On This Day — 12 May

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

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.

Tanker (ship)

1941

Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.

Konrad Zuse

1937

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom are crowned in Westminster Abbey.

George VI

1933

The Agricultural Adjustment Act, which restricts agricultural production through government purchase of livestock for slaughter and paying subsidies to farmers when they remove land from planting, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Agricultural Adjustment Act

1933

President Roosevelt signs legislation creating the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the predecessor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration

1932

Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is found dead near Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.

Lindbergh kidnapping

1926

The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.

Norge (airship)

1926

The 1926 United Kingdom general strike ends.

1926 United Kingdom general strike

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.

North-West Rebellion

1881

In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.

Ottoman Tunisia

1870

The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.

Manitoba Act, 1870

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.

Battle of Palmito Ranch

1864

American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Union troops assault a Confederate salient known as the "Mule Shoe", with some of the fiercest fighting of the war, much of it hand-to-hand combat, occurring at "the Bloody Angle" on the northwest.

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

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.

Battle of Raymond

1862

American Civil War: Union Army troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

American Civil War

1846

The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.

Donner Party

1821

The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.

Greek War of Independence

1809

British contingents under Arthur Wellesley force a French army under general Soult to retreat in the battle of Oporto.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

1808

Finnish War: Swedish-Finnish troops, led by Captain Karl Wilhelm Malmi, conquer the city of Kuopio from Russians after the Battle of Kuopio.

Finnish War

1797

War of the First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Venice.

War of the First Coalition

1780

American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

American Revolutionary War

1778

Heinrich XI, count of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, is elevated to Prince by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz

1743

Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.

Maria Theresa

1593

London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel.

Thomas Kyd

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.

French Wars of Religion

1551

National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.

National University of San Marcos

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.

Prince of Anhua rebellion

1497

Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.

Pope Alexander VI

1364

Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków.

Jagiellonian University

1328

Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.

Antipope Nicholas V

1191

Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus; she is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.

Richard I of England

1157

A church council presided over by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos in the Palace of Blachernae investigates the orthodoxy of the patriarch of Antioch, Soterichos Panteugenos.

Council of Blachernae (1157)

907

Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.

Zhu Wen

254

Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism.

Pope Stephen I

113

Roman emperor Trajan dedicates a column celebrating and depicting his victory over the Dacians.

AD 113