On this day in History - Dec. 13

• 0872 - Pope John VIII is elected. 108th Pope.
• 1048 - Al-Biruni dies (b. 0973). Persian mathematician.
• 1124 - Pope Callixtus II dies.
• 1204 - Maimonides dies (b. 1135). Spanish rabbi and philosopher. He was the foremost intellectual figure of medieval Judaism, whose works, written in Hebrew and Arabic, influenced both Jewish and non-Jewish scholars.
• 1250 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1194).
• 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
• 1404 - Albert, Count of Holland dies (b. 1336)
• 1466 - Donatello (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) dies (b. 1386). Florentine artist and sculptor.
• 1516 - Johannes Trithemius dies (b. 1462). German cryptographer.
• 1521 - King Manuel I of Portugal dies (b. 1469)
• 1521 - Pope Sixtus V was born (d. 1590) . Religious leader.
• 1533 - King Eric XIV of Sweden was born (d. 1577)
• 1545 - Council of Trent begins
• 1550 - The city of Ferreñafe is founded in Perú
• 1553 - King Henry IV of France was born (d. 1610).
• 1557 - Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia dies. Italian mathematician
• 1565 - Conrad Gessner dies (b. 1516). Swiss naturalist.
• 1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets out with five ships from Plymouth, England, on a nearly three-year journey that would take him around the world.
• 1585 - William Drummond of Hawthornden was born (d. 1649). Scottish poet.
• 1603 - D. Antonio de Meneses was born (d. 1675). Portuguese militar, 1st Marquis of Marialva and 3rd Count of Cantanhede.
• 1603 - François Viète dies (b. 1540). French mathematician.
• 1621 - Katarina Stenbock dies (b. 1535). Queen of Gustav I of Sweden
• 1636 - The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.
• 1640 - Robert Plot was born (d. 1696). English naturalist.
• 1642 - Abel Janszoon Tasman reaches New Zealand.
• 1643 - English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
• 1662 - Francesco Bianchini was born (d. 1729). Italian philosopher and scientist.
• 1678 - Yongzheng Emperor of China was born (d. 1735).
• 1716 - Charles de La Fosse dies (b. 1640). French painter.
• 1720 - Carlos Gozzi was born (d. 4 Apr 1806). Italian poet and dramatist.
• 1721 - Alexander Selkirk dies (b. 1676). Scottish sailor and castaway.
• 1724 - Franz Aepinus was born (d. 1802). German scientist.
• 1729 - Anthony Collins dies (b. 1676). English philosopher.
• 1730 - Sir William Hamilton was born (d. 6 Apr 1803). English diplomat and archaeologist.
• 1754 - Mahmud I dies (b. 1696). Ottoman Sultan.
• 1769 - Dartmouth College founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal Governor John Wentworth.
• 1769 - Christian Fürchtegott Gellert dies (b. 1715). German poet.
• 1783 - Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin dies (b. 1717). Swedish astronomer.
• 1784 - Samuel Johnson dies in London (b. 1709). British writer and lexicographer, regarded as one of the greatest figures of 18th-century life and letters for his biographies and essays.
• 1784 - Archduke Louis of Austria was born (d. 1864)
• 1789 - The National Guard was created in France.
• 1797 - Heinrich Heine was born in Dusseldorf (d. 1856). German poet. "Onde livros são queimados, seres humanos estão destinados a ser queimados também". Leia em português «Com Mirtos e Rosas...»
• 1804 - Joseph Howe was born (d. 1873). Canadian statesman and publisher.
• 1807 - Almirante Tamandaré (Joaquim Marques Lisboa) was born in Rio Grande-RS (d. 20 Mar 1897). Brazilian almirant.
• 1814 - Ana Nery was born in Cachoeira de Paraguaçu- Bahia (d. 20 May 1880). Brazilian nurse.
• 1814 - Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne dies (b. 1735). Belgian-born Austrian field marshal
• 1816 - Ernst Werner von Siemens was born (d. 1892). German engineer, inventor and industrialist.
• 1818 - Mary Todd Lincoln was born (d. 1882). First Lady of the United States
• 1836 - Franz von Lenbach was born (d. 1904). German painter.
• 1837 - Herman of Alaska dies (b. 1756). Russian Orthodox hermit.
• 1854 - Thomas Watson was born (d. 1934). American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell , telephone pioneer.
• 1856 - Svetozar Boroević was born (d. 1920). Austro-Hungarian field marshal.
• 1856 - Lawrence Lowell was born (d. 6 Jan 1943). American lawyer, educator, and president of Harvard University (1909-1933)
• 1862 - American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.
