✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 347th day of the year

December 13

A look at December 13 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Tom DeLonge and Taylor Swift, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1989

    The Troubles

    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.

    1960s–1998 conflict in Northern
  2. 1981

    Wojciech Jaruzelski

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

    Leader of Poland from
  3. 1974

    Malta

    Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

    Island country in Southern
  4. 1957

    1957 Farsinaj earthquake

    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.

    Natural disaster in Iran
  5. 1937

    Second Sino-Japanese War

    Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: The city of Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre, in which Japanese troops rape and slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians.

    1937–1945 conflict in East
  6. 1862

    American Civil War

    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.

    1861–1865 conflict in the
  7. 1769

    Dartmouth College

    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.

    Private university in Hanover,
  8. 1577

    Francis Drake

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

    English sailor and privateer
  9. 1294

    Pope Celestine V

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

    Head of the Catholic
  10. 1076

    Salerno

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

    City in Campania, Italy
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Famous birthday twins

Born on December 13

Tom DeLonge

b. 1975

American singer-songwriter, guitarist, author, and filmmaker

Taylor Swift

b. 1989

American singer-songwriter

Mathilde Fibiger

b. 1830

Danish feminist, novelist and telegraphist

Heinrich Heine

b. 1797

German journalist, poet, and critic

Erik XIV

b. 1533

King of Sweden from 1560 to 1569

Hans-Joachim Marseille

b. 1919

German captain and pilot

Werner von Siemens

b. 1816

German engineer and businessman, founded Siemens

Franz Aepinus

b. 1724

German astronomer and philosopher

Deaths

  • 1945Josef Kramer, German concentration camp commandant
  • 1863Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright
  • 1565Conrad Gessner, Swiss botanist and physician
  • 1516Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer and historian
  • 1466Donatello, Italian painter and sculptor
  • 1126Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: St Antiochus of Sulcis
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Francesco Marinoni
  • —Christian feast day: St Judoc aka St Joyce
  • —Christian feast day: St Lucy
  • —Christian feast day: St Odile of Alsace
  • —Acadian Remembrance Day (Acadians)
  • —National Day (Saint Lucia)
  • —Martial Law Victims Remembrance Day (Poland)

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