12 May 1556

The Event Horizon Telescope released the first image of Sagittarius A*.

The WannaCry ransomware attack affected more than 400,000 computers worldwide, including systems used by the National Health Service and Telefónica.

An earthquake in Nepal killed 218 people and injured more than 3,500 others.

A train derailment killed eight people and injured more than 200 others in Philadelphia.

On arrival at Tripoli International Airport, Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashed into the ground at a speed of 262 kn (485 km/h; 302 mph) and exploded, killing all but one of the 304 people on board.

In Postville, Iowa, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the largest-ever raid of a workplace and arrested nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.

Four students were shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers at Trisakti University in Jakarta, which led to widespread riots and the resignation of President Suharto nine days later.

The Coppergate Helmet (pictured), the best preserved of the six known Anglo-Saxon helmets, was discovered.

The Cambodian navy seized the American container ship SS Mayaguez in what they claimed to be Cambodian territorial waters.

Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force began the defence of Fire Support Base Coral in the largest unit-level action of the war for the Australian Army.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience released the critically acclaimed and widely influential debut album Are You Experienced.

The United Kingdom publicly announced that it was independently developing nuclear weapons, after the US Atomic Energy Act of 1946 ended cooperation on the matter.

German engineer Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the first working programmable and fully automatic computer, to an audience of scientists in Berlin.

During an exercise to demonstrate air power, United States Army Air Corps bomber aircraft intercepted the Italian ocean liner SS Rex (pictured) 620 nautical miles (1,100 km) off the US Atlantic coast.

Nazi deputies assaulted journalist Helmuth Klotz in the German parliament building after he publicized the homosexuality of a senior Nazi politician.

The crew of the airship Norge (pictured), led by Roald Amundsen, became the first people to make a verified trip to the North Pole.

North Borneo was established as a British protectorate.

Under threat of invasion, Muhammad III as-Sadiq, Bey of Tunis, signed the Treaty of Bardo to make Tunisia a French protectorate.

American Civil War: The Confederates were routed in the Battle of Raymond, a small battle that had an inordinately large impact on the Vicksburg campaign.

The Donner Party, an American pioneer group which became known for resorting to cannibalism when they became trapped in the Sierra Nevada, left Independence, Missouri, for California.

War of the Austrian Succession: Habsburg ruler Maria Theresa was crowned Queen of Bohemia after Austrian forces drove French troops from the territory.

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

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

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