Summary of the Day ✨ 12 May (12/05)
The most powerful geomagnetic storms since 2003 battered Earth while the WannaCry ransomware attack crippled over 400,000 computers worldwide, including critical systems in the UK’s National Health Service. A day marked by tragedy as a Paris knife attack left one dead, a Philadelphia train derailment killed eight, and a massive Nepal earthquake claimed 218 lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 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.
Famous Births 👶
- 2006: Vasilije Adžić, Montenegrin footballer
- 2005: Zach Benson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 2001: Issa Kaboré, Burkinabé footballer
- 1999: Hiroki Itō, Japanese footballer
- 1998: Mo Bamba, American-Ivorian basketball player
- 1997: Frenkie de Jong, Dutch footballer
- 1996: Fabrice Olinga, Cameroonian footballer
- 1996: Kostas Tsimikas, Greek footballer
- 1993: Timo Horn, German footballer
- 1992: Erik Durm, German footballer
- 1990: Florent Amodio, French figure skater
- 1990: Etika, American YouTuber and live streamer (died 2019)
- 1989: Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Greek Cypriot singer, musician, and actress
- 1988: Marcelo, Brazilian footballer
- 1987: Lance Lynn, American baseball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Mark Damon, American film actor and producer (born 1933)
- 2024: David Sanborn, American saxophonist (born 1945)
- 2024: A. J. Smith, American football executive (born 1949)
- 2020: Aimee Stephens, American funeral director and U.S. Supreme Court litigant (born 1960)
- 2018: Dennis Nilsen, Scottish serial killer (born 1945)
- 2017: Mauno Koivisto, Finnish banker and politician, ninth President of Finland (born 1923)
- 2016: Mike Agostini, Trinidadian sprinter (born 1935)
- 2015: Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (born 1923)
- 2014: Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (born 1925)
- 2014: Marco Cé, Italian cardinal (born 1925)
- 2014: H. R. Giger, Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer (born 1940)
- 2014: Sarat Pujari, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1934)
- 2014: Lorenzo Zambrano, Mexican businessman and philanthropist (born 1944)
- 2013: Gerd Langguth, German political scientist, author, and academic (born 1946)
- 2012: Jan Bens, Dutch footballer and coach (born 1921)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Blessed Joan of Portugal - Christian feast day:
Crispoldus - Christian feast day:
Dominic de la Calzada - Christian feast day:
Epiphanius of Salamis - Christian feast day:
Gregory Dix (Church of England) - Christian feast day:
Modoald - Christian feast day:
Nereus, Achilleus, Domitilla, and Pancras - Christian feast day:
Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople (Eastern Church) - Christian feast day:
Philip of Agira - International ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
- International Nurses Day
- J. V. Snellman Day or the Finnish Heritage Day (Finland)