What happened on May 12? There are more than 310 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 12
May 12 is the 133rd day of the year 2024. There are 233 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday. This day falls under the 19th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Tenafly, New Jersey 07670 sunrise will occur at 05:38 AM and sunset will occur at 08:05 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 262 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 28 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For May 12
- 254Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I as the 23rd pope.
- 303Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the beheading of the 14-year-old Pancras of Rome.
- 922After much hardship, Abbasid envoy Ahmad ibn Fadlan arrived in the lands of Volga Bulgars.
- 1191Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre who is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.
- 1264The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.
- 1328Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
- 1364Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków, Poland.
- 1551National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.
- 1588French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
- 1689King William’s War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
- 1743Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1780American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
- 1797First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
- 1821The first big battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks occurs in Valtetsi.
- 1862U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- 1863American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: two divisions of James B. McPherson’s XVII Corps (ACW) turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton’s defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.
- 1864American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in “the Bloody Angle”.
- 1865American Civil War: the Battle of Palmito Ranch: the first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.
- 1870The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.
- 1873Oscar II is crowned King of Sweden.
- 1881In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
- 1885North-West Rebellion: the four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
- 1916James Connolly was sat on a chair and shot dead in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, after his role in the Easter Uprising
- 1926UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ends.
- 1932Ten weeks after his abduction Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs’ home.
- 1935Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (founders of Alcoholics Anonymous) meet for the first time in Akron, Ohio, at the home of Henrietta Siberling.
- 1937George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- 1941Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
- 1942Holocaust: 1,500 Jews are sent to gas chambers in Auschwitz.
- 1942World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: in eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later.
- 1945Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the Federación Obrera de la Industria de la Carne dissolved.
- 1949The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
- 1949The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state: the Federal Republic of Germany.
- 1952Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur.
- 1955Austria regains its independence as the Allied occupation following World War II ends.
- 1955Nineteen days after bus workers went on strike in Singapore, rioting breaks out and seriously impacts Singapore’s bid for independence.
- 1958A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
- 1962Douglas MacArthur delivers his Duty, Honor, Country valedictory speech at the United States Military Academy.
- 1965The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
- 1968Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral, east of Lai Khe in South Vietnam on the night of 12/13 May, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides and beginning the Battle of Coral-Balmoral.
- 1975Mayagüez incident: the Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
- 1978In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga). The local government asks the U.S.A., France and Belgium to restore order.
- 1981Francis Hughes starves to death in the Maze Prison in a Republican campaign for political prisoner status to be granted to Provisional IRA prisoners.
- 1982During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan Fernandez Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, believed that the Pope had to be killed for being an “agent of Moscow”.
- 1998Four students are shot at Trisakti University, leading to widespread riots and the fall of Suharto
- 2002Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.
- 2003Fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers bring the Texas Legislature to a standstill by going into hiding in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan.
- 2003The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by Al Qaeda, kill 26 people.
- 2006Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
- 2006Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.
- 2007Riots in which over 50 people are killed and over 100 are injured take place in Karachi upon the arrival in town of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
- 2008An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.
- 2008U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts the largest-ever raid of workplace and arrests nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.
Who Were Born On May 12?
