May 12

May 12 is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 233 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I as the 23rd pope.
• 304 – Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the beheading of the 14-year-old Pancras of Rome.
• 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang Dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.
• 922 – After much hardship, Abbasid envoy Ahmad ibn Fadlan arrived in the lands of Volga Bulgars.
• 1191 – Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre who is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.
• 1328 – Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
• 1364 – Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków, Poland.
• 1510 – The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan kills all the officials invited to a banquet and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming Dynasty eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
• 1551 – National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.
• 1588 – French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
• 1689 – King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
• 1743 – Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
• 1797 – First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
• 1821 – The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.
• 1862 – U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1863 – American 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.
• 1864 – American Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".
• 1865 – American 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.
• 1870 – The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.
• 1873 – Coronation of Oscar II of Sweden
• 1881 – In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
• 1885 – North-West Rebellion: the four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
• 1926 – UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ends.
• 1926 – The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
• 1932 – Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Jr., is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.
• 1933 – The Agricultural Adjustment Act is enacted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies.
• 1935 – Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (founders of Alcoholics Anonymous) meet for the first time in Akron, Ohio, at the home of Henrietta Siberling.
• 1937 – The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey.
• 1941 – Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
• 1942 – World 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.
• 1942 – World War II: The U.S. tanker Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German U-Boat U-507.
• 1942 – Holocaust: 1,500 Jews are sent to gas chambers in Auschwitz.
• 1945 – Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the Federación Obrera de la Industria de la Carne dissolved.
• 1948 – Wilhelmina, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands cedes throne.
• 1949 – The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
• 1949 – The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state: the Federal Republic of Germany.
• 1952 – Gaj Singh is crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur.
• 1955 – Nineteen days after bus workers went on strike in Singapore, rioting breaks out and seriously impacts Singapore's bid for independence.
• 1955 – Austria regains its independence as the Allied occupation following World War II ends.
• 1958 – A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
• 1965 – The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
• 1968 – Vietnam 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.
• 1975 – Mayagüez incident: the Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
• 1978 – In 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.
• 1981 – Francis Hughes starves to death in the Maze Prison in a Republican campaign for political prisoner status to be granted to Provisional IRA prisoners.
• 1982 – During 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".
• 1986 – NBC debuts the current well-known peacock as seen in the NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration.
• 1989 – The San Bernardino train disaster kills 4 people. A week later an underground gasoline pipeline explodes killing 2 more people.
• 1998 – Four students are shot at Trisakti University, leading to widespread riots and the fall of Suharto
• 2002 – Former 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.
• 2003 – The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by Al Qaeda, kill 26 people.
• 2006 – Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.
• 2006 – Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
• 2007 – Riots 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.
• 2008 – An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.
• 2008 – U.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.

Births

• 1401 – Emperor Shōkō, Japanese emperor (d. 1428)
• 1496 – Gustav I of Sweden, King of Sweden (d. 1560)
• 1590 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1621)
