Events in History
- 1091 Battle at Monte Levunium: Byzantium Emperor Alexius I beats Petshegene force invading from the north
Event of Interest
1429 Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orleans
Joan of Arc
- 1540 Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Ghent ended
- 1550 Emperor Charles V gives inquisiters additional authority
- 1553 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England
- 1587 Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain & sinks Spanish fleet ("singeing the King of Spain's beard")
- 1623 11 Dutch ships depart for the conquest of Peru
- 1628 Sweden & Denmark sign defense treaty against Duke of Wallenstein
Event of Interest
1636 Prince Frederick Henry occupies Schenkenschans fortress after a nine-month siege during the Dutch Revolt
Frederick Henry
Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar
1701 Drenthe, Netherlands, adopts Gregorian calendar, tomorrow is May 12, 1701
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Event of Interest
1715 English Astronomer John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time
John Flamsteed
Historic Invention
1769 Scottish engineer James Watt's patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser enrolled (Patent 913)
James Watt
Historic Expedition
1834 Charles Darwin's expedition sees the top of the Andes Mountains from Patagonia
Charles Darwin
- 1845 Macon B. Allen & Robert Morris Jr are 1st African Americans to open a law practice in the US
Peter Mark Roget
- 1853 Comet C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 AUs of Earth
- 1854 Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, receives its charter from Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, making it the 1st degree-granting Black college in US
- 1857 US Army, Pacific Div HQ permanently forms at Presidio (San Francisco)
- 1861 Maryland's House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union (US Civil War)
- 1862 100,000 federal troops prepare to march into Corinth, Mississippi
- 1862 New Orleans falls to Union forces during US Civil War
- 1863 Battle of Grand Gulf, Mississippi: Union navy ironclad warships attack Confederate fortifications
- 1864 -30] Skirmish at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas
- 1864 The Theta Xi fraternity is founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York
Battle of Gate Pā
1864 Battle of Gate Pa (Pukehinahina): 1,700 British troops suffer their worst defeat of the New Zealand Wars at the hands of 230 entrenched Maori warriors in Tauranga
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Event of Interest
1882 The "Elektromote" - forerunner of the trolleybus - is tested by Werner von Siemens in Berlin
Werner von Siemens
- 1886 1st public Dutch electricity service begins
Meeting of Interest
1888 Old Kavallison, Congo: Henry Morton Stanley meets Emin Pasha
Henry Morton Stanley
- 1894 The 500-strong Commonwealth of Christ (Coxey's Army) arrives in Washington, D.C., to protest against unemployment; Coxey arrested for trespassing at Capitol
- 1901 Antisemitic riot in Budapest
- 1902 Congress extends the Chinese Exclusion Act (of 1882) prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers from territories to the mainland, a rule clearly aimed at Chinese in the Philippines
- 1903 Limestone slides at Turtle Mountain kill 9 in Frank, Alberta
- 1905 2" rain falls in 10 mins in Taylor, Texas
- 1905 Pierre de Brazza lands in Libreville, Gabon
Event of Interest
1910 Ex-US President Theodore Roosevelt visits Amsterdam
Theodore Roosevelt
- 1912 108°F (42°C), Tuguegarao, Philippines (Oceania record)
Easter Proclamation of 1916
1916 Irish republicans abandon the post office in Dublin and surrender unconditionally, marking the end of the Easter Rising
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- 1920 Duke Kahanamoku wins his 2nd gold medal of the day in the winning American 4 x 200m freestyle relay team with Perry McGillivray, Pua Kealoha and Norman Ross in world record 10:04.4
- 1926 France and US reach accord on repayment of WW I
- 1927 Construction of Spirit of St Louis (the monoplane which Charles Lindburgh was to fly across the Atlantic) is completed
- 1930 North Sea floodgate at Ijmuiden (biggest in world) officially opens
- 1930 Telephone connection Britain-Australia goes into service
- 1937 Symbolic 'Golden Rivet', completing the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, is driven (later replaced with a more structurally sound steel version)
- 1939 Whitestone Bridge connecting the New York boroughs of Bronx and Queens opens
- 1940 Norwegian King Haakon & government flee to Britain
- 1940 Robert Sherwood's play "There Shall be No Night" premieres in NYC
- 1942 Japanese troop march into Lashio, cutting off Burma Road
- 1942 Jews forced to wear a Jewish Star in Netherlands & Vichy-France
- 1943 German pastor and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrested by the Gestapo
- 1943 US 34th Division occupies Hill 609, North Tunisia
- 1944 Raid by Dutch Resistance on the National Printing Office in The Hague to procure 10,000 Dutch identity cards.
