October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 79 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 54 – Roman Emperor Claudius is poisoned to death under mysterious circumstances. His 17-year-old stepson Nero succeeds him to the Roman throne
• 409 – Vandals and Alans cross the Pyrenees and appear in Hispania.
• 1307 – Hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into a "confession" of heresy.
• 1332 – Rinchinbal Khan, Emperor Ningzong of Yuan becomes the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, reigning for only 53 days.
• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1710 – Port Royal, the capital of French Acadia, falls in a siege by British forces.
• 1773 – The Whirlpool Galaxy is discovered by Charles Messier.
• 1775 – The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).
• 1792 – In Washington, D.C., the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.
• 1812 – War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights – As part of the Niagara campaign in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock.
• 1843 – In New York City, Henry Jones and 11 others found B'nai B'rith (the oldest Jewish service organization in the world).
• 1845 – A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.
• 1881 – Revival of the Hebrew language as Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and friends agree to use Hebrew exclusively in their conversations.
• 1884 – Greenwich, in London, England, is established as Universal Time meridian of longitude.
• 1885 – The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is founded in Atlanta, United States.
• 1892 – Edward Emerson Barnard discovers D/1892 T1, the first comet discovered by photographic means, on the night of October 13–14.
• 1915 – The Battle for the Hohenzollern Redoubt marks the end of the Battle of Loos in northern France, World War I.
• 1917 – The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal.
• 1918 – Mehmed Talat Pasha and the Young Turk (C.U.P.) ministry resign and sign an armistice, ending Ottoman participation in World War I.
• 1921 – The Soviet republics of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sign the Treaty of Kars with the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to establish the contemporary borders between Turkey and the South Caucasus states.
• 1923 – Ankara replaces Istanbul as the capital of Turkey.
• 1943 – World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.
• 1944 – World War II: Riga, the capital of Latvia is occupied by the Red Army.
• 1946 – France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
• 1962 – The Pacific Northwest experiences a cyclone the equal of a Cat 3 hurricane. Winds measured above 150 mph at several locations; 46 people died.
• 1967 – The first game in the history of the American Basketball Association is played as the Anaheim Amigos lose to the Oakland Oaks 134-129 in Oakland, California.
• 1970 – Fiji joins the United Nations.
• 1972 – An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashes outside Moscow killing 176.
• 1972 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina and Chile. By December 23, 1972, only 16 out of 45 people lived long enough to be rescued.
• 1976 – A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashes in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, killing 100 (97, mostly children, killed on the ground).
• 1976 – The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle is obtained by Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, who was then working at the C.D.C.
• 1977 – Four Palestinians hijack Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.
• 1983 – Ameritech Mobile Communications (now AT&T) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1990 – End of the Lebanese Civil War. Syrian forces launch an attack on the free areas of Lebanon removing General Michel Aoun from the presidential palace.
• 1992 – An Antonov An-124 operated by Antonov Airlines registered SSSR-82002, crashes near Kiev, Ukraine killing 8.
• 2010 – The 2010 Copiapó mining accident in Copiapó, Chile comes to an end as all 33 miners arrive at the surface after surviving a record 69 days underground awaiting rescue.

