Deaths on May 12

Charles Simon Favart, French playwright and composer (b. 1710)

Charles Simon Favart (13 November 1710 – 12 May 1792) was a French playwright and theatre director. The Salle Favart in Paris is named after him.

20 Feb

United States Postal Service
The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
5 Apr

Veto
United States President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
20 Apr

French Revolutionary Wars
France declares war against the "King of Hungary and Bohemia", the beginning of French Revolutionary Wars.
21 Apr

Hanged, drawn and quartered
Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.
28 Apr

French Revolutionary Wars
France invades the Austrian Netherlands (present day Belgium and Luxembourg), beginning the French Revolutionary Wars.