On this day in History - May 12

• 254 AD - St. Stephen I [Papa Estêvão I] began his reign as the 23rd Catholic Pope. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" he instituted the rule that clerics should wear special clothes at their ministrations.
• 1003 - Pope Silvester II dies
• 1012 - Pope Sergius IV dies
• 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 Kraków, the oldest university in Poland, was founded in Kraków, Poland.
• 1382 - Queen Joan I of Naples dies (b. 1327) .
• 1399 - Demetrius I Starshiy dies killed in battle (b. 1327)
• 1401 - Emperor Shoko of Japan was born (d. 1428) .
• 1465 - Thomas Palaeologus dies. Despot of the Despotate of Morea
• 1490 - Santa Joana, filha de D. Afonso V, falece no convento de Aveiro (n. 6 Fev 1452). Princesa de Portugal.
• 1496 - Gustav I of Sweden was born (d. 1560)
• 1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral parte para a Índia.
• 1539 - El gobernador de Cuba, Hernaldo de Soto, parte de La Habana con la empresa de conquistar Florida.
• 1551 - National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in South America, was founded in Lima, Peru.
• 1567 - Claudio Monteverdi was born. Italian composer.
• 1588 - French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city.
• 1590 - Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was born (d. 1621)
• 1626 - Louis Hennepin was born. Flemish Catholic missionary in North America.
• 1634 - George Chapman, English writer.
• 1641 - Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford dies (b. 1593). English statesman.
• 1670 - King Frederick Augustus I of Poland was born (d. 1733)
• 1684 - Edme Mariotte dies (b. 1620). French physicist and priest.
• 1689 - King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
• 1699 - Lucas Achtschellinck dies (b. 1626). Flemish painter.
• 1700 - Luigi Vanvitelli was born (d. 1773). Italian architect.
• 1700 - John Dryden dies (b. 1631). English writer.
• 1708 - Adolf Friedrich II of Mecklenburg-Strelitz dies (b. 1658)
• 1725 - Louis Philip I, Duke of Orléans was born (d. 1785). French soldier and writer.
• 1733 - Maria Theresa was crowned queen of Bohemia in Prague.
• 1748 - Thomas Lowndes dies (b. 1692). English astronomer.
• 1759 - Lambert-Sigisbert Adam dies (b. 1700). French sculptor.
• 1767 - Manuel de Godoy was born (d. 1851). Spanish statesman.
• 1769 - Alvará régio português que combate a consolidação dos prazos das igrejas (legislação sobre a enfiteuse).
• 1776 - José de La Mar was born. Peruvian President.
• 1780 - American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
• 1784 - Abraham Trembley dies (b. 1710). Swiss naturalist.
• 1792 - Charles Simon Favart dies (b. 1710). French dramatist
• 1796 - Johann Peter Uz dies (b. 1720). German poet.
• 1797 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
• 1801 - Nicholas Repnin dies (b. 1734). Russian statesman.
• 1803 - A guerra recomeça na Europa, com a denúncia do Tratado de Amiens, assinado em 1801.
• 1803 - Justus von Liebig was born (d. 1873). German chemist.
• 1806 - Johan Vilhelm Snellman was born (d. 1881). Finnish statesman,
• 1812 - Edward Lear was born (d. 1888). English author and poet.
• 1816 - Edmund Beckett Denison (Lord Grimthorpe) was born (d. 29 Apr 1905). British lawyer and horologist (Big Ben).
• 1820 - Florence Nightingale, was born in Florence, UItaly (d. 1910). Crimean War nurse known as “Lady with the Lamp,”. She is also known as the founder of modern nursing.
• 1828 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born (d. 1882). English poet and painter.
• 1832 - Gaetano Donizetti's opera "L'elisir d'amore," premiered in Milan.
• 1837 - Evaristo da Veiga dies. Brazilian journalist, writer and politician.
• 1842 - Jules Massenet was born. French composer.
• 1845 - Gabriel Fauré was born (d. 1924). French composer.
• 1845 - János Bacsanyi dies (b. 1763). Hungarian poet.
• 1850 - Henry Cabot Lodge was born (d. 1924). U. S. statesman.
• 1855 - Hermes da Fonseca was born (d. 9 Sep 1923). Brazilian President (15 Nov 1910 -14 Nov 1914).
• 1859 - Sergei Aksakov dies (b. 1791). Russian writer.
• 1860 - Charles Barry dies (b. 1795). English architect.
• 1862 - U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".
• 1864 - J. E. B. Stuart dies (b. 1833). American soldier from Virginia and a Confederate Army general (b. 1833)
• 1867 - Hugh Trumble was born (d. 1938). Australian test cricketer.
• 1867 - Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard dies (b. 1795). German archaeologist.
• 1870 - Manitoba becomes a province of Canada.
• 1871 - Anselme Payen dies (b. 1795). French physicist.
• 1873 - Oscar II of Sweden-Norway is crowned King of Sweden.
• 1880 - Lincoln Ellsworth - was born (d. 1951). American scientist and polar explorer.
• 1881 - In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate (The Treaty of Bardo) .
• 1884 - Bedřich Smetana dies (b. 1824). Czech composer.
• 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. against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
• 1886 - Numa Convenção luso-francesa, foram definidas as fronteiras entre Angola e o Congo francês
• 1889 - Otto Frank was born (d. 1980). Writer, father of Anne Frank
• 1889 - John Cadbury dies (b. 1801). English chocolate entrepreneur.
• 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.
• 1891 - Nace en Olinalá, Guerrero, Juan Andrew Almazán, quien en 1911 se pronunciará contra el maderismo para unirse a Zapata.En 1940 será candidato a la Presidencia de la República, junto con el general Manuel Ávila Camacho, quien resultará ganador.
• 1892 - Fritz Kortner was born (d. 1970). Austrian-born director.
• 1895 - William Giauque was born (d. 1982). Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1899 - Indra Devi was born (d. 2002). Yogi.
• 1899 - Nace en Guaymas, Sonora, Abelardo L. Rodríguez, quien habrá de distinguirse como revolucionario y político. En 1928 ascenderá a general de división y será Presidente de la República de septiembre de 1933 a noviembre de 1934.
• 1900 - Helene Weigel was born (d. 1971). German actress.
• 1902 - Heinrich Kirchner was born. German sculptor.
• 1907 - Katharine Hepburn was born (d. 2003). American actress earned who earned four Academy Awards.
• 1907 - Leslie Charteris [Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin] was born in Singapore (d. 15 Apr 1993). English author (The Saint).
• 1907 - Joris-Karl Huysmans dies (b. 1848). French author.
• 1908 - Muere en la ciudad de México, donde naciera en 1838, el distinguido compositor musical Melesio Morales, iniciador en el país de la escuela italiana. Indirectamente fue el creador del Conservatorio Nacional de Música
• 1910 - Charles B. Fulton was born (d. 1996). American jurist.
• 1910 - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin was born (d. 1994). British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1911 - El aviador y constructor de aviones francés Edouard Nieuport logra la plusmarca de velocidad en el aire al alcanzar 120 kilómetros por hora.
• 1912 - Archibald Cox was born. U.S. Solicitor General and Watergate special prosecutor
• 1913 - Jamelão was born. Brazilian singer.
• 1914 - Howard K. Smith was born (d. 2002). American journalist.
• 1914 - Bertus Aafjes was born (d. 1993). Dutch poet.
• 1917 - Frank Clair was born. Canadian football coach
• 1918 - Julius Rosenberg was born (d. 1953). American spy.
• 1921 - Ruth de Souza was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1921 - Emilia Pardo Bazán dies. Writer.
• 1921 - Joseph Beuys was born († 23 Jan 1986). German artist.
• 1921 - Farley Mowat was born. Canadian writer and naturalist.
• 1924 - Tony Hancock was born (d. 1968). Bristish comedian.
• 1925 - Yogi Berra was born in St. Louis, Missouri. American baseball player, manager and coach
• 1925 - Paul von Hindenburg substitui Walter Simons na presidência da Alemanha.
• 1925 - Amy Lowell dies (b. 1874). American poet.
• 1926 - UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a 9-day general strike by trade unions ends.
• 1926 - Aboard the semirigid airship Norge, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, American scientist Lincoln Ellsworth, and Italian engineer Umberto Nobile made the first undisputed flight over the North Pole.
• 1928 - Burt Bacharach was born. American composer .
• 1929 - Sam Nujoma was born. Namibian politician.
