May 12 facts for kids

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

May 12th is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history, from ancient times to the modern era. It's a day when important leaders were crowned, major battles were fought, and new inventions changed the world. Many famous people, like the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, and popular actor George Carlin, were also born on this day.

Historic Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 254 – Pope Stephen I became the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church.
• 907 – The Tang dynasty in China, which had ruled for nearly 300 years, came to an end when Zhu Wen took power from Emperor Ai of Tang.
• 1191 – Richard I of England married Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus. She became the Queen of England on the same day.
• 1364 – Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in Poland, was founded in Kraków.
• 1497 – Pope Alexander VI removed Girolamo Savonarola from the church.
• 1551 – The National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, was founded in Lima, Peru.
• 1588 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry III of France had to leave Paris after an uprising in the city.

Later History (1601–1900)

• 1743 – Maria Theresa of Austria was crowned Queen of Bohemia.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: British forces captured Charleston, South Carolina, which was a big defeat for the American army.
• 1797 – Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Venice during the War of the First Coalition.
• 1821 – The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks took place in Valtetsi.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Union Army troops took control of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Raymond helped the Union Army move further into Mississippi during the Vicksburg campaign.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Fierce fighting happened at the "Bloody Angle" during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
• 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Palmito Ranch, the last major land battle of the war, ended with a Confederate victory.
• 1870 – The Manitoba Act was approved, making Manitoba a province of Canada.
• 1881 – Tunisia became a French protectorate (a territory controlled by France).
• 1885 – North-West Rebellion: The Battle of Batoche, a four-day fight between rebel Métis and the Canadian government, ended with the rebels' defeat.
• 1888 – The territories of the North Borneo Chartered Company became the British protectorate of North Borneo.

Modern History (1901–present)

• 1926 – The airship Norge became the first aircraft to fly over the North Pole.
• 1932 – Charles Jr., the infant son of famous pilot Charles Lindbergh, was found dead after being abducted.
• 1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Agricultural Adjustment Act into law, which helped farmers by controlling agricultural production.
• 1937 – The Duke and Duchess of York were crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.
• 1941 – Konrad Zuse showed off the Z3, the world's first working programmable computer, in Berlin.
• 1942 – World War II: Soviet forces launched a major attack in eastern Ukraine, but were later surrounded by German troops.
• 1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands gave up her throne to her daughter Juliana.
• 1949 – Cold War: The Soviet Union ended its blockade of Berlin.
• 1965 – The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashed on the Moon.
• 1968 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attacked Australian troops.
• 1975 – Indochina Wars: Naval forces from Democratic Kampuchea captured the American ship SS Mayaguez.
• 1978 – In Zaire, rebels took over the city of Kolwezi, a mining center.
• 1989 – A train accident occurred in San Bernardino, California.
• 1998 – Protests and widespread riots occurred at Trisakti University in Indonesia, leading to the fall of President Suharto.
• 2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba, becoming the first US President, in or out of office, to visit the island since the Cuban Revolution.
• 2003 – Bombings carried out by al-Qaeda occurred in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• 2008 – A powerful earthquake hit Sichuan, China.
• 2010 – Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashed near Tripoli International Airport in Libya, with only one survivor.
• 2015 – A train accident happened in Philadelphia.
• 2015 – A major earthquake struck Nepal.
• 2017 – The WannaCry ransomware attack, a cyberattack, affected many computers worldwide, including those of the United Kingdom's National Health Service.

Famous Births

Born Before 1600

• 1496 – Gustav I of Sweden, who became King of Sweden.
• 1590 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Born 1601–1900

• 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, a French-Canadian soldier and governor.
• 1670 – Augustus II the Strong, a Polish king.
• 1700 – Luigi Vanvitelli, an Italian architect who designed famous palaces.
• 1776 – José de La Mar, a Peruvian military leader and President of Peru.
• 1803 – Justus von Liebig, an important German chemist.
• 1812 – Edward Lear, an English poet and illustrator known for his nonsense poems.
• 1820 – Florence Nightingale, a famous Italian-English nurse and social reformer, considered the founder of modern nursing.
• 1828 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, an English poet and painter.
• 1845 – Gabriel Fauré, a French composer.
• 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, an American historian and politician.
• 1889 – Otto Frank, a German-Swiss businessman and father of Anne Frank.
• 1895 – William Giauque, a Canadian-American chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, an Indian-American philosopher.