- 1945 First food drop by RAF above Nazi-occupied Holland (Operation Manna)
- 1945 Japanese army evacuates Rangoon, British Burma
- 1945 German armies in Italy sign an unconditional surrender to the Western Allies to be carried out on 2 May
- 1945 US Army liberates 31,601 people from the Dachau Nazi concentration camp in Germany
- 1945 Venice and Mestre captured by the Allies
- 1946 28 former Japanese leaders indicted in Tokyo as war criminals
- 1951 China seizes the assets of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, a joint venture between the Shell and Royal Dutch oil companies in retaliation for the Hong Kong Government's requisitioning of the tanker Yung Hao
- 1955 Giovanni Gronchi elected third President of Italy
- 1957 1st military nuclear power plant dedicated at Fort Belvoir, Virginia
- 1962 16th Tony Awards: "A Man For All Seasons" & "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" win
- 1963 KRE-AM in Berkeley CA changes call letters to KPAT
- 1964 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1965 Australian government announces it would send troops to Vietnam
- 1965 Earthquake hits Seattle; 5 die
- 1965 Malta becomes 18th member of Council of Europe
- 1970 US and South Vietnamese forces launch an incursion into Cambodia, expanding the Vietnam War
- 1971 Boeing receives contract for Mariner 10, Mercury exploration
- 1971 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Event of Interest
1974 US President Richard Nixon said he will release edited tapes made in the White House
Richard Nixon
- 1975 Ethiopia nationalizes all land
The Fall of Saigon
1975 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war
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- 1975 Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge are the last two United States servicemen killed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War
- 1976 Minister Irene Vorrink begins fluoridating Dutch drinking water
- 1977 British Aerospace forms
- 1980 Corazones Unidos Siempre Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Inc. is founded
- 1982 Alfredo Magana elected President of El Salvador
Murder of Interest
1982 American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski murders pharmacist Paul Hoffman by beating him with a tire iron
Richard Kuklinski
- 1983 Harold Washington sworn in as Chicago's 1st African American mayor
- 1985 17th space shuttle mission (51-B)-Challenger 7 launched
- 1985 Ranger Larry Parrish is 5th to hit 3 HRs in a game in both leagues
- 1986 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library
- 1987 Japan's premier Nakasone visits the US
- 1989 2nd government of Lubbers falls in the Netherlands
- 1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
- 1990 US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) returns from space
- 1991 Cyclone strikes the Chittagong district in Bangladesh, killing 139,000 people and leaving 10 million homeless
- 1991 Earthquake in Georgia, kills 100
Birthdays in History
- 534 Taliesin, Welsh poet, according to legend in Mabinogion
- 1636 Esaias Reusner, German lutenist and composer, born in Lwówek Śląski, Poland (d. 1679)
- 1665 James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier, born in Dublin (d. 1745)
- 1667 John Arbuthnot, Scottish mathematician and writer (Scriblerus Club), born in Inverbervie, Scotland (d. 1735)
- 1686 Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (d. 1742)
- 1745 Oliver Ellsworth, 3rd Chief Justice Supreme Court (1796-1800), born in Windsor, Connecticut, British America (d. 1807)
- 1758 Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish Lieutenant General and war hero, born in Stora Torpa, Västergötland, Sweden (d. 1820)
- 1762 Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French marshal, born in Limoges, France (d. 1833)
- 1780 Charles Nodier, French writer (History du chien the Brisquet), born in Besançon, France (d. 1844)
- 1783 David Cox, English painter (Treatise on landscape painting), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1856)
- 1784 Samuel Turell Armstrong, American politician and acting Governor of Massachusetts (1833- 36), born in Dorchester, Massachusetts (d. 1850)
James Brooke
