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 I, Duke of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
• 1619 – Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is sentenced to death for high treason.
• 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 – War of the 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 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 – General Strike: 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 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 SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.
• 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.
• 1957 – Alfonso de Portago crashes during the Mille Miglia, killing himself, his co-driver, Ed Nelson and ten spectators – five of whom were children.
• 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 – Mayaguez 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 María Fernández y 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 four people. A week later an underground gasoline pipeline explodes killing two 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.
• 2015 – A train derailment in Philadelphia kills 8 people and injures over 200.
• 2015 – A 7.3-magnitude earthquake and six major aftershocks hit Nepal, killing over 200 people.

Births

• 1401 – Emperor Shōkō of Japan (d. 1428)
• 1496 – Gustav I 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, Polish king (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, Czech-Austrian organist and 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, Spanish field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1851)
• 1774 – Ellis Cunliffe Lister, English politician (d. 1853)
• 1803 – Justus von Liebig, German chemist and academic (d. 1873)
• 1804 – Robert Baldwin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Premier of West Canada (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, social reformer, and statistician (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 and educator (d. 1896)
• 1839 – Tôn Thất Thuyết, Vietnamese mandarin (d. 1913)
• 1840 – Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean colonel (d. 1912)
• 1842 – Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
• 1845 – Gabriel Fauré, French pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1924)
• 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American historian and politician (d. 1924)
• 1859 – William Alden Smith, American lawyer and politician (d. 1932)
• 1867 – Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer and accountant (d. 1938)
• 1869 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, wrestler, and weightlifter (d. 1946)
• 1872 – Anton Korošec, Slovenian priest and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1940)
• 1873 – J. E. H. MacDonald, English-Canadian painter (d. 1932)
• 1874 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian pediatrician and immunologist (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 lawyer and jurist (d. 1969)
• 1886 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain and pilot (d. 1937)
• 1889 – Yvonne de Bray, French actress (d. 1954)
• 1889 – Otto Frank, German-Swiss businessman (d. 1980)
• 1892 – Fritz Kortner, Austrian-German actor and director (d. 1970)
• 1895 – William Giauque, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)
• 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian-American philosopher and author (d. 1986)
• 1899 – Indra Devi, Latvian yoga instructor (d. 2002)
• 1900 – Helene Weigel, Austrian-German actress (d. 1971)
• 1903 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English-American actor (d. 1991)
• 1904 – Eiji Nakano, Japanese actor (d. 1990)
• 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 educator and politician, 1st President of Suriname (d. 2010)
• 1910 – Dorothy Hodgkin, English biochemist, crystallographer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
• 1910 – Gordon Jenkins, American pianist and composer (d. 1984)
• 1911 – Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (d. 1972)
• 1912 – Henry Jonsson, Swedish runner (d. 2001)
• 1912 – Marshal Royal, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1995)
• 1914 – Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet and author (d. 1993)
• 1914 – Howard K. Smith, American journalist and actor (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Albert Murray, American author and critic (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (d. 2001)
• 1918 – Julius Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)
• 1921 – Joseph Beuys, German sculptor and illustrator (d. 1986)
• 1921 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Marco Denevi, Argentinian lawyer and author (d. 1998)
• 1922 – Murray Gershenz, American actor and businessman (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Bob Goldham, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 1991)
• 1922 – Roy Salvadori, English race car driver and manager (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Maxine Cooper, American actress and photographer (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet
• 1924 – Tony Hancock, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1968)
• 1925 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
• 1926 – Viren J. Shah, Indian politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Burt Bacharach, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 1928 – Henry Cosby, American songwriter and producer (d. 2002)
• 1928 – Jan Krugier, Polish-Swiss art dealer (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Sam Nujoma, Namibian politician, 1st President of Namibia
• 1930 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Joel Joffe, Baron Joffe, South African-English lawyer and politician
• 1933 – Andrei Voznesensky, Russian poet and author (d. 2010)
• 1935 – Felipe Alou, Dominican-American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1935 – Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1936 – Guillermo Endara, Panamanian lawyer and politician, 32nd President of Panama (d. 2009)
• 1936 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (d. 2007)
• 1936 – Frank Stella, American painter and sculptor
• 1937 – Beryl Burton, English cyclist (d. 1996)
