History of 12 May
- 1999 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and named Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin as his successor.
- 2002 – Former U.S. President Carter arrived in Cuba for a visit with Fidel Castro. It was the first time a U.S. head of state, in or out of office, had gone to the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.
- 2003 – In Texas, fifty-nine Democratic lawmakers went into hiding over a dispute with Republicans over a congressional redistricting plan.
- 2008 – In the U.S., the price for a one-ounce First-Class stamp increased from 41 to 42 cents.
- 2015 – It was announced that Verizon would be acquiring AOL.
- 2017 – A ransomware attack attacks over 400 thousand computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom’s National Health Services and Telefónica computers.
- 2018 – Paris knife attack: A man was fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Rami Malek, American actor
- 1981 – Kentaro Sato, Japanese-American composer and conductor
- 1981 – Dennis Trillo, Filipino actor and singer
- 1982 – Donnie Nietes, Filipino boxer
- 1982 – Rhian Wilkinson, Canadian soccer player
- 1983 – Domhnall Gleeson, Irish actor
- 1983 – Alina Kabaeva, Russian gymnast and politician
- 1983 – Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
- 1983 – Charilaos Pappas, Greek footballer
- 1983 – Virginie Razzano, French tennis player
- 1983 – Francisco Javier Torres, Mexican footballer
- 1984 – Clare Bowen, Australian actress and singer
- 1985 – Paolo Goltz, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Andrew Howe, Italian long jumper and sprinter
- 1985 – Jeroen Simaeys, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Jonathan Orozco, Mexican footballer
- 1986 – Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Alex Gough, Canadian luger
- 1987 – Kieron Pollard, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1988 – Marcelo, Brazilian footballer
- 1989 – Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Greek Cypriot singer, musician, and actress
- 1990 – Florent Amodio, French figure skater
- 1990 – Tobias Strobl, German footballer
- 1992 – Malcolm David Kelley, American actor
- 1995 – Luke Benward, American actor and singer
- 1995 – Kenton Duty, American actor
- 1995 – Irina Khromacheva, Russian tennis player
- 1997 – Morgan Lake, English athlete
- 1997 – Odeya Rush, Israeli actress
- 1998 – Mohamed Bamba, American professional basketball player