1803 James Brooke, British adventurer and 1st Rajah of Sarawak (1841-68), born in Bandel, near Calcutta, Bengal, British India (d. 1868)
James Brooke
Alexander II
1818 Alexander II, Tsar of Russia (1855-81), born in the Moscow Kremlin in Russia (d. 1881)
Alexander II
- 1830 Adolph Sutro, German American engineer and politician, mayor of San Francisco, built Cliff House, born in Aachen, Prussia (d. 1898)
- 1837 Georges Boulanger, French general and politician, born in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, France (d. 1891)
- 1848 Raja Ravi Varma, Indian painter, born in Kilimanoor, Travancore (d. 1906)
- 1854 Henri Poincaré, French mathematician (Poincaré conjecture), born in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France (d. 1912)
- 1857 Édouard Rod, France-Swiss writer (Mishel' Tes'e), born in Nyon, Switzerland (d. 1910)
- 1860 Lorado Taft, American sculptor (Black Hawk), born in Elmwood, Illinois (d. 1936)
William Randolph Hearst
1863 William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher (San Francisco Examiner, Seattle P-I), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1951)
William Randolph Hearst
- 1863 Constantine P Cavafy, Egyptian Greek poet, journalist and civil servant, born in Alexandria, Egypt Province, Ottoman Empire (d. 1933)
- 1863 Mary Theresa Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic nun (founded the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver), born in Loosdorf, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire (d. 1922)
- 1871 William Stern, German-American philosopher (Intelligence of Children), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1938)
- 1875 Rafael Sabatini, Italian-British writer (The Sea Hawk), born in Iesi, Italy (d. 1950)
- 1876 Zewditu, Empress of Ethiopia (1916-30), born in Werreyimenu, Wollo, Ethiopia (d. 1930)
- 1882 Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch artist (The Blue Barge) and resistance fighter, born in Leens, Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1945)
- 1885 Egon Kisch, Austrian-Czech writer and journalist (Rasende Reporter), born in Prague (d. 1948)
- 1893 Elisaveta Bagriana, Bulgarian poet (The Eternal and the Holy), born in Sofia, Bulgaria (d. 1991)
- 1893 Harold Urey, American physical chemist (Deuterium, Nobel 1934), born in Walkerton, Indiana (d. 1981)
- 1896 Walter Mehring, German writer (Die Gedichte, Lieder und Chansons des Walter Mehring), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1981)
- 1897 Bernard Verhoeven, Dutch poet (Pleidooi near een non), born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1965)
- 1901 G. O. Sayles, English historian, born in Chesterfield, England (d. 1994)
- 1904 Enrico Mattei, Italian oil magnate (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi), born in Acqualagna, Italy (d. 1962)
- 1907 Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director (From Here to Eternity, Julia), born in Rzeszów, Austria-Hungary (d. 1997)
- 1908 Jack Williamson, American sci-fi author (Cometeers), born in Brisbee, Arizona Territory (d. 2006)
- 1909 Daniel Mayer, French journalist and resistance fighter, born in Paris (d. 1996)
- 1912 Italo Valenti, Italian sculptor, born in Milan (d. 1995)
- 1912 Terence de Vere White, Irish novelist (An Affair with the Moon), born in Dublin (d. 1994)
- 1921 Cornelis de Jager, Dutch astronomer (Sun), born in Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands
- 1922 Parren Mitchell, American politician (Rep-D-MD, 1971-87), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2007)
- 1923 Irvin Kershner, American director (Never Say Never Again), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1926 Carrie Meek, American politician (Rep-D-Florida 1993-2003), born in Tallahassee, Florida
- 1927 Betsy Ancker-Johnson, American physicist and auto company executive, born in St. Louis, Missouri
- 1929 Walter Kempowski, German writer (German Chronicle), born in Rostock (d. 2007)
- 1929 [John] Jeremy Thorpe, British politician, Leader of the Liberal Party (Norman Scott scandal), born in London, England (d. 2014)
- 1931 Aleksei Aleksandrovich Gubarev, USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 17, 28)