• 1937 – George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (d. 2008)
• 1937 – Susan Hampshire, English actress and singer
• 1937 – Miriam Stoppard, English physician and author
• 1938 – Terry Farrell, English architect, designed the KK100 and the SIS Building
• 1938 – Paul Huxley, English painter and academic
• 1938 – Millie Perkins, American actress
• 1939 – Cyril Chantler, English pediatrician and academic
• 1939 – Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish journalist and politician
• 1939 – Miltiadis Evert, Greek minister and politician, 69th Mayor of Athens (d. 2011)
• 1939 – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
• 1940 – Dominic Cadbury, English businessman and academic
• 1940 – Norman Whitfield, American songwriter and producer (d. 2008)
• 1942 – Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter and actor (The Blockheads and Kilburn and the High Roads) (d. 2000)
• 1942 – Michel Fugain, French singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Billy Swan, American singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Dragoljub Velimirović, Serbian chess player and theoretician (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Linda Dano, American actress and author
• 1944 – Chris Patten, English academic and politician, 28th Governor of Hong Kong
• 1945 – Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer and manager (d. 2007)
• 1945 – Ian McLagan, English-American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Small Faces, Faces, and The New Barbarians) (d. 2014)
• 1945 – Patrick Ricard, French businessman (d. 2012)
• 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
• 1948 – Dave Heineman, American captain and politician, 39th Governor of Nebraska
• 1948 – Richard Riehle, American actor
• 1948 – Steve Winwood, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith)
• 1949 – Ross Bleckner, American painter, philanthropist, and activist
• 1950 – Bruce Boxleitner, American actor and author
• 1950 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, Scottish lawyer, academic, and politician
• 1950 – Billy Squier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1950 – Renate Stecher, German sprinter
• 1951 – George Karl, American basketball player and coach
• 1951 – Joe Nolan, American baseball player
• 1953 – Kevin Grevey, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1954 – Rafael Yglesias, American author and screenwriter
• 1955 – Kix Brooks, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Brooks & Dunn)
• 1956 – Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1956 – Sergio Marchi, Argentinean-Canadian urban planner and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of International Trade
• 1956 – Asad Rauf, Pakistani cricketer and umpire
• 1956 – Kimiko Yo, Japanese actress
• 1957 – Ziya Onis, Turkish economist and academic
• 1958 – Andreas Petroulakis, Greek cartoonist
• 1958 – Eric Singer, American drummer and songwriter (Kiss, Avantasia, Badlands, and Eric Singer Project)
• 1958 – Dries van Noten, Belgian fashion designer
• 1959 – Ray Gillen, American singer-songwriter (Badlands, Blue Murder, and Sun Red Sun) (d. 1993)
• 1959 – Ving Rhames, American actor and producer
• 1959 – Deborah Warner, English director and producer
• 1960 – Paul Arcand, Canadian journalist and producer
• 1960 – Lisa Martin, Australian runner
• 1961 – Jennifer Armstrong, American author
• 1961 – Thomas Dooley, German-American soccer player and manager
• 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)
• 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 & Eddie) (d. 2001)
• 1963 – Deborah Kara Unger, Canadian actress
• 1963 – Vanessa A. Williams, American actress and producer
• 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
• 1967 – Bill Shorten, Australian lawyer and politician, 21st Minister for Education and Training
• 1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder and actor
• 1968 – Catherine Tate, English actress and screenwriter
• 1969 – Kim Fields, American actress, singer, and director
• 1969 – Igor Kováč, Slovakian hurdler
• 1970 – Mark Foster, English swimmer
• 1970 – Jim Furyk, American golfer
• 1970 – Samantha Mathis, American actress
• 1970 – Steve Palframan, South African cricketer
• 1970 – Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
• 1971 – Jamie Luner, American actress
• 1971 – Kristin Asbjørnsen, Norwegian singer (Dadafon, Krøyt, Kvitretten)
• 1972 – Doug Basham, American wrestler
• 1973 – Lutz Pfannenstiel, German footballer and manager
• 1974 – Marc Capdevila, Spanish swimmer
• 1974 – Tolga Çevik, Turkish actor
• 1975 – Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby union player (d. 2015)
• 1976 – Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and producer, co-founded Black Jays
• 1977 – Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player and coach
• 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 – Hossein Rezazadeh, Iranian weightlifter and politician
• 1979 – Aaron Yoo, American actor
• 1980 – Keith Bogans, American basketball player
• 1980 – Felipe Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1981 – Erica Campbell, American model and actress
• 1981 – Rami Malek, American actor
• 1981 – Kentaro Sato, Japanese-American composer and conductor
• 1981 – Dennis Trillo, Filipino actor and singer
• 1983 – Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Alina Kabaeva, Russian gymnast and politician
• 1983 – Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
• 1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
• 1983 – Virginie Razzano, French tennis player
• 1983 – Francisco Javier Torres, Mexican footballer
• 1984 – Tommaso Reato, Italian rugby player
• 1985 – Paolo Goltz, Argentinian footballer
• 1985 – Andrew Howe, Italian long jumper and sprinter
• 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 – Liu Hong, Chinese race walker
• 1987 – Kieron Pollard, Trinidadian cricketer
• 1987 – Gianluca Sansone, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Marcelo Vieira, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Cypriot singer and actress
• 1990 – Florent Amodio, Brazilian-French figure skater
• 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
• 1997 – Odeya Rush, Israeli-American actress

