What Happened On This Day ? May 12
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2008
A massive earthquake rocks China
The magnitude 7.9 quake left some 69,000 people dead, 18,000 missing, and 4.8 million homeless. It was the deadliest earthquake in China since 1976 when the Tangshan earthquake killed over 240,000 people.
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1998
Violent clashes follow the killing of four protesters in Jakarta, Indonesia
The riots eventually led to the resignation of President Suharto.
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1994
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict ends
With the signing of the Bishkek Protocol a week earlier, Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats had formalized the ceasefire that went into effect on May 12. The conflict itself remains unsolved.
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1982
A Spanish priest attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II
Juan Maria Fernandez y Krohn opposed the reforms initiated by the Second Vatican Council and believed that the Pope was a Communist agent. John Paul II escaped with minor injuries.
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1941
The world's first programmable, fully automatic computer is presented
The Z3 was designed by German inventor, Konrad Zuse. The original machine was destroyed in an air raid. A replica can be seen at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
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1946
Daniel Libeskind
American architect, designed the Imperial War Museum North, Jewish Museum
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1928
Burt Bacharach
American pianist, composer, producer
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1921
Joseph Beuys
German sculptor, illustrator
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1907
Katharine Hepburn
American actress, singer
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1820
Florence Nightingale
Italian/English nurse
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2008
Robert Rauschenberg
American painter, illustrator
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2001
Perry Como
American singer, actor
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1884
Bed?ich Smetana
Czech composer
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1860
Charles Barry
English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel, Halifax Town Hall
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1003
Pope Sylvester II