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History on the 12th of May

History
Date Text
12 May 1310 RELIGIOUS Fifty-four Knights Templars were burned at the stake as heretics in France. Established during the Crusades to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land, this military order came into increasing conflict with Rome until Clement V officially dissolved it in 1312 at the Council of Vienna.
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12 May 1891 RELIGIOUS The Presbytery of New York voted to put the Rev. Dr. Charles A. Briggs, the new professor of biblical theology at Union Theological Seminary, on trial for heresy.
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12 May 1907 RELIGIOUS Birth of Sidney N. Correll, founder and first General Director (1946-1971) of United World Mission, Inc. This evangelical missions organization is involved worldwide in evangelism, church planting and Christian education.
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12 May 1917 WW1 Begin of Tenth Battle of the Isonzo
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12 May 1933 WW2 Japanese troops took control of all major gates and passes of the Great Wall in Hebei Province. 
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12 May 1936 WW2 The first prototype of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 made its maiden flight from Augsburg-Haunstetten, Germany, with test pilot Rudolf Opitz at the controls. 
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12 May 1937 WW2 The coronation of King George VI took place at Westminster Abbey, London, England, United Kingdom. 
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12 May 1938 WW2 Enterprise was commissioned into service. 
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12 May 1938 WW2 Joachim von Ribbentrop instructed Konrad Henlein on how to speak with the British on the Czechoslovakia situation. 
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12 May 1938 WW2 During the night, Chinese troops abandoned Xiamen, China for nearby Songyu; thousands of civilians attempted to evacuate the city, 60,000 of whom would make their way to Gulangyu island, which was an international zone. Shortly after the departure of the Chinese troops, Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops would arrive to capture the city; they would later be relieved by Jinmen Garrision of the Japanese 1st Garrison Unit. 
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12 May 1938 RELIGIOUS In Holland, the four-day convention at Utrecht ended, at which the Provisional Constitution for the World Council of Churches was adopted.
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12 May 1939 WW2 Jean Decoux entered his office as the commander of naval forces in the Far East. 
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12 May 1940 WW2 The United Kingdom began the internment of German civilians. 
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12 May 1940 WW2 The first tank battle of the European War took place at Hannut in central Belgium between the German 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions and two French armored divisions; French S35 and H35 tanks overwhelmed their German counterparts, destroying large numbers of Panzer I and II tanks. In the air over Belgium, five Fairey Battle aircraft of No. 12 Squadron RAF flown by volunteer crews attacked the vital road bridges over the Albert Canal in the face of extremely heavy ground fire; the attack was pressed home with considerable gallantry and one bridge was seriously damaged, but at the cost of all five aircraft. 
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12 May 1940 WW2 Adolf Galland achieved his first three victories near Liège, Beligum. 
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12 May 1940 WW2 German armored columns pushed out of the Ardennes region and into France, preparing to cross the Meuse River at Sedan, Monthermé, and Dinant. 
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12 May 1940 WW2 In the Netherlands, German 9th Panzer Division reached Moerdijk bridges 10 miles south of Rotterdam, relieving the paratroopers who had been holding the bridges since 10 May. After evaluating the situation, Dutch Crown Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard departed for Harwich, England, United Kingdom aboard HMS Codrington. 
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12 May 1940 WW2 Winston Churchill appointed the newly created Viscount Simon (former Sir John Simon) to the post of Lord High Chancellor, the Chief Law Officer to the Government, succeeding the Viscount Caldecote. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 Admiral Günther Lütjens and other staff officers embarked battleship Bismarck. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 Italian torpedo boats Pleiadi and Pegaso sank British submarine HMS Undaunted off Tripoli, Libya at 2030 hours, killing the entire crew of 32. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 The British convoy carrying 135 infantry tanks, 82 cruiser tanks, 21 light tanks, and 43 Hurricane fighters arrived at Alexandria, Egypt having traveled through the dangerous Mediterranean Sea. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 Polish Lieutenant Mietek Chmiel and Lieutenant Miki Surmanowicz failed in their attempt to escape the Oflag IV-C prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle, Germany. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 Joseph Goebbels visited Adolf Hitler at Berghof in Berchtesgaden in southern Germany. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 47 German dive bombers sank British gunboat HMS Ladybird in Tobruk harbor, Libya with two bomb hits, killing 4 and wounding 14; Ladybird's gunners damaged two German dive bombers in return. Although she settled in 10 feet of water, her 6-inch gun was still above water, and thus she would remain useful as a stationary anti-aircraft gun platform while repairs were being done. Admiral Andrew Cunningham sent the message to her commanding officer "Great fighting finish worthy of highest ideals and tradition of the Navy and an inspiration for all who fight on the seas." 