- 1401Emperor Shōkō, 101st Japanese Emperor (d. 1428)
- 1496Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1560)
- 1590Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1621)
- 1622Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor General of New France (d. 1698)
- 1626Louis Hennepin, Flemish missionary (d. 1705)
- 1670King Augustus II of Poland (d. 1733)
- 1700Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (d. 1773)
- 1725Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1785)
- 1767Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (d. 1851)
- 1803Justus von Liebig, German chemist (d. 1873)
- 1804Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (d. 1858)
- 1806Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (d. 1881)
- 1812Edward Lear, British author and poet (d. 1888)
- 1814Adolf von Henselt, German composer and pianist (d. 1889)
- 1820Florence Nightingale, British nurse (d. 1910)
- 1825Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French adventurer in Araucania and Patagonia (d. 1878)
- 1828Dante Gabriel Rossetti, British painter (d. 1882)
- 1829Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (d. 1896)
- 1839Tôn Thất Thuyết, the leading mandarin of Vietnam’s Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1913)
- 1840Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean military, participated on Battle of Huamachuco (d. 1912)
- 1842Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
- 1845Gabriel Fauré, French composer (d. 1924)
- 1850Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman (d. 1924)
- 1867Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer (d. 1938)
- 1874Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician (d. 1929)
- 1880Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (d. 1951)
- 1885Paltiel Daykan, Russian-born Israeli jurist (d. 1969)
- 1889Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank (d. 1980)
- 1892Fritz Kortner, Austrian-born director (d. 1970)
- 1895Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (d. 1986)
- 1895William Giauque, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1982)
- 1899Indra Devi, Latvian Yoga Instructor (d. 2002)
- 1900Helene Weigel, German actress (d. 1971)
- 1900Joseph Rochefort, American naval officer and cryptanalyst (d. 1976)
- 1903Wilfrid Hyde-White, British actor (d. 1991)
- 1907Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1907Leslie Charteris, British author and screenwriter (d. 1993)
- 1910Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (d. 1996)
- 1910Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, British biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
- 1912Archibald Cox, U.S. Solicitor General (d. 2004)
- 1914Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)
- 1914Howard K. Smith, American journalist (d. 2002)
- 1914James Bacon, American entertainment columnist and reporter (d. 2010)
- 1916Albert Murray, American writer
- 1917Frank Clair, American-born Canadian football coach (d. 2005)
- 1918Julius Rosenberg, American-born spy for the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
- 1918Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman (d. 2001)
- 1921Farley Mowat, Canadian writer and naturalist
- 1921Joseph Beuys, German artist (d. 1986)
- 1922Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (d. 1998)
- 1924Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian mathematician
- 1924Maxine Cooper Gomberg, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1924Tony Hancock, British comedian (d. 1968)
- 1925Yogi Berra, American baseball player
- 1928Burt Bacharach, American composer
- 1928Henry Cosby, American songwriter (d. 2002)
- 1929Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1929Sam Nujoma, first President of Namibia
- 1930Jesús Franco, Spanish film director
- 1933Andrey Voznesensky, Russian poet
- 1935Felipe Alou, Dominican baseball player and manager
- 1935Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936Frank Stella, American painter
- 1936Guillermo Endara, President of Panama (d. 2009)
- 1936Tom Snyder, American television personality (d. 2007)
- 1937Beryl Burton, British cyclist (d. 1996)
- 1937George Carlin, American comedian (d. 2008)
- 1937Susan Hampshire, British actress
- 1938Millie Perkins, American film actress
- 1939Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish politician
- 1939Miltiadis Evert, Greek politician
- 1939Reg Gasnier, Australian Rugby League footballer
- 1939Ron Ziegler, U.S. White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
- 1942Billy Swan, American songwriter and singer
- 1942Ian Dury, British musician (d. 2000)
- 1942Michel Fugain, French singer and songwriter
- 1943Linda Dano, American Actress
- 1944Chris Patten, British politician
- 1945Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer (d. 2007)
- 1945Ian McLagan, British keyboardist (Small Faces)
- 1945Nicky Henson, British actor
- 1945Patrick Ricard, French businessman
- 1946Daniel Libeskind, American architect
- 1946L. Neil Smith, American science fiction author
