December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 18 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 1294 – Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
• 1545 – Council of Trent begins.
• 1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
• 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.
• 1642 – Abel Janszoon Tasman reaches New Zealand.
• 1643 – English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
• 1769 – Dartmouth College is founded by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, with a Royal Charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal Governor John Wentworth.
• 1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the first ovariotomy, removing a 22 pound tumor.
• 1862 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside.
• 1867 – Fenian bomb explodes in Clerkenwell, London, killing six.
• 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.
• 1937 – Nanjing Massacre. Japanese troops begin carrying out several weeks of raping and killing of civilians and suspected Chinese resistance after the fall of Nanjing.
• 1938 – The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
• 1939 – World War II: Battle of the River Plate – Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.
• 1941 – World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
• 1943 – World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.
• 1949 – The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
• 1959 – Archbishop Makarios becomes the first President of Cyprus.
• 1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaim him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
• 1962 – NASA Relay 1 launch, first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
• 1967 – Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels
• 1968 – Brazilian president Artur da Costa e Silva decrees the AI-5 (or the fifth Institutional Act), which lasts until 1978 and marks the beginning of the hard times of Brazilian military dictatorship.
• 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
• 1974 – Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations
• 1977 – A DC-3 aircraft chartered from the Indianapolis-based National Jet crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff and boosters of the team.
• 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 Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity.
• 1988 – Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat gives a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in the Swiss city of Geneva after the United States authorities refused to give him a visa to enter New York.
• 1989 – Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launch an attack on a British Army nonpermanent vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and one badly wounded.
• 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 – Al Gore concedes the U.S. presidential election to George W. Bush.
• 2001 – The Indian Parliament Sansad is attacked by terrorists. 15 people are killed, including all the terrorists.
• 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 (see Operation Red Dawn).

Births[link]

• 1521 – Pope Sixtus V (d. 1590)
• 1533 – King Eric XIV of Sweden (d. 1577)
• 1553 – King Henry IV of France (d. 1610)
• 1585 – William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (d. 1649)
• 1640 – Robert Plot, English naturalist (d. 1696)
• 1662 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1729)
• 1678 – Yongzheng Emperor of China (d. 1735)
• 1720 – Carlo Gozzi, Italian dramatist (d. 1804)
• 1724 – Franz Aepinus, German scientist (d. 1802)
• 1784 – Archduke Louis of Austria (d. 1864)
• 1797 – Heinrich Heine, German poet (d. 1856)
• 1804 – Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (d. 1873)
• 1814 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse (d. 1880)
• 1816 – Ernst Werner von Siemens, German engineer, inventor, and industrialist (d. 1892)
• 1818 – Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States (d. 1882)
• 1836 – Franz von Lenbach, German painter (d. 1904)
• 1854 – Herman Bavinck, Dutch theologian and churchman (d. 1921)
• 1856 – Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (d. 1920)
• 1860 – Lucien Guitry, French actor (d. 1925)
• 1864 – Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee (d. 1947)
• 1867 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian explorer and scientist (d. 1917)
• 1870 – Edward LeSaint, American actor and director (d. 1940)
• 1871 – Emily Carr, Canadian artist (d. 1945)
• 1874 – Josef Lhévinne, Russian-born pianist (d. 1944)
• 1883 – Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist (d. 1950)
• 1884 – Aimilios Veakis, Greek actor (d. 1951)
• 1887 – George Polya, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1985)
• 1887 – Alvin York, American soldier & Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