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12 May 1941 WW2 British submarine HMS Rorqual sank two small Greek vessels carrying German troops off the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. 
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12 May 1941 WW2 Three former US Coast Guard Cutters were commissioned into Royal Navy at New York, United States as HMS Sennen, HMS Walney, and HMS Totland. Like cutters commissioned shortly before them, they were manned by the crew of battleship HMS Malaya, which was currently under repair in the United States. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 The last US troops in the Philippine Islands surrendered on Mindanao. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 A major Soviet offensive toward Kharkov, Ukraine was launched, beginning with an aerial and artillery bombardment between 0630 and 0730 hours, followed by the ground assault. By the end of the day the Soviets penetrated only about 10 kilometers into the German lines, falling far short of the ultimate goal of having the Soviet 6th and 28th Armies converging west of Kharkov to cut off the city and the German defenders. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 The US 8th Air Force began arriving in England. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 German submarine U-507 sank US tanker Virginia immediately off the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 27 of 41 aboard. To the south, U-69 sank Norwegian tanker Lise with torpedoes and the deck gun 90 miles north of Bonaire island; 12 were killed, 21 survived. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 2,500 residents of Ivye, Byelorussia were massacred by Germans. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Queen Carola Harbor near Buka, Bougainville, departing later on the same day. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Massachusetts was commissioned into service. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 The monsoon began in Burma, slowing the retreat of Allied troops into India, but it also stopped Japanese attempts to attack the retreating columns from the air. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 USS Pollack sank a Japanese patrol vessel with her surface weapons off Japan. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 USS Astoria arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 German submarine U-124 sank British catapult armed merchant Empire Dell and British transport Llanover of Allied convoy ONS-92 800 miles west of Ireland at 0200 hours; 2 were killed, 92 survived. At 0340 hours, U-94 also attacked the convoy, sinking Panamanian ship Cocle; 5 were killed, 37 survived. At 0400 hours, U-124 came back for another attack, sinking and Greek ship Mount Parnes and British ship Cristales; 115 were killed. On the North American coast, 50 miles southwest of Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada, U-553 sank Dutch ship Leto and British ship Nicoya. Finally, at 0540 hours, U-558 sank British anti-submarine trawler HMS Bedfordshire 35 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, United States, killing all 37 aboard. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 The fire on British destroyer HMS Jackal, damaged by German bombers yesterday and undertow by HMS Jervis, became uncontrollable. Jervis broke the tow and scuttled Jackal by torpedoes north of Sidi Barrani, Egypt and set sail for Alexandria, Egypt. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Soviet submarine K-23 attacked a German convoy off Nordkyn, Norway but was in turn counterattacked by German escort vessels with depth charges, which sank K-23 with all hands lost. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Italian frogmen raided Alexandria harbor, Egypt, but failed to damage their target, HMS Queen Elizabeth. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Chester Nimitz, based in Pearl Harbor in US Territory of Hawaii, received orders from Ernest King to withdraw William Halsey's carrier task force from areas near Japanese land-based aircraft, but Halsey was to remain in South Pacific region. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Italian 1st Air Force Paratroop Unit was formed at Tarquinia, Italy under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edvino Dalmas. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Nachi arrived at Akkeshi, Hokkaido, Japan. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Shokaku made rendezvous with Kuroshio, Oyashio, and Hayashio in the Philippine Sea; Ushio and Yugure were released as her escorts. Shokaku avoided more US submarines during her final leg home. However, with the high speeds and gashed bow, the ship took on so much water that she nearly capsized en route. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Soviet troops began to withdraw from the Kerch peninsula in Russia, freeing some German resources for the offensive near Kharkov, Ukraine to the north. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 About 60 survivors of HMS Edinburgh embarked HMS Trinidad at Murmansk, Russia. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 The PPS submachine gun's testing completed. 
