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May 13: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – May 13 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 13th May 1494: Columbus left Jamaica for Cuba after finding the natives of Jamaica hostile.
2. 13th May 1497: Girolamo Salvador was excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI.
3. 13th May 1559: The corpse of heretic David which was exhumed was burned in Basel.
4. 13th May 1568: The English defeated Mary Queen of Scotts at the battle of Langside, south of Glasgow.
5. 13th May 1607: English colonists led by explorer John Smith landed near James River in Virginia and founded a colony called Jamestown.
6. 13th May 1619: Dutch lands advocate John van Oldenbarnevelt was beheaded today.
7. 13th May 1624: Lima in Peru was blockaded by Admiral Hermit’s fleet.
8. 13th May 1637: The table knife was created by Cardinal Richelieu of France.
9. 13th May 1643: The English parliamentary army defeated the Royalists at the battle of Grantham.
10. 13th May 1643: Santiago in Chili was struck by a heavy earthquake wiping out 1/3rds of its population.
11. 13th May 1648: Margaret Jones of Plymouth was sentenced to be hanged by the neck after being found guilty of witchcraft.
12. 13th May 1648: In Delhi India, the construction of Red Ford was completed on this day.
13. 13th May 1654: Turkey was beaten by the Venetian fleet under Admiral Adeler.
18th Century – What Happened on May 13 – The 1700s
14. 13th May 1777: In Vienna, the University library was opened on this day.
15. 13th May 1779: This day marks the end of the Bavarian succession war.
16. 13th May 1787: Arthur Phillips set sail to Australia from Portsmouth in Great Britain with eleven shiploads of criminals.
19th Century – May 13 This Day That Year – The 1800s
17. 13th May 1828: The Tariff of Abomination was passed by the US.
18. 13th May 1830: the Republic of Ecuador was founded today. Juan Jose Flores was its President.
19. 13th May 1835: Today the first foreign embassy was formed in Hawaii.
20. 13th May 1846: After two months of fighting, the U.S. today declared war against Mexico.
21. 13th May 1848: The National anthem of Finland was performed for the first time today.
22. 13th May 1861: Britain’s position of neutrality was today announced by Queen Victoria.
23. 13th May 1861: John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Whales in Australia discovered the Great Comet of :
24. 13th May 1874: The encyclical “ On the Greek-Ruthenian Rite” was issued by Pope Pious IX.
25. 13th May 1876: This day marks the opening of the Amersfoort-Zutphen Railway.
26. 13th May 1882: 20 members of the French expeditions were killed today by Toba Indians.
27. 13th May 1884: The Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE) was founded today.
28. 13th May 1888: Brazil today abolished slavery. They had imported 4 million slaves, the most by any nation in the Western Hemisphere.
29. 13th May 1890: Lord Salisbury today made an exchange offer to Germany. He offered Helgoland to Germany in exchange for Zanzibar, Uganda, and Equatoria.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 13th – The 1900s
30. 13th May 1903: A 12-foot statue of Victory sculpted by Robert Aitken, “The Dewey Memorial” in Union Square in San Francisco was today dedicated by President Theodor Roosevelt.
31. 13th May 1906: In Jerusalem, Bezalel Art School was opened today.
32. 13th May 1912: This day marks the formation of the Royal Flying Corps in Great Britain.
33. 13th May 1913: Aviator Igor Sikorsky of Russia built and flew the first four-engine aircraft.
34. 13th May 1913: Organized by Alice Paul and led by Inez Milholland, women’s suffrage marched through Washington.
35. 13th May 1916: Indian (Native American) Day was observed today for the first time.
36. 13th May 1917: Three peasant children in Fatima in Spain reported sighting images of the Virgin Mary today.
37. 13th May 1918: The first airmail stamp in the US, that of 24 cents was issued today.
38. 13th May 1923: Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Willa Carter for the work “One of Ours”.
39. 13th May 1927: Occurrence of black Friday in Germany.
40. 13th May 1930: In the only known fatality due to hail, a farmer was killed by a hail in Texas today.
41. 13th May 1931: In France, Paul Doumer was today elected as President of France.
42. 13th May 1934: A great dust bowl storm occurred in the United States.
43. 13th May 1936: In Spain, the Quiroga government assumed office today.
44. 13th May 1940: After assuming office as Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill delivered his first speech on this day.
45. 13th May 1940: Wilhelmina, the Dutch Queen, flees to England today.
46. 13th May 1941: Nazi leader Martin Bormann was today appointed head of the Nazi Chancellery in Germany.
47. 13th May 1942: Today marks the first cross-country flight by Helicopter.
48. 13th May 1943: In Africa, German and Italian forces surrender.
49. 13th May 1943: In the Netherlands, German occupiers attempted to confiscate all radio stations.
50. 13th May 1945: Takeshi Okinawa was today conquered by US troops.
51. 13th May 1946: 58 camp guards of the Mauthausen concentration camp were today sentenced to death by the US.
52. 13th May 1947: The Taft-Hartley Act which limits the power of the unions was today approved by the US Senate.
53. 13th May 1949: In Wilmer, Arizona, the first gas turbine was installed to pump gasoline.
54. 13th May 1950: This day marks the issue of the first credit card by the Diner’s Club.
55. 13th May 1952: Jawaharlal Nehru today became the Prime Minister of India.