• 1897 – Albert Aalbers, Dutch architect (d. 1961)
• 1897 – Drew Pearson, American journalist (d. 1969)
• 1900 – Jonel Perlea, Romanian conductor (d. 1970)
• 1902 – Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist, (d. 1979)
• 1903 – Ella Baker, American civil rights activist (d. 1986)
• 1903 – Carlos Montoya, Spanish guitarist (d. 1993)
• 1906 – Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (d. 1968)
• 1906 – Sir Laurens van der Post, South African author (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Van Heflin, American actor (d. 1971)
• 1910 – Sol Saks, American screenwriter (d. 2011)
• 1911 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (d. 1972)
• 1913 – Arnold Brown, the 11th General of The Salvation Army (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Archie Moore, American boxer (d. 1998)
• 1914 – Alan Bullock, British author of the first biography of Hitler written in any language. (d. 2004)
• 1915 – Curd Jürgens, German-born Austrian actor (d. 1982)
• 1915 – Ross Macdonald, American-born author (d. 1983)
• 1915 – B. J. Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa 1966-1978 (d. 1983)
• 1917 – John Hart, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Hans-Joachim Marseille, German flying ace of World War II (d. 1942)
• 1920 – George Shultz, American economist, statesman, and 60th United States Secretary of State
• 1923 – Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1923 – Larry Doby, American baseball player (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Dick Van Dyke, American actor and comedian
• 1926 – George Rhoden, Jamaican athlete
• 1929 – Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor
• 1930 – Robert Prosky, American actor (d. 2008)
• 1934 – Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer
• 1935 – Joe Christopher, American baseball player
• 1935 – Ken Hall, American football player
• 1935 – Lindy McDaniel, American baseball player
• 1936 – His Highness Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini Aga Khan IV, Present Imam (leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims
• 1936 – J. C. Martin, American baseball player
• 1937 – Rob Houwer, Dutch film producer
• 1937 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish entrepreneur (d. 2009)
• 1937 – Ron Taylor, Canadian baseball player
• 1938 – Alvin Curran, American composer
• 1938 – Heino, German folk singer
• 1939 – Eric Flynn, British actor and singer (d. 2002)
• 1941 – John Davidson, American actor and game show host
• 1941 – Bessel Kok, Dutch businessman and chess organiser
• 1942 – Anna Eshoo, American politician
• 1943 – Ferguson Jenkins, Canadian baseball player
• 1943 – Gösta Winbergh, Swedish tenor (d. 2002)
• 1944 – Dick Dees, Dutch politician
• 1944 – Hwang Jang Lee, Korean martial artist and film actor
• 1944 – Marti Webb, British actor and singer
• 1945 – Herman Cain, American businessman, radio host, and politician
• 1945 – Kathy Garver, American actress
• 1945 – Brian McGuire, Australian racing driver (d. 1977)
• 1947 – Darlene Cates, American actress
• 1947 – Rex Hagon, Canadian actor and host
• 1947 – Dave Hamilton, American baseball player
• 1948 – Lester Bangs, Rock critic (d. 1982)
• 1948 – Jeff Baxter, American guitarist (Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers)
• 1948 – Lillian Board, British track and field athlete (d. 1970)
• 1948 – Ted Nugent, American guitarist
• 1948 – Brian Wilson, Scottish politician
• 1949 – Robert Lindsay, English actor
• 1949 – Randy Owen, American country singer and guitarist (Alabama)
• 1949 – Luc Sala, Dutch entrepreneur and writer
• 1949 – Tom Verlaine, American singer and guitarist (Television)
• 1949 – Paula Wilcox, English actress
• 1950 – Wendie Malick, American actress
• 1950 – Tom Vilsack, 40th Governor of Iowa and 30th United States Secretary of Agriculture
• 1952 – Sylvester Ritter (Junkyard Dog), American professional wrestler (d. 1998)
• 1953 – Ben Bernanke, American economist and current United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve
• 1953 – Bill Castro, Dominican baseball player
• 1953 – Jim Davidson, British comedian
• 1953 – Bob Gainey, Canadian ice hockey player and General Manager
• 1954 – John Anderson, American country music singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Steve Forbert, American singer-songwriter
• 1954 – Tamora Pierce, American author
• 1954 – Emma Bull, American science fiction and fantasy author
• 1956 – Dale Berra, American baseball player
• 1956 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese soprano, singer
• 1956 – Phil Hubbard, American basketball player
• 1957 – Steve Buscemi, American actor
• 1957 – Morris Day, American singer (The Time)
• 1957 – Eric Marienthal, American saxophonist
• 1957 – Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
• 1958 – Lynn-Holly Johnson, American figure skater and actress