• 1863 - Christian Friedrich Hebbel dies (b. 1813). German writer.
• 1864 - Emil Seidel was born (d. 1947). Mayor of Milwaukee.
• 1867 - Kristian Birkeland was born (d. 1917). Norwegian explorer and scientist.
• 1868 - Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius dies (b. 1794). German botanist.
• 1871 - Emily Carr was born (d. 1945). Canadian artist.
• 1874 - Josef Lhévinne was born (d. 1944). Russian-born pianist.
• 1881 - August Senoa dies (b. 1838). Austro-Hungarian writer.
• 1883 - Victor de Laprade dies (b. 1812). French poet and critic.
• 1883 - Belle da Costa Greene was born (d. 1950). American librarian, bibliographer and archivist.
• 1886 - Diego Rivera was born (d. 1957). Mexican painter and muralist (d. 1957)
• 1887 - George Polya was born (d. 1985). Hungarian-born mathematician.
• 1887 - Alvin York was born (d. 1964). American military hero of World War.
• 1890 - Marc Connelly was born (d. 21 Dec. 1980). American playwright and journalist.
• 1895 - 1st complete execution of Gustav Mahlers 2nd Symphony
• 1895 - Anyos Jedlik dies (b. 1800). Hungarian physicist.
• 1897 - Drew Pearson was born (d. 1969). American journalist.
• 1903 - Italo Marcioni patented the first ice-cream cone, in New Jersey, USA.
• 1903 - Ella Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia (d. 13 Dec 1986). American civil rights activist.
• 1903 - Carlos Montoya was born (d. 1993). Spanish flamengo guitarist
• 1903 - John Piper was born. English writer and painter.
• 1906 - Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was born (d. 1968)
• 1906 - Sir Laurens van der Post was born (d. 1996). Afrikaner-born South African author.
• 1910 - Van Heflin was born (d. 1971). American actor.
• 1911 - Trygve Haavelmo was born (d. 1999). Norwegian economist and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1911 - Kenneth Patchen was born (d. 1972). American poet and painter.
• 1912 - Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento was born. Brazilan musician and popular composer known as "rei do baião"
• 1913 - Lu Marival was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1913 - Archie Moore was born (d. 1998). American boxer and World Light-Heavyweight from 1952 to 1962.
• 1913 - Arnold Brown was born (d. 2002). The 11th General of The Salvation Army
• 1915 - Curd Jürgens was born (d. 1982). German actor.
• 1915 - Ross Macdonald was born (d. 1983). American-born author
• 1918 - President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in office.
• 1918 - Bill Vukovich was born in Fresno, California (d. 30 May 1955). American F-Indy car racer.
• 1919 - Hans-Joachim Marseille was born (d. 1942). German Fighter Ace of World War II
• 1919 - Woldemar Voigt dies (b. 1850). German physicist.
• 1920 - League of nations established the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
• 1921 - The Four-Power Pact was signed during the Washington Conference by the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and France, stipulating that all the signatories would be consulted in the event of a controversy between two of them over “any Pacific question.”
• 1923 - Philip Warren Anderson was born. American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1923 - Larry Doby was born (d. 2003). American baseball player.
• 1925 - Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri. American actor and comedian whose film credits include 'Mary Poppins' (1964) and 'Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang' (1968).
• 1926 - George Rhoden was born. Jamaican athlete and Olympic gold medalist .
• 1926 - Simões de Almeida dies (b. 1884). Portuguese sculptor.
• 1928 - George Gershwin's musical work "An American in Paris" had its premiere, at Carnegie Hall in New York. The debut was performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Walter Damrosch.
• 1929 - Christopher Plummer was born. Canadian actor (The Sound of Music' (1965) and 'The Man Who Would be King' (1975).
• 1930 - Buck White was born. Country singer.
• 1930 - Robert Prosky was born. Actor
• 1930 - Fritz Pregl dies (b. 1869). Austrian chemist who was Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1931 - Gustave le Bon dies (b. 1840). French psychologist.
• 1933 - Lou Adler was born. Music-movie producer
• 1934 - British astronomer J.P.M. Prentice discovered Nova Herculis, one of the brightest novas of the 20th century.
• 1934 - Richard D. Zanuck was born. American film producer.
• 1934 - Tião Carreiro was born (d. 15 Oct 1993). Brazilian singer, musician.
• 1935 - Adélia Prado was born. Brazilian writer.
