What happened on 12 May?

13 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 1925 Presidency of Paul von Hindenburg The old field marshal as Weimar's second president, governing by emergency decree and finally appointing Hitler chancellor.
2. 1639 Red Fort, Delhi (built by Shah Jahan) Mughal fortress-palace in Delhi.
3. 1999 National Assembly for Wales established Following the 1997 referendum, the devolved assembly (later the Senedd) meets for the first time in Cardiff.
4. 1949 Stalin lifts the blockade At one minute past midnight the lights come on and the first convoys roll into West Berlin: after 322 days Stalin concedes the bet, having gained nothing and driven the West into N
5. 1999 Scottish Parliament reconvenes Holyrood opens for business after a 292-year gap.
6. 1664 Moliere's Tartuffe Comedy attacking religious hypocrisy - censored on first appearance.
7. 1641 Strafford is executed to appease Parliament Parliament attaints the Earl of Strafford — Charles I's most capable and most hated minister — and the king, fearing for his family as London crowds surge, signs the death warrant
8. 1845 Born: Gabriel Fauré French composer of Requiem; bridge between Romantic and Modern.
9. 2008 2008 Sichuan earthquake A magnitude-7.9 earthquake in China's Sichuan province kills nearly 90,000 and exposes shoddy school construction.
10. 113 Trajan's Column erected Marble column in Trajan's Forum carved with a continuous spiral relief of the Dacian Wars; ~190 ft tall.
11. 1797 Fall of the Republic of Venice Napoleon extinguishes the 1,100-year republic; Venice is handed to Austria at Campo Formio.
12. 1980 Born: Rishi Sunak First British Asian Prime Minister; led Conservatives to their 2024 defeat.
13. 1926 Piłsudski's May Coup Marshal Piłsudski marches on Warsaw and topples the elected government in three days of fighting, ruling Poland from behind the scenes until his death.