• 1929 - Einar Arnaldur Melax was born. Islandese musician and composer.
• 1930 - A Pulitzer prize was awarded to Marc Connelly (Green Pastures).
• 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.
• 1934 - "Cocktails For Two" by Duke Ellington hit #1.
• 1935 - Felipe Alou was born. Major League Baseball manager.
• 1935 - Jósef Piłsudski dies (b. 1867). Polish statesman.
• 1936 - Manuel Alegre was born in Águeda. Portuguese poet and politician.
• 1936 - Frank Stella was born. American painter
• 1936 - Tom Snyder was born. American journalist and TV personality
• 1936 - Las cortes aprueban la elección de Manuel Azaña como presidente de la República española.
• 1937 - Coronation of King George VI of Britain at Westminster Abbey after Edward VIII abdication.
• 1937 - George Carlin was born. American comedian.
• 1937 - Beryl Burton was born. English cyclist.
• 1939 - Ron Ziegler was born (d. 2003). White House Press Secretary.
• 1942 - Ian Dury was born (d. 2000). British rock star.
• 1942 - World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov - In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates a major offensive. During the battle the Soviets will capture the city of Kharkov from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
• 1942 - 1,500 Jews were gassed in Auschwitz.
• 1944 - Max Brand dies. American author.
• 1944 - Q dies (b. 1863). British writer.
• 1948 - Steve Winwood was born. English singer, songwriter and musician ("Blind Faith", "Traffic")
• 1949 - Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its Blockade of Berlin.
• 1950 - Bruce Boxleitner was born. American actor.
• 1950 - Billy Squier was born. American singer, songwriter and guitarist.
• 1950 - Gabriel Byrne was born. Irish actor.
• 1951 - Estados Unidos hace explotar la primera “Bomba-H” sobre las islas Marshall, ubicadas en el Océano Pacífico.
• 1952 - Gaj Singh crowned Maharaja of Jodhpur.
• 1955 - Kix Brooks was born. American musician
• 1956 - Bernie Federko was born. Canadian ice hockey player
• 1956 - Louis Calhern dies (b. 1895). American film actor.
• 1957 - Erik von Stronheim dies of cancer in Paris (b. 1885) . Austrian-US actor and director. His films included "Grand Illusion", "The Merry Widow" and "Greed". In 2000 Arthur Lennig published the biography "Stroheim".
• 1958 - A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
• 1961 - Ving Rhames was born. American actor.
• 1961 - Bruce McCulloch was born. Canadian actor, writer, and comedian (Kids in the Hall)
• 1961 - Lar Park Lincoln was born. American actress
• 1961 - Billy Duffy was born. British rock guitarist (The Cult)
• 1962 - Douglas MacArthur delivers his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" valedictory speech at West Point.
• 1962 - Emilio Estevez was born. American actor
• 1963 - Vanessa Williams was born. American actress
• 1963 - Bobby Kerr dies (b. 1882). Canadian runner.
• 1964 - Brett Gurewitz was born. American guitarist for Bad Religion and NOFX
• 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.
• 1966 - Stephen Baldwin was born. American actor.
• 1966 - Bebel Gilberto was born. Brazilian singer and composer.
• 1967 - At Queen Elizabeth Hall, England, Pink Floyd stages the first-ever quadraphonic rock concert.
• 1967 - John Masefield dies (b. 1878). British writer.
• 1968 - Tony Hawk was born. American skateboarding legend
• 1969 - Kim Fields was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Ernie Banks becomes the ninth member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1970 - Secretário was born. Portuguese footballer.
• 1970 - Mike Weir was born. Canadian golfer, 2003 Masters champion
• 1970 - Jim Furyk was born. American golfer.
• 1970 - Nelly Sachs dies (b. 1891). German writer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1971 - Sofia Coppola was born. American actress and director
• 1971 - Heinie Manush dies (b. 1901). Baseball Hall of Famer.
• 1972 - Chile: Salvador Allende nacionaliza la compañía norteamericana ITT.
• 1972 - The Rolling Stones release Exile On Main Street, often considered their best album.
• 1972 - Alfredo Rizzotti dies (b. 1909). Brazilian painter.
• 1975 - Mayagüez incident: The Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
• 1975 - Jonah Lomu was born. New Zealand rugby player
• 1977 - Graeme Dott was born. Scottish snooker player
• 1978 - Jason Biggs was born. American actor (American Pie)
• 1978 - Hossein Reza Zadeh was born. Iranian weightlifter
• 1978 - In Zaïre, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba. The government of Zaïre asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
• 1981 - Kentaro Sato was born. Japanese composer.
• 1985 - Jean Dubuffet dies (b. 1901). French painter.
• 1986 - Elisabeth Bergner dies (b. 1897). Austrian actress.
• 1989 - A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails on Duffy Street on the very steep Cajon Pass in San Bernardino, California.
• 1990 - Chen Kenmin dies (b. 1912). Japanese chef.
• 1992 - Malcolm David Kelley was born. American child actor.
• 1992 - Robert Reed dies (b. 1932). American actor.
• 1993 - Kayla Rolland was born (d. 2000). School shooting victim.
• 1994 - John Smith dies (b. 1938). British politician.
• 1994 - Erik Erikson dies (b. 1902). German psychoanalyst.
• 1995 - Mia Martini dies (b. 1947). Italian singer.
• 1995 - Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten were born. American child actors
• 1995 - Jean Carlos Chera was born. Brazilian football prodigy
• 1995 - Sawyer Sweeten was born. Actor.
• 1995 - Sullivan Sweeten, was born. Actor.
• 1971 - Comienza a funcionar el primer radiotelescopio del mundo en la RFA.
• 1972 - The Rolling Stones release Exile On Main Street, often considered their best album.
• 1975 - Mayagüez incident: The Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
• 1977 - Portugal e Israel estabeleceram relações diplomáticas
• 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.
• 1982 - In Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who was trying to reach Pope John Paul II.
• 1985 - Jean Dubuffet dies (b. 1901). Painter.
• 1986 - Elisabeth Bergner dies (b. 1897). Actress.
• 1986 - Muere Alicia Moreau de Justo, periodista y política argentina, esposa del médico y político socialista Juan B. Justo.
• 1987 - Doble operación de trasplante en Baltimore (EEUU): el corazón de un hombre vivo de 28 años es injertado en otro enfermo cardíaco y el donante recibe el pulmón y corazón de una víctima de accidente de tráfico.
• 1989 - A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails on Duffy Street on the very steep Cajon Pass in San Bernardino, California
• 1989 - Amália Rodrigues, fadista portuguesa, após ter actuado no Olympia, é condecorada com a Medalha de Ouro da Cidade de Paris.
• 1992 - Robert Reed dies (b. 1932). Actor.
• 1994 - John Smith dies (b. 1938). British politician.
• 1995 - El actor, escritor y director de cine Fernando Fernán-Gómez es galardonado con el Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Artes.
• 1997 - In the 7th inning of a baseball game between the Anaheim Angels and the Chicago White Sox, the Angels score 13 runs.
• 1999 - David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
• 1999 - In Russia Pres. Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and named Sergei Stepashin, a top police official, to head a new government.
• 1999 - Saul Steinberg dies (b. 1914). Romanian-American cartoonis.
• 2000 - The Tate Modern art gallery opens in London.
• 2000 - Adam Petty, dies (b. 1980). American race car driver.
• 2001 - Perry Como dies (b. 1912). American singer.
• 2001 - Dave Benton win the forty-sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Estonia singing "Everybody".
• 2001 - Didi (Valdir Pereira) dies (b. 08 Oct 1929). Brazilian footballer.
• 2002 - Former 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.
• 2002 - Erich Kulas dies. ECW Wrestler (Mass Transit) .
• 2003 - The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by Al Qaeda, kill 26.
• 2003 - Sadruddin Aga Khan dies (b. 1933). French UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
• 2004 - A wildlife group warned that world cod stocks were falling and could be wiped out in 15 years if the current rate of over fishing continues (Lá se vai o nosso "bacalhauzinho").
  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1965 - 1977).
• 2005 - Monica Zetterlund dies (b. 1937). Swedish actress and singer.
• 2005 - Martin Lings dies (b. 1909). British Islamic scholar.
• Israel - Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israeli Independence Day) for 2005: the observed date of this national holiday is determined by the Jewish Calendar.
• Buddhism in Thailand - Visakha Bucha (2006)
• International Nurses Day.
• Municipal Holiday in Aveiro (Portugal)