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1863 depiction of the Battle of Raymond
1863 depiction of the Battle of Raymond

The Battle of Raymond was fought on May 12, 1863, near Raymond, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In late April, Union general Ulysses S. Grant led his army across the Mississippi River and moved east. A portion of the army led by James B. McPherson moved towards Raymond. Confederate brigadier general John Gregg was ordered from Jackson to Raymond. The two forces met on the morning of May 12. Gregg underestimated Union strength and acted aggressively, while McPherson overestimated Confederate strength and responded cautiously. Early on, the battle was relatively evenly matched. McPherson brought up reinforcements and the weight of Union numbers cracked the Confederate line. Gregg disengaged, but McPherson did not pursue. The battle changed Grant's plans, leading him to first focus on the Confederate forces at Jackson. Grant's men captured Jackson and pivoted west. They besieged Vicksburg, which the Confederates were forced to surrender on July 4. (Full article...)

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Portrait of Joseph by Géricault
Portrait of Joseph by Géricault

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Annemiek van Vleuten in 2017
Annemiek van Vleuten

On this day

May 12

B-17 bombers intercepting the Rex
B-17 bombers intercepting the Rex
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Hurricane Patricia
Hurricane Patricia

The 2015 Pacific hurricane season was the second-most active Pacific hurricane season on record, and featured the strongest tropical cyclone ever observed in the Western Hemisphere: Hurricane Patricia (pictured). The 2015 season officially started on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific—east of 140°W—and on June 1 in the Central Pacific—between the International Date Line and 140°W—and ended on November 30. Throughout the season, 31 tropical depressions developed, 26 of which became tropical storms, a record-tying 16 of them reached hurricane strength, and a record-breaking 11 achieved major hurricane intensity. Activity in the Central Pacific shattered records, with 16 tropical cyclones forming in or entering the basin; the previous record was 11, set during the 1992 and 1994 seasons. Activity in the basin was boosted by the strong 2014–2016 El Niño event, which brought anomalously high sea surface temperatures and low vertical wind shear that helped the numerous systems form and intensify. (Full list...)

Sagittarius A*

Sagittarius A* is the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. It is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, about 5.6 degrees south of the ecliptic, visually close to the Butterfly Cluster and Lambda Scorpii. On May 12, 2022, astronomers released this first image of the accretion disk around the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, produced in April 2017 by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a worldwide network of radio observatories, confirming the object to be a black hole. This was the second confirmed image of a black hole, after EHT's image of M87* released in 2019.

Image credit: EHT Collaboration

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