• 1959 – Jim Barrell, American professional wrestler
• 1959 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor
• 1960 – Rusty Cundieff, American actor
• 1960 – Daggubati Venkatesh, Indian actor
• 1961 – Harry Gregson-Williams, English composer
• 1961 – Irene Saez, Miss Universe 1981 and Venezuelan politician
• 1961 – Gary Zimmerman, American football player
• 1962 – Roger Ilegems, Belgian track cyclist and road bicycle racer
• 1962 – Jamie Raskin, American law professor and politician
• 1962 – Rex Ryan, American football coach
• 1962 – Rob Ryan, American football coach
• 1962 – Kendra Slewenski, English netballer
• 1964 – Hideto "hide" Matsumoto, Japanese musician (X Japan) (d. 1998)
• 1965 – Marko Mäetamm, Estonian artist
• 1965 – Jackie Clune, British entertainer and actress
• 1966 – Ross Burden, New Zealand celebrity chef
• 1966 – Don Roff, American writer and filmmaker
• 1966 – Mike Tirico, sports broadcaster
• 1967 – Jamie Foxx, American actor and singer
• 1967 – Bo Pelini, American football coach
• 1967 – NeNe Leakes, American actress
• 1969 – Tony Curran, Scottish actor
• 1969 – Sergei Fedorov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Murat Nasyrov, Russian singer (d. 2007)
• 1970 – Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Austrian mountaineer
• 1972 – Niki Evans, English singer
• 1972 – Chris Grant, Australian football player
• 1973 – Christie Clark, American actress
• 1974 – Sara Cox, English TV and radio presenter
• 1974 – Debbie Matenopoulos, American television personality and actress
• 1974 – Nicholas McCarthy, English guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
• 1975 – Bates Battaglia, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Tom DeLonge, American guitarist (blink-182, Angels & Airwaves)
• 1975 – Kostas Kiassos, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Matthew LeCroy, American baseball player
• 1976 – Josh Fogg, American baseball player
• 1976 – Søren Friis, Danish footballer
• 1976 – Radosław Sobolewski, Polish footballer
• 1977 – Sascha Kindred, British Paralympic swimmer
• 1977 – Peter Stringer, Irish rugby union footballer
• 1978 – Olav Bjortomt, British quiz champion
• 1978 – Ryo Kawakita, Japanese guitarist (Maximum the Hormone)
• 1978 – BJ Penn, American mixed martial artist
• 1980 – Patrik Antonius, Finnish poker player
• 1980 – Ryan France, English footballer
• 1980 – Satoshi Tsumabuki, Japanese actor
• 1980 – Bosco Wong, Hong Kong Singer and Actor
• 1981 – Amy Lee, American singer/songwriter (Evanescence)
• 1981 – Liam Lawrence, Irish footballer
• 1982 – Anthony Callea, Australian singer/songwriter
• 1982 – Dan Hamhuis, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Ricky Nolasco, American baseball player
• 1982 – Tuka Rocha, Brazilian racing driver
• 1982 – Dominik Werling, German footballer
• 1983 – Matt Deis, American bassist
• 1983 – Otylia Jędrzejczak, Polish swimmer
• 1984 – Hanna-Maria Seppälä, Finnish swimmer
• 1984 – Santi Cazorla, Spanish footballer
• 1985 – Michael Bumpus, American football player
• 1985 – Laurence Leboeuf, Canadian actress
• 1985 – Alby Mathewson, New Zealand rugby player
• 1986 – Dennis Bermudez, American mixed martial artist
• 1988 – Rickie Fowler, American golfer
• 1989 – Taylor Swift, American singer

Deaths[link]

• 1048 – Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, Persian mathematician (b. 973)
• 1124 – Pope Callixtus II
• 1126 – Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria
• 1204 – Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (b. 1135)
• 1250 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1194)
• 1404 – Albert, Count of Holland (b. 1336)
• 1466 – Donatello, Florentine artist and sculptor (b. 1386)
• 1516 – Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer (b. 1462)
• 1521 – Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1469)
• 1557 – Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician
• 1565 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist (b. 1516)
• 1603 – Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician (b. 1540)
• 1621 – Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1535)
• 1716 – Charles de La Fosse, French painter (b. 1640)
• 1721 – Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor and castaway (b. 1676)
• 1729 – Anthony Collins, English philosopher (b. 1676)
• 1754 – Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1696)
• 1769 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (b. 1715)
• 1783 – Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b. 1717)
• 1784 – Samuel Johnson, English writer and lexicographer (b. 1709)
• 1814 – Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne, Belgian-born Austrian field marshal (b. 1735)
• 1835 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (b. 1760)
• 1837 – Herman of Alaska, Russian Orthodox hermit (b. 1756)
• 1863 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German writer (b. 1813)
