On This Day in History

May 12

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​Historical Events​

'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' emblem used by some abolitionists determined to end the slave trade in the British Empire

​1789 William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice

​1940 Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France begins with German forces crossing the Muese River

​1943 Axis forces in North Africa surrender

​1949 USSR lifts blockade of West Berlin after US, UK, and allies successfully supply the city during the Berlin Airlift

​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.

More Historical Events

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​Famous Birthdays​

​Gustav Vasa​ ​1496 - 1560

​Florence Nightingale​ ​1820 - 1910

​Dorothy Hodgkin​ ​1910 - 1994

​Yogi Berra​ ​1925 - 2015

Also Tony Hawk (57)

More Famous Birthdays

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​Famous Deaths​

​J.E.B. Stuart​ ​1833 - 1864

​Józef Piłsudski​ ​1867 - 1935

More Famous Deaths

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​The Queen Who Never Saw Her Realm​

Born in Spain, married in Cyprus, died in France, this wife of a warrior king was never to set foot in the land where she was hailed as Queen.

Wife of a Warrior King