Julius Caesar, the Ancient Roman dictator and military conqueror who was assassinated on the Ides of March, is born. 1984,Walter Mondale picks the first woman to run on a major party ticket for the White House. The Democratic presidential nominee chooses New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. Thank you, Vice President Mondale, vice preisednent, it has such a nice ring to it.

Mondale and Ferraro lose to Republican incumbents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush that fall.

1990,In Moscow, Boris Yeltsin quits the Communist Party, ahead of the Soviet Union's collapse the following year. Yeltsin serves as Russia's president until the end of the decade.

1817,Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist and author who put Walden Pond on the literary map, is born in Concord, Massachusetts.

1854,George Eastman, inventor of the Kodak camera and film that revolutionized photography, is born in Waterville, New York.

1895,The hill is alive with the sound of musicOscar Hammerstein, the Broadway lyricist known for his musicals with composer Richard Rodgers, is born in New York City.

And 1937,Now I'm telling you, you are going to try as hard as you can. And you're going to do it because I said soComedian and actor Bill Cosby, whose work lifted the portrayal of African-Americans on television, is born in Philadelphia.

Today in History, July 12th, Camille Bohannon, the Associated Press.