12th May, on this day

254 St Stephan I replaces Lucius I as Catholic Pope
919 Duke Henry of Saxon becomes king Henry I of Oostfrankische rich
1082 Battle at Mailberg: Vratislav II of Bohemia beats Leopold II of Austria
1191 Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.
1215 English barons serve ultimatum on king John without Country
1264 The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.
1328 Louis IV de Beier selects P Rainalducci as anti-Pope Nicolaas V
1364 Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, was founded in Kraków, Poland.
1459 Sun City, India founded by Rao Jodhpur
1534 Württemberg becomes Lutheran
1536 In England, Sir Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton and several other alleged lovers of Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII, are tried for treason. All are executed on May 12th
1551 San Marcos University in Lima Peru, opens
1588 Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon (by order of Philip II of Spain) to invade England. It consists of approx 130 ships and 30,000 men. Less than half the ships finally return to Spain after being defeated at sea
1588 Catholic League under duke Henri de Guise occupies Paris, France
1604 Spanish garrison of Aardenburg surrenders to Mauritius
1640 Uprising against Spanish king Philip IV
1641 Prince Willem II (14) marries English princess Henriette Mary Stuart (9)
1689 England and Netherlands form League of Augsburg
1695 English king Willem III departs to Netherlands
1701 Drenthe adopts Gregorian calendar (yesterday is 4/29/1701)
1733 Maria Theresa crowned queen of Bohemia in Prague
1776 Turgot, French minister of Finance, resigns
1777 1st ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-New York Gazette)
1780 During the American War of Independence, the British occupy Charles Town (later named Charleston) in South Carolina after a two-month siege
1789 Society of St Tammany is formed by Revolutionary War soldiers - It later becomes an infamous group of NYC political bosses
1792 Toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals is patented
1797 First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
1809 British commander Sir Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington, defeats the French at Oporto - forcing Napoleon to retreat from Portugal
1821 The first big battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks occurs in Valtetsi.
1835 Charles Darwin visits copper mines in North Chile
1862 Federal troops occupies Baton Rouge, LA
1863 Battle of Raymond, MS
1864 Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia
1864 Battle of Todd's Tavern, VA (Sheridan's Raid)
1864 Butler attacks Drewry's Bluff on James River (Fort Darling)
1864 US Union colonel Emory Upton (24) promoted to Brigadier-General
1865 Last land action of Civil war at Palmito Ranch, Texas
1870 Manitoba is bought from the Hudson Bay Company by the Dominion of Canada and made a province
1871 Segregated street cars integrated in Louisville, KY
1873 Oscar II of Sweden-Norway is crowned King of Sweden.
1877 Ottawa Rough Riders 1st outside competition vs Britannia
1881 Treaty of Bardo, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate
1885 Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebel against Canada
1888 Crouching start 1st used by Charles Sherrill of Yale
1890 Louisiana legalized prize fighting
1891 Riot against tax increase in Paramaribo Suriname
1897 1800-1900 year old fossil of "girl of Yde" found in Drente Netherlands
1897 Battle at Thessalië: Turkish army beats Greece
1898 Louisiana adopts new constitution with "grandfather clause" designed to eliminate black voters
1900 Boer attack under Sarel Eloff, about 70 killed
1900 Lord Roberts' troops occupies Crown city
1906 The pro-British magazine John Bull is published by MP Horatio Bottomley
1908 George Bernard Shaws' "Getting Married" premieres in London
1908 Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B Stubblefield
1910 Halley's Comet causes widespread concern that it is responsible for bad weather
1911 King and Queen of Britain open the Festival of Empire at the Crystal Palace in South London
1914 Reports from Balkans of Serbian atrocities to Albanian Moslems
1915 Croatians plunder Armenia, killing 250
1915 USA President Wilson demands compensation for Germany sinking the liner the Lusitania - sunk by torpedo off the Irish Coast killing at least 1200 people including women and children
1915 Franklin K Mathiews, presents the idea of "Book Week"
1917 First performance of Bela Bartok's ballet 'The Wooden Prince' in Budapest
1921 National Hospital Day 1st observed
1925 Uzbekistan and Kirgizistan become autonomous Soviet republics
1925 In Berlin, Paul von Hindenburg is sworn in as President
1926 British general strike ends
1926 Dmitri Shostakovich's 1st Symphony, premieres in Leningrad
1926 Josef Pilsudski leads a successful military coup against the government in Poland
1926 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundson is among a group of three to cross the North Pole in an airship. His companions are Italian Umberto Nobile and American Lincoln Ellsworth.
1928 Mussolini ends woman's rights in Italy
1932 The body of Charles A.Lindbergh's kidnapped baby boy is found by a truck driver in a wood just five miles from his home. The 20 month old boy had been missing for 73 days