• 1935 - Lindy McDaniel was born. American baseball player
• 1935 - Victor Grignard dies (b. 1871). French chemist and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1936 - His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (Prince Karim El Husseni) was born. (49th) Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims since July 11, 1957.
• 1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese, leading to the Nanjing Massacre, in which up to 300,000 Chinese may have been killed.
• 1938 - Holocaust: 100 deportees from Sachsenhausen build the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.
• 1939 - World War II: Battle of the River Plate - Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttles the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee after battle with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.
• 1939 - Eric Flynn was born (d. 2002). British actor and singer.
• 1940 - Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval dies (b. 1851). French physicist.
• 1941 - World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
• 1941 - John Davidson was born. Singer.
• 1942 - Anna Eshoo was born. American politician.
• 1942 - Wlodimir Ledochowski dies (b. 1866). Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus.
• 1943 - Ferguson Jenkins was born. Canadian baseball player.
• 1944 - During World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze suicide attack that claimed 138 lives.
• 1944 - Hwang Jang Lee was born. Korean martial artist and film actor
• 1944 - Wassily Kandinsky dies (b. 1866). Russian-born French artist.
• 1947 - Nicholas Roerich dies (b. 1874). Russian-born painter.
• 1948 - Ted Nugent was born. American guitarist.
• 1948 - Jeff Baxter was born. American guitarist (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers)
• 1948 - Lillian Board was born (d. 1970). British athlete.
• 1948 - Brian Wilson was born. British politician.
• 1948 - Ron Getman was born. Country singer (The Tractors)
• 1949 - The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem
• 1949 - Robert Lindsay was born. British actor, who became known for the title role in the television series 'Citizen Smith' (1973-7).
• 1949 - Tom Verlaine was born. American singer/guitarist of Television
• 1949 - Randy Owen was born. Country singer-musician (Alabama)
• 1950 - Tom Vilsack was born. Governor of Iowa.
• 1952 - Sylvester Ritter was born (d. 1998). Professional wrestler better known as Junkyard Dog.
• 1953 - Ben Bernanke was born. American economist
• 1953 - Bob Gainey was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1954 - John Anderson was born. American country musician .
• 1954 - Steve Forbert was born. Rock singer
• 1955 - Sporting Cristal is founded. Peruvian football club.
• 1955 - Egas Moniz dies (b. 1874). Portuguese physician and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1957 - Steve Buscemi was born. American actor.
• 1957 - Morris Day was born. American singer (The Time)
• 1957 - Jean-Marie Messier was born. French businessman.
• 1958 - Lynn-Holly Johnson was born. American figure skater and actress.
• 1958 - The UN rejects a call for Algerian independence.
• 1959 - Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of Cyprus
• 1959 - Jim Darrel was born. American professional wrestler
• 1959 - Johnny Whitaker was born. Actor ("Family Affair")
• 1959 - Nadia Russ was born. Soviet-born artist.
• 1960 - José Eduardo Águalusa was born in Huambo. Angolan writer.
• 1961 - Harry Gregson-Williams was born. British composer.
• 1961 - Irene Sáez was born. Venezuelan, Miss Univers 1981 and politician.
• 1961 - Grandma Moses dies (b. 1860). American painter.
• 1963 - Jake White was born. South African rugby union coach.
• 1964 - Matsumoto Hideto was born. Japanese musician.
• 1965 - Marko Mäetamm was born. Estonian artist.
• 1966 - Premiers bombardements américains sur la ville de Hanoï
• 1967 - Jamie Foxx was born. American actor.
• 1968 - O governo ditatorial brasileiro baixa o Ato Institucional número 5 (AI-5), instrumento de abuso e perseguição aos civis.
• 1969 - Sergei Fedorov was born. Russian hockey player
• 1972 - A chartered Spanish airliner crashes on takeoff from the Canary Islands, killing 155.
• 1972 - Mauricio Solís was born. Costa Rican football player.
• 1973 - Rael, leader of the Raelian Movement claims to meet an ET he says is named Yahweh, during an alleged UFO encounter in Puy de Lassolas, France.
• 1973 - Christie Clark was born. American actress
• 1974 - Malta becomes a republic.
• 1974 - The Detroit Wheels of the WFL are established.
• 1974 - Nicholas McCarthy was born. British-born guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
• 1974 - Sara Cox was born. TV and Radio presenter.
• 1975 - Tom Delonge was born. American guitarist (Blink-182)
• 1976 - Josh Fogg was born. American baseball player.
• 1976 - Radoslaw Sobolewski was born. Polish football player.
• 1977 - A United States government aircraft DC-3 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team.
