December 13

December 13 in recent years

December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 18 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

558 – King Chlothar I reunites the Frankish Kingdom after his brother Childebert I has died. He becomes sole ruler of the Franks.
1294 – Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
1545 – The Council of Trent begins.
1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail 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 National Guard of the United States.
1642 – Abel Tasman reaches New Zealand.
1643 – English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
1769 – Dartmouth College is founded by Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth.
1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the first ovariotomy, removing a 22 pound tumor.
1862 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose Burnside.
1867 – A Fenian bomb explodes in Clerkenwell, London, England, United Kingdom, killing six.
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking – Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese.
1937 – Nanjing Massacre. Japanese troops begin carrying out several weeks of raping and killing of civilians and suspected Chinese resistance after the fall of Nanjing.
1938 – The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate – Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland class cruiser (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.
1943 – World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.
1949 – The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
1959 – Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.
1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
1962 – NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
1967 – Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels
1968 – Brazilian president Artur da Costa e Silva decrees the AI-5 (or the fifth Institutional Act), which lasts until 1978 and marks the beginning of the hard times of Brazilian military government.
1972 – Apollo 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.
1974 – Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations
1977 – A DC-3 aircraft chartered from the Indianapolis, Indiana-based National Jet crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff and boosters of the team.
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.
1988 – Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat gives a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland after the United States authorities refused to give him a visa to enter the United States.
1989 – Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Two British soldiers are killed and one badly wounded.
2000 – The "Texas Seven" escape from the John B. Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.
2001 – The Parliament of India Sansad is attacked by terrorists. 15 people are killed, including all the terrorists.
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).
2011 – Murder-suicide in the city of Liège (Belgium), killing 6 and wounding 125 people at a Christmas market.