• 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French-Canadian soldier and politician, 3rd Governor General of New France (d. 1698)
• 1626 – Louis Hennepin, Flemish priest and missionary (d. 1705)
• 1670 – Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony (d. 1733)
• 1700 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect and engineer, designed the Palace of Caserta and Royal Palace of Milan (d. 1773)
• 1725 – Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1785)
• 1739 – Johann Baptist Wanhal, Bohemian composer (d. 1813)
• 1754 – Franz Anton Hoffmeister, German composer and publisher (d. 1812)
• 1755 – Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1824)
• 1767 – Manuel Godoy, Prince of the Peace, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1851)
• 1803 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist (d. 1873)
• 1804 – Robert Baldwin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada West (d. 1858)
• 1806 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (d. 1881)
• 1812 – Edward Lear, English author, poet, and illustrator (d. 1888)
• 1814 – Adolf von Henselt, German pianist and composer (d. 1889)
• 1820 – Florence Nightingale, Italian-English nurse (d. 1910)
• 1825 – Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French lawyer and explorer (d. 1878)
• 1828 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (d. 1882)
• 1829 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (d. 1896)
• 1839 – Ton That Thuyet, Vietnamese mandarin (d. 1913)
• 1840 – Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean military officer (d. 1912)
• 1842 – Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
• 1845 – Gabriel Fauré, French pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1924)
• 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American politician (d. 1924)
• 1859 – William Alden Smith, American politician (d. 1932)
• 1867 – Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer and accountant (d. 1938)
• 1869 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast (d. 1946)
• 1872 – Anton Korošec, Slovenian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1940)
• 1873 – J. E. H. MacDonald, English-Canadian painter (d. 1932)
• 1874 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian pediatrician (d. 1929)
• 1875 – Charles Holden, English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library (d. 1960)
• 1880 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (d. 1951)
• 1885 – Paltiel Daykan, Lithuanian-Israeli jurist (d. 1969)
• 1886 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain (d. 1937)
• 1889 – Yvonne de Bray, French actress (d. 1954)
• 1889 – Otto Frank, German-Swiss businessman and holocaust survivor (d. 1980)
• 1892 – Fritz Kortner, Austrian-German author and director (d. 1970)
• 1895 – William Giauque, Canadian-American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)
• 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (d. 1986)
• 1899 – Indra Devi, Latvian yoga instructor (d. 2002)
• 1900 – Joseph Rochefort, American captain and cryptanalyst (d. 1976)
• 1900 – Helene Weigel, Austrian-German actress (d. 1971)
• 1903 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (d. 1991)
• 1905 – Édouard Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and politician, Postmaster General of Canada (d. 1994)
• 1907 – Leslie Charteris, English author and screenwriter (d. 1993)
• 1907 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress and singer (d. 2003)
• 1910 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamese politician, 1st President of Suriname (d. 2010)
• 1910 – Charles B. Fulton, American judge (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Dorothy Hodgkin, Egyptian-English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
• 1910 – Gordon Jenkins, American pianist and composer (d. 1984)
• 1911 – Charles Biro, American illustrator (d. 1972)
• 1914 – Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)
• 1914 – James Bacon, American journalist and author (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Albert Murray, American author and critic
• 1917 – Frank Clair, American-Canadian football player and coach (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics (d. 2001)
• 1918 – Julius Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)
• 1919 – Gerald Bales, Canadian organist and composer (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and illustrator (d. 1986)
• 1921 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author
• 1922 – Marco Denevi, Argentinian author (d. 1998)
• 1922 – Murray Gershenz, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Bob Goldham, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Roy Salvadori, English race car driver (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Maxine Cooper, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician
• 1924 – Tony Hancock, English actor, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1968)
• 1925 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player and manager
