Editing May 12 (section)

===1601–1900===
*[[1743]] &ndash; [[Maria Theresa]] of Austria is crowned Queen of [[Bohemia]] after defeating her rival, [[Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor]].
*[[1778]] &ndash; [[Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz|Heinrich XI]], count of the [[Principality of Reuss-Greiz]], is elevated to [[Prince]] by [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Kennedy |editor-first1=John |editor-last2=James |editor-first2=John E. |title=Almanach de Gotha |location=London |publisher=Almanach de Gotha |date=2004 |oclc=44931876 |page=303}}</ref>
*[[1780]] &ndash; [[American Revolutionary War]]: In the largest defeat of the [[Continental Army]], [[Charleston, South Carolina]] [[Siege of Charleston|is taken]] by British forces.
*[[1797]] &ndash; [[War of the First Coalition]]: [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] conquers [[Venice]].
*[[1808]] &ndash; [[Finnish War]]: Swedish-Finnish troops, led by Captain Karl Wilhelm Malmi, conquer the city of [[Kuopio]] from Russians after the [[Battle of Kuopio]].<ref>{{cite book |title=När riket sprängdes: fälttågen i Finland och Västerbotten, 1808-1809 |first=Eirik |last=Hornborg |year=1955 |publisher=P. A. Norstedts och Söners Förlag |location=[[Stockholm]] |language=sv}}</ref>
*[[1821]] &ndash; The first major battle of the [[Greek War of Independence]] against the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] is [[Battle of Valtetsi|fought]] in [[Valtetsi]].
*[[1846]] &ndash; The [[Donner Party]] of [[Settler|pioneers]] departs [[Independence, Missouri]] for [[California]], on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Ballard C. |title=Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History: A Reference Guide to the Nation's Most Catastrophic Events |location=New York |publisher=Facts On File |date=2008 |isbn=9780816066032 |url=https://archive.org/details/disastersacciden0000camp |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/disastersacciden0000camp/page/92 92]}}</ref>
*[[1862]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Union Army]] troops occupy [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]].
*[[1863]] &ndash; American Civil War: [[Battle of Raymond]]: Two divisions of [[James B. McPherson]]'s [[XVII Corps (Union Army)|XVII Corps]] turn the left wing of [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] General [[John C. Pemberton]]'s defensive line on [[Fourteen Mile Creek]], opening up the interior of [[Mississippi]] to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union Army]] during the [[Vicksburg Campaign]].
*[[1864]] &ndash; American Civil War: The [[Battle of Spotsylvania Court House]]: Union troops assault a Confederate salient known as the "Mule Shoe", with some of the fiercest fighting of the war, much of it hand-to-hand combat, occurring at "the Bloody Angle" on the northwest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Krick |first=Robert K. |chapter=An Insurmounable Barrier Between the Army and Ruin: The Confederate Experience at Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle |title=The Spotsylvania Campaign |editor-last=Gallagher |editor-first=Gary W. |location=Chapel Hill, N.C. |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |date=2010 |isbn=9780807871324 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bqBcwt_axSUC |pages=80–81}}</ref>
*[[1865]] &ndash; 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.
*[[1870]] &ndash; The [[Manitoba Act]] is given the [[Royal Assent]], paving the way for [[Manitoba]] to become a [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province of Canada]] on [[July 15]].
*[[1881]] &ndash; In North Africa, [[Ottoman Tunisia|Tunisia]] becomes a [[French protectorate of Tunisia|French protectorate]].
*[[1885]] &ndash; [[North-West Rebellion]]: The four-day [[Battle of Batoche]], pitting rebel [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]] against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.