12th of May
May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). There are 233 days remaining.
Events
- 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
- 1264 - The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.
- 1328 - Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
- 1588 - French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city.
- 1689 - King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
- 1780 - American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
- 1797 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: The "Bloody Angle" - thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die.
- 1870 - Manitoba becomes a province of Canada.
- 1873 - Oscar II of Sweden-Norway is crowned King of Sweden.
- 1881 - In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
- 1885 - North-West Rebellion: The four day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel French Canadians against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
- 1926 - UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a general strike by trade unions ends (the strike began on May 3).
- 1932 - Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey just a few miles from the Lindbergh's home.
- 1937 - Coronation of King George VI of Britain at Westminster Abbey.
- 1942 - World War II: Battle of Kharkov - In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates its first major offensive of the war. During the battle the Soviets will take the city of Kharkov back from the German Army.
- 1949 - Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin.
- 1958 - A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
- 1967 - At Queen Elizabeth Hall, England, Pink Floyd stages the first ever quadraphonic rock concert.
- 1975 - Mayagüez incident: The Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
- 1999 - David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
- 2000 - The Tate Modern art gallery opens in London.
- 2002 - Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
Births
- 1496 - Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1560)
- 1670 - King Frederick Augustus I of Poland (d. 1733)
- 1803 - Justus von Liebig, chemist (d. 1873)
- 1820 - Florence Nightingale, nurse (d. 1910)
- 1828 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet, painter (d. 1882)
- 1845 - Gabriel Fauré, composer (d. 1924)
- 1850 - Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman (d. 1924)
- 1889 - Otto Frank, writer, father of Anne Frank (d. 1980)
- 1892 - Fritz Kortner, director (d. 1970)
- 1899 - Indra Devi, yogi (d. 2002)
- 1900 - Helene Weigel, actress (d. 1971)
- 1907 - Katharine Hepburn, actress (d. 2003)
- 1910 - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, chemist (d. 1994)
- 1912 - Archibald Cox, U.S. Solicitor General and Watergate special prosecutor
- 1914 - Howard K. Smith, journalist (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Julius Rosenberg, spy (d. 1953)
- 1921 - Joseph Beuys, artist (d. 1986)
- 1921 - Farley Mowat, writer, naturalist
- 1924 - Tony Hancock, comedian (d. 1968)
- 1925 - Yogi Berra, Baseball Hall of Famer
- 1928 - Burt Bacharach, composer
- 1935 - Felipe Alou, Major League Baseball manager
- 1936 - Frank Stella, painter
- 1936 - Tom Snyder, journalist, TV personality
- 1937 - George Carlin, comedian
- 1942 - Ian Dury, rock star (d. 2000)
- 1948 - Steve Winwood, singer ("Blind Faith", "Traffic")
- 1950 - Bruce Boxleitner, actor
- 1950 - Billy Squier, singer/songwriter
- 1950 - Gabriel Byrne, actor
- 1955 - Brett Gurewitz, guitarist for Bad Religion and NOFX
- 1955 - Kix Brooks, musician
- 1957 - Erik von Stronheim, director
- 1962 - Emilio Estevez, actor
- 1963 - Vanessa Williams, actress
- 1966 - Stephen Baldwin, actor
- 1968 - Tony Hawk, skateboarding legend
- 1969 - Kim Fields, actress
- 1970 - Mike Weir, Canadian golfer, 2003 Masters champion
- 1971 - Sofia Coppola, director, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola
- 1975 - Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player
- 1977 - Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player
- 1978 - Jason Biggs, actor (American Pie)
Deaths
- 1003 - Pope Silvester II
- 1012 - Pope Sergius IV
- 1641 - Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (b. 1593)
- 1700 - John Dryden, poet
- 1845 - János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
- 1867 - Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
- 1884 - Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
- 1889 - John Cadbury, founder of chocolate company Cadbury (b. 1801)
- 1907 - Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (b. 1848)
- 1925 - Amy Lowell, poet (b. 1874)
- 1935 - Jósef Piłsudski, father of modern Poland (b. 1867)
- 1944 - Max Brand, author
- 1944 - Q, British writer (b. 1863)
- 1956 - Louis Calhern, silent film actor (b. 1895)
- 1963 - Bobby Kerr, Canadian sprinter (b. 1882)
- 1967 - John Masefield, British poet and writer (b. 1878)
- 1971 - Heinie Manush, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1901)
- 1985 - Jean Dubuffet, painter (b. 1901)
- 1986 - Elisabeth Bergner, actress (b. 1897)
- 1992 - Robert Reed, actor, The Brady Bunch (b. 1932)
- 1994 - John Smith leader of British Labour Party (b. 1938)
- 2000 - Adam Petty, NASCAR driver (b. 1980)
- 2001 - Perry Como, singer (b. 1912)
Holidays and observances
- International Nursing Day
Events
May 11 - May 13 - April 12 - June 12 -- listing of all days
