What happened on January 13? There are more than 306 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About January 13
January 13 is the 13th day of the year 2024. There are 353 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday. This day falls under the 2nd week of the year 2024.
On this day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19144 sunrise occured at 07:19 AM and sunset occured at 04:58 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Capricorn. The modern birthstone for this month is Garnet while the mystical birthstone is Emerald.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 28 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (February 10, 2024).
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January 13: A Day In History
It is still celebrated as New Year’s Eve (at least in the 20th & 21st centuries) by countries still using the thirteen-day-slower Julian calendar (Old New Year).
Historical Events For January 13
- 532Nika riots in Constantinople.
- 888Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.
- 1328Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault.
- 1435Sicut Dudum is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV about the enslaving of black natives in Canary Islands by Spanish natives.
- 1547Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death.
- 1605The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.
- 1607The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
- 1733James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1785John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).
- 1797French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany ends with the French vessel running ashore, resulting in the death of over 900.
- 1815War of 1812: British troops capture Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
- 1822The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
- 1830The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.
- 1832President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina’s defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.
- 1840The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
- 1842Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.
- 1847The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.
- 1869National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.
- 1893The Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom holds its first meeting.
- 1893U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
- 1898Emile Zola’s J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
- 1908The Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania kills 171 people.
- 1910The first public radio broadcast takes place; a live performance of the opera Cavalleria rusticana is sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
- 1913Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
- 1915An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.
- 1934The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR.
- 1935A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
- 1939The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
- 1942Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
- 1942World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.
- 1951First Indochina War: The Battle of Vinh Yen begins, which will end in a major victory for France.
- 1953An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.
- 1953Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen as President of Yugoslavia.
- 1958The Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
- 1964Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta – resulting in 100 deaths.
- 1964Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland.
- 1966Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
- 1968Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison
- 1972Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong.
- 1974Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
- 1982Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC’s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
- 1985A passenger train plunges into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.
- 1986A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
- 1990L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1991Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding 1000.
- 1993Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.
- 2001An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.
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Who Were Born On January 13?
- 1434King Henry II of Castile (d. 1379)
