May 11

May 12

295 entries in history

May 13
Events
52
Births
135
Deaths
96
Holidays
12

⭐ Featured

2008

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

1998

Four students were shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers at Trisakti University in Jakarta, which led to widespread riots and the resignation of President Suharto nine days later.

1982

The Coppergate Helmet (pictured), the best preserved of the six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, was discovered.

52 results

2024

Middle/End of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.

2018

Paris knife attack: A man is fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.

2017

The WannaCry ransomware attack impacts over 400,000 computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom's National Health Services and Telefónica computers.

2015

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

2015

Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3,500.

2010

Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashes on final approach to Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, killing 103 out of the 104 people on board.

2008

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

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.

2006

Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.

2006

Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.

2003

The Riyadh compound bombings in Saudi Arabia, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 39 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 the Cuban Revolution.

1989

The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people, only to be followed a week later by an underground gasoline pipeline explosion, which kills 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.

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.

1975

Indochina Wars: Democratic Kampuchea naval forces capture the SS Mayaguez.

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

Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

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.

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.

1941

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

1937

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom are crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1933

The Agricultural Adjustment Act, which restricts agricultural production through government purchase of livestock for slaughter and paying subsidies to farmers when they remove land from planting, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1933

President Roosevelt signs legislation creating the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the predecessor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

1932

Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is found dead near 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.

1926

The 1926 United Kingdom general strike ends.

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: Union troops assault a Confederate salient known as the "Mule Shoe", with some of the fiercest fighting of the war, much of it hand-to-hand combat, occurring at "the Bloody Angle" on the northwest.

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: Union Army 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.

1808

Finnish War: Swedish-Finnish troops, led by Captain Karl Wilhelm Malmi, conquer the city of Kuopio from Russians after the Battle of Kuopio.

1797

War of the First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Venice.

1780

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

1778

Heinrich XI, count of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, is elevated to Prince by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.

1743

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

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.

1497

Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.

1364

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

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 in Cyprus; she 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, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism.