May 12: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1865 - American Civil War: the Battle of Palmito Ranch: the first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.
2. 1926 - The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
3. 1933 - The Agricultural Adjustment Act is enacted to restrict agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies.
4. 1941 - Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
5. 1965 - The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
6. Famous Birthdays: Cosimo II de' Medici (Grand Duke of Tuscany), Florence Nightingale (Italian-English nurse), William Giauque (Canadian-American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate), Katharine Hepburn (American actress and singer), Dorothy Hodgkin (Egyptian-English biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: May 11

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: May 13

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.