1932 Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in 'Mickey's Revue' by Walt Disney
1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Agricultural Adjustment Administration form to help the needy and farmers
1935 A self-help group, Alcoholics Anonymous, is launched in Ohio, USA by its founder William Wilson
1937 King George VI's coronation in Great Britain
1938 Sandoz Labs manufactures LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
1940 French mariners occupy St Maarten
1940 Nazi blitz conquest of France began by crossing Meuse River
1941 Great British convoy marches into Alexandria
1941 Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer in Berlin.
1942 Second Battle of Kharkov – In the eastern Ukraine, the Soviet Army initiates a major offensive. During the battle the Soviets will capture the city of Kharkov from the German Army, only to be encircled and destroyed.
1942 1,500 Jews gassed in Auschwitz
1942 David Ben-Gurion leaves Jewish state in Palestine
1942 Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River
1942 Russia occupies Crackow, until August 23, 1943
1943 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in US
1943 German troops in Tunisia, North Africa surrender
1944 900+ 8th Air Force bombers attack Zwikau, Bohlen and Brüx
1949 1st foreign woman ambassador received in US (S V L Pandit India)
1949 Ending of the Russian blockade of Berlin after 11 months. The Berlin Airlift by the Allies, including Britain and United States, had cost £200m
1949 The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state - the Federal Republic of Germany
1951 1st H Bomb test, on Enewetak Atoll
1956 East Pakistan struck by cyclone and tidal waves
1958 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1958 A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.
1959 Liz Taylor's 4th marriage (Eddie Fisher)
1960 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra special
1961 Founding of the United States of Congo with Leopoldville its federal capital
1962
Douglas MacArthur delivers his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" valedictory speech at West Point.
1962 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
1963 Bob Dylan walks off Ed Sullivan Show
1963 Race riot in Birmingham, AL
1964 Manlio Brosio chosen as secretary-general of NATO
1965 The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
1965 Israel and West Germany exchange letters beginning diplomatic relations
1967 Pop Classic release: 'Whiter Shade of Pale' by British group Procul Harem
1969 Kenneth H Wallis achieved record speed for an autogiro-179 KPH
1969 Minimum voting age in Britain is lowered from 21 to 18
1970 Race riots in Augusta GA; 6 blacks killed (5 by cops)
1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 Rolling Stone Mick Jagger weds Bianca Macias at St Tropez Town Hall
1972 Paul McCartney and Wings release "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
1975 US merchant ship Mayaguez seized by Cambodian forces
1977 At Queen Elizabeth Hall, England, Pink Floyd stages the first-ever quadraphonic rock concert.
1978 Commerce Department announces that hurricane names will no longer be exclusively female
1978 In Zaïre, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba. The government of Zaïre asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.
1979 Chris Evert's 125-match winning streak on clay comes to an end
1980 1st nonstop crossing of US via balloon (Maxie Anderson and son Chris)
1981 Francis Hughes starves to death in the Maze Prison in a republican campaign for political status to be granted to IRA prisoners.
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, decided that the Pope must be killed for being an "agent of Moscow."
1984 France performs nuclear test
1984 Joe Lucius scored his 13th hole-in-one on the same hole
1984 South Africa prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years
1989 Last graffiti covered NYC subway car retired
1989 Retired British pilot Jack Mann is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists
1990 Nora Dunn and Sinead O'Connor boycott Saturday Night Live to protest Andrew "Dice" Clay's hosting
1993 Last broadcast of "Cheers" on NBC-TV
1993 Last broadcast of "Knots Landing" on CBS
1994 UK opposition leader John Smith dies in a London hospital after two serious heart attacks.
1997 14 North Koreans defect to South Korea
1997 Russia and Chechnya sign peace deal after 400 years of conflict
1997 Susie Maroney, 22, of Australia, is 1st to swim from Cuba to Florida
1997 Tornado narrowly misses downtown Miami
1999 David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament.
2002 Former President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.
2003 The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by Al Qaeda, kill 26.
2003 Fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers bring the Texas Legislature to a standstill by going into hiding in a dispute over a Republican congressional redistricting plan.
2005 Gauteng, South Africa environment minister, Khabisi Mosunkutu pays a surprise visit to the recycling plant of SA Waste, a waste disposal company in Marlboro. Following the visit, the site is shut down, and the company is given 14 days to clean up the area.