Births

1521 – Pope Sixtus V (d. 1590)
1533 – Eric XIV of Sweden (d. 1577)
1553 – Henry IV of France (d. 1610)
1585 – William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (d. 1649)
1640 – Robert Plot, English chemist (d. 1696)
1662 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1729)
1678 – Yongzheng Emperor of China (d. 1735)
1684 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian, philosopher, and author (d. 1754)
1720 – Carlo Gozzi, Italian playwright (d. 1804)
1724 – Franz Aepinus, German philosopher (d. 1802)
1780 – Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner, German chemist (d. 1849)
1784 – Archduke Louis of Austria (d. 1864)
1797 – Heinrich Heine, German poet (d. 1856)
1804 – Joseph Howe, Canadian journalist and politician, 5th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1873)
1814 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse (d. 1880)
1816 – Ernst Werner von Siemens, German engineer, inventor, and industrialist (d. 1892)
1818 – Mary Todd Lincoln, American wife of Abraham Lincoln, 17th First Lady of the United States (d. 1882)
1836 – Franz von Lenbach, German painter (d. 1904)
1854 – Herman Bavinck, Dutch theologian and churchman (d. 1921)
1856 – Svetozar Boroević, Austrian-Hungarian field marshal (d. 1920)
1860 – Lucien Guitry, French actor (d. 1925)
1864 – Emil Seidel, American politician, Mayor of Milwaukee (d. 1947)
1867 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian scientist (d. 1917)
1870 – Edward LeSaint, American actor and director (d. 1940)
1871 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author (d. 1945)
1874 – Josef Lhévinne, Russian pianist (d. 1944)
1883 – Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian and archivist (d. 1950)
1884 – Aimilios Veakis, Greek actor (d. 1951)
1887 – George Pólya, Hungarian-American mathematician (d. 1985)
1887 – Alvin York, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
1897 – Albert Aalbers, Dutch architect, designed the Savoy Homann Bidakara Hotel (d. 1961)
1897 – Drew Pearson, American journalist (d. 1969)
1900 – Jonel Perlea, Romanian conductor (d. 1970)
1902 – Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Greek politician, 138th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1986)
1902 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist (d. 1979)
1903 – Ella Baker, American activist (d. 1986)
1903 – Carlos Montoya, Spanish guitarist and composer (d. 1993)
1906 – Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (d. 1968)
1906 – Laurens van der Post, South African author (d. 1996)
1910 – Van Heflin, American actor (d. 1971)
1910 – Sol Saks, American actor, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2011)
1911 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
1911 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (d. 1972)
1913 – Arnold Brown, English 11th General of The Salvation Army (d. 2002)
1913 – Archie Moore, American boxer (d. 1998)
1914 – Alan Bullock, English historian and author (d. 2004)
1915 – Curd Jürgens, German-Austrian actor (d. 1982)
1915 – Ross Macdonald, American-Canadian author (d. 1983)
1915 – B. J. Vorster, South African politician,4th State President of South Africa (d. 1983)
1917 – John Hart, American actor (d. 2009)
1919 – Hans-Joachim Marseille, German pilot (d. 1942)
1920 – George P. Shultz, American economist and politician, 60th United States Secretary of State
1923 – Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1923 – Larry Doby, American baseball player (d. 2003)
1925 – Dick Van Dyke, American actor, singer, and producer
1926 – George Rhoden, Jamaican runner
1928 – Eve Meyer, American model and actress (d. 1977)
1929 – Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor
1930 – Robert Prosky, American actor (d. 2008)
1934 – Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (d. 2012)
1935 – Joe Christopher, American baseball player
1935 – Kenneth Hall, American football player
1935 – Lindy McDaniel, American baseball player
1936 – Aga Khan IV, Swiss-French 49th Nizari Ismaili Imam
1936 – J. C. Martin, American baseball player
1937 – Rob Houwer, Dutch film producer
1937 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish businessman (d. 2009)
1937 – Ron Taylor, Canadian baseball player
1938 – Heino, German singer
1938 – Alvin Curran, American musician and composer (Musica Elettronica Viva)
1939 – Eric Flynn, Chinese-Welsh actor and singer (d. 2002)
1941 – John Davidson, American actor and game show host
1941 – Bessel Kok, Dutch businessman
1942 – Anna Eshoo, American politician
1943 – Ferguson Jenkins, Canadian baseball player
1944 – Dick Dees, Dutch politician
1944 – Hwang Jang Lee, Japanese-Korean martial artist and actor
1944 – Marti Webb, English actress and singer
1945 – Herman Cain, American businessman, radio host, and politician
1945 – Kathy Garver, American actress
1945 – Brian McGuire, Australian race car driver (d. 1977)
1947 – Darlene Cates, American actress
1947 – Rex Hagon, Canadian actor
1947 – Dave Hamilton, American baseball player
1948 – Lester Bangs, American journalist and author (d. 1982)
1948 – Jeff Baxter, American guitarist (Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers)
1948 – Lillian Board, South African-English sprinter (d. 1970)
1948 – Ted Nugent, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (The Amboy Dukes, Damn Yankees, and Damnocracy)
1948 – Brian Wilson, Scottish politician
1949 – Robert Lindsay, English actor
1949 – Randy Owen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Alabama)
1949 – Luc Sala, Dutch businessman
1949 – Tom Verlaine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Television and Neon Boys)
1949 – Paula Wilcox, English actress
1950 – Wendie Malick, American actress
1950 – Heather North, American actress
1950 – Tom Vilsack, American politician, 30th United States Secretary of Agriculture
1952 – Junkyard Dog, American wrestler (d. 1998)
1952 – Larry Kenon, American basketball player
1953 – Ben Bernanke, American economist, 14th Chairman of the Federal Reserve
1953 – Bill Castro, Dominican baseball player
1953 – Jim Davidson, English comedian
1953 – Bob Gainey, Canadian ice hockey player
1954 – John Anderson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Emma Bull, American author
1954 – Steve Forbert, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Tamora Pierce, American author
1956 – Dale Berra, American baseball player
1956 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese soprano and actress
1956 – Phil Hubbard, American basketball player
1957 – Steve Buscemi, American actor and director
1957 – Morris Day, American singer-songwriter and actor (The Time and Flyte Tyme)
1957 – Eric Marienthal, American saxophonist (Chick Corea Elektric Band and Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
1957 – Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
1958 – Lynn-Holly Johnson, American figure skater and actress
1959 – Jim Barrell, American wrestler
1959 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor
1960 – Rusty Cundieff, American actor
1960 – Daggubati Venkatesh, Indian actor
1961 – Harry Gregson-Williams, English composer, conductor, and producer
1961 – Irene Sáez, Venezuelan model and politician, Miss Universe 1981
1961 – Gary Zimmerman, American football player
1962 – Roger Ilegems, Belgian cyclist
1962 – Jamie Raskin, American academic and politician
1962 – Rex Ryan, American football coach
1962 – Rob Ryan, American football player and coach
1964 – Hide, Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (X Japan and Zilch) (d. 1998)
1965 – Jackie Clune, English actress and singer
1965 – Marko Mäetamm, Estonian illustrator
1966 – Ross Burden, New Zealand chef
1966 – Don Roff, American screenwriter and director
1966 – Mike Tirico, American sportscaster
1967 – Jamie Foxx, American actor and singer
1967 – NeNe Leakes, American actress
1967 – Bo Pelini, American football player and coach
1969 – Tony Curran, Scottish actor
1969 – Sergei Fedorov, Russian ice hockey player
1969 – Murat Nasyrov, Russian singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1970 – Eoin Jess, Scottish footballer
1970 – Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Austrian mountaineer
1972 – Niki Evans, English singer
1972 – Chris Grant, Australian footballer
1973 – Christie Clark, American actress
1974 – Sara Cox, English television and radio host
1974 – Debbie Matenopoulos, American actress and television host
1974 – Nicholas McCarthy, English singer and guitarist (Franz Ferdinand and Box Codax)
1975 – Bates Battaglia, American ice hockey player
1975 – Tom DeLonge, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (blink-182, Angels & Airwaves, and Box Car Racer)
1975 – Kostas Kiassos, Greek footballer
1975 – Matthew LeCroy, American baseball player
1975 -- Mujtaba Haider Zaidi Pakistan research-writer, journalist, poet, play-right and lawyer
1976 – Josh Fogg, American baseball player
1976 – Søren Friis, Danish footballer
1976 – Radosław Sobolewski, Polish footballer
1977 – Sascha Kindred, German-English swimmer
1977 – Peter Stringer, Irish rugby player
1978 – Olav Bjortomt, English quiz player
1978 – Ryo Kawakita, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist (Maximum the Hormone)
1978 – B.J. Penn, American mixed martial artist
1980 – Patrik Antonius, Finnish poker player
1980 – Ryan France, English footballer
1980 – Satoshi Tsumabuki, Japanese actor
1980 – Bosco Wong, Hong Kong singer and actor
1980 – Swastika Mukherjee, Indian actress
1981 – Amy Lee, American singer-songwriter and pianist (Evanescence)
1982 – Anthony Callea, Australian singer-songwriter and actor
1982 – Dan Hamhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Ricky Nolasco, American baseball player
1982 – Tuka Rocha, Brazilian race car driver
1982 – Dominik Werling, German footballer
1983 – Matt Deis, American bass player and songwriter (CKY and All That Remains)
1983 – Otylia Jędrzejczak, Polish swimmer
1984 – Santi Cazorla, Spanish footballer
1984 – Hanna-Maria Seppälä, Finnish swimmer
1985 – Michael Bumpus, American football player
1985 – Laurence Leboeuf, Canadian actress
1985 – Alby Mathewson, New Zealand rugby player
1986 – Dennis Bermudez, American mixed martial artist
1986 – Mathieu Gnanligo, Beninese sprinter
1988 – Rickie Fowler, American golfer
1989 – Taylor Swift, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1991 – Senah Mango, Togolese footballer

