Historical timeline for May 12

Middle/end of the May 2024 solar storms, the most powerful set of geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.

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

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.