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On this day May 12

2017


A ransomware attack attacks over 400 thousand computers worldwide, targeting computers of the UK'S National Health Services and Telefónica computers.

2015


Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3500.

2015


A train derailment in Philadelphia kills eight people and injures more than 200.

2008


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts the largest-ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.

2008


An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.

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.

2003


The Riyadh compound bombings, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 26 people.

2002


Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.

1998


Four students are shot at Trisakti University, leading to widespread riots and the fall of Suharto.

1989


The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people. A week later an underground gasoline pipeline explodes killing two more people.

1982


During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan María Fernández y Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet.

1981


Francis Hughes, Provisional IRA hunger striker, dies in the Maze Prison, Northern Ireland.

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 US, France and Belgium to restore order.

1968


Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.

1965


The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.

1949


The western occupying powers approve the Basic Law for the new German state: the Federal Republic of Germany.

1949


The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

1948


Wilhelmina, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, cedes the throne.

1942


World War II: The U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.

1942


World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: In eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later.

1941


Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.

1937


The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey.

1933


The Agricultural Adjustment Act is enacted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies.

1932


Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Jr., is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.

1926


The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.

1888


In Southeast Asia, the North Borneo Chartered Company's territories become the British protectorate of North Borneo.

1885


North-West Rebellion: The four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.

1881


In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.

1870


The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.

1865


American Civil War: The Battle of Palmito Ranch: The first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.

1864


American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".

1863


American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: Two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.

1862


American Civil War: U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1846


The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.

1821


The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.

1797


War of the First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.

1784


The Treaty of Paris signed on September 3, 1783, takes effect on this date.

1780


American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

1743


Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.

1689


King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.

1619


Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is sentenced to death for high treason.

1593


London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel.

1588


French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry I, Duke of Guise enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.

1551


National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.

1510


The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan kills all the officials invited to a banquet and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.

1364


Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków, Poland.

1328


Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.

1191


Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre who is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.

907


Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.

254


Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I as the 23rd pope.

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