On this day · Taurus

May 12 birthdays

311 notable historical figures were born on May 12, and 182 died on this day. Everyone born on May 12 is a Taurus.

18% of May 12 birthdays work in Arts & Music, more than any other field. More come from United States (60) than any other country.

Born on May 12

• Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895 to 1986. Spiritual speaker and writer (1895–1986))
• Katharine Hepburn (1907 to 2003. American actress (1907–2003))
• Rishi Sunak (born 1980. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024)
• George Carlin (1937 to 2008. American stand-up comedian (1937–2008))
• Florence Nightingale (1820 to 1910. English founder of modern nursing (1820–1910))
• Burt Bacharach (1928 to 2023. American composer and songwriter (1928–2023))
• Maryam Mirzakhani (1977 to 2017. Iranian mathematician (1977–2017))
• Theoderic the Great (454 to 526. King of Italy from 493 to 526)
• Kristrún Frostadóttir (born 1988. Prime Minister of Iceland since 2024)
• Rami Malek (born 1981. American actor (born 1981))
• Augustus II (1670 to 1733. King of Poland, Elector of Saxony and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1670–1733))
• Keith Kellogg (born 1944. Retired Lieutenant General in the United States Army (born 1944))
• Dorothy Hodgkin (1910 to 1994. English chemist (1910–1994))
• Gustav I (1496 to 1560. King of Sweden from 1523 to 1560)
• Julius Maada Bio (born 1964. President of Sierra Leone since 2018)
• Henry Cabot Lodge (1850 to 1924. American politician (1850–1924))
• Edward Lear (1812 to 1888. British artist and writer (1812–1888))
• Sam Nujoma (1929 to 2025. President of Namibia from 1990 to 2005)
• Justus von Liebig (1803 to 1873. German chemist (1803–1873))
• Daniel Libeskind (born 1946. American architect (born 1946))
• Frank Stella (1936 to 2024. American artist (1936–2024))
• Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi (born 1974. Major general of the Israel Defense Forces (born 1974))
• Manuel de Godoy y Álvarez de Faria Ríos (1767 to 1851. First Secretary of State of Spain)
• Ayaz Mutallibov (1938 to 2022. President of Azerbaijan from 1990 to 1992)
• Terry Farrell (architect) (1938 to 2025. British architect (1938–2025))
• Leslie Charteris (1907 to 1993. British-Chinese author)
• Eline Van der Velden (born 1986. Dutch actress)
• Sancho IV (1258 to 1295. King of Castile and León from 1284 to 1295)
• Stephen Milligan (1948 to 1994. British politician and journalist (1948–1994))
• Abelardo L. Rodríguez (1889 to 1967. President of Mexico from 1932 to 1934)
• Nitin Sawhney (born 1964. British musician (born 1964))
• Renée Simonsen (born 1965. Danish former model (born 1965))
• Johan Ferrier (1910 to 2010. President of Suriname from 1975 to 1980)
• Ibn al-Athir (1160 to 1233. Islamic historian and geographer (1160–1232/3))
• Marcelo Vieira (born 1988. Brazilian footballer (born 1988))
• Stanley Plotkin (born 1932. American physician and virologist (born 1932))
• Cosimo II de' Medici (1590 to 1621. Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 to 1621)
• Kongjian Yu (1963 to 2025. Chinese landscape architect and urban planner (1963–2025))
• Shōkō (1401 to 1428. Emperor of Japan from 1412 to 1428)
• Vilém Flusser (1920 to 1991. Czech-born Brazilian philosopher, writer (1920-1991))
• Ervin László (1932 to 2026. Hungarian philosopher, theorist, and pianist (born 1932))
• Abdoulaye Maïga (officer) (born 1981. Appointed interim prime minister of Mali)
• Louis Hennepin (1626 to 1701. Belgian explorer and missionary)
• Andrei Voznesensky (1933 to 2010. Soviet and Russian poet)
• Infante Gabriel of Spain (1752 to 1788. Spanish infante (1752–1788))
• Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755 to 1824. Italian violinist (1755–1824))
• Boutros Ghali (1846 to 1910. Prime Minister of Egypt (1908–1910))
• Ben Lear (1879 to 1966. United States Army General)
• Hermes da Fonseca (1855 to 1923. President of Brazil from 1910 to 1914)
• Johan Vilhelm Snellman (1806 to 1881. Finnish nobleman and nationalist (1806–1881))
• Archduke Peter Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany (1874 to 1948. Austro-Hungarian general (1874–1948))
• Ágnes Heller (1929 to 2019. Hungarian philosopher, teacher (1929–2019))
• Orélie-Antoine de Tounens (1825 to 1878. French adventurer who proclaimed himself king of Araucania and Patagonia)
• Malin Akerman (born 1978. Swedish actress (born 1978))
• Zalman Shapiro (1920 to 2016. American chemist and inventor)
• Johann Baptist Wanhal (1739 to 1813. Czech composer (1739–1813))
• Alexei Savrasov (1830 to 1897. Russian painter)
• Lennox Berkeley (1903 to 1989. English composer (1903–1989))
• Gareth Evans (philosopher) (1946 to 1980. British philosopher (1946–1980))
• William I the Mad (1330 to 1389. Duke of Bavaria from 1347 to 1388)

