December 13

Historic Events

2007

The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009. ›

2003

Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit. ›

2002

European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004. ›

2001

Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists. ›

1995

Banat Air Flight 166 crashes in Sommacampagna near Verona Villafranca Airport in Verona, Italy, killing 49. ›

1994

Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 crashes in Morrisville, North Carolina, near Raleigh–Durham International Airport, killing 15. ›

1989

The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded. ›

1988

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York. ›

1982

The 6.0 Ms North Yemen earthquake shakes southwestern Yemen with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 2,800, and injuring 1,500. ›

1981

General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity. ›

1977

Air Indiana Flight 216 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff, and boosters of the team. ›

1974

Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. ›

1974

In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese forces launch their 1975 Spring Offensive (to 30 April 1975), which results in the final capitulation of South Vietnam. ›

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. ›

1968

Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus. ›

1967

Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels. ›

1962

NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit. ›

1960

While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor. ›

1959

Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus. ›

1957

The Mw 6.5 Farsinaj earthquake strikes Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing at least 1,119 deaths and damaging over 5,000 homes. ›

1949

The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. ›

1943

World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece. ›

1939

The Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter. ›

1938

The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany. ›

1864

American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: The Second Battle of Fort McAllister ends with the fort being seized by Union forces under General William B. Hazen, threatening the city of Savannah with investment. ›

1862

American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee repulses attacks by Union Major General Ambrose Burnside on Marye's Heights, inflicting heavy casualties. ›

1818

Cyril VI of Constantinople resigns from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch under pressure from the Ottoman Empire. ›

1769

Dartmouth College is founded by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth. ›

1758

The English transport ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, killing over 360 people. ›

1643

English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire. ›

1642

Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand. ›

1636

The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians, a date now considered the founding of the National Guard of the United States. ›

1623

The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies. ›

1577

Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage. ›

1545

The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. ›

1294

Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit. ›

1076

The city of Salerno surrenders to Robert Guiscard. Duke Gisulf continues his resistance in the citadel until May of the following year. ›