12 May
Notable Births
Issa Kaboré
b. 2001
Burkinabé footballer (born 2001)
Hiroki Ito (footballer, born 1999)
b. 1999
Japanese footballer (born 1999)
Mo Bamba
b. 1998
Ivorian-American basketball player (born 1998)
Frenkie de Jong
b. 1997
Dutch footballer (born 1997)
Fabrice Olinga
b. 1996
Cameroonian footballer (born 1996)
Kostas Tsimikas
b. 1996
Greek footballer (born 1996)
Timo Horn
b. 1993
German footballer (born 1993)
Erik Durm
b. 1992
German footballer (born 1992)
Etika
b. 1990
American YouTuber and live streamer (1990–2019)
Florent Amodio
b. 1990
French figure skater
Eleftheria Eleftheriou
b. 1989
Musical artist
Marcelo (footballer, born 1988)
b. 1988
Brazilian footballer (born 1988)
Lance Lynn
b. 1987
American baseball player (born 1987)
Kieron Pollard
b. 1987
West Indian cricketer (born 1987)
Tony Hawk
b. 1968
American professional skateboarder (born 1968)
George Karl
b. 1951
American basketball coach and player (born 1951)
Frank Stella
b. 1936
American artist (1936–2024)
Katharine Hepburn
b. 1907
American actress (1907–2003)
Florence Nightingale
b. 1820
English founder of modern nursing (1820–1910)
Justus von Liebig
b. 1803
German chemist (1803–1873)
Notable Deaths
Mark Damon
d. 2024
American film actor and producer (1933–2024)
David Sanborn
d. 2024
American saxophonist (1945–2024)
Aimee Stephens
d. 2020
American civil rights activist (1960–2020)
Dennis Nilsen
d. 2018
Scottish serial killer (1945–2018)
Mauno Koivisto
d. 2017
Finnish politician, President of Finland (1923–2017)
Mike Agostini
d. 2016
Trinidad and Tobago sprinter (1935–2016)
Peter Gay
d. 2015
German-American historian and author (1923–2015)
Cornell Borchers
d. 2014
German actress (1925–2014)
Marco Cé
d. 2014
Cardinal of the Romanic Catholic Church
H. R. Giger
d. 2014
Swiss artist (1940–2014)
Sarat Pujari
d. 2014
Indian actor
Lorenzo Zambrano
d. 2014
Mexican businessman and philanthropist
Gerd Langguth
d. 2013
Eddy Paape
d. 2012
Belgian artist (1920–2012)
Antonio Vega (singer)
d. 2009
Musical artist
Robert Rauschenberg
d. 2008
American painter and graphic artist (1925–2008)
Irena Sendler
d. 2008
20th and 21st-century Polish activist and resistance fighter against the Nazis
Hussein Maziq
d. 2006
Libyan politician (1918–2006)
Ömer Kavur
d. 2005
Turkish film director
Max Brand
d. 1944
American writer (1892–1944)
On This Day in History
All 55 ›
2024
Middle/end of the May 2024 solar storms, the most powerful set of geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.
May 2024 solar storms
2018
Paris knife attack: A man is fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.
2018 Paris knife attack
2017
The WannaCry ransomware attack impacts over 400,000 computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom's National Health Services and Telefónica computers.
WannaCry ransomware attack
2015
A train derailment in Philadelphia, United States, kills eight people and injures more than 200.
2015 Philadelphia train derailment
2015
Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3,500.
May 2015 Nepal earthquake
2010
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashes on final approach to Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, killing 103 out of the 104 people on board.
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771
2008
An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.
2008 Sichuan earthquake
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.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
2006
Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.
2006 São Paulo violence outbreak
2006
Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
Iranian Azerbaijanis
2003
The Riyadh compound bombings in Saudi Arabia, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 39 people.
Riyadh compound bombings
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 the Cuban Revolution.
Jimmy Carter
1989
The 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.
San Bernardino train disaster
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.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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 US, France and Belgium to restore order.
Zaire
1975
Indochina Wars: Democratic Kampuchea naval forces capture the SS Mayaguez.
Indochina wars
1968
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.
Vietnam War
1965
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
Spacecraft
1949
Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
Cold War
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.
World War II