May 12

2023 Calendar

May 12 is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 233 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

1003 – Pope Silvester II
1012 – Pope Sergius IV
1182 – Valdemar I of Denmark (b. 1131)
1382 – Queen Joan I of Naples (b. 1327)
1465 – Thomas Palaeologus, titular Byzantine Emperor (b. 1409)
1641 – Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford (b. 1593)
1684 – Edme Mariotte (b. 1620), French physicist and priest
1700 – John Dryden, English writer (b. 1631)
1708 – Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1658)
1784 - Abraham Trembley, Swiss naturalist (b. 1710)
1796 - Johann Peter Uz, German poet (b. 1720)
1845 – János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (b. 1763)
1856 - Jacques Philippe Marie Binet, French mathematician, physicist and astronomer (b. 1786)
1859 – Sergei Aksakov, Russian writer (b. 1791)
1860 - Charles Barry, English architect (b. 1795)
1864 - J.E.B. Stuart, American general (b. 1833)
1867 – Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
1876 - Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
1884 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (b. 1824)
1889 – John Cadbury, English chocolate entrepreneur (b. 1801)
1890 - Frances Parthenope Vernay, sister of Florence Nightingale (b. 1819)

1901 – 2000

1907 – Joris-Karl Huysmans, French writer (b. 1848)
1913 - Enriqueta Marti, Spanish serial killer and kidnapper of children (b. 1868)
1916 – James Connolly, Irish socialist and Easter Rising leader (b. 1868)
1925 – Amy Lowell, poet (b. 1874)
1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish statesman (b. 1867)
1944 – Max Brand, writer (b. 1892)
1944 – Q, British writer (b. 1863)
1956 – Louis Calhern, movie actor (b. 1895)
1957 – Erich von Stroheim, movie director and actor (b. 1885)
1957 - Alfonso de Portago, Spanish bobsledder and racing driver (b. 1928)
1963 – Bobby Kerr, Canadian runner (b. 1882)
1966 - Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German SS officer (b. 1896)
1967 – John Masefield, British writer (b. 1878)
1970 – Nelly Sachs, German writer (b. 1891)
1971 – Heinie Manush, American Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1901)
1973 – Frances Marion, American screenwriter and director (b. 1888)
1978 - Robert Coogan, American actor (b. 1924)
1985 – Jean Dubuffet, painter (b. 1901)
1986 – Elisabeth Bergner, actress (b. 1897)
1986 – Alicia Moreau de Justo, Argentine physician, politician, pacifist and activist (b. 1885)
1992 – Robert Reed, actor (b. 1932)
1994 – John Smith, British politician (b. 1938)
1994 - Erik Erikson, German psychoanalyst (b. 1902)
1995 - Mia Martini, Italian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1942)
2000 – Adam Petty, race car driver (b. 1980)

From 2001

2001 – Perry Como, singer (b. 1912)
2001 - Alexei Tupolev, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1925)
2002 - Joseph Bonanno, Italian-American gangster (b. 1905)
2003 – Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1965 – 1977
2005 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1937)
2006 - Hussein Maziq, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1918)
2008 – Irena Sendler, Polish humanitarian (b. 1910)
2008 - Robert Rauschenberg, American painter (b. 1925)
2009 – Antonio Vega, Spanish singer (b. 1957)
2013 - Gerd Langguth, German professor of political science (b. 1946)
2013 - Constantino Romero, Spanish actor (b. 1947)
2014 - Jacinto Convit, Venezuelan doctor and scientist (b. 1913)
2014 - H. R. Giger, Swiss artist (b. 1940)
2014 - Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director and movie producer (b. 1934)
2014 - Lorenzo Zambrano, Spanish businessman, CEO of CEMEX (b. 1944)
2014 - Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (b. 1925)
2014 - Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress (b. 1925)
2014 - Nash the Slash, Canadian musician (b. 1948)
2015 - Peter Gay, German-American psychohistorian (b. 1923)
2015 - Suchitra Bhattacharya, Indian novelist (b. 1950)
2015 - William Zinsser, American writer (b. 1922)
2015 - William MacDonald, English-Australian serial killer (b. 1924)
2016 - Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia (b. 1924)
2016 - Susannah Mushatt Jones, American supercentenarian (b. 1899)
2016 - Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (b. 1935)
2016 - Julius La Rosa, American pop singer (b. 1930)
2016 - Del Latta, American politician (b. 1920)
2016 - Yukio Ninagawa, Japanese film and theatre director (b. 1935)
2016 - Georges Sesia, French footballer (b. 1924)
2017 - Antonio Candido, Brazilian literary critic and sociologist (b. 1918)
2017 - Mauno Koivisto, 10th President of Finland (b. 1923)
2017 - Yale Lary, American football player, businessman and politician (b. 1930)
2017 - Henri Termeer, Dutch-American biotechnology expert (b. 1946)
2017 - Yu So-chow, Chinese actress (b. 1930)
2017 - Amotz Zahavi, Israeli evolutionary biologist (b. 1928)
2018 - Will Alsop, English architect (b. 1947)
2018 - Tessa Jowell, English politician (b. 1947)
2018 - Antonio Mercero, Spanish film and television director (b. 1936)
2018 - Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (b. 1945)
2018 - Kevin Tierney, Irish-Canadian film producer (b. 1950)
2018 - Donald Gary Young, American business executive (b. 1950)
2018 - Chuck Knox, American football coach (b. 1932)
2019 - Héctor Enrique Olivares, Argentine politician (b. 1958)
2019 - Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Lebanese Maronite cardinal (b. 1920)
2019 - Alan Skirton, English footballer (b. 1939)
2019 - Hiralal Yadav, Indian folk singer (b. 1925)

Births

1901 – 1950

1903 - Lennox Berkeley, English composer (d. 1989)
1907 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)
1908 - Alejandro Scopelli, Argentine-born Italian footballer (d. 1987)
1910 – Johan Ferrier, first President of Suriname (d. 2010)
1910 – Dorothy Hodgkin, British biochemist (d. 1994)
1910 – Giulietta Simionato, Italian opera singer (d. 2010)
1913 - Igor Bondarevsky, Russian chess player (d. 1979)
1915 – Frère Roger, Swiss religious leader (d. 2005)
1918 - Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman (d. 2001)
1918 – Julius Rosenberg, American, convicted of spying for the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
1920 - Vilém Flusser, Czech-Brazilian philosopher, writer and journalist (d. 1991)
1921 - Joseph Beuys, German artist (d. 1986)
1921 - Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and writer (d. 2014)
1921 - Giovanni Benelli, Italian cardinal (d. 1982)
1922 - Roy Salvadori, English racing driver (d. 2012)
1922 - Murray Gershenz, American actor (d. 2013)
1922 - Marco Denevi, Argentine writer (d. 1998)
1924 – Tony Hancock, British comedian (d. 1968)
1924 - Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician (d. 2016)
1925 - Yogi Berra, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
1926 - James Samuel Coleman, American sociologist (d. 1995)
1926 - Viren J. Shah, Indian politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal (d. 2013)
1928 - Burt Bacharach, American pianist and composer
1929 – Sam Nujoma, first, and former, President of Namibia
1929 - Dollard St. Laurent, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
1929 - Agnes Heller, Hungarian philosopher
1930 - Jesús Franco, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1930 – Manuel Marulanda, Colombian guerrilla (d. 2008)
1932 - Derek Malcolm, British movie critic and historian
1933 – Andrey Voznesensky, Russian poet (d. 2010)
1935 - Hoss Ellington, American NASCAR driver (d. 2014)
1935 – Gary Peacock, American jazz musician
1935 - Johnny Bucyk, Canadian ice hockey player
1936 – Frank Stella, American painter and sculptor
1936 – Tom Snyder, American television personality (d. 2007)
1936 – Guillermo Endara, President of Panama (d. 2009)
1937 - George Carlin, American stand-up comedian (d. 2008)
1937 - Beryl Burton, English cyclist (d. 1996)
1937 - Miriam Stoppard, English doctor, writer and broadcaster
1938 - Andrei Amalrik, Russian historian, publicist, writer and dissident (d. 1980)
1939 - Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league player (d. 2014)
1939 – Ron Ziegler, American White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)
1939 – Jalal Dabagh, Kurdish politician, writer and journalist
1942 – Ian Dury, British singer (d. 2000)
1944 - Chris Patten, British politician, last British Governor of Hong Kong
1945 - Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer (d. 2007)
1945 - Ian McLagan, English-American singer-songwriter and keyboardist (d. 2014)
1946 – Gareth Evans, British philosopher
1947 – Michael Ignatieff, Canadian politician
1948 - John Blackley, Scottish footballer
1948 – Ivan Kral, Czech-American musician
1948 – Steve Winwood, British musician
1948 – David Heineman, American politician, 39th Governor of Nebraska
1948 - Joe Tasker, English mountaineer (d. 1982)
1950 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor
1950 - Helena Kennedy, English judge and politician
1950 - Jenni Murray, English journalist and broadcaster
1950 - Renate Stecher, German athlete

1951 – 1975

1954 – Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Icelandic movie director
1958 – Eric Singer, American musician (KISS)
1961 - Jennifer Armstrong, American writer
1961 - Billy Duffy, English guitarist and songwriter
1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor
1962 - Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist and songwriter
1962 - April Grace, American actress
1963 – Stefano Modena, Italian racing driver
1963 - Panagiotis Fasoulas, Greek basketball player and politician
1963 - Gavin Hood, South African actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1966 - Stephen Baldwin, American actor
1966 – Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian singer
1967 - Paul D'Amour, American singer and musician
1967 - Bill Shorten, Australian politician
1968 – Tony Hawk, American skateboarder
1968 – Catherine Tate, British comedienne
1969 - Kevin Nalty, American comedian and blogger
1970 – Mark Foster, British swimmer
1970 – Samantha Mathis, American actress
1974 - Marc Capdevila, Spanish swimmer
1974 - Taraneh Javanbakht, Iranian poet, writer, artist, scientist and activist
1975 – Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2015)

From 1976

1977 – Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player
1978 – Aya Ishiguro, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
1978 - Jason Biggs, American actor
1978 - Josh Phelps, American baseball player
1980 – Felipe Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball player
1981 - Kentaro Sato, Japanese-American composer and conductor
1981 - Rami Malek, American actor
1981 - Lorena Bernal, Argentine-Spanish model and actress
1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
1983 – Alina Kabayeva, Russian gymnast
1983 - Yujiro Kushida, Japanese professional wrestler
1983 - Francisco Javier Torres, Mexican footballer
1984 - Tommaso Reato, Italian rugby player
1984 - Justin Williams, American basketball player
1985 - Andrew Howe, Italian athlete
1986 - Jonathan Orozco, Mexican footballer
1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
1987 - Robbie Rogers, American soccer player
1988 – Marcelo Vieira, Brazilian footballer
1992 - Erik Durm, German footballer
1992 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
1995 – Luke Benward, American actor
1995 - Sawyer Sweeten, American actor (d. 2015)
1995 - Sullivan Sweeten, American actor
2003 – Madeleine McCann, missing since 2007

Deaths

Observances

International Nurses' Day, in honour of Florence Nightingale
Johan Vilhelm Snellman Day (Finland)