1. On May 12, 1928, the first major league night baseball game was played at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field. The game was between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels, with the Reds winning 6-1.

2. In 1846, the Mexican-American War began when a group of American settlers in California captured the town of Sonoma from Mexican authorities. This event occurred on June 14, but May 12 marks the date that the leader of the settlers, William B. Ide, declared California an independent republic, which lasted for only 25 days before joining the United States.

3. On May 12, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge officially opened to pedestrians, with more than 200,000 people crossing the bridge on foot on the first day. The bridge quickly became a beloved symbol of San Francisco and a popular tourist destination.

4. The California Gold Rush began in 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. However, on May 12, 1898, another significant discovery was made at Nome, Alaska, which sparked a new gold rush and drew many prospectors from California.

5. In 1984, on May 12, the first California condor was released back into the wild after nearly becoming extinct. The bird, named AC-8, had been raised in captivity and released in the Los Padres National Forest as part of a breeding program to help save the species. Today, there are more than 400 California condors in the world, with about half living in the wild.