International Tennis Hall of Famer Pete Sampras, 50. Actorcomedian Michael Ian Black, 50. Actor Yvette Nicole Brown, 50. Actor Rebecca Gayheart, 50. Actor Casey Affleck, 46. Rock musician Bill Uechi, 46. Actor Maggie Lawson, 41. Actor Dominique Swain, 41. Actor Leah Pipes, 33. Actor Lakeith Stanfield, 30. NBA All-Star Khris Middleton, 30. Actor Cara Delevingne, 29. Actor Imani Hakim, 28.

Thought for today: “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”