Died on May 12

• Józef Piłsudski (1867 to 1935. Polish statesman (1867–1935))
• James Connolly (1868 to 1916. Irish republican, trade unionist and revolutionary (1868–1916))
• Bedřich Smetana (1824 to 1884. Czech composer (1824–1884))
• Robert Rauschenberg (1925 to 2008. American painter and graphic artist (1925–2008))
• Sylvester II (938 to 1003. Head of the Catholic Church from 999 to 1003)
• Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848 to 1907. French novelist and art critic (1848–1907))
• Benjamin Sheares (1907 to 1981. President of Singapore from 1971 to 1981)
• John Masefield (1878 to 1967. English poet and writer (1878–1967))
• Pancras of Rome (289 to 304. Child martyr of early Christianity)
• Władysław Anders (1892 to 1970. Polish general (1892–1970))
• Mauno Koivisto (1923 to 2017. Finnish politician, President of Finland (1923–2017))
• Thomas Palaiologos (1409 to 1465. Despot of the Morea from 1428 to 1460)
• Kenneth Waltz (1924 to 2013. American political scientist (1924–2013))
• Eugène Ysaÿe (1858 to 1931. Belgian violinist and composer (1858–1931))
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131 to 1182. King of Denmark from 1154 to 1182)
• Charles Barry (1795 to 1860. English architect (1795–1860))
• Nelly Sachs (1891 to 1970. Jewish German-Swedish writer, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate (1891–1970))
• George Chapman (1559 to 1634. 16th/17th-century English dramatist, poet, and translator)
• Hu Hanmin (1879 to 1936. Chinese politician)
• Amy Lowell (1874 to 1925. American poet (1874–1925))
• George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1831 to 1893. Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1845 to 1893)
• Murad Mirza (son of Akbar) (1570 to 1599. Mughal prince (1570–1599))
• August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 to 1845. German poet, translator, critic, and writer (1767–1845))
• Sergius IV (970 to 1012. Head of the Catholic Church from 1009 to 1012)
• Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863 to 1944. English writer and literary critic (1863–1944))
• Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851 to 1921. Spanish author, editor)
• Frances Sargent Osgood (1811 to 1850. American poet (1811–1850))
• Joanna, Princess of Portugal (1452 to 1490. Portuguese princess)
• Sultan Jahan, Begum of Bhopal (1858 to 1930. Nawab Begum of Bhopal (1858–1930))
• Edme Mariotte (1620 to 1684. French physicist and priest)

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