Publish date:
Updated on

Allied attack on Achi Baba

On July 12, 1915, Allied forces make a sixth and final attempt to capture Achi Baba, a prominent hill position featuring a commanding view of Cape Helles, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, from its Turkish defenders.

Though many modern-day historians have questioned the actual strategic importance of the hill in the grand scheme of the Gallipoli invasion, Achi Baba was seen by the Allied command at the time as a crucial objective in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire s forces and their German allies. Because of this, Sir Ian Hamilton, chief commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, had set the capture of Achi Baba as a priority from the first day of the Allied land invasion, on April 25, 1915. In addition to the disorderly landing itself, three separate unsuccessful attempts had been made to capture the heights, as well as the nearby village of Krithia, by that June. On June 28, another attempt met with similar failure, at the cost of heavy Allied casualties, in the Battle of Gulley Ravine.

The attack of July 12 began after the arrival of Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston, a regional commander sent from the Western Front to aid Hamilton on the front lines in Gallipoli, along with an additional division of Allied forces. Yet again, the Allies were unsuccessful, gaining a total of only 350 yards over two days of heavy fighting before Hunter-Weston called off the attacks. The Allied casualty figure–4,000 dead or wounded–was lower than the Turkish one–some 10,000 men–but Achi Baba remained in Turkish hands. From then on, the bulk of Allied operations in Gallipoli were focused further north, around the so-called Anzac Cove (named for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) and Suvla Bay.



The Battle of Huck’s Defeat

On this day in 1780, Philadelphia lawyer Captain Christian Huck and 130 Loyalist cavalry, belonging to British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s legion, suffer defeat at the hands of 500 Patriot militiamen at Williamson’s Plantation in South Carolina. The plantation was in more

Medal of Honor created


A new Aga Khan

The Nizari Ismaili sect of the Shiite Muslims welcomes a new spiritual leader when Prince Karim Al-Hussain of Pakistan is proclaimed Aga Khan IV. Prince Karim’s grandfather, Aga Khan III, died the previous day after a 72-year reign. According to tradition, Aga Khan IV and his more

Ferraro named vice presidential candidate


First Marine wins Medal of Honor


France beats Brazil to win FIFA World Cup

On July 12, 1998, France defeats favored Brazil 3-0 to win the FIFA World Cup at Stade de France in Saint Denis. This was the first World Cup France had hosted since 1938 and the country’s first-ever World Cup title. The 1998 Les Bleus was a multi-ethnic squad that reflected the more

Wild Bill Hickok’s first gunfight

Wild Bill Hickok begins to establish his reputation as a gunfighter after he coolly shoots three men during a shootout in Nebraska. Born in Homer (later called Troy Grove), Illinois, James Butler Hickok moved to Kansas in 1855 at the age of 18. There he filed a homestead claim, more

Heat wave hits Chicagoland

On this day in 1995, a heat advisory is issued in Chicago, Illinois, warning of an impending record-breaking heat wave. By the time the heat breaks a week later, nearly 1,000 people are dead in Illinois and Wisconsin. On July 13, the temperature in the city hit 106 degrees more

The Moors Murderers begin their killing spree

Sixteen-year-old Pauline Reade isabducted while onher way to a dance nearher home in Gorton, England, by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, the so-called “Moors Murderers,” launching a crime spree that will last for over two years. Reade’s body was not discovered until 1987, after Brady more

Yeltsin resigns from Communist Party

Just two days after Mikhail Gorbachev was re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, announces his resignation from the Party. Yeltsin’s action was a serious blow to Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union more

First Dymaxion car produced

The first three-wheeled, multi-directional Dymaxion car–designed by the architect, engineer and philosopher Buckminster Fuller–is manufactured in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on this day in 1933. Born in Massachusetts in 1895, Fuller set out to live his life as (in his own words) more