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This day in history

This day in history: 12 May

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

289 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 12 May.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: Middle/end of the May 2024 solar storms, the most powerful set of geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Blessed Imelda Lambertini

Christian feast day: Blessed Joan of Portugal

Christian feast day: Crispoldus

Christian feast day: Dominic de la Calzada

Christian feast day: Epiphanius of Salamis

Christian feast day: Gregory Dix (Church of England)

Christian feast day: Modoald

Christian feast day: Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancras

Christian feast day: Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople (Catholic and Eastern Church)

Christian feast day: Philip of Agira

Christian feast day: Rictrude

International ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

Events

2024Middle/end of the May 2024 solar storms, the most powerful set of geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.

2018Paris knife attack: A man is fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.

2017The WannaCry ransomware attack impacts over 400,000 computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom's National Health Services and Telefónica computers.

2015A train derailment in Philadelphia, United States, kills eight people and injures more than 200.

2015Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3,500.

2010Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashes on final approach to Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, killing 103 out of the 104 people on board.

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 a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.

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.

2003The Riyadh compound bombings in Saudi Arabia, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 39 people.

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 the Cuban Revolution.

1989The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people, only to be followed a week later by an underground gasoline pipeline explosion, which kills two more people.

1982During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan María Fernández y Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet.

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 US, France and Belgium to restore order.

1975Indochina Wars: Democratic Kampuchea naval forces capture the SS Mayaguez.

1968Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.

1965The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.

1949Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

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 l

1942World War II: The U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.

1941Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.

1937King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom are crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1933President Roosevelt signs legislation creating the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the predecessor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

1933The Agricultural Adjustment Act, which restricts agricultural production through government purchase of livestock for slaughter and paying subsidies to farmers when they remove land from planting, is signed into law by President Franklin D.

1932Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is found dead near Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.

1926The 1926 United Kingdom general strike ends.

1926The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.

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.

1881In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.

1870The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.

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.

1864American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Union troops assault a Confederate salient known as the "Mule Shoe", with some of the fiercest fighting of the war, much of it hand-to-hand combat, occurring at "the Bloody Angle"

1863American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: Two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps 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

1862American Civil War: Union Army troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1846The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.

1821The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.

1809British contingents under Arthur Wellesley force a French army under general Soult to retreat in the battle of Oporto.

1808Finnish War: Swedish-Finnish troops, led by Captain Karl Wilhelm Malmi, conquer the city of Kuopio from Russians after the Battle of Kuopio.

1797War of the First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Venice.

Born on this day

2006Vasilije Adžić, Montenegrin footballer

2005Zach Benson, Canadian ice hockey player

2001Issa Kaboré, Burkinabé footballer

1999Hiroki Itō, Japanese footballer

1998Mo Bamba, American-Ivorian basketball player

1997Frenkie de Jong, Dutch footballer

1996Fabrice Olinga, Cameroonian footballer

1996Kostas Tsimikas, Greek footballer

1993Timo Horn, German footballer

1992Erik Durm, German footballer

1990Etika, American YouTuber and live streamer (died 2019)

1990Florent Amodio, French figure skater

1989Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Greek Cypriot singer, musician, and actress

1988Marcelo, Brazilian footballer

1987Darren Randolph, Irish footballer

1987Kieron Pollard, Trinidadian cricketer

1987Lance Lynn, American baseball player

1986Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress

1983Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor

1983Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist

1981Rami Malek, American actor

1980Rishi Sunak, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1979Steve Smith Sr., American football player

1978Jason Biggs, American actor and comedian

1978Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian model, actress, and singer

1977Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player and coach

1977Maryam Mirzakhani, Iranian mathematician (died 2017)

1976Bruno Lage, Portuguese football manager

1975Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (died 2015)

1972Rhea Seehorn, American actress

1970Jim Furyk, American golfer

1970Mike Weir, Canadian golfer

1970Samantha Mathis, American actress

1969Kim Fields, American actress

1968Tony Hawk, American skateboarder and actor

1967Bill Shorten, Australian politician

1966Stephen Baldwin, American actor

1965Mark Thomas, British sprinter

1962Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist and songwriter

1962Emilio Estevez, American actor

Died on this day

2026Jason Collins, American basketball player (born 1978)

2024A. J. Smith, American football executive (born 1949)

2024David Sanborn, American saxophonist (born 1945)

2024Mark Damon, American film actor and producer (born 1933)

2020Aimee Stephens, American funeral director and U.S. Supreme Court litigant (born 1960)

2018Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (born 1945)

2017Mauno Koivisto, Finnish banker and politician, ninth President of Finland (born 1923)

2016Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (born 1935)

2015Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (born 1923)

2014Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (born 1925)

2014H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (born 1940)

2014Lorenzo Zambrano, Mexican businessman and philanthropist (born 1944)

2014Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (born 1925)

2014Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1934)

2013Gerd Langguth, German political scientist, author, and academic (born 1946)

2012Eddy Paape, Belgian illustrator (born 1920)

2012Jan Bens, Dutch footballer and coach (born 1921)

2009Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1957)

2008Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian (born 1910)

2008Robert Rauschenberg, American painter and illustrator (born 1925)

2006Hussein Maziq, Libyan politician, Prime Minister of Libya (born 1918)

2005Kai Setälä, Finnish physician and professor (born 1913)

2005Martin Lings, English author and scholar (born 1909)

2005Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress (born 1937)

2005Ömer Kavur, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1944)

2003Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-American diplomat (born 1933)

2001Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (born 1925)

2001Didi, Brazilian footballer (born 1928)

2001Perry Como, American singer and television host (born 1912)

2000Adam Petty, American race car driver (born 1980)

Quote of the day

“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.”

Lao Tzu

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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