What happened on May 12 ?

1401 - Emperor Shoko of Japan (d. 1428)

1496 - Gustav I of Sweden (d. 1560)

1590 - Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1621)

1626 - Louis Hennepin, Flemish Catholic missionary in North America

1670 - King Frederick Augustus I of Poland (d. 1733)

1700 - Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (d. 1773)

1725 - Louis Philip I, Duke of Orléans, French soldier and writer (d. 1785)

1767 - Manuel de Godoy, Spanish statesman (d. 1851)

1803 - Justus von Liebig, German chemist (d. 1873)

1806 - Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish statesman (d. 1881)

1812 - Edward Lear, English author and poet (d. 1888)

1820 - Florence Nightingale, English nurse (d. 1910)

1828 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (d. 1882)

1842 - Jules Massenet, French composer (d. 1912)

1845 - Gabriel Fauré, French composer (d. 1924)

1850 - Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman (d. 1924)

1867 - Hugh Trumble, Australian test cricketer (d. 1938)

1874 - Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician (d. 1928)

1880 - Lincoln Ellsworth, American scientist and polar explorer (d. 1951)

1889 - Otto Frank, German writer, father of Anne Frank (d. 1980)

1892 - Fritz Kortner, Austrian-born director (d. 1970)

1895 - William Giauque, Canadian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)

1899 - Indra Devi, yogi (d. 2002)

1900 - Helene Weigel, German actress (d. 1971)

1907 - Katharine Hepburn, American actress (d. 2003)

1910 - Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (d. 1996)

1910 - Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)

1912 - Archibald Cox, U.S. Solicitor General and Watergate special prosecutor (d. 2004)

1914 - Bertus Aafjes, Dutch poet (d. 1993)

1914 - Howard K. Smith, American journalist (d. 2002)

1917 - Frank Clair, Canadian football coach

1918 - Julius Rosenberg, American spy (d. 1953)

1921 - Joseph Beuys, German artist (d. 1986)

1921 - Farley Mowat, Canadian writer and naturalist

1924 - Tony Hancock, British comedian (d. 1968)

1925 - Yogi Berra, baseball player

1928 - Burt Bacharach, American composer

1933 - Andrey Voznesensky, Russian poet

1935 - Felipe Alou, Dominican Major League Baseball manager

1936 - Frank Stella, American painter

1936 - Tom Snyder, American journalist and television personality

1937 - George Carlin, American comedian

1937 - Beryl Burton, English cyclist (d. 1996)

1939 - Ron Ziegler, White House Press Secretary (d. 2003)

1942 - Ian Dury, British musician (d. 2000)

1945 - Alan Ball, English footballer

1948 - Steve Winwood, English singer, songwriter and musician (Blind Faith, Traffic, The Spencer Davis Group)

1950 - Bruce Boxleitner, American actor

1950 - Billy Squier, American singer, songwriter and guitarist

1950 - Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor

1955 - Kix Brooks, American musician

1956 - Bernie Federko, Canadian ice hockey player

1959 - Ving Rhames, American actor

1961 - Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor, writer, and comedian (Kids in the Hall)

1961 - Lar Park Lincoln, American actress

1961 - Billy Duffy, British rock guitarist (The Cult)

1962 - Emilio Estevez, American actor

1963 - Vanessa A. Williams, American actress

1964 - Brett Gurewitz, American guitarist (Bad Religion)

1966 - Stephen Baldwin, American actor

1966 - Bebel Gilberto, bossa nova artist

1968 - Tony Hawk, American skateboarder

1969 - Kim Fields, American actress

1970 - Mike Weir, Canadian golfer

1970 - Jim Furyk, American golfer

1973 - Shalom Harlow, Canadian supermodel and actress

1975 - Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player

1977 - Graeme Dott, Scottish snooker player

1978 - Hossein Reza Zadeh, Iranian weightlifter

1978 - Jason Biggs, American actor

1981 - Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer

1992 - Malcolm David Kelley, American child actor

1993 - Kayla Rolland, school shooting victim (d. 2000)

1995 - Jean Carlos Chera, Brazilian footballer

1995 - Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten, American child actors