✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 132nd day of the year

May 12

A look at May 12 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Otto Frank and Dorothy Hodgkin, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley
Advertisement 728 × 90 leaderboard

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2017

    WannaCry ransomware attack

    The WannaCry ransomware attack impacts over 400,000 computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom's National Health Services and Telefónica computers.

    2017 worldwide ransomware cyberattack
  2. 2015

    May 2015 Nepal earthquake

    Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3,500.

    7.3 magnitude earthquake near
  3. 2015

    2015 Philadelphia train derailment

    A train derailment in Philadelphia, United States, kills eight people and injures more than 200.

    Passenger rail crash in
  4. 1982

    Mary, mother of Jesus

    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.

    Mother of Jesus
  5. 1968

    Vietnam War

    Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.

    1955–1975 war in Southeast
  6. 1942

    World War II

    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.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  7. 1941

    Konrad Zuse

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

    German computer scientist and
  8. 1926

    Norge (airship)

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

    Italian polar-expedition airship
  9. 1862

    American Civil War

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

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  10. 1846

    Donner Party

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

    19th-century group of American
Advertisement Responsive in-content unit

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 12

Otto Frank

b. 1889

German-Swiss businessman and Holocaust survivor; father of diarist Anne Frank

Dorothy Hodgkin

b. 1910

English biochemist, crystallographer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Justus von Liebig

b. 1803

German chemist and academic

Chris Patten

b. 1944

English academic and politician, 28th Governor of Hong Kong

Florence Nightingale

b. 1820

Italian-English nurse, social reformer, and statistician

Marcelo (footballer, born 1988)

b. 1988

Brazilian footballer

Gustav Vasa

b. 1496

King of Sweden from 1523 to 1560

Augustus II the Strong

b. 1670

Polish king

Deaths

  • 2017Mauno Koivisto, Finnish banker and politician, ninth President of Finland
  • 1993Zeno Colò, Italian Olympic alpine skier
  • 1970Nelly Sachs, German poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1966Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer
  • 1935Józef Piłsudski, Polish field marshal and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Poland
  • 1884Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer and educator

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Joan of Portugal
  • —Christian feast day: Crispoldus
  • —Christian feast day: Dominic de la Calzada
  • —Christian feast day: Epiphanius of Salamis
  • —Christian feast day: Gregory Dix (Church of England)
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Imelda Lambertini
  • —Christian feast day: Modoald
  • —Christian feast day: Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancras

Born on this day?

Make your birthday card.

Drop in your birth year and we'll work out your exact age, the day of the week you were born, your Chinese zodiac, your generation, and the countdown to your next candle.