March 13
is the
72nd day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (73rd in
leap years). There are 293 days remaining.
*
483 -
St. Felix becomes
Pope.
*
874 - The bones of
Saint Nicephorus are interred in the
Church of the Apostles,
Constantinople.
*
1138 -
Cardinal Gregory is elected
anti-pope as
Victor IV, succeeding
Anacletus II.
*
1639 -
Harvard College was named for clergyman
John Harvard.
*
1781 -
William Herschel discovers the
planet Uranus.
*
1846 -
Ballinglass Incident: eviction of 300 tenants at the village of
Ballinglass in
Ireland during the
Irish Potato famine.
*
1862 -
American Civil War: The
U.S. federal government forbids all
Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the
Emancipation Proclamation.
*
1865 -
American Civil War: The
Confederate States of America reluctantly agrees to the use of
African American troops.
*
1881 -
Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him. (Gregorian date: it was
March 1 in the
Julian calendar then in use in
Russia.)
*
1884 - The siege of
Khartoum,
Sudan begins (ends on
January 26,
1885).
*
1897 -
San Diego State University founded.
*
1900 -
Boer Wars:
British forces occupy
Bloemfontein,
Orange Free State.
* 1900 - In
France, length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law
*
1921 -
Mongolia, under
Black Baron, declares its independence from
China.
*
1925 -
Scopes Trial: A law in
Tennessee prohibits the teaching of
evolution.
*
1930 - The news of the discovery of
Pluto was telegraphed to the
Harvard College Observatory.
*
1933 -
Great Depression: Banks in the
United States begin to re-open after the
Presidentially mandated "
bank holiday".
*
1940 -
Winter War ended.
*
1943 -
World War II: In
Bougainville,
Japanese troops end their assault on
American forces at
Hill 700.
* 1943 -
Holocaust:
German forces liquidate the
Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
*
1954 -
Battle of Điện Biên Phủ:
Viet Minh forces attack the
French.
*
1957 - The
FBI arrests
Jimmy Hoffa and charges him with bribery.
*
1962 -
Lyman Lemnitzer,chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff in the USA, proposes a document, called
Operation Northwoods, regarding performing
terrorist attacks in
Guantanamo Bay to
Secretary of Defense Robert Mcnamara. The proposal is scrapped and
President John F. Kennedy removes Lemnitzer from his position.
*
1964 - A young woman,
Kitty Genovese is murdered in front of multiple witnesses who all fail to help her, in an incident which shocks the world and prompts investigation into the
Bystander effect.
*
1969 -
Apollo program:
Apollo 9 returns safely to
Earth after testing the
Lunar Module.
*
1971 - In
New York City,
Rock group
The Allman Brothers Band record a concert that will be released as their classic
live album At Fillmore East*
1979 - The
New Jewel Movement, headed by
Maurice Bishop, ousts
Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a nearly bloodless
coup d'etat in
Grenada.
*
1986 -
Microsoft has its
Initial public offering.
*
1988 -
I. King Jordan becomes the first
Deaf president of
Gallaudet University after the
Deaf President Now demonstrations.
*
1991 - The
United States Justice Department announces that
Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the
Exxon Valdez oil spill in
Alaska.
*
1992 - In eastern
Turkey, an
earthquake registering 6.8 on the
Richter scale kills over 500.
*
1993 - The
Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern
U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from
Cuba to
Québec.
*
1996 -
The Dunblane Massacre: in
Dunblane,
Scotland, 16 children and 1 adult teacher are shot dead by a
spree killer who then commits suicide.
*
1997 -
India's
Missionaries of Charity chooses
Sister Nirmala to succeed
Mother Teresa as its leader.
* 1997 - In
Phoenix,
Arizona, the
Phoenix Lights, one of the most widely witnessed
UFO sightings, take place.
*
2003 -
Human evolution: The journal
Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking
human footprints have been found in
Italy.
*
2006 - Earthquake struck Salta,
Argentina* 2006 - Six men in
London are hospitalised during trials of the drug
TGN1412, raising concerns about testing on humans.
