May 12th in History

Michael Dobson | May 12

Photo: Berlin Airlift C-47s at Templehof Airport, Berlin. The Berlin Blockade ended May 12, 1949.

Today in History

  • American Civil War: A Union assault during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House becomes known as the Bloody Angle as a result of 24 hours of hand-to-hand fighting (1864
  • The airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole (1926)
  • George VI and Elizabeth ascend the British throne (1937)
  • The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin (1949)
  • Luna 5 crashes on the Moon (1965)
  • The Cambodian navy seizes the US merchant ship SS Mayagüez (1975)
  • Al Qaeda carries out the Riyadh compound bombings, killing 26. (My brother and his family have their windows blown out by the explosions) (2003)

Birthdays

  • Edward Lear, nonsense poet (1812 — some sources claim May 13)
  • Florence Nightingale, nurse (1820)
  • Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painter and poet (1828)
  • Henry Cabot Lodge, politician (1850)
  • Lincoln Ellsworth, polar explorer (1880)
  • Joseph Rochefort, cryptanalyst (1900)
  • Wilfrid Hyde-White, actor (1903)
  • Leslie Charteris, creator of The Saint (1907)
  • Katherine Hepburn, actress (1907)
  • Howard K. Smith, television journalist (1914)
  • Mary Kay Ash, cosmetics tycoon (1918)
  • Julius Rosenberg, spy (1918)
  • Yogi Berra, baseball manager and malapropist (1925)
  • Burt Bacharach, composer (1928)
  • Johnny Bucyk, hockey player (1935)
  • Tom Snyder, television journalist (1936)
  • Frank Stella, painter (1936)
  • George Carlin, comedian (1937)
  • Ron Ziegler, Nixon Administration press secretary (1939)
  • Cat Yronwode, comics writer and illustrator (1947)
  • Steve Winwood, singer-songwriter (1948)
  • Bruce Boxleitner, actor (1950)
  • Gabriel Byrne, actor (1950)
  • Billy Squier, singer-songwriter (1950)
  • Ving Rhames, actor (1959)
  • Paul Begala, political adviser (1961)
  • Emilio Estevez, actor (1962)
  • Stephen Baldwin, actor (1966)
  • Tony Hawk, skateboarder (1968)
  • Jason Biggs, actor (1978)

Deaths

  • John Dryden, poet (1700)
  • J. E. B. Stuart, general (1864)
  • Max Brand, author (1944)
  • Erich von Stroheim, filmmaker (1957)
  • John Masefield, poet (1967)
  • Robert Reed, actor (1992)
  • Perry Como, singer (2001)
  • Syd Hoff, illustrator (2004)
  • Robert Rauschenberg, painter (2008)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Day of the Finnish Identity (Finland)
  • International Nurses Day (worldwide)
  • International Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day (worldwide)
  • Saint Andrea the First Day (Georgia)
Informal and made-up holidays include Limerick Day, National Nutty Fudge Day, and Odometer Day.