Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
What Time is It? It is flow of a sandstorm that will on each day compress somewhere into a structure – sandstone, selected and only remembered in the longue durée.
| 12 May 1846 | Sir Robert Otway died, British admiral (b. 1770) |
| 12 May 1871 | Elzéar-Henri Juchereau Duchesnay died, Canadian politician (b. 1809) |
| Thursday, 12 May 1921 | Ruth de Souza born, Brazilian actress |
| Thursday, 12 May 1921 | Joseph Beuys born, German artist (d. 1986) |
| Thursday, 12 May 1921 | Cor van der Hoeven born, Dutch footballer (d. 2017) |
| Thursday, 12 May 1921 | Farley Mowat born, Canadian writer born, naturalist (d. 2014) |
| Thursday, 12 May 1921 | Emilia Pardo Bazán died, Spanish writer (b. 1851) |
| Sunday, 12 May 1946 | Richard Bruce Silverman born, John Evans Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University |
| Friday, 12 May 1961 | Billy Duffy born, British guitarist (The Cult) |
| Wednesday, 12 May 1971 | An earthquake in Turkey destroys most of the city of Burdur. |
| Wednesday, 12 May 1971 | Doug Basham born, American professional wrestler |
| Wednesday, 12 May 1971 | Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh died, Canadian architect (b. 1887) |
| Wednesday, 12 May 1971 | Tor Johnson died, Swedish wrestler and actor (b. 1903) |
| Wednesday, 12 May 1971 | Heinie Manush died, American baseball player (b. 1901) |
| Tuesday, 12 May 1981 | Benjamin Sheares died, Singaporean politician and professor died, 2nd President of Singapore (b. 1907) |
| Tuesday, 12 May 1981 | Rami Malek born, American actor |
| Tuesday, 12 May 1981 | Kentaro Sato born, Japanese composer |
| Tuesday, 12 May 1981 | Dennis Trillo born, Filipino actor |
| Sunday, 12 May 1991 | Nepal holds its first multiparty legislative election since 1959. |
| Sunday, 12 May 1991 | Jennifer Damiano born, American actress and singer |
| Saturday, 12 May 2001 | Perry Como died, American singer (b. 1912) |
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
The following two tabs change content below.
Neville Buch
Professional Historian at Professional Historians Association (Queensland) Inc.
Neville Buch (Pronounced Book) Ph.D. is a certified member of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). Since 2010 he has operated a sole trade business in history consultancy. He was a Q ANZAC 100 Fellow 2014-2015 at the State Library of Queensland. Dr Buch was the PHA (Qld) e-Bulletin, the monthly state association’s electronic publication, and was a member of its Management Committee. He is the Managing Director of the Brisbane Southside History Network.
Latest posts by Neville Buch (see all)
- From Augustine’s Pears to Academic Boycotts: Fundamental Sociological Change in Australian Cultural Relations – October 11, 2026
- Yes, I want Anger Expressed But Then Resolved – October 11, 2026
- Part 3:The Failure of an Educational Institution and How to Spiral Forward – October 10, 2026