• 1868 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist (b. 1794)
• 1881 – August Senoa, Croatian writer (b. 1838)
• 1883 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (b. 1812)
• 1893 – Georg August Rudolph, German politician (b. 1816)
• 1895 – Ányos Jedlik, Hungarian physicist (b. 1800)
• 1919 – Woldemar Voigt, German physicist (b. 1850)
• 1922 – Hannes Hafstein, Icelandic politician and poet (b. 1861)
• 1924 – Samuel Gompers, American labor leader (b. 1850)
• 1930 – Fritz Pregl, Slovenian-born Austrian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1869)
• 1931 – Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b. 1840)
• 1932 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (b. 1853)
• 1934 – Thomas A. Watson, American assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (b. 1854)
• 1935 – Victor Grignard, French chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1871)
• 1940 – Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, French physicist (b. 1851)
• 1940 – George Regas, Greek actor (b. 1890)
• 1942 – Wlodimir Ledochowski, Austrian-born Polish religious figure (b. 1866)
• 1944 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born French artist (b. 1866)
• 1944 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (b. 1908)
• 1945 – Irma Grese, German concentration camp supervisor (b. 1923)
• 1945 – Josef Kramer, German concentration camp commandant (b. 1906)
• 1945 – Elisabeth Volkenrath, Polish-born German concentration camp supervisor (b. 1919)
• 1947 – Nicholas Roerich, Russian-born painter (b. 1874)
• 1950 – Abraham Wald, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1902)
• 1954 – John Raymond Hubbell, American writer (b. 1879)
• 1955 – Egas Moniz, Portuguese psychiatrist and neurosurgeon, Nobel laureate (b. 1874)
• 1958 – Tim Moore, American actor (b. 1887)
• 1960 – Dora Marsden, British editor, writer (b. 1882)
• 1961 – Grandma Moses, American painter (b. 1860)
• 1962 – Harry Barris, American popular singer (b. 1905)
• 1969 – Raymond A. Spruance, American admiral (b. 1886)
• 1969 – Spencer Williams, Jr., American actor (b. 1893)
• 1973 – Henry Green, English author (b. 1905)
• 1979 – Jon Hall, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1981 – Pigmeat Markham, American entertainer (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Alexander Schmemann, Estonian Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
• 1983 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (b. 1933)
• 1986 – Heather Angel, British actress (b. 1909)
• 1986 – Ella Baker, American civil rights activist (b, 1903)
• 1986 – Smita Patil, Indian Actress (b.1955)
• 1992 – K.C. Irving, Canadian industrialist (b. 1899)
• 1992 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and heir (b. 1899)
• 1993 – Vanessa Duriès, French novelist (b. 1972)
• 1994 – Norman Beaton, Guyanese actor (b. 1934)
• 1994 – Michalis Nikolinakos, Greek actor (b. 1923)
• 1996 – Edward Blishen, English author (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Chuck Schuldiner, American musician (Death) (b. 1967)
• 2002 – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian musician (The Lovin' Spoonful) (b. 1944)
• 2003 – William V. Roth, Jr., American politician (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Andre Rodgers, Bahamian baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2004 – David Wheeler, English computer scientist (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Timothy Jordan II, American musician (The All American Rejects, Jonezetta) (b. 1981)
• 2005 – Stanley Tookie Williams, American convicted murderer (b. 1953)
• 2006 – Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (b. 1932)
• 2007 – Floyd Red Crow Westerman, American actor (b. 1936)
• 2007 – Mark Partridge, Rhodesian politician (b. 1922)
• 2008 – John Drake, New Zealand rugby union footballer (b. 1959)
• 2008 – Kathy Staff, British actress (b. 1928)
• 2010 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (b. 1941)
• 2010 – Enrique Morente, Spanish flamenco singer (b. 1942)
• 2010 – Woolly Wolstenholme, British musician (b. 1947)
• 2011 – Kabir Chowdhury, Bangladeshi National Professor (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Acadian Remembrance Day (Acadians)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Lucy
  • Odile of Alsace
• Republic Day (Malta)
• Saint Lucy's Day (mainly Scandinavia, some regions of Italy (for example, Sicily, Veneto and Trentino), and Malta), and its related observances:
  • National Day, celebrates the independence of Saint Lucia from United Kingdom in 1979.
• Tellus was worshipped in the district Carinae at the Esquiline Hill, and a lectisternium or table was spread for Ceres. (Roman Empire)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: December 13

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada