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 133^rd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 233 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is April 29, 2024 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,591,200 minutes 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 ‘hectatriacontatrigon’ 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 262 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 4,160 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 12 Historical Events

• 1588 –
  French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
• 1916 –
  James Connolly was sat on a chair and shot dead in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, after his role in the Easter Uprising
• 1926 –
  UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ends.
• 1945 –
  Argentinian labour leader José Peter declares the Federación Obrera de la Industria de la Carne dissolved.
• 1955 –
  Austria regains its independence as the Allied occupation following World War II ends.
• 1958 –
  A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
• 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.
• 1975 –
  Mayagüez incident: the Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.
• 1982 –
  During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan Fernandez Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet. Krohn, an ultraconservative Spanish priest opposed to the Vatican II reforms, believed that the Pope had to be killed for being an “agent of Moscow”.
• 1998 –
  Four students are shot at Trisakti University, leading to widespread riots and the fall of Suharto

Who were born on May 12?

• 1725 –
  Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1785)
• 1825 –
  Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French adventurer in Araucania and Patagonia (d. 1878)
• 1914 –
  James Bacon, American entertainment columnist and reporter (d. 2010)
• 1922 –
  Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (d. 1998)
• 1929 –
  Sam Nujoma, first President of Namibia
• 1930 –
  Jesús Franco, Spanish film director
• 1939 –
  Reg Gasnier, Australian Rugby League footballer
• 1966 –
  Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian singer
• 1967 –
  Joe McKinney, Irish actor
• 1970 –
  Mike Weir, Canadian golfer

Who died on May 12?

• 1465 –
  Thomas Palaeologus, Titular Byzantine emperor, Despot of the Morea (b. 1409)
• 1748 –
  Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer (b. 1692)
• 1907 –
  Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (b. 1848)
• 1916 –
  James Connolly, Irish socialist and leader of the Easter Rising (b. 1868)
• 1925 –
  Amy Lowell, American poet (b. 1874)
• 1963 –
  Richard Girulatis, German football manager (b. 1878)
• 1973 –
  Art Pollard, American racecar driver (b. 1927)
• 1986 –
  Alicia Moreau de Justo, Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and human rights activist (b. 1885).
• 2003 –
  Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (b. 1933)
• 2005 –
  Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (b. 1909)