• 1926 – Viren J. Shah, Indian politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Burt Bacharach, American pianist, composer, and producer
• 1928 – Henry Cosby, American songwriter and producer (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Sam Nujoma, Namibian politician, 1st President of Namibia
• 1929 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1930 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Tom Umphlett, American baseball player and manager (d. 2012)
• 1933 – Andrei Voznesensky, Russian poet and author (d. 2010)
• 1935 – Felipe Alou, Dominican-American baseball player and manager
• 1935 – Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1935 – Gary Peacock, American bassist and composer
• 1936 – Guillermo Endara, Panamanian politician, 32nd President of Panama (d. 2009)
• 1936 – Tom Snyder, American journalist (d. 2007)
• 1936 – Frank Stella, American painter
• 1937 – Beryl Burton, English cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1937 – George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2008)
• 1937 – Susan Hampshire, English actress
• 1938 – Millie Perkins, American actress
• 1939 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (d. 2011)
• 1939 – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1939 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
• 1939 – Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish journalist and politician
• 1940 – Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer (d. 2008)
• 1942 – Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter, bandleader, and actor (The Blockheads) (d. 2000)
• 1942 – Michel Fugain, French singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Billy Swan, American singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Linda Dano, American actress
• 1944 – Chris Patten, English politician and academic
• 1945 – Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer and manager (d. 2007)
• 1945 – Nicky Henson, English actor
• 1945 – Ian McLagan, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Small Faces Faces, and The New Barbarians)
• 1945 – Patrick Ricard, French businessman (d. 2012)
• 1946 – L. Neil Smith, American author
• 1946 – Daniel Libeskind, American architect, designed the Imperial War Museum North and Jewish Museum
• 1947 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian journalist and politician
• 1947 – Micheline Lanctôt, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1947 – Catherine Yronwode, American writer and illustrator
• 1948 – Dave Heineman, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of Nebraska
• 1948 – Richard Riehle, American actor
• 1948 – Joe Tasker, English mountaineer (d. 1982)
• 1948 – Steve Winwood, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith)
• 1950 – Bruce Boxleitner, American actor and author
• 1950 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Louise Portal, Canadian actress, singer, and director
• 1950 – Billy Squier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1951 – George Karl, American basketball player and coach
• 1951 – Joe Nolan, American baseball player
• 1952 – Norbert Stolzenburg, German footballer and manager
• 1953 – Kevin Grevey, American basketball player
• 1954 – Rafael Yglesias, American author and screenwriter
• 1955 – Kix Brooks, American singer-songwriter (Brooks & Dunn)
• 1956 – Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1956 – Sergio Marchi, Canadian politician
• 1956 – Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricketer and umpire
• 1956 – Glenn Robbins, Australian actor
• 1957 – Lou Whitaker, American baseball player
• 1958 – Andreas Petroulakis, Greek cartoonist
• 1958 – Eric Singer, American drummer and songwriter (Kiss, Avantasia, Badlands, and Eric Singer Project)
• 1959 – Ving Rhames, American actor
• 1959 – Ray Gillen, American singer-songwriter (Badlands, Blue Murder, and Sun Red Sun) (d. 1993)
• 1960 – Paul Arcand, Canadian journalist and producer
• 1961 – Jennifer Armstrong, American author
• 1961 – Paul Begala, American political adviser and television host
• 1961 – Thomas Dooley, German-American soccer player and manager
• 1961 – Billy Duffy, English guitarist and songwriter (The Cult, Theatre of Hate, and The Nosebleeds)
• 1961 – Lar Park Lincoln, American actress
• 1961 – Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor, director, and producer
• 1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1962 – Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Bad Religion, Daredevils, and Error)
• 1962 – April Grace, American actress
• 1963 – Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player and politician
• 1963 – Gavin Hood, South African actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Stefano Modena, Italian race car driver
• 1963 – Charles Pettigrew, American singer (Charles and Eddie) (d. 2001)
• 1963 – Jerry Trimble, American actor and stuntman
• 1963 – Deborah Kara Unger, Canadian actress
• 1963 – Vanessa A. Williams, American actress
• 1964 – Geechy Guy, American comedian
• 1964 – Pierre Morel, French director and cinematographer
• 1966 – Stephen Baldwin, American actor, director, and producer
• 1966 – Bebel Gilberto, American-Brazilian singer-songwriter
