Date·Lore

On This Day · The 132nd day of the year

May 12

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Norge (airship) — May 12 carries the weight of round numbers. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

♉ZodiacTaurus ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley

Taurus is the sign for May 12 — read more on the Taurus page, or see May's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on May 12?

May 12 is the 132nd day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1846 and 2017. Famous people born on May 12 include Otto Frank, Dorothy Hodgkin and Justus von Liebig.

Released on May 12

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Movie The Punisher: One Last Kill
  • Game Call of the Elder Gods
  • Game Directive 8020
  • Game Nitro Gen Omega

2023

  • Game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Game Bum Simulator

2022

  • Game The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1846

    Donner Party

  2. 1862

    American Civil War

  3. 1926

    Norge (airship)

  4. 1941

    Konrad Zuse

  5. 1942

    World War II

  6. 1968

    Vietnam War

  7. 1982

    Mary, mother of Jesus

  8. 2015

    May 2015 Nepal earthquake

  9. 2015

    2015 Philadelphia train derailment

  10. 2017

    WannaCry ransomware attack

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 12

Otto Frank

b. 1889

Dorothy Hodgkin

b. 1910

Justus von Liebig

b. 1803

Chris Patten

b. 1944

Florence Nightingale

b. 1820

Marcelo (footballer, born 1988)

b. 1988

Gustav Vasa

b. 1496

Augustus II the Strong

b. 1670

Deaths

  • 2017Mauno Koivisto
  • 1993Zeno Colò
  • 1970Nelly Sachs
  • 1966Felix Steiner
  • 1935Józef Piłsudski
  • 1884Bedřich Smetana

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

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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