Major Events
- 1577 Francis Drake sets sail from England on an epic three year circumnavigation of the world aboard the 'Pelican' (later renamed the 'Golden Hind')
- 1636 The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. Recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
- 1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland [1]
- 1920 League of Nations establishes the International Court of Justice in The Hague
- 2002 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, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces
- More December 13 Events
Dec 13 in Film & TV
- 1989 "Driving Miss Daisy" directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy is released (Best Picture 1990)
Dec 13 in Music
- 1961 The Beatles sign a formal agreement to be managed by Brian Epstein
Dec 13 in Sport
- 2007 The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.
Did You Know?
Francis G. Pease's interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star - the Betelgeuse
Henry IV of France
Werner von Siemens
Mary Todd Lincoln
Marc Connelly
George P. Shultz
Ben Bernanke
Christopher Plummer
Dick Van Dyke
Steve Buscemi
Jamie Foxx
Amy Lee
Taylor Swift
Archie Moore
Larry Doby
Ferguson Jenkins
Fun Fact About December 13
Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
Famous Weddings
- 862 Boudouin Iron Arm & Count of Flanders, elopes with Princess Judith, daughter King Charles of West Francia
- 1779 Joséphine de Beauharnais, future Empress of the French, marries her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, in Paris
- 1951 Future British PM Margaret Roberts (26) weds businessman Denis Thatcher (36) at Wesley's Chapel in City Road, London
Famous Divorces
- 2001 Oscar winning-actress Kate Winslet (26) divorces assistant film director Jim Threapleton (28) due to unreasonable behavior after 3 years of marriage
- 2010 "Dexter" actress Jennifer Carpenter (31) divorces actor Michael C. Hall (40) due to irreconcilable differences after 2 years of marriage
More December 13 Weddings
Donatello
Samuel Johnson
Arthur Wesley Dow
Samuel Gompers
Grandma Moses
Alice Marble