• 1967 – Joe McKinney, Irish actor
• 1968 – Mark Clark, American baseball player and coach
• 1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder and actor
• 1968 – Scott Schwartz, American actor
• 1968 – Catherine Tate, English actress and screenwriter
• 1969 – Kim Fields, American actress, singer, and director
• 1969 – Kevin Nalty, American comedian and blogger
• 1970 – Mark Foster, English swimmer
• 1970 – Jim Furyk, American golfer
• 1970 – Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
• 1970 – Samantha Mathis, American actress
• 1970 – Steve Palframan, South African cricketer
• 1971 – Doug Basham, American wrestler
• 1971 – Jamie Luner, American actress
• 1973 – Kendra Kassebaum, American actress and singer
• 1973 – Bobby Kent, American murder victim (d. 1993)
• 1973 – Travis Lutter, American mixed martial artist
• 1973 – Lutz Pfannenstiel, German footballer and manager
• 1973 – Robert Tinkler, Canadian voice actor and screenwriter
• 1974 – Marc Capdevila, Spanish swimmer
• 1975 – Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player
• 1975 – Lawrence Phillips, American-Canadian football player
• 1976 – Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and producer
• 1977 – Lorena Bernal, Argentinian-Spanish model and actress
• 1977 – Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player
• 1977 – Rebecca Herbst, American actress
• 1977 – Aivar Priidel, Estonian footballer
• 1978 – Jason Biggs, American actor and producer
• 1978 – Malin Åkerman, Swedish-Canadian model, actress, and singer
• 1978 – Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer and fashion designer (Morning Musume and Tanpopo)
• 1978 – Wilfred Le Bouthillier, Canadian singer
• 1978 – Josh Phelps, American baseball player
• 1978 – Hossein Rezazadeh, Iranian weightlifter
• 1979 – Andre Carter, American football player
• 1979 – Callum Chambers, Australian footballer
• 1979 – Robert Key, English cricketer
• 1979 – Erdinç Saçan, Dutch businessman
• 1979 – Steve Smith, American football player
• 1979 – Dennis Trillo, Filipino actor and singer
• 1979 – Aaron Yoo, American actor
• 1980 – Keith Bogans, American basketball player
• 1980 – Felipe Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1981 – Hannah Ild, Estonian singer
• 1981 – Rami Malek, American actor
• 1981 – Kentaro Sato, Japanese-American composer and conductor
• 1981 – Erica Campbell, American glamour model and actress
• 1982 – Chloe Sims, English model and actress
• 1982 – David Thaxton, Welsh actor and singer
• 1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Alina Kabayeva, Russian gymnast
• 1983 – Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler
• 1983 – Virginie Razzano, French tennis player
• 1983 – Francisco Torres, Mexican footballer
• 1984 – Tommaso Reato, Italian rugby player
• 1985 – Tally Hall, American soccer player
• 1985 – Jeroen Simaeys, Belgian footballer
• 1986 – Im Dong-Hyun, South Korean archer
• 1986 – Jonathan Orozco, Mexican footballer
• 1986 – Mouhamed Sene, Senegalese basketball player
• 1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
• 1987 – Gianluca Sansone, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Kieron Pollard, Trinidadian cricketer
• 1988 – Marky Cielo, Filipino actor and dancer (d. 2008)
• 1988 – Marcelo Vieira, Brazilian footballer
• 1990 – Florent Amodio, Brazilian-French figure skater
• 1990 – Jacory Harris, American football player
• 1990 – Oliver Kragl, German footballer
• 1990 – Tobias Strobl, German footballer
• 1992 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor and singer (MKTO)
• 1995 – Luke Benward, American actor and singer
• 1995 – Kenton Duty, American actor, singer, and dancer
• 1995 – Irina Khromacheva, Russian tennis player
• 1996 – You Xiaodi, Chinese tennis player

Deaths

• 1003 – Pope Sylvester II (b. 946)
• 1012 – Pope Sergius IV
• 1465 – Thomas Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1409)
• 1634 – George Chapman, English poet and playwright (b. 1559)
• 1641 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English politician (b. 1593)
• 1684 – Edme Mariotte, French physicist and priest (b. 1620)
• 1699 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Flemish painter (b. 1626)
• 1700 – John Dryden, English poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1631)
• 1708 – Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1658)
• 1748 – Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer (b. 1692)
• 1759 – Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (b. 1700)
• 1784 – Abraham Trembley, Swiss zoologist (b. 1710)
• 1792 – Charles Simon Favart, French playwright (b. 1710)
• 1796 – Johann Uz, German poet (b. 1720)
• 1801 – Nicholas Repnin, Russian general and politician (b. 1734)
• 1842 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Belarusian-Polish painter (b. 1799)
• 1845 – János Batsányi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
• 1856 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1786)
• 1859 – Sergey Aksakov, Russian author (b. 1791)
• 1860 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (b. 1795)
• 1864 – J.E.B. Stuart, American general (b. 1833)
