May 12

### Up to 1900

- 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
- 304 – Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the beheading of the 14–year–old Pancras of Rome.
- 907 – China: Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating (giving up) the throne, ending Tang Dynasty rule after almost 300 years.
- 1191 – Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
- 1264 – The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.
- 1328 – Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
- 1364 – Jagiellonian University in Cracow, the oldest university in Poland, was founded in Cracow, Poland.
- 1551 – National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in South America, was founded in Lima, Peru.
- 1588 – French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city.
- 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.
- 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
- 1797 – First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
- 1821 – in Valtetsi, the first major battle of the Greek War of Independence is fought against the Turks.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".
- 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – The Confederacy wins the last major land battle of the war, despite being on the losing side in the war as a whole.
- 1870 – The Manitoba Act was given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.
- 1873 – Oscar II of Sweden-Norway is crowned King of Sweden.
- 1881 – In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
- 1885 – North-West Rebellion: The four–day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel French Canadians against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
- 1890 – The first–ever official County Championship match begins. Yorkshire beat Gloucestershire by eight wickets at Bristol. George Ulyett scores the first century in the competition.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1925 – Paul von Hindenburg becomes President of Germany.
- 1926 – UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a nine–day general strike by trade unions ends.
- 1926 – Italian airship _Norge_ flies over the North Pole, as the first aircraft to do so.
- 1931 – The body of geologist Alfred Wegener is found in Greenland, more than six months after he went missing.
- 1932 – Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey just a few miles from the Lindbergh's home.
- 1937 – Coronation of King George VI of Britain at Westminster Abbey.
- 1941 – Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first programmable, fully automatic, computer in Berlin.
- 1942 – World War II: US tanker _Virginia_ is torpedoed at the mouth of the Mississippi River by German U–boat U–507.
- 1942 – World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov – In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates a major offensive. During the battle, the Soviets capture the city of Kharkov from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
- 1943 – In Hunan, China, Japanese Imperial Army officers commit the massacre of Chiangjiang, killing 30,000 civilians.
- 1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands announces that she is to abdicate the throne in September, when her daughter becomes Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
- 1949 – Western occupying powers approve the basic law for the new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.
- 1949 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin.
- 1955 – Austria regains its independence after Allied occupation.
- 1958 – A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
- 1962 – Douglas MacArthur delivers his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" valedictory speech at West Point.
- 1965 – The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
- 1966 – Busch Memorial Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team, opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
- 1967 – At Queen Elizabeth Hall, England, Pink Floyd stages the first–ever quadraphonic rock concert.
- 1972 – The Rolling Stones release _Exile on Main St.,_ often considered their best album.
- 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. The government of Zaire asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
- 1989 – A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails on Duffy Street on the very steep Cajon Pass in San Bernardino, California.
- 1990 – As the previous claim of Shigechiyo Izumi is no longer considered, Jeanne Calment is already considered to have become the oldest–recorded human ever on this date, more than five years earlier than previously thought.
- 1998 – Four students are shot at Trisakti University in Indonesia, leading to widespread riots and the resignation, on May 21, of President Suharto, who had ruled the country for over 30 years.
- 1999 – David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
- 2000 – The Tate Modern art gallery opens in London.

### From 2001

- 2001 – In Copenhagen, Denmark, Tanel Padar & Dave Benton win the forty–sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Estonia singing "Everybody".
- 2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five–day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
- 2003 – International Development Secretary Clare Short resigns from the British government over the Iraq War.
- 2003 – The Riyadh compound bombings are carried out by Al-Qaeda. 26 people are killed.
- 2006 – Mass unrest in the Primeiro Comando de Capital begins in São Paulo, Brazil, leaving at least 150 people dead.
- 2007 – Riots in Karachi, Pakistan, kill at least 50 people.
- 2007 – Marija Serifovic wins the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest for Serbia in Helsinki, Finland.
- 2008 – A major earthquake occurs in China's Sichuan province, killing thousands of people.
- 2010 – An Afriqiyah Airlines plane crashes in Tripoli, Libya. 103 are killed, and only one survives.
- 2010 – The Unity Bridge over the Rovuma River, linking Tanzania and Mozambique, opens.
- 2015 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits Nepal, two weeks after one of slightly higher magnitude had killed over 8,000 people. Casualties are reported in Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh.
- 2017 – The WannaCry ransomware cyber attack affects computer systems around the world.
- 2018 – Israel's Netta Barzilai wins the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, Portugal; United Kingdom entrant SuRie was interrupted by a stage invasion during her performance.
- 2019 – Liverpool F.C. set a record points total for a second–placed team in the English Premier League, as their 97 points amount to one less than the 98 points of champions Manchester City F.C..

