May 12 in History

Historical Events on May 12

1780 American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

1821 The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.

1862 American Civil War: U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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.

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.

1949 The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

1968 Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.

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.

2008 An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.

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Famous Birthdays on May 12

1820 Florence Nightingale

1907 Katharine Hepburn

1978 Aya Ishiguro

1981 Rami Malek

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Famous Deaths on May 12

1161 Fergus of Galloway

1864 J. E. B. Stuart

1935 Józef Piłsudski

2001 Perry Como

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