• 1867 – Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
• 1878 – Anselme Payen, French chemist (b. 1795)
• 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian activist (b. 1843)
• 1884 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
• 1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (b. 1848)
• 1916 – James Connolly, Scottish-Irish general (b. 1868)
• 1925 – Amy Lowell, American poet (b. 1874)
• 1931 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1858)
• 1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1867)
• 1944 – Max Brand, American author (b. 1892)
• 1944 – Arthur Quiller-Couch, English author, poet, and critic (b. 1863)
• 1956 – Louis Calhern, American actor (b. 1895)
• 1957 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
• 1957 – Erich von Stroheim, Austrian actor, director, and producer (b. 1885)
• 1963 – Richard Girulatis, German footballer and manager (b. 1878)
• 1963 – Robert Kerr, Canadian sprinter (b. 1882)
• 1966 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (b. 1896)
• 1967 – John Masefield, English poet (b. 1878)
• 1970 – Nelly Sachs, German poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• 1971 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player and coach (b. 1901)
• 1973 – Art Pollard, American race car driver (b. 1911)
• 1978 – Robert Coogan, American actor (b. 1924)
• 1979 – Ileana Sărăroiu, Romanian singer (b. 1936)
• 1985 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter (b. 1901)
• 1986 – Elisabeth Bergner, Ukrainian-Austrian actress (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Alicia Moreau de Justo, English-Argentinian physician, politician, and activist (b. 1885)
• 1990 – Chen Kenmin, Chinese-Japanese chef (b. 1912)
• 1992 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and songwriter (b. 1911)
• 1992 – Robert Reed, American actor, singer, and director (b. 1932)
• 1993 – Omond Solandt, Canadian scientist (b. 1909)
• 1994 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist (b. 1902)
• 1994 – John Smith, Scottish-English politician (b. 1938)
• 1995 – Mia Martini, Italian singer (b. 1947)
• 1999 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American illustrator (b. 1914)
• 2000 – Adam Petty, American race car driver (b. 1980)
• 2001 – Perry Como, American singer and actor (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (b. 1925)
• 2003 – Khalid al-Juhani, Saudi Arabian terrorist (b. 1975)
• 2003 – Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French-American diplomat (b. 1933)
• 2004 – Syd Hoff, American author and illustrator (b. 1912)
• 2005 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (b. 1909)
• 2005 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish singer and actress (b. 1937)
• 2006 – Hussein Maziq, Libyan politician, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1918)
• 2006 – Gillespie V. Montgomery, American general and politician (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Dadullah, Afghan commander (b. 1966)
• 2007 – Teddy Infuhr, American actor (b. 1936)
• 2008 – Robert Rauschenberg, American painter (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and social worker (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Antonio Vega, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Nacha Pop) (b. 1957)
• 2012 – Jan Bens, Dutch footballer and coach (b. 1921)
• 2012 – Paul Cyr, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1963)
• 2012 – Ruth Foster, American actress (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Tor Marius Gromstad, Norwegian footballer (b. 1989)
• 2012 – Neil McKenty, English-Canadian talk show host and author (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Eddy Paape, Belgian illustrator (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Kenneth, American hairdresser (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Daisy Avellana, Filipino actor and director (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Doug Beasy, Australian footballer and educator (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist and author (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Bill Miles, American director and producer (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Constantino Romero, Spanish actor and game show host (b. 1947)
• 2013 – K Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Kenneth Waltz, American political scientist (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Peter Worthington, Canadian journalist (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Blessed Imelda
  • Blessed Joan of Portugal
  • Crispoldus
  • Dominic de la Calzada
  • Epiphanius of Salamis
  • Modoald
  • Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancras
  • Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople (Eastern Church)
  • Philip of Agira
• May 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• International Nurses Day
• Florence Nightingale, Nurse, CE 1910 (commemoration, Anglicanism)
• Mother's Day (2013)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to May 12.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada