^B{^#!16!12 May^N! Feast day of St Dominic of the Causeway, St John Stone, St Ethelhard, St Fremund, Saints Nereus and Achilleus, St Pancras of Rome, St Epiphanius of Salamis, St Germanus of Constantinople, St Modoaldus, and St Rictrudis.
^B{1394^B} Malik Sarvar founded the Muslim kingdom of Jaunpur, on the middle Ganges. ^B{1536^B} Sir Francis Weston, Mark Smeaton and other alleged lovers of Anne Boleyn were tried for treason; they were executed on the 17th. ^B{1809^B} Arthur Wellesley defeated French under Soult at Oporto and forced them to retreat from Portugal. ^B{1881^B} Tunisia became a French protectorate. ^B{1949^B} Berlin blockade was officially lifted. ^B{1961^B} United States of the Congo founded, with LĪopoldville the federal capital. ^B{1962^B} South African General Law Amendment bill imposed the death penalty for sabotage. ^B{1965^B} West Germany established diplomatic relations with Israel; Arab states broke off relations with Bonn.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer, ^B{1567^B}; Augustus II of Poland and Elector of Saxony, ^B{1670^B}; Joseph Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer, ^B{1688^B}; John Bannister, English comedian, ^B{1760^B}; Justus von Liebig, German chemist, ^B{1803^B}; Florence Nightingale, English nursing pioneer, ^B{1820^B}; Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English painter and poet, ^B{1828^B}; Jules Massenet, French composer, ^B{1842^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}George Chapman, English playwright, ^B{1634^B}; Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, English politician, executed, ^B{1641^B}; Bedrich Smetana, Czech composer, ^B{1884^B}; Joris Karl Huysmans, French novelist, ^B{1907^B}; Alfred, Lord Milner, British politician, ^B{1925^B}; Arthur Quiller-Couch ('Q'), English writer, ^B{1944^B}; Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-born US silent-film actor and director, ^B{1957^B}; John Masefield, English poet, ^B{1967^B}.