56. 13th May 1952: The upper house of the Parliament in India, the Rajyasabha, held its first sitting today.
57. 13th May 1954: The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Act was signed into law on this day by President Eisenhower.
58. 13th May 1958: French Troops today took control of Algiers.
59. 13th May 1958: In Venezuela, anti-U.S. demonstrators in Caracas, pelted stones and battered Vice-President Nixon’s limousine.
60. 13th May 1968: North Vietnam and the United States began their peace talks in Paris today.
61. 13th May 1975: There was a hailstorm in Tennessee and Waterville was hit by hailstones of the size of a tennis ball.
62. 13th May 1979: In Tehran Iran, the Shah of Iran and their family were sentenced to death today.
63. 13th May 1979: Golfer Sandra Post today won the LPGA Lady Michelob Golf tournament.
64. 13th May 1981: Turkish gunman Mehemat Ali Agca shot at Pope Paul II in Saint Peter Square in Vatican City, critically wounding him.
65. 13th May 1982: In the Major Baseball League, Chicago Club became the first team to win 8000 games today.
66. 13th May 1882: Soyuz T-5 was launched today on a 211-day space mission.
67. 13th May 1984: Today Dutch footballer Johan Cruffy played his last competitive match.
68. 13th May 1985: In a beauty contest in the USA, 21-year-old Laura Elena Martinez-Herring was crowned Miss USA. She was the 34th Miss USA.
69. 13th May 1985: 42 years and 11-month-old Tony Perez today became the oldest player in the baseball league to hit a grand slam home run.
70. 13th May 1985: In Philadelphia, eleven people died in a fire that resulted from the dropping of an explosive device by the police at the headquarters of the radical group MOVE during their confrontation with the authorities.
71. 13th May 1989: In Tiananmen Square in China about 2,000 students went on a hunger strike.
72. 13th May 1989: In the third round of the 1990 World Soccer Cup, Trinidad and Tobago tied with the U.S. 1-1.
73. 13th May 1991: McIntosh system 7.0 was released today by Apple.
74. 13th May 1991: Today, Yankee Stadium fans sang “Like a Virgin” for Jose Canseco.
75. 13th May 1992: In Changchun in the People’s Republic of China, Li Hongzhi delivered the first lecture on Falun Gong.
76. 13th May 1992: For the first time today, three astronauts simultaneously walked in space.
77. 13th May 1993: 50 miners were killed in Secunda coal mines in South Africa due to a Methane gas explosion.
78. 13th May 1993: In Wall Street today, the 6th annual business person run was held.
79. 13th May 1995: An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 struck Greece today.
80. 13th MAY 1995: Singing “Nocturne” Secret Garden of Norway won the 40th Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin.
81. 13th May 1996: 600 people were killed in severe thunderstorms and tornados in Bangladesh.
82. 13th May 1998: Shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent were looted and women raped when racial riots broke out in Jakarta in Indonesia.
83. 13th May 1998: Two days after conducting the first round of nuclear tests, India conducted a second round of nuclear tests today. Within hours of the test, the U.S. and Japan imposed tough economic sanctions on India. India defended the tests saying that it was necessary to maintain India’s national security.
84. 13th May 1999: The Impeachment of Russian President Boris Yeltsin began today in Moscow.
21st Century – May 13 This Day In History – The 2000s
85. 13th May 2000: In Stockholm, Olson brothers of Denmark won the 45th Eurovision Song Contest singing “Fly on the Wings of Love”.
86. 13th May 2000: An explosion occurred in a fireworks factory in Enscheda in the Netherlands. 22 people were killed and over 900 people were injured in the explosion. The damage was estimated at € 450 million.
87. 13th May 2001: “Da Ali G Show” was adjudged as the best comedy show in the 47th British Television Awards. The best drama award went to “Clock Off”.
88. 13th May 2001: “House of Freedoms” led by Silvio Berlusconi of the Right Wing won the general elections in Italy.
89. 13th May 2003: The newly designed $20 bill which was coloured to prevent counterfeiting was released today in the US.
90. 13th May 2004: An estimated 33 million people watched the final episode of “Fraisier” on NBC.
91. 13th May 2007: This day marks the beginning of the construction of the Calafat-Vidin Bridge between Bulgaria and Romania.
92. 13th May 2007: In Izimir in Turkey protests were held in support of State Secularism by the 5th republic.
93. 13th May 2011: Following economic growth of an annualized 1.6 percent in the first quarter, Rumania officially leaves recession after 2 years.
94. 13th May 2011: It was today reported that after the contraction of the economy by 0.7 % in the first quarter of 2011, and 0.6% contraction in the last quarter of 2010, Portugal slipped into a double-dip recession.
95. 13th May 2012: in the Hunan province in China, torrential rain destroyed a bridge, 3500 houses, and 28000 people were displaced.
96. 13th May 2012: On a Mexican highway 49 dismembered bodies were found. This was part of the Mexican drug war.
97. 13th May 2012: The English Premier League was one for the first time by Manchester City.
98. 13th May 2013: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield today left the International Space Station to come back to Earth.
99. 13th May 2014: Marine architect Barry Clifford today discovered an unidentified shipwreck off the northern coast of Haiti.
100. 13th May 2014: An underground explosion and mine fire that occurred in Soma Mine in Manisa, Turkey killed over 300 miners.
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