- 1931 Frank Auerbach, German-born British painter
- 1932 Yevgeni Alekseyevich Zaikin, Russian cosmonaut (Voshkod 2 backup)
- 1933 Mark Eyskens [Marc Maria Frans, Viscount Eyskens], Belgian economist and Prime Minister of Belgium (1981), born in Leuven, Belgium
- 1934 Pedro Pires, President of Cape Verde (2001-2011), Prime Minister of Cape Verde (1975-91), born in Fogo, Cape Verde
- 1936 Jacob Rothschild, English banker and multi-millionaire, born in Berkshire, England
- 1937 Jill Paton Walsh, English writer (Peter Wimsey series, Knowledge of Angels), born in London, England (d. 2020) [1]
Bernie Madoff
1938 Bernard "Bernie" Madoff, American fraudster and financier who committed the largest fraud in US history, born in Queens, New York (d. 2021)
Bernie Madoff
- 1941 Jonah Barrington, British World champion squash player (1966-73)
Ian Kershaw
1943 Ian Kershaw, English historian (wrote seminal biographies of Adolf Hitler), born in Oldham, England
Ian Kershaw
- 1944 Benedikte, Danish princess and second daughter of Frederick IX, born in Amalienborg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark
- 1946 Franc Roddam, English director ( Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Quadrophenia), born in Norton, England
- 1947 Olavo de Carvalho, Brazilian polemicist and right wing conspiracy theorist, born in Campinas, Brazil
- 1948 Bruce Cutler, American attorney (defended John Gotti)
- 1950 Debbie Stabenow, American politician (Senator-D-Michigan 2001-), born in Gladwin, Michigan
- 1952 David Icke, English writer and conspiracy theorist, born in Leicester, England
- 1953 Nikolai Nikolayevich Budarin, Russian cosmonaut (STS 71, TM-27), born in Kirya, Russia
- 1954 Bill Paxon, American politician (Rep-R-New York 1989-99), born in Arkon, New York
- 1957 Timothy Treadwell, American bear enthusiast (d. 2003)
- 1960 Robert J. Sawyer, Canadian sci-fi writer, born in Ottawa, Ontario
- 1973 David Belle, French physical educator (founded Parkour), born in Fécamp, France
- 1975 Béres Zoo, Hungarian radio shock jock DJ, born in Budapest, Hungary
- 2003 Maud Behn, Princess of Norway
- 2007 Infanta Sofía of Spain, Princess of Spain
Weddings in History
Wedding of Interest
1885 Novelist Edith Wharton (23) weds Edward Robbins Wharton (35)
Edith Wharton
Wedding of Interest
1945 Adolf Hitler (56) marries Eva Braun (33) in the Führerbunker, Berlin
Adolf Hitler
- 1964 Princess Irene marries Spanish prince Carel Hugo de Bourbon Parma
Wedding of Interest
2011 Royal wedding of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Catherine [Kate] Middleton held at Westminister Abbey, London
Kate Middleton
Prince William
Deaths in History
- 852 Amalarius [Fortunatus] Frankish Bishop of Metz and Lyon, dies at 76
- 926 Burchard II, Duke of Swabia
- 1380 Catherine of Siena, Italian Dominican saint and Doctor of the Church (The Dialogue of Divine Providence), dies at 33
- 1499 John IV, Dutch army leader, Earl of Egmond, dies
- 1594 Thomas Cooper, English bishop, lexicographer, and writer
- 1630 Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet (b. 1552)
- 1658 John Cleveland, English poet (b. 1613)
- 1676 Michiel A. de Ruyter, Dutch rear-admiral, (Newport), killed at 69
- 1698 Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b. 1655)
- 1699 Samuel Apostool, Flemish religious preacher (Zonisten), dies at 50
- 1707 George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (b. 1678)
- 1743 Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (b. 1658)
- 1768 Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and minerologist, dies at 73
- 1776 Edward Wortley Montagu, English traveler and writer (b. 1713)
- 1793 Yechezkel Landau, Polish rabbi and Talmudist, dies at 79
- 1793 John Michell, English scientist and polymath, first to propose existence of black holes (b. 1724)
- 1798 Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, Austrian entomologist, dies at 74
- 1841 (Louis) "Aloysius" Bertrand, French poet (Gaspard de la Nuit - Gaspard of the Night), and playwright, dies of tuberculosis at 34
- 1854 Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general, dies at 85
- 1864 Charles-Julien Brianchon, French mathematician (Brianchon's theorem), dies at 80
Abraham Gesner
