April 13: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – April 13 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 13th April 1598: The Edict of Nantes which granted political rights to French Protestant Huguenots was signed by King Henry IV of France.
18th Century – What Happened on April 13 – The 1700s
2. 13th April 1759: The French today defeated the European allies in the Battle of Bergen.
3. 13th April 1775: The New England Restraining Act, which prohibited trade with any country other than Britain and Ireland, was today extended to South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland by Lord North.
4. 13th April 1782: Washington, NC, was today, incorporated as th first town to be named for George Washington.
5. 13th April 1796: The first known elephant to arrive in the United States, came from Bengal in India.
19th Century – April 13 This Day That Year – The 1800s
6. 13th April 1808: William “Juda” Henry Lane perfected the tap dance.
7. 13th April 1829: Freedom of religion was granted to the Catholics by the English Parliament today.
8. 13th April 1849: The Hungarian Republic was proclaimed today.
9. 13th April 1860: The first mail was delivered today by Pony Express. A westbound rider arrived in Sacramento, A from St. Joseph, MO.
10. 13th April 1861: Fort Sumter which was held by the Union surrendered to Confederates after 34 hours of bombardment.
11. 13th April 1863: Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled in New Yor is the first Orthopedic hospital
12. 13th April 1869: Steam-powered brake was patented today by George Westinghouse.
13. 13th April 1870: The Metropolitan Museum of Art was today founded in New York City.
14. 13th April 1882: Anti-Semitic League forms in Prussia.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day April 13th – The 1900s
15. 13th April 1911: As a step towards direct democracy, the US House of Representatives votes to institute direct elections of senators to Congress.
16. 13th April 1912: The Royal Flying Corps was formed today. It later became the Royal Air Force.
17. 13th April 1916: Samuel Ramsay purchased the first hybrid seed corn for 15 cents a bushel today.
18. 13th April 1918: An electric fire at the Oklahoma State Hospital killed 38 mental patients.
19. 13th April 1919: British troops today opened fire on demonstrators in Amritsar India, killing 350 people.
20. 13th April 1919: The Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.
21. 13th April 1920: Helen Hamilton was today appointed as the first woman US Civil Service Commissioner.
22. 13th April 1924: Greek plebiscite for a republic.
23. 13th April 1926: In Amsterdam cyclists without bicycle-tax-stamp were rounded up today.
24. 13th April 1933: Lord Clydesdale today completed the first flight over Mount Everest.
25. 13th April 1934: The Johnson Deb Default Act was passed by the US Congress.
26. 13th April 1934: 4.7 million families in the United States reported receipt of welfare payments.
27. 13th April 1936: Ioannis Metaxas proclaims himself as dictator of Greece.
28. 13th April 1939: The Hindustani Lal Sena meaning the Indian Red Army is formed and it vows to engage in armed struggle against the British.
29. 13th April 1940: Cornelius Warmerdam today became the first man to pole vault 15 ft.
30. 13th April 1940: In the battle of Narvik, three German destroyers and one U-boat were sunk by the Royal Navy. Five more German destroyers were scuttled.
31. 13th April 1941: Japan and USSR today signed a pact of neutrality.
32. 13th April 1941: Heavy German assault of Tobruk.
33. 13th April 1941: German troops captured Belgrade in Yugoslavia.
34. 13th April 1943: Catholic University Nijmegen closes.
35. 13th April 1943: Nazis discover mass grave of Polish officers near Katyn.
36. 13th April 1943: The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated today by U.S. President F.D. Roosevelt.
37. 13th April 1944: Transport #71 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany.
38. 13th April 1944: South Carolina today rejected black suffrage.
39. 13th April 1944: Diplomatic relations were established today between New Zealand and the Soviet Union.
40. 13th April 1945: Soviet troops take Vienna.
41. 13th April 1945: The Canadian army today liberated Teuge and Assen in the Netherlands from the Nazis.
42. 13th April 1945: US Marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa.
43. 13th April 1948: 75 scientists were ambushed while on their way to Mount Scopus.
44. 13th April 1949: It was today announced by Philip S. Hench and his associates that cortisone was an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
45. 13th April 1954: Physicist and Father of the Atomic Bomb, Robert Oppenheimer was accused of being a communist.
46. 13th April 1955: Axis in Alabama received a record 20.33”. This was a state record.
47. 13th April 1957: Postal deliveries on Saturday in the US were temporarily halted for lack of funds.
48. 13th April 1959: USAF launches Discoverer II into polar orbit.
49. 13th April 1959: A Vatican edict prohibited Roman Catholics from voting for Communists.
50. 13th April 1960: The first navigational satellite was today launched into Earth’s orbit.
51. 13th April 1960: France exploded an A-Bomb in the Sahara and became the 4th nuclear nation today.
52. 13th April 1961: South Africa was condemned by the United Nations General Assembly due to its apartheid.
53. 13th April 1962: Major steel companies in the United States, rescinded announced price increases, owing to pressure from the John F. Kennedy administration.
