December 13
is the 347th day of the year (348th in
leap years) in the
Gregorian calendar. There are 18 days remaining.
*
1294 -
Saint Celestine V abdicates the
papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an
ascetic hermit.
*
1545 -
Council of Trent begins.
*
1577 - Sir
Francis Drake sets out from
Plymouth,
England, on his round-the-world voyage.
*
1636 - The
Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three
militia regiments to defend the colony against the
Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the
United States National Guard.
*
1642 -
Abel Janszoon Tasman reaches
New Zealand.
*
1643 -
English Civil War: The
Battle of Alton takes place in
Hampshire.
*
1769 -
Dartmouth College founded by the
Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King
George III, on land donated by Royal Governor
John Wentworth.
*
1862 -
American Civil War: At the
Battle of Fredericksburg,
Confederate General
Robert E. Lee defeats the
Union Major General
Ambrose E. Burnside.
*
1937 -
Second Sino-Japanese War:
Battle of Nanjing -
Nanjing, defended by the
National Revolutionary Army under the command of General
Tang Shengzhi, falls to the
Japanese.
*
1938 -
The Holocaust: 100 deportees from
Sachsenhausen build the
Neuengamme concentration camp near
Hamburg.
*
1939 -
World War II:
Battle of the River Plate - Captain
Hans Langsdorff of the
German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee engages with
Royal Navy cruisers
HMS Exeter,
HMS Ajax and
HMNZS Achilles.
*
1941 -
World War II:
Hungary and
Romania declare war on the
United States.
*
1949 - The
Knesset votes to move the capital of
Israel to
Jerusalem.
*
1959 -
Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of
Cyprus.
*
1973 -
Rael, leader of the
Raelian Movement claims to meet an ET he says is named
Yahweh, during an alleged
UFO encounter in Puy de Lassolas, France.
*
1974 -
Malta becomes a republic.
* 1974 - The
Detroit Wheels of the WFL are established.
*
1977 - A United States government aircraft DC-3 crashes near
Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the
University of Evansville basketball team.
*
1978 - The first
Susan B. Anthony dollar enters circulation.
*
1979 - The
Canadian Government of Prime Minister
Joe Clark is defeated in the
House of Commons, prompting the
1980 Canadian election.
*
1981 - General
Wojciech Jaruzelski declares
martial law in
Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by
Solidarity.
*
1989 - The last issue of
Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the
Solidaritetspartiet, is published in
Sweden.
*
1996 -
Kofi Annan is elected as
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
*
2000 - The "
Texas 7" escape from the
John Connally Unit near
Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer
Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.
* 2000 -
American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd
President of the United States.
*
2001 - the
Indian Parliament Sansad is attacked by Terrorists, killing 15 people, including all the terrorists. Tensions escalate in
South Asia, with nuclear war likelihoods.
*
2002 -
Enlargement of the European Union: 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 near his home town of
Tikrit (see
Operation Red Dawn).
* 2003 - In the most-attended
basketball game in history, 78,129 watch
Michigan State University lose 79-74 to the
University of Kentucky at
Ford Field.
*
2004 - Former
Chilean dictator, General
Augusto Pinochet is put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest is lifted the same day on appeal.
*
1521 -
Pope Sixtus V (d.
1590)
*
1533 - King
Eric XIV of Sweden (d.
1577)
*
1553 - King
Henry IV of France (d.
1610)
*
1585 -
William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (d.
1649)
*
1640 -
Robert Plot, English naturalist (d.
1696)
*
1662 -
Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d.
1729)
*
1678 -
Yongzheng Emperor of China (d.
1735)
*
1724 -
Franz Aepinus, German scientist (d.
1802)
*
1784 -
Archduke Louis of Austria (d.
1864)
*
1797 -
Heinrich Heine, German poet (d.
1856)
*
1804 -
Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (d.
1873)
*
1813 -
David Spangler Kaufman, American politician (d.
1851)
*
1816 -
Ernst Werner von Siemens, German engineer, inventor, and industrialist (d.
1892)
*
1818 -
Mary Todd Lincoln,
First Lady of the United States (d.
1882)
*
1836 -
Franz von Lenbach, German painter (d.
1904)
*
1854 -
Thomas Watson, American assistant to
Alexander Graham Bell (d.
1934)
*
1856 -
Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (d.
1920)
*
1864 -
Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee (d.
1947)
*
1867 -
Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian explorer and scientist (d.
1917)
*
1874 -
Josef Lhévinne, Russian-born pianist (d.
1944)
*
1883 -
Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist (d.
1950)
*
1887 -
George Polya, Hungarian-born mathematician (d.
1985)
* 1887 -
Alvin York, American soldier &
Medal of Honor recipient (d.
1964)
*
1897 -
Drew Pearson, American journalist (d.
1969)
*
1903 -
Carlos Montoya, Spanish guitarist (d.
1993)
*
1906 -
Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (d.
1968)
* 1906 - Sir
Laurens van der Post, Afrikaner-born South African author (d.
1996)
*
1910 -
Van Heflin, American actor (d.
1971)
*
1911 -
Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and
Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d.
1999)
* 1911 -
Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (d.
1972)
*
1913 -
Archie Moore, American boxer and World
Light-Heavyweight Champion (d.
1998)
* 1913 -
Arnold Brown, the 11th General of
The Salvation Army (d.
2002)
*
1915 -
Curd Jürgens, German actor (d.
1982)
* 1915 -
Ross Macdonald, American-born author (d.
1983)
*
1923 -
Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist and
Nobel Prize laureate
* 1923 -
Larry Doby, American baseball player (d.