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 soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (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 and academic (b. 1692)
• 1759 – Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (b. 1700)
• 1784 – Abraham Trembley, Swiss zoologist and academic (b. 1710)
• 1792 – Charles Simon Favart, French playwright and composer (b. 1710)
• 1796 – Johann Uz, German poet and author (b. 1720)
• 1801 – Nicholas Repnin, Russian general and politician, Governor-General of Baltic provinces (b. 1734)
• 1842 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Belarusian-Polish painter (b. 1799)
• 1845 – János Batsányi, Hungarian poet and academic (b. 1763)
• 1856 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1786)
• 1859 – Sergey Aksakov, Russian author and academic (b. 1791)
• 1860 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed Upper Brook Street Chapel and the Palace of Westminster (b. 1795)
• 1864 – J. E. B. Stuart, American general (b. 1833)
• 1867 – Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist and academic (b. 1795)
• 1878 – Anselme Payen, French chemist and academic (b. 1795)
• 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian activist (b. 1843)
• 1884 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer and educator (b. 1824)
• 1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author and critic (b. 1848)
• 1916 – James Connolly, Scottish-Irish general (b. 1868; executed)
• 1925 – Amy Lowell, American poet and author (b. 1874)
• 1931 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1858)
• 1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1867)
• 1944 – Max Brand, American journalist and author (b. 1892)
• 1944 – Arthur Quiller-Couch, English author, poet, and critic (b. 1863)
• 1946 – Leopold Socha, Ukrainian-Polish sewage inspector (b. 1909)
• 1948 – Dante Cappelli, Italian actor and director (b. 1866)
• 1956 – Louis Calhern, American actor and singer (b. 1895)
• 1957 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
• 1957 – Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American actor, director, and producer (b. 1885)
• 1963 – Richard Girulatis, German footballer and manager (b. 1878)
• 1963 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (b. 1882)
• 1966 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (b. 1896)
• 1967 – John Masefield, English poet and author (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. 1927)
• 1979 – Ileana Sararoiu, Romanian singer (b. 1936)
• 1985 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (b. 1901)
• 1986 – Elisabeth Bergner, Ukrainian-English actress and producer (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Alicia Moreau de Justo, English-Argentinian physician and politician (b. 1885)
• 1990 – Chen Kenmin, Chinese-Japanese chef (b. 1912)
• 1992 – Nikos Gatsos, Greek poet and songwriter (b. 1911)
• 1992 – Robert Reed, American actor and director (b. 1932)
• 1993 – Omond Solandt, Canadian scientist and academic (b. 1909)
• 1994 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1902)
• 1994 – John Smith, Scottish-English lawyer and politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (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 television host (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)
• 2005 – Ömer Kavur, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
• 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 and illustrator (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 – Eddy Paape, Belgian illustrator (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Mr. Kenneth, American hairdresser (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist, author, and academic (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Constantino Romero, Spanish actor and game show host (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Kenneth Waltz, American political scientist and academic (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)
• 2014 – H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Lorenzo Zambrano, Mexican businessman and philanthropist (b. 1944)
• 2015 – Abu Ala al-Afri, Iraqi terrorist (b. 1957)
• 2015 – Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (b. 1923)
• 2015 – William Zinsser, American journalist and critic (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Blessed Imelda
  • Joanna, Princess of Portugal
  • Crispoldus
  • Dominic de la Calzada
  • Epiphanius of Salamis
  • Gregory Dix (Church of England)
  • Modoald
  • Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancras
  • Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople (Eastern Church)
  • Philip of Agira
  • May 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of the Finnish Identity (Finland)
• International Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day
• International Nurses Day
• Saint Andrea the First Day (Georgia)

External links

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