12th May 2006

Scores die in Nigeria fuel blast

Deadly blasts in Ethiopia capital

Zimbabwe's inflation tops 1,000%

12th May 2007

Violent clashes hit Pakistan city

American troops missing in Iraq

Russia clinches gas pipeline deal

12th May 2008

Thousands dead in Chinese quake

Clashes resume in north Lebanon

South African mob kills migrants

12th May 2009

Multiple attacks hit Afghan city

US elected to UN rights council

French 'net piracy' bill passed

12th May 2010

Plane crash in Libya kills 100

China children 'hacked to death' in new school attack

114 new Terracotta Warriors unearthed

Birthdates which occurred on 12th May :

1662 Jan F van Bloom [Orizonte] Flemish painter, baptized
1670 August II the Strong One, King of Poland (355 children)
1679 Giovanni Antonio Ricieri composer
1700 Luigi Vanvitelli Italian architect
1729 Michaël F B Freiherr von Melas Austrian general (7 Year Wars)
1739 Jan Krtitel Vanhal composer
1739 Johann Baptist Wanhal composer
1751 Gaetano Manna composer
1754 Franz Anton Hoffmeister composer
1776 Juan Bros y Bertomel composer
1790 [Johannes] Carsten Hauch Danish writer
1797 Johann Hermann Kufferath composer
1803 Justus Freiherr von Liebig German chemist (agricultural chemics)
1804 Robert Baldwin (L) helped establish cabinet government in Canada
1806 Amos Beebe Eaton Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1877
1806 J V Snellman Finland, journalist/statesman/nationalist
1812 Edward Lear England, landscape painter, (Complete Nonsense Book)
1812 Louis Ludwig Blenker Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1863
1813 Johann Czerski German chaplin
1820 Florence Nightingale Florence Italy, nurse (Crimean War)
1828 Gabriel Dante Rossetti England, poet/painter, Pre-Raphaelite
1829 Paul Karrer composer
1842 Jules Emile Fred Massenet Montaud France, composer (Manon, Le Cid)
1845 Gabriel Urbain Fauré Pamiers France, composer (Requiem, Ballade)
1861 Ivan Caryll English composer (Pink Lady)
1863 Charles Bordes composer
1867 Hugh Trumble cricket off-spinner (great Australian at turn of century)
1868 Halsey William Wilson US, publisher of reference books
1874 Clemens Freiherr von Pirquet Austrian physician (Reaction of Pirquet)
1876 Harold grandson of English queen Victoria
1880 Lincoln Ellsworth led 1st transarctic, transantarctic flights
1880 W Hupkes engineer/director (Dutch Rail 1938)
1886 Albert Saverys Flemish painter
1886 Hermann Grabner composer
1886 Piotr F Scharoff Russian/Italian actor/director (Chechov)
1887 Nandor Zsolt composer
1889 Otto Frank father of Anne Frank
1894 Cleo Ridgely New York NY, silent screen actress (I Remember Mama, The Love Mask)
19-- Lisa Raggio New York NY, actress (Pvt Maria Gianelli-Pvt Benjamin)
1900 Helene Weigel Austria/German actress (Metropolis, Mutter Courage)
1901 Hyam Greenbaum composer
1902 Heinrich Kirchner German sculptor
1903 Lennox R F Berkeley British composer (Castaway)
1903 Wilfrid Hyde-White England, actor (My Fair Lady, Peyton Place)
1906 William M Ewing US geologist/geophysicist
1907 Katharine Hepburn Hartford CT, actress (African Queen, Adam's Rib, On Golden Pond)
1907 Leslie Charteris English/US detective writer (Enter the Saint)
1910 Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin British chemist (penicillin/B12/Nobel 1964)
1910 Gordon Jenkins Webster Grove MO, orchestra leader (NBC Comedy Hour)
1912 Marshall Royal jazz sax/clarinet
1914 Bertus Aafjes Dutch poet/writer
