December 13Birthdays & History

On this day: December 13 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1076The city of Salerno surrenders to Robert Guiscard. Duke Gisulf continues his resistance in the citadel until May of the following year.Europe
2. 1294Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.Europe
3. 1545The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.Europe
4. 1577Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.Europe
5. 1623The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies.North America
6. 1636The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians, a date now considered the founding of the National Guard of the United States.North America
7. 1642Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand.EuropeOceania
8. 1643English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.Europe
9. 1758The English transport ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, killing over 360 people.Europe
10. 1769Dartmouth College is founded by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth.North America
11. 1818Cyril VI of Constantinople resigns from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch under pressure from the Ottoman Empire.Middle East
12. 1862American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee repulses attacks by Union Major General Ambrose Burnside on Marye's Heights, inflicting heavy casualties.North America
13. 1864American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: The Second Battle of Fort McAllister ends with the fort being seized by Union forces under General William B. Hazen, threatening the city of Savannah with investment.North America
14. 1937Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: The city of Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre, in which Japanese troops rape and slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians.AsiaAsia
15. 1938The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.Europe
16. 1939The Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter.Latin America
17. 1943World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.Europe
18. 1949The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Middle East
19. 1957The Mw 6.5 Farsinaj earthquake strikes Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing at least 1,119 deaths and damaging over 5,000 homes.Middle East
20. 1959Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.Middle East
21. 1960While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.AfricaLatin America
22. 1962NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.North America
23. 1967Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.Europe
24. 1968Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus.Latin America
25. 1972Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.World
26. 1974Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.Europe
27. 1974In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese forces launch their 1975 Spring Offensive (to 30 April 1975), which results in the final capitulation of South Vietnam.Asia
28. 1977Air Indiana Flight 216 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff, and boosters of the team.North America
29. 1981General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity.Europe
30. 1982The 6.0 Ms North Yemen earthquake shakes southwestern Yemen with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 2,800, and injuring 1,500.Middle East
31. 1988PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York.EuropeNorth America
32. 1989The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded.Europe
33. 1994Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 crashes in Morrisville, North Carolina, near Raleigh–Durham International Airport, killing 15.North America
34. 1995Banat Air Flight 166 crashes in Sommacampagna near Verona Villafranca Airport in Verona, Italy, killing 49.Europe
35. 2001Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists.Asia
36. 2002European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004.EuropeMiddle East
37. 2003Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.Middle East
38. 2007The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "December 13" / CC BY-SA 4.0