What are the important events that happened on May 12? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 12: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 12 is the 132^nd day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 233 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 29, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 485,280 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectatriacontadigon’ day.

Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 281 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,525 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 12 Historical Events

• 1328 –
  Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
• 1588 –
  French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
• 1862 –
  U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• 1942 –
  Holocaust: 1,500 Jews are sent to gas chambers in Auschwitz.
• 1965 –
  The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
• 1968 –
  Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral, east of Lai Khe in South Vietnam on the night of 12/13 May, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides and beginning the Battle of Coral-Balmoral.
• 1978 –
  In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga). The local government asks the U.S.A., France and Belgium to restore order.
• 1981 –
  Francis Hughes starves to death in the Maze Prison in a Republican campaign for political prisoner status to be granted to Provisional IRA prisoners.
• 2006 –
  Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
• 2006 –
  Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.

Who were born on May 12?

• 1700 –
  Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (d. 1773)
• 1814 –
  Adolf von Henselt, German composer and pianist (d. 1889)
• 1842 –
  Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)
• 1895 –
  Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (d. 1986)
• 1900 –
  Joseph Rochefort, American naval officer and cryptanalyst (d. 1976)
• 1914 –
  James Bacon, American entertainment columnist and reporter (d. 2010)
• 1948 –
  Joe Tasker, British mountaineer (d. 1982)
• 1981 –
  Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer
• 1988 –
  Marky Cielo, Filipino dancer and actor (d. 2008)
• 1995 –
  Luke Benward, American actor

Who died on May 12?

• 1382 –
  Queen Joan I of Naples (b. 1327)
• 1641 –
  Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, English statesman (b. 1593)
• 1859 –
  Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer (b. 1791)
• 1889 –
  John Cadbury, English chocolate entrepreneur (b. 1801)
• 1957 –
  Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and race car driver (b. 1928)
• 1971 –
  Heinie Manush, American baseball player (b. 1901)
• 1973 –
  Art Pollard, American racecar driver (b. 1927)
• 1986 –
  Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian actress (b. 1897)
• 1999 –
  Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (b. 1914)
• 2008 –
  Irena Sendler, Polish social worker, WWII heroine (b. 1910)