12 May History
- 254 - St. Stephen I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
- 1588 - King Henry III flees Paris after Henry of Guise triumphantly enters the city.
- 1641 - The chief advisor to Charles I, Thomas Wentworth, is beheaded in the Tower of London
- 1780 - Charleston, South Carolina falls to British forces.
- 1851 - The Tule River War ends.
- 1863 - With a victory at the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi, Union General Ulysses S. Grant closes in on Vicksburg.
- 1864 - Union General Benjamin Butler attacks Drewry's Bluff on the James River.
- 1865 - The last land battle of the Civil war occurs at Palmito Ranch, Texas. It is a Confederate victory.
- 1881 - Tunisia, in North Africa become a French protectorate.
- 1885 - In the Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebel against the Canadian government.
- 1926 - The Airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
- 1932 - The body of Charles Lindbergh's baby is found.
- 1935 - Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio by "Bill W.," a stockbroker, and "Dr. Bob S.," a heart surgeon.
- 1940 - The Nazi conquest of France begins with the crossing Muese River.
- 1942 - The Soviet Army launches its first major offensive of the war, taking Kharkov in the eastern Ukraine.
- 1943 - Axis forces in North Africa surrender.
- 1949 - The Berlin Blockade ends.
- 1969 - Viet Cong sappers try unsuccessfully to overrun Landing Zone Snoopy in Vietnam.
- 1975 - The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez is seized by Cambodian forces.
12 May Birthdays
- 1812 - Edward Lear, poet, painter and the youngest of 21 children.
- 1816 - Edmund Beckett Grimthorpe, lawyer and architect.
- 1820 - Florence Nightingale, English nurse and hospital reformer.
- 1828 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter.
- 1907 - Katherine Hepburn, actress (The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen).
- 1915 - Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics.
- 1921 - Farley Mowat, Canadian nature writer (Never Cry Wolf).
- 1925 - Yogi Berra (Lawrence Peter Berra), baseball player and coach.
- 1933 - Andrey Andreyevich Voznesensky, Russian poet.
- 1936 - Tom Snyder, newscaster and television host.
- 1936 - Frank Stella, painter.