Born 1901–present

• 1907 – Katharine Hepburn, a famous American actress.
• 1910 – Dorothy Hodgkin, an English biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1918 – Mary Kay Ash, an American businesswoman who founded Mary Kay Cosmetics.
• 1921 – Farley Mowat, a Canadian environmentalist and author.
• 1925 – Yogi Berra, a well-known American baseball player and coach.
• 1928 – Burt Bacharach, an American singer-songwriter and producer.
• 1929 – Sam Nujoma, the first President of Namibia.
• 1937 – George Carlin, a popular American comedian and actor.
• 1944 – Chris Patten, an English politician and the last Governor of Hong Kong.
• 1946 – Daniel Libeskind, an American architect who designed famous buildings like the Jewish Museum.
• 1950 – Bruce Boxleitner, an American actor.
• 1950 – Gabriel Byrne, an Irish actor.
• 1950 – Billy Squier, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1959 – Ving Rhames, an American actor.
• 1962 – Emilio Estevez, an American actor.
• 1966 – Stephen Baldwin, an American actor.
• 1968 – Tony Hawk, a famous American skateboarder.
• 1970 – Jim Furyk, an American golfer.
• 1970 – Mike Weir, a Canadian golfer.
• 1975 – Jonah Lomu, a famous New Zealand rugby player.
• 1978 – Malin Åkerman, a Swedish-Canadian actress.
• 1978 – Jason Biggs, an American actor.
• 1980 – Rishi Sunak, an English politician.
• 1981 – Rami Malek, an American actor.
• 1983 – Domhnall Gleeson, an Irish actor.
• 1986 – Emily VanCamp, a Canadian actress.
• 1988 – Marcelo, a Brazilian footballer.
• 1997 – Frenkie de Jong, a Dutch footballer.

Notable Deaths

Died Before 1600

• 1003 – Pope Sylvester II.
• 1182 – Valdemar I, King of Denmark.
• 1490 – Joanna, a Portuguese princess.

Died 1601–1900

• 1634 – George Chapman, an English poet and playwright.
• 1700 – John Dryden, an English poet and playwright.
• 1860 – Charles Barry, an English architect who designed the Palace of Westminster.
• 1864 – J. E. B. Stuart, an American general during the Civil War.
• 1884 – Bedřich Smetana, a Czech composer.
• 1897 – Minna Canth, a Finnish journalist and activist.

Died 1901–present

• 1916 – James Connolly, a Scottish-born Irish socialist leader.
• 1935 – Józef Piłsudski, a Polish field marshal and Prime Minister.
• 1957 – Erich von Stroheim, an Austrian-American actor and director.
• 1967 – John Masefield, an English poet.
• 1970 – Nelly Sachs, a German poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1981 – Benjamin Sheares, the second President of Singapore.
• 1985 – Jean Dubuffet, a French painter and sculptor.
• 1994 – Erik Erikson, a German-American psychologist.
• 1994 – John Smith, a Scottish-English lawyer and leader of the Labour Party.
• 2001 – Perry Como, a famous American singer.
• 2008 – Robert Rauschenberg, an American painter.
• 2008 – Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse and humanitarian who saved many children during World War II.
• 2014 – H. R. Giger, a Swiss painter and designer.
• 2015 – Peter Gay, a German-American historian.
• 2017 – Mauno Koivisto, the ninth President of Finland.

Holidays and Observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Blessed Imelda
  • Blessed Joan 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
• International ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
• International Nurses Day

See also

In Spanish: 12 de mayo para niños