### Up to 1900

- 1401 – Emperor Shoko of Japan (d. 1428)
- 1496 – King Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1560)
- 1590 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1621)
- 1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor–General of New France (d. 1698)
- 1626 – Louis Hennepin, Flemish priest and missionary (d. 1705)
- 1670 – Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland (d. 1733)
- 1700 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian engineer and architect (d. 1773)
- 1725 – Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (d. 1785)
- 1754 – Franz Anton Hoffmeister, German composer and publisher (d. 1812)
- 1755 – Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist (d. 1824)
- 1767 – Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (d. 1851)
- 1794 – George Cathcart, British general (d. 1854)
- 1803 – Justus Liebig, German chemist (d. 1873)
- 1804 – Robert Baldwin, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1858)
- 1806 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (d. 1881)
- 1809 – Robert Charles Winthrop, American politician (d. 1894)
- 1812 – Edward Lear, English writer, artist and poet (d. 1888)
- 1814 – Adolf von Henselt, German composer and pianist (d. 1889)
- 1820 – Florence Nightingale, British nurse (d. 1910)
- 1823 – John Russell Hind, British astronomer (d. 1895)
- 1823 – Frederik Vermehren, Danish painter (d. 1910)
- 1825 – Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French lawyer and explorer (d. 1878)
- 1828 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, British painter (d. 1882)
- 1829 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (d. 1896)
- 1840 – Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean military officer (d. 1912)
- 1842 – Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
- 1845 – Gabriel Faure, French composer (d. 1924)
- 1850 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American statesman (d. 1924)
- 1851 – Joseph Toole, Governor of Montana (d. 1929)
- 1867 – Frank Brangwyn, British artist (d. 1956)
- 1872 – Anton Korosic, Slovenian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1940)
- 1875 – Charles Holden, English architect (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American polar explorer and pilot (d. 1951)
- 1885 – Mario Sironi, Italian painter (d. 1961)
- 1886 – Ernst A. Lehmann, German captain (d. 1937)
- 1889 – Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank (d. 1980)
- 1889 – Abelardo L. Rodríguez, President of Mexico (d. 1967)
- 1892 – William Preston Lane, Jr., Governor of Maryland (d. 1967)
- 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher, writer and spiritual teacher (d. 1986)
- 1895 – William Giauque, American chemist (d. 1982)
- 1899 – Indra Devi, Latvian–born Yoga teacher (d. 2002)
- 1900 – Helene Weigel, Austrian–German actress (d. 1971)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Lennox Berkeley, English composer (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1908 – Alejandro Scopelli, Argentine–born Italian footballer (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Johan Ferrier, first President of Suriname (d. 2010)
- 1910 – Dorothy Hodgkin, British biochemist (d. 1994)
- 1910 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian opera singer (d. 2010)
- 1913 – Igor Bondarevsky, Russian chess player (d. 1979)
- 1915 – Frère Roger, Swiss religious leader (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Julius Rosenberg, American, convicted of spying for the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
- 1920 – Vilém Flusser, Czech–Brazilian philosopher, writer and journalist (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Joseph Beuys, German artist (d. 1986)
- 1921 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and writer (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Giovanni Benelli, Italian cardinal (d. 1982)
- 1922 – Roy Salvadori, English racing driver (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Murray Gershenz, American actor (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (d. 1998)
- 1924 – Tony Hancock, British comedian (d. 1968)
- 1924 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian–American mathematician (d. 2016)
- 1925 – Yogi Berra, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
- 1926 – James Samuel Coleman, American sociologist (d. 1995)
- 1926 – Viren J. Shah, Indian politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Burt Bacharach, American pianist and composer
- 1929 – Sam Nujoma, first, and former, President of Namibia
- 1929 – Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Agnes Heller, Hungarian philosopher
- 1930 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Derek Malcolm, British movie critic and historian
- 1933 – Andrey Voznesensky, Russian poet (d. 2010)
- 1935 – Hoss Ellington, American NASCAR driver (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Gary Peacock, American jazz musician
- 1935 – Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 – Frank Stella, American painter and sculptor
- 1936 – Tom Snyder, American television personality (d. 2007)
- 1936 – Guillermo Endara, President of Panama (d. 2009)
- 1937 – George Carlin, American stand–up comedian (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Beryl Burton, English cyclist (d. 1996)
- 1937 – Miriam Stoppard, English doctor, writer and broadcaster
- 1938 – Andrei Amalrik, Russian historian, publicist, writer and dissident (d. 1980)
- 1939 – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league player (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Ron Ziegler, American White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
- 1939 – Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish politician, writer and journalist
- 1942 – Ian Dury, British singer (d. 2000)
- 1944 – Chris Patten, British politician, last British Governor of Hong Kong
- 1945 – Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer (d. 2007)
- 1945 – Ian McLagan, English–American singer-songwriter and keyboardist (d. 2014)
- 1946 – Gareth Evans, British philosopher
- 1947 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician
- 1948 – John Blackley, Scottish footballer
- 1948 – Ivan Kral, Czech–American musician
- 1948 – Steve Winwood, British musician
- 1948 – David Heineman, American politician, 39th Governor of Nebraska
- 1948 – Joe Tasker, English mountaineer (d. 1982)
- 1950 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor
- 1950 – Helena Kennedy, English judge and politician
- 1950 – Jenni Murray, English journalist and broadcaster
- 1950 – Renate Stecher, German athlete

