Today in History: May 12, tens of thousands die in Sichuan earthquake

Today is Tuesday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2026. There are 233 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 12, 2008, a devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

Also on this date:

In 1780, the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered to British forces in one of the worst American defeats of the Revolutionary War.

In 1846, the pioneers of the Donner Party left Independence, Missouri, on the Oregon Trail, beginning their ill-fated attempt to migrate to California.

In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, New Jersey.

In 1933, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration established both the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which provided federal funding to states for relief programs, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which provided economic support to farmers through agricultural surplus reductions.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.

In 1975, members of the new Khmer Rouge-led Cambodian government seized an American merchant ship, the SS Mayaguez, in international waters, sparking a three-day battle that resulted in the deaths of 41 Americans.

In 1982, in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope's longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.)

In 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack began rapidly inside computer networks worldwide by exploiting vulnerabilities in mostly older versions of Microsoft Windows. The WannaCry ransomware locked up digital photos, documents and other files and demanded digital currency bitcoin for their release.

Today's Birthdays: Hockey Hall of Famer Johnny Bucyk is 91. Musician Steve Winwood is 78. Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 76. Actor Gabriel Byrne is 76. Singer Billy Squier is 76. Basketball Hall of Fame coach George Karl is 75. Country musician Kix Brooks is 71. Actor Ving Rhames is 67. Actor-filmmaker Emilio Estevez is 64. Chef/TV personality Carla Hall is 62. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 60. Skateboarder Tony Hawk is 58. Actor Kim Fields is 57. Actor Rhea Seehorn is 54. Actor Malin Akerman is 48. Actor Jason Biggs is 48. Actor Rami Malek is 45. Actor Odeya Rush is 29.