Deaths

558 – Childebert I, Frankish king (b. 496)
1048 – Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, Persian scholar and polymath (b. 973)
1124 – Pope Callixtus II (b. 1065)
1126 – Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1075)
1204 – Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (b. 1135)
1250 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1194)
1404 – Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1336)
1466 – Donatello, Florentine painter and sculptor (b. 1386)
1516 – Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer and historian (b. 1462)
1521 – Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1469)
1557 – Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician (b. 1499)
1565 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss botanist (b. 1516)
1603 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician (b. 1540)
1621 – Catherine Stenbock, Swedish wife of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1535)
1716 – Charles de La Fosse, French painter (b. 1640)
1721 – Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor (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, English poet and lexicographer (b. 1709)
1814 – Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne, Belgian-Austrian field marshal (b. 1735)
1835 – John Storm, American soldier (b. 1760)
1837 – Herman of Alaska, Russian missionary and saint (b. 1756)
1863 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (b. 1813)
1868 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (b. 1794)
1881 – August Šenoa, Croatian author and poet (b. 1838)
1883 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (b. 1812)
1893 – Georg August Rudolph, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1816)
1895 – Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist and engineer (b. 1800)
1908 – Augustus Le Plongeon, French photographer and historian (b. 1825)
1919 – Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (b. 1850)
1922 – Hannes Hafstein, Icelandic poet and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1861)
1924 – Samuel Gompers, English-American labor leader (b. 1850)
1930 – Fritz Pregl, Slovenian-Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
1931 – Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b. 1840)
1932 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (b. 1853)
1934 – Thomas A. Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (b. 1854)
1935 – Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
1940 – Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, French physicist (b. 1851)
1940 – Manuel de Escandón, Mexican polo player (b. 1857)
1940 – George Regas, Greek actor (b. 1890)
1942 – Wlodimir Ledóchowski, Austrian-Polish religious leader, 26th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1866)
1944 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-French painter (b. 1866)
1944 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (b. 1908)
1945 – Irma Grese, German concentration camp supervisor (b. 1923)
1945 – Josef Kramer, German nazi commandant (b. 1906)
1945 – Elisabeth Volkenrath, Polish-German concentration camp supervisor (b. 1919)
1947 – Nicholas Roerich, Russian painter (b. 1874)
1950 – Abraham Wald, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1902)
1954 – John Raymond Hubbell, American director and composer (b. 1879)
1955 – Egas Moniz, Portuguese psychiatrist and neurosurgeon, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
1958 – Tim Moore, American actor (b. 1887)
1960 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (b. 1882)
1961 – Grandma Moses, American painter (b. 1860)
1962 – Harry Barris, American singer-songwriter and pianist (The Rhythm Boys) (b. 1905)
1969 – Raymond A. Spruance, American admiral (b. 1886)
1969 – Spencer Williams, American actor and director (b. 1893)
1973 – Henry Green, English author (b. 1905)
1979 – Jon Hall, American actor (b. 1915)
1981 – Pigmeat Markham, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1904)
1983 – Alexander Schmemann, Estonian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
1983 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (b. 1933)
1986 – Heather Angel, English actress (b. 1909)
1986 – Ella Baker, American activist (b, 1903)
1986 – Smita Patil, Indian actress (b. 1955)
1992 – K. C. Irving, Canadian businessman (b. 1899)
1992 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (b. 1899)
1993 – Vanessa Duriès, French author (b. 1972)
1994 – Norman Beaton, Guyanese actor (b. 1934)
1994 – Michalis Nikolinakos, Greek actor (b. 1923)
1995 – Ann Nolan Clark, American author (b. 1896)
1996 – Edward Blishen, English author (b. 1920)
2001 – Chuck Schuldiner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Death Control Denied, and Voodoocult) (b. 1967)
2002 – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful) (b. 1944)
2003 – William V. Roth, Jr., American politician (b. 1921)
2004 – Andre Rodgers, Bahamian baseball player (b. 1934)
2004 – David Wheeler, English computer scientist (b. 1927)
2005 – Timothy Jordan II, American guitarist, keyboard player, and songwriter (Jonezetta) (b. 1981)
2005 – Stanley Williams, American gang leader, co-founded the Crips (b. 1953)
2006 – Lamar Hunt, American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (b. 1932)
2007 – Mark Partridge, Zimbabwean politician (b. 1922)
2007 – Floyd Red Crow Westerman, American actor and activist (b. 1936)
2008 – John Drake, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1959)
2008 – Kathy Staff, English actress (b. 1928)
2010 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1941)
2010 – Enrique Morente, Spanish singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
2010 – James Dibble, Australian journalist (b. 1923)
2010 – Woolly Wolstenholme, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Barclay James Harvest) (b. 1947)
2011 – Kabir Chowdhury, Bangladeshi academic (b. 1923)
2011 – Russell Hoban, American author (b. 1925)
2012 – Willie Ackerman, American drummer (b. 1939)
2012 – Ian Black, Scottish footballer (b. 1924)
2012 – Jack Hanlon, American actor (b. 1916)
2012 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer (b. 1919)
2012 – Natalya Kustinskaya, Russian actress (b. 1938)
2012 – T. Shanmugham, Indian footballer and coach (b. 1920)
2012 – Rob Talbot, New Zealand politician (b. 1923)
2012 – Abdesslam Yassine, Moroccan educator, founder and leader of Al Adl Wa Al Ihssane (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances

Acadian Remembrance Day (Acadians)
Christian Feast Day:
- Lucy
- Odile of Alsace
Republic Day (Malta)
Saint Lucy's Day (mainly Scandinavia, some regions of Italy (for example, Sicily, Veneto and Trentino), and Malta), and its related observances:
- National Day, celebrates the independence of Saint Lucia from United Kingdom in 1979.
Tellus was worshipped in the district Carinae at the Esquiline Hill, and a lectisternium or table was spread for Ceres. (Roman Empire)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: December 13

December 13 Ultimate Study Guide