1914 Dan Daniel (Representative-D-VA, 1969- )
1914 Howard K Smith Los Angeles CA, TV newsman (ABC, Moderated Kennedy-Nixon debate)
1916 Ellis Bonoff Kohs composer
1917 André A Rieu Dutch conductor
1918 Oscar Beregi Jr Hungary, actor (Young Frankenstein, Panic in City)
1921 Edvard Mikcaeli Mirzoyan composer
1921 Giovanni Benelli archbishop (Florence)/Papal candidate
1921 Henry Mackie designer of the Belfast Calorimeter
1921 Joseph Beuys Germany, avant-garde painter/politician
1922 Barend Busnac office clerk/resistance fighter
1923 Ewart G Abner record company executive
1923 Giovanni Testori Italian writer (Rocco e i suoi fratelli)
1923 Lord Laing English biscuit manufacturer/pilot/multi-millionaire
1925 John Simon theater critic (New York Times)
1925 Lawrence "Yogi" Berra New York Yankee catcher/coach/manager, Mets, Astros
1925 Tony Hancock Birmingham England, actor (Rebel, Wrong Box)
1926 Earl Hutto Panama City FL, (Representative-D-FL, 1979- )
1926 Mervyn M Dymally (Representative-D-CA, 1981- )
1928 Manuel Lujan Jr (Representative-R-NM, 1969- )
1929 Burt Bacharach Kansas City MO, composer (I'll Never Fall in Love Again)
1930 Pat McCormick-Keller Lakewood CA, platform/springboard diver (Olympics-4 gold-1952, 56)
1931 Johan Fleerackers Flemish vice-president of Dutch One
1936 Tom Snyder Milwaukee WI, newscaster (Tommorow, NBC Weekend News)
1937 Beryl Burton UK, won record (7) women's cycling titles
1937 George Carlin Bronx NY, comedian (7 words you can't say on television, AM & FM, Carwash)
1937 Gerry E Studds (Representative-D-MA, 1973- )
1938 Andrei Amalrik Russian writer/dissident
1938 Millie Perkins Passaic NJ, actress (Jane-Knots Landings)
1938 Susan Hampshire London England, actress (Vanity Fair, Living Free)
1939 Ronald Ziegler press secretary (Nixon)
1941 Anthony Newman Los Angeles CA, harpsichordist/organist (Bhajeb)
1941 Little Jayotis Washington US R&B singer (Persuasions)
1941 Ruud de Wolff singer/guitarist (Blue Diamonds)
1942 Barry B[rookes] Longyear US, sci-fi author (City of Baraboo)
1942 Dumitru Dediu Romania, cosmonaut (Soyuz 40 backup)
1942 Ian Dury Upminster Essex, rocker (Blockheads)/actor (Judge Dredd)
1942 Susan Hampshire London, actress (David Copperfield)
1942 Timothy Hugh Brown theatre critic
1943 Billy Swan Cape Giradeau LA, rocker (I Can Help)
1943 David Walker rock keyboardist (Gary Lewis & Playboys-Diamond Ring)
1943 Linda Dano Los Angeles CA, actress (Felicia Gallant-Another World)
1944 Eva Demski writer
1944 James Purify US singer (I'm Your Puppet)
1945 Jayotis Washington rocker
1945 Linda Carlson Knoxville TN, actress (Bev-Newhart, Katie-Kaz)
1945 Willie Parnell US singer (Archie Bell & the Drells)
1946 Ian McLagen rocker (Faces)
1946 Leonard Baichan cricketer (West Indies opener, 103 vs Pakistan on debut 1975)
1948 Lindsay Ann Crouse New York NY, actress (Slapshot, Iceman, Places in Heart)
1948 Steve Winwood Birmingham England, singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist (Higher Love, Roll With It)
1950 Billy Squier Wellesley Hills MA, heavy metal guitarist (Don't Say No)
1950 Bruce Boxleitner Elgin IL, actor (Scarecrow & Mrs King, Babylon 5)
1950 Gabriel Byrne Dublin Ireland, actor (Hello Again, Cool World)
1950 Jocko Marcellino rocker (Sha Na Na)
1950 Renate Stecher-Meissner German Democratic Republic, sprinter (Olympics-gold-72)
1950 Shozo Fujii judo champion
1951 Gunnar Larrson Sweden, 200 meter/400 meter swimmer (Olympics-gold-1972)
1951 Kid Creole [August Darnell], rocker/actor (Obsession A Taste of Fear)
1955 Kix Brooks Shreveport LA, singer (Brooks & Dunn-Brand New Man)
1957 Lou[is Rodman] Whitaker 2nd baseman (Detroit Tigers)
1958 Beth Maitland actress (Traci-Young & Restless)
1958 Christian Brando son of Marlon/killed sister's boyfriend
1958 Kim Greist Stamford CT, actress (CHUD, Brazil, Payoff, Manhunter)
1959 Dave Christian Minnesota, NHL right wing (Washington Capitals, Olympics-gold-1980)
196- Jamie Luner Palo Alto CA, actress (Cindy-Just the 10 of Us)
1960 Lisa Martin Australian marathoner (Olympics-silver 1988)
1960 Lisa Ondieki Australian marathoner (Olympics-84, 88, 96)
1961 Billy Duffy rocker (The Cult-Hell's Kitchen)
1961 Ray Gillen Cliffside Park NJ, rocker (Badlands-Dreams in the Dark)
1962 Amy Benz Rochester NY, LPGA golfer (1994 Oldsmobile Classic-3rd)
1962 Emilio Estevez New York NY, actor (Breakfast Club, Young Guns, Mighty Ducks)
1962 Mark Bradshaw Happy Camp CA, diver (Olympics-96)
1963 Vanessa Williams Brooklyn NY, actress (Rhonda Blair-Melrose Place)
1964 Joy Ellen Kitzmiller Los Angeles CA, US badminton player (Olympics-92)
1965 Stacy Wilson ice hockey forward (Canada, Olympics-98)
1965 Steve Finley Union City TN, outfielder (San Diego Padres)
1966 Rafael Bournigal Azua Dominican Republic, infielder (Oakland A's)
1966 Stephen Baldwin actor (Beast, Lawrenceville Stories, Usual Suspects)
1966 Steven Conran Lithgow New South Wales, Australasia golfer
1967 Cara Coughenour Sioux City IA, female pitcher (Colorado Silver Bullets)
1967 Lawrence Rucchin hockey defenseman (Team Italy 1998)
1967 Robert Blackmon defensive back (Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks)
1967 Warren Rychel Tecumseh, NHL left wing (Colorado Avalanche)
1968 Mark Clark Bath IL, pitcher (New York Mets)
1969 Kim Fields Freeman Los Angeles CA, actress (Tootie-Facts of Life, Regine-Living Single)
1970 Andreas Hestler Victoria British Columbia, cyclist (Olympics-96)
1970 Andrew Coltart Dumfries Scotland, Australasia golfer
1970 James Michael Furyk West Chester PA, PGA golfer (1994 Las Vegas-5th)
1970 Mike Malizia Utica NY, Nike golfer (1993 Doral-Ryder Open-61st)
1970 Mike Weir Sarnia Ontario, Canadian Tour golfer (Ontario Amateur-1990, 92)
1970 Stevie Anderson NFL wide receiver (Arizona Cardinals)
1970 Todd Hallett Shelburne Nova Scotia, rower (Olympics-92, 96)
1971 Craig Novitsky NFL tackle (New Orleans Saints)
1971 Jamie Luner Palo Alto CA, actress (Cindy-Just the 10 of Us)
1971 Tommy Johnson WLAF cornerback (Amsterdam Admirals)
1972 Annette Albertson Reno NV, Miss America-Nevada (1997)
1972 David Oaks 100 meter/200 meter runner
1972 Jason Kyle NFL linebacker (Seattle Seahawks)
1972 Michelle Kahn Miss Universe-Trinidad & Tobago (1996)
1972 Paul Stout Saugus CA, actor (Phillip-Scarecrow & Mrs King)
1973 MacKenzie Astin Los Angeles CA, actor (Facts of Life, Garbage Pail Kids)
1973 Stefano Margoni hockey forward (Team Italy 1998)
1974 Anna Ozolins Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1974 Tiffany Stoker Clovis CA, Miss America (California-4th-1996)
1975 Lawrence Phillips running back (St Louis Rams)
1976 Matthew P Newmark actor (Joseph Carroll-Guns of Paradise)
1977 Iva Majoli Yugoslavia, tennis star
1977 Monique de Bruin Porland OR, fencer-foil (Olympics-96)
1978 Amy Wheaton actress (Curse)
1978 Thomas Odoyo cricketer (Kenyan all-rounder 1996 World Cup)