*
2 -
Apollonius of Tyana*
1372 -
Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, brother of
Charles VI of France (d.
1407)
*
1615 -
Pope Innocent XII (d.
1700)
*
1683 -
John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-British philosopher (d.
1744)
*
1700 -
Michel Blavet, French flutist (d.
1768)
*
1719 -
John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (d.
1797)
*
1720 -
Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist and writer (d.
1793)
*
1733 -
Joseph Priestley, English scientist and minister (d.
1804)
*
1741 -
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d.
1790)
*
1763 -
Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, French marshal (d.
1815)
*
1764 -
Earl Grey,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.
1845)
*
1781 -
Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German architect (d.
1841)
*
1784 -
Jean Moufot, French philosopher and mathematician (d.
1842)
*
1798 -
Abigail Fillmore,
First Lady of the United States (d.
1853)
*
1815 -
James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (d.
1911)
*
1855 -
Percival Lowell, American astronomer (d.
1916)
*
1860 -
Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (d.
1903)
*
1864 -
Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian painter (d.
1941)
*
1870 -
Albert Meyer, member of the Swiss Federal Council in the 1930s (d.
1953)
*
1884 - Sir
Hugh Walpole, English novelist (d.
1941)
*
1899 -
John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1980)
* 1899 -
Jan Lechoń, Polish poet
*
1900 -
Béla Guttman, Hungarian footballer (d.
1981)
* 1900 -
Giorgos Seferis, Greek-born poet,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1971)
*
1908 -
Walter Annenberg, American publisher and philanthropist (d.
2002)
*
1910 -
Karl Gustav Ahlefeldt, Danish actor (d.
1985)
* 1910 -
Sammy Kaye, American musician (d.
1987)
*
1911 -
L. Ron Hubbard, American author (d.
1986)
*
1913 -
William Casey, American Central Intelligence Agency director (d.
1987)
* 1913 -
Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian writer
*
1914 -
Edward O'Hare, American pilot (d.
1943)
* 1914 -
W.O. Mitchell, Canadian writer (d.
1998)
*
1921 -
Al Jaffee, American cartoonist
*
1926 -
Raúl Alfonsín,
President of Argentina* 1926 -
Carlos Roberto Reina,
President of Honduras (d.
2003)
*
1927 -
Robert Denning, interior designer (d.
2005)
*
1929 -
Peter Breck, American actor
*
1930 -
Jan Howard, American singer
* 1930 -
Liz Anderson, American singer
*
1934 -
Barry Hughart, American author
*
1935 -
Michael Walzer, American philosopher
* 1935 -
Leslie Parrish, American actress
*
1938 -
Erma Franklin, American singer (d.
2002)
*
1939 -
Neil Sedaka, American singer and songwriter
*
1942 -
Dave Cutler, American software engineer
* 1942 -
Scatman John, American singer (d.
1999)
*
1945 -
Michael Martin Murphey, American musician
*
1946 -
Jonathan Netanyahu, Israeli soldier (d.
1976)
*
1947 -
Beat Richner, Swiss physician and cellist
*
1949 -
Julia Migenes, American soprano
*
1950 -
William H. Macy, American actor
*
1951 -
Fred Berry, American actor and dancer (d.
2003)
*
1952 -
Wolfgang Rihm, German composer
*
1955 -
Bruno Conti, Italian footballer
*
1957 -
Steve Lake, baseball player
*
1960 -
Adam Clayton, English bassist (
U2)
* 1960 -
Gal Rasché, conductor
* 1960 -
Joe Ranft, PIxar animator (d.
2005)
* 1960 -
Yuri Andrukhovych, Ukrainian writer, poet and political esseyist.
*
1963 -
Fito Páez, Argentine musician and songwriter.
*
1964 -
Will Clark, baseball player
*
1967 -
Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (d.