- 1947Catherine Yronwode, American writer and editor
- 1947Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician
- 1947Micheline Lanctôt, American film actor, director and screenwriter
- 1948David Heineman, American politician, current governor of Nebraska
- 1948Joe Tasker, British mountaineer (d. 1982)
- 1948Steve Winwood, British musician (The Spencer Davis Group; Traffic)
- 1950Billy Squier, American singer and musician
- 1950Bruce Boxleitner, American actor
- 1950Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor
- 1951George Karl, American basketball player and head coach
- 1951Joe Nolan, American baseball players
- 1952Norbert Stolzenburg, German footballer
- 1953Kevin Grevey, American basketball player
- 1955Kix Brooks, American country singer (Brooks & Dunn)
- 1956Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricket umpire
- 1956Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956Glenn Robbins, Australian comedian
- 1957Lou Whitaker, American baseball player
- 1958Andreas Petroulakis, Greek political caricaturist
- 1958Eric Singer, American drummer
- 1959Ray Gillen, American singer (d. 1993)
- 1959Ving Rhames, American actor
- 1960Ian Khan, British racing driver
- 1960Paul Arcand, Quebec radio host, journalist and film director
- 1961Billy Duffy, British guitarist (The Cult)
- 1961Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor
- 1961Lar Park Lincoln, American actress
- 1961Paul Begala, American political commentator
- 1961Thomas Dooley, German-American soccer player
- 1962Brett Gurewitz, American songwriter (Bad Religion) and record producer (Epitaph Records)
- 1962Emilio Estevez, American actor
- 1963Charles Pettigrew, American singer (Charles and Eddie) (d. 2001)
- 1963Deborah Kara Unger, Canadian actress
- 1963Gavin Hood, South African film director
- 1963Jerry Trimble, American actor
- 1963Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player, Mayor of Piraeus
- 1963Stefano Modena, Italian racing driver
- 1963Vanessa A. Williams, American actress
- 1964Pierre Morel, French film director
- 1966Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian singer
- 1966Stephen Baldwin, American actor
- 1967Joe McKinney, Irish actor
- 1967Paul D'Amour, American bass guitarist (Tool)
- 1968Catherine Tate, British comedian
- 1968Mark Clark, American baseball player
- 1968Scott Schwartz, American actor
- 1968Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
- 1969Kevin Nalty, American YouTube personality
- 1969Kim Fields, American actress
- 1970Jim Furyk, American golfer
- 1970Mark Foster, British swimmer
- 1970Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
- 1970Samantha Mathis, American actress
- 1970Steve Palframan, South African cricketer
- 1971Doug Basham, American professional wrestler
- 1971Jamie Luner, American actress
- 1973Kendra Kassebaum, American stage actress
- 1973Lutz Pfannenstiel, German footballer
- 1973Robert Tinkler, Canadian voice actor
- 1973Travis Lutter, American mixed martial arts fighter
- 1975Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby union footballer
- 1975Lawrence Phillips, American football player
- 1976Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper
- 1977Graeme Dott, British snooker player
- 1977Lorena Bernal, Argentine/Spanish model and actress
- 1977Rebecca Herbst, American actress
- 1978Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1978Hossein Reza Zadeh, Iranian weightlifter
- 1978Jason Biggs, American actor
- 1978Josh Phelps, American baseball player
- 1978Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian actress and model
- 1978Wilfred Le Bouthillier, Canadian singer
- 1979Aaron Yoo, Korean-American actor
- 1979Andre Carter, American football player
- 1979Callum Chambers, Australian rules footballer
- 1979Dennis Trillo, Filipino actor and singer
- 1979Erdinç Saçan, Turkish-Dutch politician
- 1979Robert Key, English cricketer
- 1979Steve Smith, American football player
- 1980Felipe Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1980Keith Bogans, American basketball player
- 1981Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer
- 1981Rami Malek, American actor
- 1982Darren Williams, American basketball player
- 1982David Thaxton, British stage actor and singer
- 1983Alina Kabayeva, Russian gymnast
- 1983Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
- 1983Virginie Razzano, French tennis player
- 1984Tommaso Reato, Italian rugby player
- 1985Jeroen Simaeys, Belgian footballer
- 1985Tally Hall, American footballer
- 1986Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
- 1986Mouhamed Sene, Senegalese basketball player
- 1987Gianluca Sansone, Italian footballer
- 1987Kieron Pollard, West Indies Cricketer
- 1988Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior, Brazilian footballer
- 1988Marky Cielo, Filipino dancer and actor (d. 2008)
- 1989Matthew Hann, American basketball player
- 1990Jacory Harris, American football player
- 1992Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
- 1995Kenton Duty, American actor
- 1995Luke Benward, American actor
Who Died On May 12?
