What happened on 12 May?

18 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 passes an act of attainder against the Earl of Strafford, Charles I's chief minister in Ireland and the north; with crowds threatening in London, the king signs and Stra
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 70,000 and exposes shoddy school construction.
10. 1789 Wilberforce's first abolition speech Wilberforce speaks for three and a half hours in the Commons against the slave trade; his motion is defeated, as it will be almost every year for eighteen years.
11. 1937 Coronation of George VI On the day fixed for his brother's coronation, the reluctant, stammering Duke of York is crowned in Westminster Abbey — its procession the first ever broadcast on television.
12. 1797 Fall of the Republic of Venice Napoleon extinguishes the 1,100-year republic; Venice is handed to Austria at Campo Formio.
13. 113 Trajan's Column erected Marble column in Trajan's Forum carved with a continuous spiral relief of the Dacian Wars; ~115 ft tall including its pedestal.
14. 1980 Born: Rishi Sunak First British Asian Prime Minister; led Conservatives to their 2024 defeat.
15. 1926 Norge airship flies over the North Pole Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Umberto Nobile cross the Pole in the airship Norge on the way from Svalbard to Alaska — the first verified journey to the North Pole.
16. 1870 Manitoba Act Negotiated with Riel's Red River provisional government, the Act creates the province of Manitoba with French and English language rights and land for the Métis — Riel's lasting ac
17. 1857 Elizabeth Blackwell opens the New York Infirmary for Women and Children Shut out of hospital posts, Blackwell, her sister Emily and Marie Zakrzewska open a hospital run by women doctors in Manhattan, where women could train in medicine.
18. 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.