54. 13th April 1964: New Zealander Colin Bosher today sheared a record 565 sheep in one working day.
55. 13th April 1964: Sidney Poitier became the first black to win an Oscar award. He was adjudged best actor for his role in the movie “Lilies of the Field”.
56. 13th April 1964: Ian Smith becomes Prime Minister of Rhodesia.
57. 13th April 1965: New York Senator Jacob Javits appointed the 1st US Senate black page, Lawrence W Bradford Jr, 16.
58. 13th April 1966: Pan Am today placed a $525 million order for 25 Boeing 747s.
59. 13th April 1969: The Brisbane tramway network was closed today.
60. 13th April 1970: Greek composer Midis Theordorakis freed.
61. 13th April 1970: The planned moon landing of Apollo 13 was aborted due to an oxygen tank explosion.
62. 13th April 1972: The first strike in the history of baseball players, who had walked off the field 13 days earlier, ended today.
63. 13th April 1975: Military coup by General Odingar in Chad.
64. 13th April 1975: Christian Falange kills 27 Palestinians triggering the Lebanese civil war.
65. 13th April 1976: The $2 bicentennial notes were introduced by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
66. 13th April 1979: Christian Turks occupy St Jansbasiliek.
67. 13th April 1979: The world’s longest doubles ping-pong match ended after being played for 101 hours.
68. 13th April 1979: Yusuf Lule becomes the premier of Uganda today.
69. 13th April 1981: Janet Cooke, reporter for the Washington Post was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her feature about an 8-year-old heroin addict named “Jimmy”. Two days later Cooke relinquished the prize after admitting she had fabricated the story.
70. 13th April 1981: Pulitzer Prize awarded to Beth Henley for “Crimes of the Heart”.
71. 13th April 1983: US performs nuclear test at its Nevada Test Site.
72. 13th April 1984: An emergency military aid was sent to El Salvador by U.S. President Ronald Reagan without congressional approval.
73. 13th April 1984: Christopher Walker who was wanted as a suspect in the kidnappings of 11 young women in several states was today killed in a fight with police in New Hampshire.
74. 13th April 1985: “TASS” announced the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
75. 13th April 1985: Ramiz Alia today succeeded Enver Hoxha as party leader of Albania.
76. 13th April 1985: Space Shuttle Atlantis was ferried to Kennedy Space Center via Ellington AFB in Texas.
77. 13th April 1986: The Spanish Grand Prix was decided by 0.014 of a second.
78. 13th April 1986: Pope John Paul II today met Rome’s Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff at Rome synagogue.
79. 13th April 1987: Portugal today signed an agreement to return Macau to China in 1999.
80. 13th April 1988: In Italy the government of De Mita forms.
81. 13th April 1990: The Soviet Union today accepted responsibility for the murder of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest during World War II. The Soviets had earlier blamed the Nazis for the massacre.
82. 13th April 1992: American Airlines today cut down its first class fares between 20% to 50%.
83. 13th April 1992: An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the Netherlands today.
84. 13th April 1992: The underground tunnels of Chicago were flooded in the “Great Chicago Flood”.
85. 13th April 1994: The target date for Israeli complete withdrawal does not occur.
86. 13th April 1994: Presidential guard at Kigali, Rwanda, chops 1,200 church members to death.
87. 13th April 1997: At the age of 21, Tiger Woods, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament. His 18 under par was also a record.
88. 13th April 1998: National Bank and Bank of America announced a $62.5 billion merger, creating the country’s first coast-to-coast bank.
89. 13th April 1998: The world’s first cloned sheep “Dolly”, today gave natural birth to a healthy baby lamb.
90. 13th April 1999: Jack Kervorkian who assisted Thomas Youk in committing suicide was today sentenced in Pontiac, Miami, to 10 to 25 years in prison on charges of 2nd-degree murder. The assisted suicide had been videotaped.
21st Century – April 13 This Day In History – The 2000s
91. 13th April 2000: It was announced that 69 people had died when the Philippine ferry Arlahada capsized. 70 people were rescued.
92. 13th April 2002: Suspected Islamic guerillas threw grenades and killed Twenty-five Hindus and injured 30 more in Jammu and Kashmir.
93. 13th April 2002: Interim president of Venezuela, Pedro Carmona, resigned a day after taking office.
94. 13th April 2006: Powerful tornadoes tip through Iowa City in Iowa.
95. 13th April 2007: Google today announced that it had acquired the advertising service company Double Click for $3.1 billion.
96. 13th April 2012: North Korean long-range rocket testing failed after the rocket broke up after launch.
97. 13th April 2013: A bomb exploded in a bus in Peshawar, Pakistan killing 8 people.
98. 13th April 2013: Government bombing of Saraqib, Idlib killed 20 civilians.
99. 13th April 2014: Wilson Kipsang of Kenya won the London Marathon.
100. 13th April 2015: About 400 people drown as the migrant ship carrying around 550 sinks off the coast of Libya.
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