What Happened On December 13 - On This Day

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  • Engraved world map, hand-colored, printed on paper, showing the route of Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe 1577-1580

    Francis Drake's Circumnavigation

    1577 Francis Drake sets sail from England on an epic three-year circumnavigation of the world aboard the "Pelican," later renamed the "Golden Hind"
  • 1636 The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. Recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
  • 1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland [1]
  • 1920 League of Nations establishes the International Court of Justice in The Hague
  • 2002 The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004
  • 2003 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured in a spider hole near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces
More December 13 Events
  • 1989 "Driving Miss Daisy" directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy is released (Best Picture 1990)
  • 1759 First music store in America opens in Philadelphia by future Treasurer of the United States, Michael Hillegas
  • 2007 The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.

Francis G. Pease's interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star, Betelgeuse

December 13, 1920

  • Henry IV of France

    1553 - 1610
  • Werner von Siemens

    1816 - 1892
  • Mary Todd Lincoln

    1818 - 1882
  • Marc Connelly

    1890 - 1980
  • George P. Shultz

    1920 - 2021
  • Ben Bernanke

    72 Years Old
More Birthdays on December 13
  • Christopher Plummer

    1929 - 2021
  • Dick Van Dyke

    100 Years Old
  • Steve Buscemi

    68 Years Old
  • Jamie Foxx

    58 Years Old
  • Amy Lee

    44 Years Old
  • Taylor Swift

    36 Years Old
  • Archie Moore

    1913 - 1998
  • Larry Doby

    1924 - 2003
  • Ferguson Jenkins

    83 Years Old

Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months, hoping to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit

December 13, 1294

  • 862 Boudouin Iron Arm & Count of Flanders, elopes with Princess Judith, daughter King Charles of West Francia
  • 1779 Joséphine de Beauharnais, future Empress of the French, marries her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, in Paris
  • 1951 Future British PM Margaret Roberts (26) weds businessman Denis Thatcher (36) at Wesley's Chapel in City Road, London
  • 2001 Oscar winning-actress Kate Winslet (26) divorces assistant film director Jim Threapleton (28) due to unreasonable behavior after 3 years of marriage
  • 2010 "Dexter" actress Jennifer Carpenter (31) divorces actor Michael C. Hall (40) due to irreconcilable differences after 2 years of marriage
More December 13 Weddings
  • Frederick II

    1194 - 1250
  • Donatello

    - 1466
  • Samuel Johnson

    1709 - 1784
  • Arthur Wesley Dow

    1857 - 1922
  • Samuel Gompers

    1850 - 1924
  • Grandma Moses

    1860 - 1961
More December 13 Deaths
  • Jerry Lee Lewis pictured in 1957 with Myra, his 13-year-old 'bride'

    Great Balls of Fire! The 'Bride' is 13

    Jerry Lee Lewis leapt to fame declaring there was ‘A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On’. His fans were certainly shaken when told of his 13-year-old ‘bride’. December 13, 1957
  • Polish Politician and Labor Activist Lech Wałęsa

    Weekly Quiz for December 9 - 15

    Which country was Lech Wałęsa elected President of? Which British monarch abdicated their throne in 1936? Who headed the 1st expedition to the South Pole?
  • 12 Dec
  • Calendar
  • Dec 14
  • Marconi with his telegraphic box of tricks

    Marconi's Dream: Telegraphy Without Wires

    December 11, 1896
  • Phoebe Hessel's gravestone at Brighton, once restored by the Northumberland Fusiliers

    A King Salutes Remarkable Woman Soldier

    December 12, 1821
  • The British party, l-r Scott, Oates, Wilson and Evans reach Amundsen's tent. Photo: Henry Bowers/British Library

    Heartbreak and Tragedy for Captain Scott

    December 14, 1911
  • Hitler and his entourage strutting in front of the Eiffel Tower

    The Tower that Twice Defied Hitler

    December 15, 1832
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