- 1003Pope Silvester II
- 1012Pope Sergius IV
- 1382Queen Joan I of Naples (b. 1327)
- 1465Thomas Palaeologus, Titular Byzantine emperor, Despot of the Morea (b. 1409)
- 1634George Chapman, English writer
- 1641Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, English statesman (b. 1593)
- 1684Edme Mariotte, French physicist and priest
- 1699Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (b. 1626)
- 1700John Dryden, English writer (b. 1631)
- 1708Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1658)
- 1748Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer (b. 1692)
- 1759Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (b. 1700)
- 1784Abraham Trembley, Swiss naturalist (b. 1710)
- 1792Charles Simon Favart, French dramatist (b. 1710)
- 1796Johann Peter Uz, German poet (b. 1720)
- 1801Nicholas Repnin, Russian statesman (b. 1734)
- 1842Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter (b. 1799)
- 1845János Batsányi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
- 1856Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician (b. 1786)
- 1859Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer (b. 1791)
- 1860Charles Barry, English architect (b. 1795)
- 1864James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart, American soldier from Virginia and a Confederate Army general (b. 1833)
- 1867Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
- 1871Anselme Payen, French physicist (b. 1795)
- 1876Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
- 1884Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
- 1889John Cadbury, English chocolate entrepreneur (b. 1801)
- 1907Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (b. 1848)
- 1916James Connolly, Irish socialist and leader of the Easter Rising (b. 1868)
- 1925Amy Lowell, American poet (b. 1874)
- 1931Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist (b. 1858)
- 1935Józef Piłsudski, Polish statesman (b. 1867)
- 1944Arthur Quiller-Couch, English writer (b. 1863)
- 1944Max Brand, American author (b. 1892)
- 1956Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
- 1957Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
- 1957Erich von Stroheim, film director and actor (b. 1885)
- 1963Richard Girulatis, German football manager (b. 1878)
- 1963Robert Kerr, Canadian sprinter (b. 1882)
- 1966Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Heer and Waffen-SS officer (b. 1896)
- 1967John Masefield, British writer (b. 1878)
- 1970Nelly Sachs, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
- 1971Heinie Manush, American baseball player (b. 1901)
- 1973Art Pollard, American racecar driver (b. 1927)
- 1978Robert Coogan, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1985Jean Dubuffet, French painter (b. 1901)
- 1986Alicia Moreau de Justo, Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and human rights activist (b. 1885).
- 1986Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian actress (b. 1897)
- 1990Chen Kenmin, Japanese chef (b. 1912)
- 1992Lenny Montana, American actor (b. 1926)
- 1992Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and lyricist (b. 1911)
- 1992Robert Reed, American actor (b. 1932)
- 1994Erik Erikson, German psychoanalyst (b. 1902)
- 1994John Smith, British politician (b. 1938)
- 1995Mia Martini, Italian singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
- 1999Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia 1993-1999 (b. 1910)
- 1999Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (b. 1914)
- 2000Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
- 2001Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
- 2001Perry Como, American singer (b. 1912)
- 2002Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (b. 1905)
- 2003Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1933)
- 2005Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (b. 1909)
- 2005Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1937)
- 2006Gillespie V. Montgomery, U.S. representative from Mississippi (b. 1920)
- 2006Hussein Maziq, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1918)
- 2007Mullah Dadullah Akhund, Afghan Taliban military leader
- 2007Teddy Infuhr, American former child actor (b. 1936)
- 2008Irena Sendler, Polish social worker, WWII heroine (b. 1910)
- 2008Robert Rauschenberg, American artist (b. 1925)
- 2009Antonio Vega, Spanish pop singer-songwriter (b. 1957)
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