- 1505Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1571)
- 1562Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (d. 1601)
- 1596Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (d. 1656)
- 1610Maria Anna of Austria, Electress of Bavaria (d. 1665)
- 1616Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish mystic (d. 1680)
- 1635Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (d. 1705)
- 1651Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English politician (d. 1694)
- 1683Christoph Graupner, German composer (d. 1760)
- 1720Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (d. 1808)
- 1749Friedrich Müller, painter and dramatist (d. 1825)
- 1777Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1820)
- 1787John Davis, 14th and 17th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1854)
- 1804Paul Gavarni, French caricaturist (d. 1866)
- 1805Thomas Dyer, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1862)
- 1808Salmon P. Chase, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)
- 1812Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
- 1832Horatio Alger, Jr., American minister and author (d. 1899)
- 1845Félix Tisserand, French Astronomer (d. 1896)
- 1858Oskar Minkowski, Biologist (d. 1931)
- 1859Kostis Palamas, Greek poet (d. 1943)
- 1861Max Nonne, German neurologist (d. 1959)
- 1864Wilhelm Wien, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- 1865Princess Marie of Orléans (d. 1908)
- 1866Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (d. 1901)
- 1869Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (d. 1931)
- 1870Ross Granville Harrison, American biologist (d. 1959)
- 1878Lionel Groulx, Canadian nationalist (d. 1967)
- 1881Essington Lewis, Australian industrialist (d. 1961)
- 1883Prince Arthur of Connaught (d. 1938)
- 1884Sophie Tucker, Russian-born singer and performer (d. 1966)
- 1885Alfred Fuller, Canadian businessman, The “Fuller Brush Man” (d. 1973)
- 1886Art Ross, Canadian ice hockey player and executive (d. 1964)
- 1887Gabriel Gabrio, French actor (d. 1946)
- 1887George Gurdjieff, Georgian-Armenian-Greek mystic (d. 1949)
- 1890Jüri Uluots, Estonian Prime Minister (d. 1945)
- 1893Clark Ashton Smith, American writer (d. 1961)
- 1893Roy Cazaly, Australian rules footballer (d. 1963)
- 1898Carlo Tagliabue, Italian baritone (d. 1978)
- 1898Kai Munk, Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor, martyr (d. 1944)
- 1901A. B. Guthrie, American novelist, historian (d. 1991)
- 1901Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest (d. 1978)
- 1904Richard Addinsell, British composer (Warsaw Concerto) (d. 1977)
- 1905Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)
- 1906Zhou Youguang, Chinese linguist
- 1909Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist (d. 1934)
- 1910Yannis Tsarouchis, Greek painter (d. 1989)
- 1911Sir Johannes “Joh” Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (d. 2005)
- 1913Jeff Morrow, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1914Lord Ted Willis, British television dramatist (d. 1992)
- 1919Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1921Dachine Rainer, British writer (d. 2000)
- 1922Albert Lamorisse, French film director and producer (d. 1970)
- 1923Daniil Shafran, Russian cellist (d. 1997)
- 1924Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1994)
- 1924Roland Petit, French choreographer (d. 2011)
- 1925Georgi Kaloyanchev, Bulgarian actor
- 1925Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)
- 1926Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American feminist author (d. 2003)
- 1926Michael Bond, British writer
- 1927Brock Adams, American politician (d. 2004)
- 1927Sydney Brenner, British Nobel Laureate
- 1929Joe Pass, U.S. jazz guitarist (d. 1994)
- 1930Frances Sternhagen, American actress
- 1930Liz Anderson, American singer
- 1931Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1931Chris Wiggins, British actor
- 1931Ian Hendry, English actor (d. 1984)
- 1932Barry Bishop, American mountaineer (d. 1994)
- 1934Rip Taylor, American actor
- 1935Elsa Martinelli, Italian actress
- 1935Mauro Forghieri, Italian automotive & mechanical engineer (Scuderia Ferrari)
- 1936Renato Bruson, Italian operatic baritone
- 1938Shivkumar Sharma, santoor player, music composer
- 1938Tord Grip, Swedish football manager
- 1938William B. Davis, Canadian actor
- 1939Cesare Maniago, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1939Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
- 1940Edmund White, American author
- 1941Pasqual Maragall, Spanish politician
- 1942Carol Cleveland, English actress
- 1943Richard Moll, American actor
- 1946Eero Koivistoinen, Finnish musician
- 1947Carles Rexach, former Spanish-Catalan footballer and coach
- 1947Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Kraków
- 1947John Lees, English Musician
- 1948Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
- 1949Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)
- 1949Klaus Brandner, German politician
- 1949Rakesh Sharma, first Indian and 138th person to visit space
- 1950Bob Forsch, American baseball player
- 1950John McNaughton, American film director
- 1951Frank E. Peretti, author of Christian fiction
- 1954Trevor Rabin, South African guitarist (Yes)
- 1955Jay McInerney, American writer
- 1955Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1956Janet Hubert-Whitten, American actress
- 1957Lorrie Moore, American writer
- 1957Mark O'Meara, Major winning American Golfer
- 1959James Lomenzo, American musician (Megadeth)
- 1960Takis Lemonis, Greek footballer and coach
- 1961Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
- 1961Kelly Hrudey, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961Suggs, English singer (Madness)
- 1961Wayne Coyne, American singer (The Flaming Lips)
- 1962Kevin Mitchell, American baseball player
- 1962Paul Higgins, Canadian hockey player
- 1962Trace Adkins, American country music singer-songwriter
- 1963Kevin McClatchy, American businessman
- 1964Bill Bailey, British comedian
- 1964Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
- 1964Ronan Rafferty, Northern Irish golfer
- 1966Patrick Dempsey, American actor
- 1966Shelagh Fogarty, British radio presenter
- 1967Annie Jones, Australian actress
- 1968Chara, Japanese singer and actress
- 1968Mike Whitlow, English footballer
- 1968Traci Bingham, American actress
- 1969Stefania Belmondo, Italian cross-country skier
- 1969Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player
- 1970Keith Coogan, American actor
- 1970Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- 1970Shonda Rhimes, American screenwriter/creator (Grey’s Anatomy)
- 1971John Mallory Asher, American film actor/director
- 1971Phil Whyman, English paranormal researcher, television personality, writer and musician
- 1972Atoosa Rubenstein, Iranian-born American magazine editor
- 1972James O'Brien, British radio presenter and journalist
- 1972Mark Bosnich, Australian footballer
- 1972Nicole Eggert, American actress
- 1972Park Jin-Young, Korean singer
- 1972Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
- 1973Gloria Yip, Hong Kong actor
- 1973Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1974Sergei Brylin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1976Michael Peña, American actor
- 1976Tania Vicent, Canadian short track speed skater
- 1977James Posey, American basketball player
- 1977Orlando Bloom, English actor
- 1977William Ash (actor), British actor
- 1978Ashmit Patel, Indian actor
- 1980Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
- 1980Krzysztof Czerwinski, Polish conductor and organist
- 1980Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player
- 1980Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
- 1981Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
- 1981Jason James, Welsh bassist
- 1981Reggie Brown, American football player
- 1981Shad Gaspard, American professional wrestler, bodyguard, and actor
- 1982Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player
- 1982Kamran Akmal, Pakistan cricketer
- 1983Julian Morris, English actor
- 1983Ronny Turiaf, French basketball player
- 1983Sebastian Kneißl, German footballer
- 1983William Hung, American Idol contestant
- 1984Matteo Cavagna, Italian footballer
- 1984Nathaniel Motte, American musician (3OH!3)
- 1985Qi Hui, Chinese swimmer
- 1986Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
- 1986Laura Ludwig, German beach volleyball player
- 1987Alexandre Pliuschin, Moldovan cyclist
- 1987Daniel Oss, Italian cyclist
- 1987Lee Seung Gi, South Korean singer
- 1987Marc Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987Stefano Del Sante, Italian footballer
- 1987Sven Wetzel, German rugby player
- 1988Josh Freeman, American football player
- 1989Bryan Arguez, American footballer
- 1989James Berrett, English footballer
- 1989Tim Matavž, Slovenian footballer
- 1989Triinu Kivilaan, Estonian singer
- 1990Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor
- 1991Goo Ha-ra, South Korean singer/actress/MC
- 1992Adam Matthews, Welsh footballer
- 1995Qaasim Middleton, American musician and actor
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Who Died On January 13?