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Deaths which occurred on May 12th:
0912 Leo VI Sophos Byzantine Emperor (886-912), dies at 45
1003 Gerbert French scholar, dies in Rome
1003 Sylvester II [Gerbert van Aurillac], 1st Fren Pope (999-1003), dies
1012 Sergius IV [Pietro Crescentii], Italian Pope (1009-12), dies
1382 Johanna I Queen of Naples/Provence, dies
1634 George Chapman English dramatist/interpreter, dies
1641 Thomas Wentworth English viceroy of Ireland, beheaded at 48
1649 Isaac Doreslaer English lawyer/diplomat, murdered
1737 Cornelis van Alkemade historian, dies at 83
1788 Louis E van Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Austrian duke, dies at 69
1796 Johann P Uz German poet (Theodicee), dies at 75
1811 Louis-Charles-Joseph Rey composer, dies at 52
1814 Robert Treat Paine US judge (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 83
1825 Elias Mann composer, dies at 75
1825 Stanislao Mattei composer, dies at 75
1843 Johann Georg Lickl composer, dies at 74
1845 August Wilhelm Schlegel German poet/interpreter/critic, dies at 77
1852 John Richardson Canadian writer (War of 1812), dies
1861 Christian Heinrich Hohmann composer, dies at 50
1864 Abner Monroe Perrin Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 37
1864 J E B Stuart Confederate General, dies at 31
1864 J.E.B. Stuart Confederate General, dies at 31
1871 Daniel-François-Esprit Auber French opera composer, dies at 89
1871 John F W Herschel British astronomer (Catalogue of Nebulae), dies
1876 Henri A Esquiros French poet (Evangile du peuple), dies at 63
1884 Bedrich Friedrich Smetana Czechoslovakia, composer (2 Widows), dies at 60
1896 Juan Morel Campos composer, dies at 38
1897 Ulrika "Minna" Cant-Johnstown Finnish playwright, dies at 53
1897 Willem Roelofs painter/lithographer, dies
1900 Wilhelm Steinitz Prague, chess champion (1866-1894)
1907 J K Huysmans writer, dies at 59
1908 Melesio Morales composer, dies at 69
1921 Emilia Pardo Bazan Spanish writer (La sirena negra), dies
1924 Charles Henri Marechal composer, dies at 82
1925 Alfred Milner British Governor (Cape Colony)/minister, dies at 71
1925 Amy Lowell writer, dies at 51
1925 Artur Napoleao dos Santos composer, dies at 82
1930 Pieter Jelles Troelstra Dutch SDAP leader, dies at 70
1931 Eugene-Auguste Ysaye composer, dies at 72