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12 May 1942 WW2 Naval leaders in Washington DC, United States disagreed with Joseph Rochefort's conclusion that the Japanese was planning on an attack on Midway. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 The Trident Conference began in Washington, DC, United States. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 At his headquarters in Brisbane, Australia, George Kenney received a report noting that the morale of US 43rd Bomb Group was sharply declining. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 Modified B-25 bombers of 13th Squadron of US 38th Bomb Group, based in Port Moresby, Australian Papua, began conducting strafing missions. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 Japanese troops crossed the Yangtze River near Baiyang, Hunan Province, China and attacked Chinese positions on the opposite shore. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 USS Finback departed Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii for her fifth war patrol. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 USS Wahoo attacked a convoy of two Japanese ships east of Japan; both torpedoes missed. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 105 survivors of the "San Marco" naval infantry regiment of Italian Navy were evacuated from La Galite Island by motored torpedo boats. 
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12 May 1943 WW2 Polish Jewish leader Samuel Zygelbojm committed suicide in London, England, United Kingdom as an expression of solidarity with the Jewish resistance fighters in Warsaw. "By my death I wish to make my final protest against the passivity with which the world is looking on and permitting the extermination of the Jewish people", he wrote in his suicide note. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 The German synthetic fuel plants at Brüx in southern Germany (post-war Most, Czechoslovakia) and Lüna-Merseburg, Lützkendorf, and Zeitz in eastern Germany were hit by 800 US bombers. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 Kamal Ram of Indian 8th Punjab Regiment single-handedly took out two German defensive positions and joined another against a third near the Gari River in Italy. Later in the same day, he charged at a house held by the Germans, capturing two and killing one. He was later awarded the Victoria Cross, with King George VI pinning the medal onto his uniform in Jul 1944. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 Anglo-Indian troops counterattacked at Tengnoupal, India, regaining territory lost during the Japanese attacks between 6 and 8 May 1944. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 Shokaku departed Lingga, Dutch East Indies for the Tawi-Tawi anchorage in the Philippine Islands. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 Destroyer Yukikaze departed Lingga, Dutch East Indies. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 Near Cassino, Italy, engineers of Indian 8th Division successfully established a bridge to allow tanks of Canadian 1st Armoured Brigade to cross the Rapido River, while Polish troops engaged in fierce fighting with troops of German 1st Parachute Division at Point 593. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 39 German Sinti children, 20 boys and 19 girls, arrived at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. They were separated from their parents as a part of Eva Justin's dissertation "The fate of Gypsy children and their offspring raised in alien environments". She became a professor at Berlin University in 1943 and the paper was published in 1944. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 The remains of German 17.Armee surrendered in the Crimea in Russia. 
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12 May 1944 WW2 USS Wake Island arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, United States. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 George Patton launched Operation Cowboy in Hostau, Czechoslovakia, rescuing 1,200 horses, including 375 of the Lipizzan breed, from potential Soviet slaughter. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 German troops on Crete, Greece surrendered. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 General Andrey Vlasov was turned over to the Red Army after being captured by the Americans. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 British troops landed at St Hélier in Jersey, Channel Islands. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 US Army troops landed on Torishima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 Australian Corporal John Mackey destroyed three machine gun nests at Tarakan, Borneo, that had been holding up his comrades. Many Japanese were killed or forced to retreat, but Corporal Mackey would pay the ultimate price for his bravery. Posthumously he was awarded the Victoria Cross. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 Alfred Ernest Snow was name the British Military Administrator of the Channel Islands. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru departed Kure, Japan. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 Japanese special attack aircraft damaged USS New Mexico off Okinawa, Japan. Nearby, USS Wichita was damaged by friendly fire. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 Allied convoy JW-67 departed Clyde, Scotland, United Kingdom. 
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12 May 1945 WW2 Joseph Rochefort reported to Admiral Ernest King's office on the situation of Japanese war materials, noting, among other things, that Japan had nearly depleted its supply of coal while aluminum and oil stockpiles were running low. 
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12 May 1949 WW2 In Germany, the Berlin Blockade was lifted. 
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