1. In 1880, the Battle of Liberty Gap occurred during the American Civil War in Tennessee. Confederate troops, led by General Joseph Wheeler, attempted to cut off Union supply lines by attacking and defeating the Union forces.

2. The famous Scopes Monkey Trial, a high-profile court case in 1925 that involved the teaching of evolution in public schools, came to an end on August 12th when science teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100.

3. August 12, 2010 marked the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service. Tennessee is home to several national parks, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is the most visited national park in the country.

4. On August 12, 1930, the first commercial airline service began in Nashville. The airport, then known as Berry Field, was owned by the city and serviced by American Airways (now American Airlines). The first flights were to St. Louis and Atlanta.

5. In 1943, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is now home to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, played a major role in the Manhattan Project, which was the United States' top-secret effort to develop the atomic bomb. On August 12th of that year, the first production-scale atomic reactor, known as the X-10 Graphite Reactor, went critical at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This marked a significant milestone in the development of nuclear energy.