May 12 - This Day in History

May 12 : General Interest
1957: Race car driver A.J. Foyt gets first pro victory

On this day in 1957, race car driver A.J. Foyt (1935- ) scores his first professional victory, in a U.S. Automobile Club (USAC) midget car race in Kansas City, Missouri... read more


American Revolution
1780 : Americans suffer worst defeat of revolution at Charleston
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/americans-suffer-worst-defeat-of-revolution-at-charleston

Automotive
2000 : Fourth-generation NASCAR driver Adam Petty dies in crash
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fourth-generation-nascar-driver-adam-petty-dies-in-crash

Civil War
1864 : North and South see bloody day at the Bloody Angle
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bloody-day-at-the-bloody-angle

Cold War
1975 : American ship Mayaguez seized
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-ship-mayaguez-seized

Crime
1932 : Body of Lindbergh baby found
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/body-of-lindbergh-baby-found

Disaster
1987 : Forest fire sweeps across China
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/forest-fire-sweeps-across-china

General Interest
1937 : George VI crowned at Westminster
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/george-vi-crowned-at-westminster
1949 : Berlin blockade lifted
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/berlin-blockade-lifted
1970 : Blackmun confirmed to Supreme Court
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/blackmun-confirmed-to-supreme-court

Hollywood
1907 : Katharine Hepburn born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/katharine-hepburn-born

Literary
1828 : Poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/poet-and-painter-dante-gabriel-rossetti-is-born

Music
1963 : Bob Dylan walks out on The Ed Sullivan Show
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bob-dylan-walks-out-on-the-ed-sullivan-show

Old West
1832 : Fur trader William Sublette heads west
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fur-trader-william-sublette-heads-west

Presidential
1903 : Teddy Roosevelt's trip to San Francisco is captured on film
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/teddy-roosevelts-trip-to-san-francisco-is-captured-on-film

Sports
1970 : Ernie Banks hits 500th home run
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ernie-banks-hits-500th-home-run

Vietnam War
1961 : Lyndon B. Johnson visits South Vietnam
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lyndon-b-johnson-visits-south-vietnam
1971 : Heavy fighting erupts in A Shau Valley
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/heavy-fighting-erupts-in-a-shau-valley

World War I
1918 : Germany and Austria-Hungary sign pact to exploit Ukraine
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-and-austria-hungary-sign-pact-to-exploit-ukraine

World War II
1941 : Hitler backs Rashid Ali in his fight against Britain
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hitler-backs-rashid-ali-in-his-fight-against-britain