March 13Birthdays & History

On this day: March 13 in history

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

1. 222Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.Europe
2. 483Election of Pope Felix III following the death of Pope Simplicius earlier that month.Europe
3. 624The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh.Middle East
4. 1261The Byzantine Empire and the Republic of Genoa sign a permanent treaty against the Venetians at Nymphaeum.Europe
5. 1323Siege of Warangal: Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq sends an expeditionary army led by his son, Muhammad bin Tughluq, to the Kakatiya capital Warangal – after ruler Prataparudra has refused to make tribute payments. He besieges the city and finally, after a campaign of 8 months, Prataparudra surrenders on November 9.Asia
6. 1567The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.Europe
7. 1591At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.Africa
8. 1639Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard.North America
9. 1697Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, falls to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.Latin AmericaEurope
10. 1741The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins' Ear) begins.Latin AmericaEurope
11. 1781William Herschel discovers Uranus.Europe
12. 1809Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809.Europe
13. 1811A French and Italian fleet is defeated by a British squadron off the island of Vis in the Adriatic during the Napoleonic Wars.Europe
14. 1815Participants at the Congress of Vienna declare Napoleon an outlaw following his escape from Elba.North AmericaEurope
15. 1825Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry.Europe
16. 1845Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.Europe
17. 1848The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna.Europe
18. 1862The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.North America
19. 1884The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885.Africa
20. 1888The eruption of Ritter Island triggers tsunamis that kill up to 3,000 people on nearby islands.Oceania
21. 1900British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.EuropeAfrica
22. 1920The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.Europe
23. 1930The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory.North America
24. 1940The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union officially ends after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty.Europe
25. 1943The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.Europe
26. 1954The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory led to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam.EuropeAsia
27. 1957Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.Latin America
28. 1964Kitty Genovese is murdered in New York City, prompting research into the bystander effect due to the false story that neighbors witnessed the killing and did nothing to help her.North America
29. 1969Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.World
30. 1974Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802 crashes into the White Mountains near Bishop, California, killing 36.North America
31. 1979The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d'état.Latin America
32. 1988The Seikan Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world with an undersea segment, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.Asia
33. 1989Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-29 carrying the TDRS-4 satellite.North America
34. 1992The Mw 6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).Middle East
35. 1993The 1993 Storm of the Century affects the eastern United States, dropping feet of snow in many areas.North America
36. 1996The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland.Europe
37. 1997The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader.Asia
38. 2003An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints.Europe
39. 2012The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children.Europe
40. 2013The 2013 papal conclave elects Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking the name Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.Europe
41. 2015Serbian Army Mi-17 helicopter crashes near Belgrade airport while transporting a 5-day-old baby with respiratory problems to hospital, killing all 7 on board.Europe
42. 2016Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.Africa
43. 2016The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people.Middle East
44. 2020Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality.North America
45. 2020President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States.North America
46. 2020Katerina Sakellaropoulou is sworn in as the first female President of Greece amid strict COVID-19 measures.Europe

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