October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). There are 79 days remaining.
Events
- 54 - Roman Empire emperor Claudius I dies after being poisoned by his wife Agrippina.
- 1307 - All Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into "admitting" heresy.
- 1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 1775 - The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).
- 1792 - In Washington, DC, the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.
- 1812 - War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights - On the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaerof are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock.
- 1843 - In New York City, Henry Jones and 11 others found B'nai B'rith (the oldest Jewish service organization in the world).
- 1845 - A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.
- 1918 - Talaat Pasha and the Young Turk (C.U.P.) ministry resign and sign an armistice, ending Ottoman participation in World War I
- 1943 - World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.
- 1946 - France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
- 1960 - 1960 World Series: Baseballer Bill Mazeroski becomes the first person to end a World Series with a home run.
- 1962 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opens on Broadway.
- 1972 - An Aeroflot Ilyushin-62 crashed outside Moscow killing 176
- 1972 - Andes flight disaster: Fairchild passenger plane transporting a rugby team crashes in Andes. They are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive, as chronicled in the 1993 film Alive: The Miracle of the Andes.
- 1976 - A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashes in Santa Cruz, Bolivia killing 100 (97, mostly children, killed on the ground)
- 1976 - The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle was obtained by Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, who was then working at the C.D.C..
- 1977 - Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.
- 1995 - Microsoft releases Windows 95.
- 1999 - The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
- 2003 - The Public Library of Science commences publication of an open-access scientific journal, PLoS Biology.
Births
- 1821 - Rudolf Virchow, German doctor, pathologist, biologist, and politician (d. 1902)
- 1853 - Lillie Langtry, actress
- 1862 - Mary Kingsley, English writer and explorer (d. 1900)
- 1876 - Rube Waddell, baseball star (d. 1914)
- 1909 - Art Tatum, jazz pianist (d. 1956)
- 1909 - Herbert Block ("Herblock"), editorial cartoonist (d. 2001)
- 1910 - Ernest McGann, author (d. 1991)
- 1911 - Ashok Kumar, actor, India (d. 2001)
- 1915 - Cornel Wilde, actor (d. 1989)
- 1917 - Burr Tillstrom, puppeteer
- 1918 - Robert Walker, actor (d. 1951)
- 1921 - Yves Montand, singer, actor (d. 1991)
- 1924 - Nipsey Russell, comedian, actor, television personality
- 1925 - Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1925 - Lenny Bruce, comedian (d. 1966)
- 1931 - Eddie Mathews, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 2001)
- 1934 - Nana Mouskouri, Greek singer
- 1938 - Hugo Young, journalist (d. 2003)
- 1940 - Pharoah Sanders, jazz saxophonist
- 1941 - Paul Simon, musician
- 1942 - Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys
- 1946 - Edwina Currie, former British politician
- 1947 - Sammy Hagar, singer
- 1948 - Ted Poe, American politician
- 1953 - Pat Day, jockey
- 1954 - Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician imprisoned for revealing Israeli secrets
- 1959 - Marie Osmond, singer, actress, television personality
- 1962 - Kelly Preston, actress
- 1962 - Jerry Rice, American football star
- 1969 - Nancy Kerrigan, figure skater
- 1971 - Sacha Baron Cohen, comic
- 1978 - Jermaine O'Neal, NBA basketball player
- 1980 - Ashanti, pop music artist, USA
- 1982 - Ian Thorpe, swimmer
Deaths
- 54 - Claudius, Roman Emperor
- 1673 - Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (b. 1617)
- 1694 - Samuel von Pufendorf, German jurist (b. 1632)
- 1706 - Iyasus the Great, Emperor of Ethiopia
- 1812 - Sir Isaac Brock, British general (killed in battle)
- 1869 - Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (b. 1804)
- 1890 - Samuel Freeman Miller, U.S. Supreme Court justice (b. 1816)
- 1909 - Francisco Ferrer Guardia, Spanish free-thinker
- 1917 - Florence La Badie, pioneer actress
- 1919 - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer (b. 1857)
- 1945 - Milton S. Hershey, American chocolate tycoon
- 1955 - Manuel Ávila Camacho, President of Mexico (b. 1897)
- 1966 - Clifton Webb, actor
- 1968 - Bea Benaderet, actress
- 1974 - Ed Sullivan, television personality
- 1979 - Rebecca Clarke, composer and violist
- 1987 - Walter Brattain, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1990 - Le Duc Tho, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (b. 1911)
- 2002 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian and biographer
- 2003 - Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Joan B. Kroc, American philanthropist
Holidays
- Roman Catholic Church - memorial feast day of Saint Gerald of Aurillac
- Roman Empire - festival dedicated to Fontus
External links
October 12 - October 14 - September 13 - November 13 - more historical anniversaries