• 1977 - Christopher Hudgens was born. American Painter
• 1978 -The U.S. Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first U.S. coin honoring a woman.
• 1979 - The Canadian Government of Prime Minister Joe Clark is defeated in the House of Commons, prompting the 1980 Canadian election.
• 1981 - General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.
• 1981 - Amy Lee was born. American singer (Evanescence)
• 1981 - Chelsea Hertford was born. Actress (''Major Dad'')
• 1982 - Um terramoto no Iêmen resulta em cerca de 3000 mortos e 2000 feridos.
• 1982 - Ricky Nolasco was born. Major League Baseball Pitcher, Florida Marlins
• 1983 - Otylia Jędrzejczak was born. Polish swimmer, FINA World Champion and Olympic gold medalist .
• 1983 - Nichita Stanescu dies (b. 1933). Romanian poet.
• 1983 - Alexander Schmemann dies (b. 1921). Orthodox Christian priest and theologian.
• 1983 - Mary Renault dies (b.1905 in Forest Gate, London). English novelist, whose books often deal with life in Ancient Greece.
• 1987 - FC Porto were World Champions winning in Tokyo, by the first time in their historial, the Intercontinental Cup (the second time was on 12 Dec 2005 in Yokohama)
• 1987 - Belgium Christian Democrats (CVP) loses parliamentary election
• 1988 - PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.
• 1988 - Agreement is reached between the US, South Africa, Angola and Cuba for Namibian independence and the withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola.
• 1989 - The last issue of Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the Solidaritetspartiet, is published in Sweden.
• 1989 - South African President F.W. de Klerk met for the first time with imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, at de Klerk's office in Cape Town.
• 1991 - La Corée du Nord et la Corée du Sud signent un traité de non agression et de réconciliation après 46 ans de conflit.
• 1992 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney dies (b. 1899). American businessman and heir.
• 1992 - K.C. Irving dies (b. 1899). Canadian industrialist.
• 1993 - Vanessa Duriès dies (b. 1972). French novelist.
• 1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana chosen to become Secretary-General of The United Nations.
• 1998 - Puerto Rico voters rejected statehood by a vote of 50.2% to 46.5%. The winning option was none of the above, but interpreted as a decision to remain as commonwealth, a US territory with local autonomy.
• 1998 - Baron Lew Grade dies (b.1906 in Odessa, Ukraine). Theatrical impresario, who headed several large British film entertainment and communications companies.
• 1999 - Lysâneas Maciel dies (b. 1927). Brazilian politician, human rights activist.
• 2000 - The "Texas 7" escape from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree, during which police officer Aubrey Hawkins is shot and killed.
• 2000 - Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency 36 days after Election Day; Democrat Al Gore conceded defeat. American Vice President Al Gore delivers his concession speech ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States.
• 2001 - the Indian Parliament Sansad is attacked by Terrorists, killing 15 people, including all the terrorists. Tensions escalate in South Asia, with nuclear war likelihoods.
• 2001 - The Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his ''most optimistic'' expectations.
• 2001 - In Belgium some 80,000 antiglobalization protesters rallied in Brussels against an EU summit set to start the next day.
• 2001 - Chuck Schuldiner dies (b. 1967). American guitarist, singer and songwriter (Death)
• 2002 - Zal Yanofsky dies (b. 1945). American guitarist and singer (The Lovin' Spoonful)
• 2002 - Enlargement of the European Union: 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.
• 2003 - In the most-attended basketball game in history, 78.129 watch Michigan State University lose 79-74 to the University of Kentucky at Ford Field.
• 2003 - William V. Roth, Jr. dies (b. 1921). U.S. Senator.
• 2004 - Andre Rodgers dies (b. 1934). Bahamian baseball player.
• 2004 - David Wheeler dies (b. 1927). British computer scientist.
• 2004 - A moderate 5.4 Richter Scale earthquake hits Portugal.
• 2004 - Former Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet is put under house arrest, after being sued under accusations over 9 kidnapping actions and manslaughter. The house arrest is lifted the same day on appeal.
• 2005 - Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams, whose supporters argued he had redeemed himself inside prison, was executed in California for killing four people in robberies.
• 2005 - Stanley Williams dies (b. 1953). Co-founder of the Crips.
• Republic Day in Malta (1974)
• Catholicism - Saint Lucy's day.
• Malta - Republic Day (since 1974)
• St. Lucia Day in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and some regions of Italy, mainly Sicily, Veneto and Trentino. Also in Póvoa de Varzim (Portugal) "Santa Luzia"