- 86 BCGaius Marius, Roman general and politician (b. 157 BC)
- 614Saint Kentigern (Saint Mungo), patron saint of Glasgow
- 703Empress Jitō of Japan (b. 645)
- 858King Ethelwulf of Wessex (b. 795)
- 888Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 839)
- 1138Simon I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1076)
- 1151Abbot Suger, French statesman and historian (b. 1081)
- 1177Henry II of Austria (b. 1107)
- 1330Frederick I of Austria (b. 1286)
- 1363Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol (b. 1344)
- 1599Edmund Spenser, English poet (b. 1552)
- 1625Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter (b. 1568)
- 1630Yuan Chonghuan, Chinese military commander (b. 1584)
- 1658Edward Sexby, English Puritan soldier (b. 1616)
- 1691George Fox, English founder of Quakerism (b. 1624)
- 1717Maria Sibylla Merian, naturalist and scientific illustrator (b. 1647)
- 1766King Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)
- 1775Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (b. 1693)
- 1790Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (b. 1712)
- 1796John H. D. Anderson, Scottish scientist and inventor (b. 1726)
- 1797Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, wife of Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1715)
- 1832Thomas Lord, English cricketer, founder of Lord’s cricket ground (b. 1755)
- 1838Ferdinand Ries, German composer (b. 1784)
- 1852Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer (b. 1778)
- 1853Theophilos Kairis, Greek priest, humanist and revolutionary (b. 1783)
- 1860William Mason, American politician (b. 1786)
- 1864Stephen Foster, American composer (b. 1826)
- 1882Wilhelm Mauser, German weapon designer and manufacturer (b. 1834)
- 1885Schuyler Colfax, American politician (b. 1823)
- 1889Solomon Bundy, American politician (b. 1823)
- 1894Nadezhda von Meck, Russian patroness of Pyotr Tchaikovsky (b. 1831)
- 1905George Thorn, Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)
- 1906Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)
- 1915Mary Slessor, Scottish missionary (b. 1848)
- 1923Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (b. 1842)
- 1924Georg Hermann Quincke, German physicist (b. 1834)
- 1928Mara Buneva, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1902}
- 1929H. B. Higgins, Australian politician and judge (b. 1851)
- 1929Wyatt Earp, American Western lawman (b. 1848)
- 1932Sophia of Prussia, consort of Constantine I of Greece (b. 1870)
- 1934Paul Ulrich Villard, French physicist (b. 1860)
- 1941James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)
- 1943Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss artist (b. 1889)
- 1956Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and caricaturist (b. 1871)
- 1958Jesse L. Lasky, American film producer (b. 1880)
- 1962Ernie Kovacs, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)
- 1967Anatole de Grunwald, British producer and screenwriter (b. 1910)
- 1971Robert Still, English composer (b. 1910)
- 1974Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor (b. 1906)
- 1974Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet (b. 1904)
- 1976Margaret Leighton, English actress (b. 1922)
- 1977Henri Langlois, French film archivist, and a co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française (b. 1914)
- 1978Hubert H. Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
- 1978Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (b. 1887)
- 1979Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)
- 1979Marjorie Lawrence, Australian soprano (b. 1907)
- 1980André Kostelanetz, Russian-born music conductor and arranger (b. 1901)
- 1982Marcel Camus, French director (b. 1912)
- 1988Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
- 1993Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian composer (b. 1907)
- 1995Max Harris, Australian poet, columnist and publisher (b. 1921)
- 2001Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1985)
- 2002Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian (b. 1916)
- 2002Gregorio Fuentes, Cuban fisherman, Ernest Hemingway’s first mate (b. 1897)
- 2002Ted Demme, American film director (b. 1963)
- 2003Norman Panama, American screenwriter and director (b. 1914)
- 2004Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber (b. 1937)
- 2004Harold Shipman, British serial killer (b. 1946)
- 2004Zeno Vendler, American philosopher of language (b. 1921)
- 2005Earl Cameron, Canadian broadcaster (b. 1915)
- 2005Nell Rankin, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1924)
- 2006Frank Fixaris, American sportscaster (b. 1934)
- 2006Marc Potvin, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1967)
- 2007Danny Oakes, American racecar driver (b. 1911)
- 2007Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1949)
- 2008Johnny Podres, American baseball player (b. 1932)
- 2008Sergei Larin, Lithuanian tenor (b. 1956)
- 2009Dai Llewellyn Welsh socialite
- 2009Doña Mary Ejercito, Filipino supercentarian, mother of Joseph Ejercito Estrada (b. 1905)
- 2009Mansour Rahbani, Lebanese composer and lyricist (b. 1925)
- 2009Nancy Bird Walton, Australian aviator (b. 1915)
- 2009Patrick McGoohan, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2009William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet under the pseudonym S. S. Gardons (b. 1926)
- 2010Jay Reatard, American garage punk musician (b. 1980)
- 2010Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan writer and linguist (b. 1930)
- 2010Teddy Pendergrass, American R&B singer (b. 1950)
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