1864 Abraham Gesner, Canadian geologist (inventor of kerosene), dies at 66
Abraham Gesner
- 1867 Cadwalader Ringgold, American Commander (Union Navy), dies at 64
- 1871 John Gelinde van Blom, Frisian poet, dies at 75
- 1879 Douglas H. Cooper, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 63
- 1891 Armistead Lindsay Long, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 65
- 1903 Paul du Chaillu, French American explorer (first modern explorer to confirm existence of gorillas and pygmies) dies between 61-73 [birth date disputed] (b. c. 1835)
- 1916 Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician (Gram-Schmidt process), dies at 65
- 1920 William Henry Seward, Jr., Union Brigadier General in the American Civil War (b. 1839)
- 1928 Henrich Federer, Swiss writer (I Switch Off The Light), dies at 61
- 1933 Constantine P. Cavafy, Egyptian Greek poet, journalist and civil servant, dies at 70
- 1936 Florentinus M. Wibaut, Amsterdam social alderman, dies at 76
- 1937 Wallace Carothers, American chemist and inventor (nylon), commits suicide at 41
- 1943 Sidney Keyes, English poet (Foreign Gate), dies fighting during WWII at 20
- 1944 Bernardino Machado, President of Portugal (1915–17, 1925–26), dies at 93
- 1944 Billy Bitzer, American cinematography pioneer, dies at 72
- 1945 Matthias Kleinheisterkamp, German SS officer (b. 1893)
- 1947 Irving Fisher, US economist, dies at 80
- 1951 Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austria English philosopher (Philosophical Investigations), dies at 62
- 1953 Moïse Kisling, Polish-French painter (La souris boiteuse), dies at 62
- 1954 Ernst Heldring, Dutch ship owner and financier, dies at 82
- 1964 Albert Saverys, Flemish painter, dies at 77
- 1972 Ntare V, deposed King of Burundi, killed in an abortive coup
- 1975 Darwin Judge, USMC-corporal, 1 of last US soldiers killed in Vietnam
- 1975 Michael John Shea, USMC-lt/pilot, 1 of last soldiers killed in Vietnam
- 1975 William Craig Nystul, USMC capt, 1 of last US soldiers killed in Vietnam
- 1986 Seamus McElwaine, Irish IRA-terrorist, killed at 25
- 1991 Claude Gallimard, French publisher, dies
- 1993 Cy Howard, director (Lovers & Other Strangers), dies at 77
- 1994 Oscar Sheldon A Williams, artist/critic, dies at 74
- 1995 Robert Gibb, British zoo and theme park creator (Flamingo Land; Pleasure Island), dies in a car accident at 57
- 1995 Angier Biddle Duke, American diplomat and the youngest American ambassador in history, dies at 79
- 1996 Jaime Garcia Terre, poet/essayist, dies at 71
- 1996 Siti Hartinah Suharto, 2nd First Lady of Indonesia, wife of President Suharto of Indonesia, dies at 72
- 1996 Tony Hymphris, political activist, dies at 45
- 1997 Mike Royko, American journalist (Chicago Daily News) and author (Boss), dies of stroke at 64
- 1997 Peter Tali Coleman, Governor of American Samoa (1956-61, 78-85, 89-93), dies at 77
- 2001 Barend Biesheuvel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1971-73), dies at 81
- 2002 Fernando Pessa, Portuguese journalist, dies at 100
John Kenneth Galbraith
2006 John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (Affluent Society-58 Hillman Award), dies of natural causes at 97
John Kenneth Galbraith
- 2007 Ivica Račan, former Prime Minister of Croatia (b. 1944)
- 2007 Zhang Taofang, Chinese sniper (b. 1931)
- 2008 Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (first synthesised LSD), dies at 102
- 2012 Shukri Ghanem, Libyan Prime Minister, dies at 69
- 2012 Amarillo Slim, American professional poker player, dies at 83
- 2014 Bob Hoskins, English actor (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), dies from pneumonia at 71
- 2015 Jean Nidetch, American businesswoman and founder of Weight Watchers, dies at 91
- 2015 Brian Sedgemore, British MP (Labour Party 1974-79 and 1983-2005), dies at 78
- 2018 Michael Martin, British politician and Speaker of the House of Commons (2000-09), dies at 72
- 2020 Maj Sjowall, Swedish writer (Martin Beck crime novels), dies at 84
- 2020 Denis Goldberg, South African anti-apartheid activist (convicted alongside Mandela), dies at 87
- 2021 Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, Queen of the Zulu nation, dies a month after becoming regent at 65