1932 Lindbergh baby found dead
1935 Josef Pilsudski Polish dictator (1926-35), dies
1943 Albert Stoessel composer, dies at 48
1944 Arthur T Quiller-Couch [Q] British author/critic, dies at 80
1948 Isidor Achron composer, dies at 55
1951 Oscar DePriest (Representative-D-IL), dies at 80
1956 Hendrik P Marchant Dutch minister of Education, dies at 87
1956 Louis Calhern dies at 61
1956 Vladimir Ambros composer, dies at 65
1957 Erich von Stroheim Austrian/US actor (Grand Illusion), dies at 71
1960 Cecil Armstrong Gibbs composer, dies at 70
1962 Dick Calkins co-author (Buck Rogers), dies at 67
1963 Stanislaw Wiechowicz composer, dies at 69
1965 Roger Vailland French playwright (La Truite), dies at 57
1967 Julius Kalas composer, dies at 64
1970 Leonie "Nelly" Sachs German/Swedish poet (Nobel 1966), dies at 78
1970 Wladyslaw Anders Polish general (WWI, WWII), dies at 78
1971 J M Taylor cricketer (20 Tests 1920-26, 997 runs), dies
1973 Frances Marion screenwriter (Pollyanna, Camille), dies at 85
1980 Lillian Roth actress (Animal Crackers, Alice Sweet Alice), dies
1981 Benjamin H Sheares President of Singapore, dies
1982 Humphrey Searle writer (20th Century counterpoint), dies at 66
1984 Doris May actress (Peck's Bad Boy), dies of heart failure at 81
1985 Jean Debuffet French painter/sculptor, dies
1986 Elisabeth Bergner dies at 85
1986 Lee Bonnell dies
1987 Victor Feldman pianist/drummer, dies at 53
1989 Joe Valdez Caballero creator of hard taco shell, dies at 81
1989 Marcelle de Manziarly composer, dies at 89
1992 Joe Burke president (Kansas City Royals), dies at 68, dies
1992 Robert Reed actor (Brady Bunch), dies of AIDs at 59
1994 Alfred Lane Beit connoisseur, dies at 91
1994 David Brooks psychologist, dies at 91
1994 Helen Lee Mai Hong Kong actress, dies at 63
1994 John Smith British Labour Party chairman (1992-94), dies at 55
1994 Xenophon Balaskas cricketer (9 Tests for South Africa, 22 wickets), dies
1995 Arthur Lubin film director, dies at 95
1995 Giorgio Belladonna bridge champion, dies at 71
1995 Reza Abdoh theatre Director, dies at 32
1996 Hubert William Dean air armaments specialist, dies at 84
1996 Robert Edwin Hall mountaineer/businessman, dies at 35

Golden Link 1/ On this day 12th May

Golden Link 2/ On this day 12th May

Golden Link 3/ On this day 12th May