1994)
*
1970 -
Tim Story, American film director
*
1971 -
Annabeth Gish, American actress
* 1971 -
Robert Lanham, American author and satirist
*
1972 -
Common, American rapper
*
1973 -
Edgar Davids, Dutch footballer
* 1973 -
David Draiman, American musician and songwriter (
Disturbed)
*
1974 -
Thomas Enqvist, Swedish tennis player
*
1976 -
Danny Masterson, American actor
*
1977 -
Ed Sloan, American musician, member of
Crossfade*1977 -
Momo Sylla, Guinean footballer
*
1979 -
Johan Santana, Venezuelan
Major League Baseball player
* 1979 -
Spanky G, American Musician (
Bloodhound Gang)
*
1980 -
H.I.T.L.A.H. Capo Confucious American
rapper (d.
2003)
*
1981 -
Stephen Maguire, Scottish snooker player
*
1983 -
Mallory R. Evans, American writer and artist
*
1984 -
Nanri Yuuka, Japanese
seiyū* 1984 -
Pieter Custers, Dutch athlete
*
1985 -
Emile Hirsch, American actor
*
1986 -
Natalie and Nicole Albino, American musicians (
Nina Sky)
*
1989 -
Harry Melling, British actor
*
1271 -
Henry of Almain, English crusader (b.
1235)
*
1395 -
John Barbour, Scottish poet
*
1516 - King
Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (b.
1456)
*
1569 -
Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French Huguenot general (b.
1530)
*
1573 -
Michel de l'Hôpital, French statesman
*
1604 -
Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (b.
1537)
*
1619 -
Richard Burbage, English actor (b.
1567)
*
1711 -
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (b.
1636)
*
1778 -
Charles le Beau, French historian (b.
1701)
*
1808 - King
Christian VII of Denmark (b.
1749)
*
1842 -
Henry Shrapnel, British soldier and inventor (b.
1761)
*
1854 -
Jean-Baptiste Guillaume Joseph, comte de Villèle, French statesman (b.
1773)
*
1879 -
Adolf Anderssen, German chess player (b.
1818)
*
1881 -
Tsar Alexander II of Russia (b.
1818)
*
1884 -
Leland Stanford, Jr., American railroad magnate (b.
1868)
*
1901 -
Benjamin Harrison, 23rd
President of the United States (b.
1833)
*
1906 -
Susan B. Anthony, American women's suffrage activist (b.
1820)
*
1918 -
César Cui, Russian composer (b.
1835)
*
1938 -
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Russian politician and intellectual (b.
1888)
* 1938 -
Clarence Darrow, American attorney (b.
1857)
*
1943 -
Stephen Vincent Benét, American author (b.
1898)
*
1949 -
Henri Giraud, French general (b.
1879)
*
1955 - King
Tribhuvan of Nepal (b.
1906)
*
1965 -
Corrado Gini, Italian statistician (b.
1884)
* 1965 -
Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop, poet, and politician (b.
1882)
*
1972 -
Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (b.
1941)
*
1975 -
Ivo Andrić, Serbo-Croatian writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1892)
*
1983 -
Louison Bobet, French cyclist (b.
1925)
*
1988 -
John Holmes, American actor (b.
1944)
*
1990 -
Bruno Bettelheim, American psychiatrist (b.
1903)
*
1991 -
Karl Münchinger, German conductor (b.
1915)
*
1995 -
Leon Day, American baseball player (b.
1916)
*
1996 -
Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (b.
1941)
*
1998 -
Bill Reid, Canadian artist (b.
1920)
* 1998 -
Hans von Ohain, German engineer (b.
1911)
*
1999 -
Garson Kanin, American writer and director (b.
1912)
*
2002 -
Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (b.
1900)
*
2004 -
Franz König, Austrian Catholic Archbishop of Vienna (b.
1905)
*
2006 -
Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b.
1944)
* 2006 -
Peter Tomarken, American game show host (
Press Your Luck) (b.
1942)
* 2006 -
Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b.
1925)
*
Greek Orthodox Church - Feast day of
Saint Nicephorus.
* Feast days in the
Roman Catholic Church **
Saint Gerald**
Saint Nicephorus **
Saint Roderick **
Saint Salomon**
Saint Eufrasia**
Saint Modesta*
On this day in Canada*
NY Times: On this day*
BBC: On This Day*
Today in History: March 13March 12 -
March 14 -
February 13 -
April 13 --
listing of all days