2003)
*
1925 -
Dick Van Dyke, American actor and comedian
*
1926 -
George Rhoden, Jamaican athlete and Olympic gold medalist
*
1927 -
Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor
*
1934 -
Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer
*
1935 -
Lindy McDaniel, baseball player
*
1936 -
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (Prince Karim El Husseni)
*
1939 -
Eric Flynn, British actor and singer (d.
2002)
*
1942 -
Anna Eshoo, American politician
*
1943 -
Ferguson Jenkins, Canadian baseball player
*
1948 -
Ted Nugent, American guitarist
* 1948 -
Jeff Baxter, American guitarist (
Steely Dan,
The Doobie Brothers)
* 1948 -
Brian Wilson, British politician
*
1950 -
Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa
*
1952 -
Sylvester Ritter, Professional wrestler better known as Junkyard Dog (d.
1998)
*
1953 -
Ben Bernanke, American economist
* 1953 -
Bob Gainey, Canadian hockey player
*
1954 -
John Anderson, American country musician
*
1957 -
Steve Buscemi, American actor
* 1957 -
Morris Day, American singer (
The Time)
* 1957 -
Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
*
1958 -
Lynn-Holly Johnson, American figure skater and actress
*
1959 -
Nadia Russ, Soviet-born artist
*
1961 -
Harry Gregson-Williams, British composer
*
1963 -
Jake White, South African rugby union coach
*
1965 -
Marko Mäetamm, Estonian artist
*
1967 -
Jamie Foxx, American actor
*
1969 -
Sergei Fedorov, Russian hockey player
*
1972 -
Mauricio Solís, Costa Rican footballer
*
1973 -
Christie Clark, American actress
*
1974 -
Nicholas McCarthy, British-born guitarist (
Franz Ferdinand)
* 1974 -
Sara Cox, TV and Radio presenter
*
1975 -
Tom Delonge, American guitarist (
Blink-182,
Angels and Airwaves)
*
1976 -
Josh Fogg, American baseball player
* 1976 -
Radosław Sobolewski, Polish footballer
*
1977 -
Christopher Hudgens, American Painter
*
1981 -
Amy Lee, American singer (
Evanescence)
*
1983 -
Otylia Jędrzejczak, Polish swimmer, FINA World Champion and Olympic gold medalist
*
1048 -
Al-Biruni, Persian mathematician (b.
973)
*
1124 -
Pope Callixtus II*
1204 -
Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (b.
1135)
*
1250 -
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (b.
1194)
*
1404 -
Albert, Count of Holland (b.
1336)
*
1466 -
Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi), Florentine artist and sculptor (b.
1386)
*
1516 -
Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer (b.
1462)
*
1521 - King
Manuel I of Portugal (b.
1469)
*
1557 -
Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician
*
1565 -
Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (b.
1516)
*
1603 -
François Viète, French mathematician (b.
1540)
*
1621 -
Katarina Stenbock, Queen of
Gustav I of Sweden (b.
1535)
*
1716 -
Charles de La Fosse, French painter (b.
1640)
*
1721 -
Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor and castaway (b.
1676)
*
1729 -
Anthony Collins, English philosopher (b.
1676)
*
1754 -
Mahmud I,
Ottoman Sultan (b.
1696)
*
1769 -
Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (b.
1715)
*
1783 -
Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b.
1717)
*
1784 -
Samuel Johnson, British writer and lexicographer (b.
1709)
*
1814 -
Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne, Belgian-born Austrian field marshal (b.
1735)
*
1837 -
Herman of Alaska,
Russian Orthodox hermit (b.
1756)
*
1863 -
Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German writer (b.
1813)
*
1868 -
Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist (b.
1794)
*
1881 -
August Senoa, Croatian writer (b.
1838)
*
1883 -
Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (b.
1812)
*
1895 -
Anyos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist (b.
1800)
*
1919 -
Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (b.
1850)
*
1930 -
Fritz Pregl, Austrian chemist and
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1869)
*
1931 -
Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b.
1840)
*
1935 -
Victor Grignard, French chemist and
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1871)
*
1940 -
Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, French physicist (b.
1851)
*
1944 -
Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French artist (b.
1866)
*
1947 -
Nicholas Roerich, Russian-born painter (b.
1874)
*
1955 -
Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician and
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1874)
*
1961 -
Grandma Moses, American painter (b.
1860)
*
1983 -
Alexander Schmemann, Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b.
1921)
* 1983 -
Nichita Stanescu, Romanian poet (b.
1933)
*
1993 -
Vanessa Duriès, French novelist (b.
1972)
*
2001 -
Chuck Schuldiner, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (
Death) (b.
1967)
*
2002 -
Zal Yanofsky, American guitarist and singer (
The Lovin' Spoonful) (b.
1945)
*
2003 -
William V. Roth, Jr., U.S. Senator (b.
1921)
*
2004 -
Andre Rodgers, Bahamian baseball player (b.
1934)
* 2004 -
David Wheeler, British computer scientist (b.
1927)
*
2005 -
Stanley Williams (Stanley Tookie Williams III), Founder of the
Crips street gang, convicted murderer and anti-gang activist (lethal injection) (b.
1953)
*
Roman festivals -
Tellus was worshipped in the district
Carinae at the
Esquiline Hill, and a
lectisternium or table was spread for Ceres.
*
R.C. Saints - memorial of
Saint Lucy* Also see
December 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)* In the
Julian calendar before the Gregorian reform, this was the shortest day and longest night, and widely celebrated as such
* In the
Irish calendar the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the Feast of Saint Lucy were observed as
Quarter tense.
*
Malta -
Republic Day (since
1974)
*
St. Lucia's Day in
Sweden,
Norway,
Denmark and
Finland.
*
BBC: On This DayDecember 12 -
December 14 -
November 13 -
January 13 --
listing of all days