### 1951 – 1975

- 1954 – Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Icelandic movie director
- 1958 – Eric Singer, American musician (KISS)
- 1961 – Jennifer Armstrong, American writer
- 1961 – Billy Duffy, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor
- 1962 – Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1962 – April Grace, American actress
- 1963 – Stefano Modena, Italian racing driver
- 1963 – Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player and politician
- 1963 – Gavin Hood, South African actor, director, producer and screenwriter
- 1966 – Stephen Baldwin, American actor
- 1966 – Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian singer
- 1967 – Paul D'Amour, American singer and musician
- 1967 – Bill Shorten, Australian politician
- 1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
- 1968 – Catherine Tate, British comedienne
- 1969 – Kevin Nalty, American comedian and blogger
- 1970 – Mark Foster, British swimmer
- 1970 – Samantha Mathis, American actress
- 1974 – Marc Capdevila, Spanish swimmer
- 1974 – Taraneh Javanbakht, Iranian poet, writer, artist, scientist and activist
- 1975 – Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2015)

### From 1976

- 1977 – Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player
- 1978 – Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1978 – Jason Biggs, American actor
- 1978 – Josh Phelps, American baseball player
- 1980 – Felipe Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1981 – Kentaro Sato, Japanese–American composer and conductor
- 1981 – Rami Malek, American actor
- 1981 – Lorena Bernal, Argentine–Spanish model and actress
- 1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
- 1983 – Alina Kabayeva, Russian gymnast
- 1983 – Yujiro Kushida, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1983 – Francisco Javier Torres, Mexican footballer
- 1984 – Tommaso Reato, Italian rugby player
- 1984 – Justin Williams, American basketball player
- 1985 – Andrew Howe, Italian athlete
- 1986 – Jonathan Orozco, Mexican footballer
- 1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Robbie Rogers, American soccer player
- 1988 – Marcelo Vieira, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Erik Durm, German footballer
- 1992 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
- 1995 – Luke Benward, American actor
- 1995 – Sawyer Sweeten, American actor (d. 2015)
- 1995 – Sullivan Sweeten, American actor
- 2003 – Madeleine McCann, missing since 2007

### Up to 1900

- 1003 – Pope Silvester II
- 1012 – Pope Sergius IV
- 1182 – Valdemar I of Denmark (b. 1131)
- 1382 – Queen Joan I of Naples (b. 1327)
- 1465 – Thomas Palaeologus, titular Byzantine Emperor (b. 1409)
- 1641 – Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (b. 1593)
- 1684 – Edme Mariotte (b. 1620), French physicist and priest
- 1700 – John Dryden, English writer (b. 1631)
- 1708 – Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1658)
- 1784 – Abraham Trembley, Swiss naturalist (b. 1710)
- 1796 – Johann Peter Uz, German poet (b. 1720)
- 1845 – János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
- 1856 – Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist and astronomer (b. 1786)
- 1859 – Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer (b. 1791)
- 1860 – Charles Barry, English architect (b. 1795)
- 1864 – J.E.B. Stuart, American general (b. 1833)
- 1867 – Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
- 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
- 1884 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
- 1889 – John Cadbury, English chocolate entrepreneur (b. 1801)
- 1890 – Frances Parthenope Vernay, sister of Florence Nightingale (b. 1819)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French writer (b. 1848)
- 1913 – Enriqueta Marti, Spanish serial killer and kidnapper of children (b. 1868)
- 1916 – James Connolly, Irish socialist and Easter Rising leader (b. 1868)
- 1925 – Amy Lowell, poet (b. 1874)
- 1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish statesman (b. 1867)
- 1944 – Max Brand, writer (b. 1892)
- 1944 – Q, British writer (b. 1863)
- 1956 – Louis Calhern, movie actor (b. 1895)
- 1957 – Erich von Stroheim, movie director and actor (b. 1885)
- 1957 – Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and racing driver (b. 1928)
- 1963 – Bobby Kerr, Canadian runner (b. 1882)
- 1966 – Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German SS officer (b. 1896)
- 1967 – John Masefield, British writer (b. 1878)
- 1970 – Nelly Sachs, German writer (b. 1891)
- 1971 – Heinie Manush, American Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1901)
- 1973 – Frances Marion, American screenwriter and director (b. 1888)
- 1978 – Robert Coogan, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1985 – Jean Dubuffet, painter (b. 1901)
- 1986 – Elisabeth Bergner, actress (b. 1897)
- 1986 – Alicia Moreau de Justo, Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and activist (b. 1885)
- 1992 – Robert Reed, actor (b. 1932)
- 1994 – John Smith, British politician (b. 1938)
- 1994 – Erik Erikson, German psychoanalyst (b. 1902)
- 1995 – Mia Martini, Italian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1942)
- 2000 – Adam Petty, race car driver (b. 1980)

### From 2001

- 2001 – Perry Como, singer (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
- 2002 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian–American gangster (b. 1905)
- 2003 – Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1965 – 1977
- 2005 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1937)
- 2006 – Hussein Maziq, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1918)
- 2008 – Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (b. 1910)
- 2008 – Robert Rauschenberg, American painter (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Antonio Vega, Spanish singer (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Gerd Langguth, German professor of political science (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Constantino Romero, Spanish actor (b. 1947)
- 2014 – Jacinto Convit, Venezuelan doctor and scientist (b. 1913)
- 2014 – H. R. Giger, Swiss artist (b. 1940)
- 2014 – Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director and movie producer (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Lorenzo Zambrano, Spanish businessman, CEO of CEMEX (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian–German actress (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Nash the Slash, Canadian musician (b. 1948)
- 2015 – Peter Gay, German–American psychohistorian (b. 1923)
- 2015 – Suchitra Bhattacharya, Indian novelist (b. 1950)
- 2015 – William Zinsser, American writer (b. 1922)
- 2015 – William MacDonald, English–Australian serial killer (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Susannah Mushatt Jones, American supercentenarian (b. 1899)
- 2016 – Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Julius La Rosa, American pop singer (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Del Latta, American politician (b. 1920)
- 2016 – Yukio Ninagawa, Japanese film and theatre director (b. 1935)
- 2016 – Georges Sesia, French footballer (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Antonio Candido, Brazilian literary critic and sociologist (b. 1918)
- 2017 – Mauno Koivisto, 10th President of Finland (b. 1923)
- 2017 – Yale Lary, American football player, businessman and politician (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Henri Termeer, Dutch–American biotechnology expert (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Yu So-chow, Chinese actress (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Amotz Zahavi, Israeli evolutionary biologist (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Will Alsop, English architect (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Tessa Jowell, English politician (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Antonio Mercero, Spanish film and television director (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (b. 1945)
- 2018 – Kevin Tierney, Irish–Canadian film producer (b. 1950)
- 2018 – Donald Gary Young, American business executive (b. 1950)
- 2018 – Chuck Knox, American football coach (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Héctor Enrique Olivares, Argentine politician (b. 1958)
- 2019 – Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Lebanese Maronite cardinal (b. 1920)
- 2019 – Alan Skirton, English footballer (b. 1939)
- 2019 – Hiralal Yadav, Indian folk singer (b. 1925)

## Observances

- International Nurses' Day, in honour of Florence Nightingale
- Johan Vilhelm Snellman Day (Finland)