Births[link]

• 1162 – Leonora of England, Queen of Castile (d. 1214)
• 1244 – Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar (d. 1314)
• 1453 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (d. 1471)
• 1474 – Mariotto Albertinelli, Italian painter (d. 1515)
• 1566 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, Irish politician (d. 1643)
• 1613 – Luisa of Medina-Sidonia, queen of Portugal (d. 1666)
• 1696 – John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, English statesman and writer (d. 1743)
• 1713 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter (d. 1784)
• 1714 – Pieter Burmann the Younger, Dutch philologist (d. 1778)
• 1756 – James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, Royal Navy admiral of the fleet (d. 1833)
• 1768 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French explorer (d. 1839)
• 1820 – John William Dawson, Canadian geologist (d. 1899)
• 1821 – Rudolf Virchow, German physician, pathologist, biologist, and politician (d. 1902)
• 1844 – Ernest Myers, English poet, Classicist and author (d. 1921)
• 1853 – Lillie Langtry, British actress (d. 1929)
• 1862 – Mary Kingsley, English writer and explorer (d. 1900)
• 1874 – József Klekl, Slovene politician in Hungary (d. 1948)
• 1876 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (d. 1914)
• 1878 – Patrick Joseph Hartigan, Australian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1952)
• 1880 – Sasha Cherny, Russian poet (d. 1932)
• 1887 – Jozef Tiso, Slovak politician (d. 1947)
• 1890 – Conrad Richter, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1968)
• 1891 – Irene Rich, American actress (d. 1988)
• 1895 – Mike Gazella, American baseball player (d. 1978)
• 1896 – E. Beatrice Riley, Australian supercentenarian (d. 2009)
• 1900 – Gerald Marks, American songwriter (d. 1997)
• 1902 – Arna Wendell Bontemps, American writer (d. 1973)
• 1904 – Wilfred Pickles, English actor and broadcaster (d. 1978)
• 1905 – Coloman Braun-Bogdan, Romanian football player and manager (d. 1983)
• 1905 – Yves Allégret, French film director (d. 1987)
• 1909 – Art Tatum, American jazz pianist (d. 1956)
• 1909 – Herbert "Herblock" Block, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
• 1911 – Ashok Kumar, Indian actor (d. 2001)
• 1913 – Igor Torkar, Slovenian writer (d. 2004)
• 1915 – Sir Terry Frost, English artist (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Cornel Wilde, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1917 – George Osmond, American patriach of The Osmonds (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (d. 1985)
• 1918 – Robert Walker, American actor (d. 1951)
• 1920 – Laraine Day, American actress (d. 2007)
• 1921 – Yves Montand, Italian singer and actor (d. 1991)
• 1923 – Cyril Shaps, English actor (d. 2003)
• 1923 – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Moturu Udayam, Indian woman's activist (d. 2002)
• 1924 – Terry Gibbs, American jazz vibraphonist and band leader
• 1925 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian (d. 1966)
• 1925 – Margaret Thatcher, English politician
• 1925 – Gustav Winckler, Danish singer (d. 1979)
• 1926 – Ray Brown, American jazz bassist (d. 2002)
• 1926 – Walter "Killer" Kowalski (wrestler) Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Lee Konitz, American jazz saxophonist
• 1929 – Walasse Ting, Chinese-American painter (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Bruce Geller, American screenwriter and television producer (d. 1978)
• 1931 – Eddie Mathews, American baseball player (d. 2001)
• 1931 – Raymond Kopa, French footballer
• 1932 – Jack Colvin, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Johnny Lytle, jazz vibraphonist and drummer (d. 1995)
• 1933 – Raynald Frechette, Canadian politician and jurist (d. 2007)
• 1933 – Queen Narriman, Egyptian royalty (d. 2005)
• 1933 – Thomas Bingham, English jurist
• 1934 – Nana Mouskouri, Greek singer and politician
• 1935 – Etterlene DeBarge, gospel singer, songwriter, matriarch of the DeBarge family
• 1936 – Chitti Babu, classical musician, Veena artiste from India
• 1937 – Sami Frey, French actor
• 1938 – Hugo Young, English journalist (d. 2003)
• 1939 – T. J. Cloutier, American poker player
• 1939 – Melinda Dillon, American actress
• 1940 – Pharoah Sanders, American saxophonist
• 1941 – Paul Simon, American singer and musician (Simon & Garfunkel)
• 1942 – Jerry Jones, American football team owner
• 1942 – Rutanya Alda, American actress
• 1942 – Pamela Tiffin, American film actress
• 1942 – Bob Bailey, American baseball player
• 1942 – Walter McGowan, Scottish boxer
• 1943 – Mike Barnicle, American newspaper columnist
• 1944 – Robert Lamm, American musician (Chicago)
• 1945 – Christophe, French singer
• 1945 – Dési Bouterse, Surinamese politician
• 1946 – Demond Wilson, American actor
• 1946 – Edwina Currie, British politician
• 1947 – Sammy Hagar, American singer (Van Halen)
• 1947 – Jerry Trupiano, American sports broadcaster
• 1947 – Alan Wakeman, English saxophonist (Soft Machine)
• 1948 – John Ford Coley, American musician
• 1948 – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani musician and singer (d. 1997)
• 1948 – Lacy J. Dalton, country singer
• 1949 – Tom Mees, American sports broadcaster (d. 1996)
• 1949 – Patrick Nève, Belgian racing driver
• 1949 – Marisol Malaret, beauty pageant contestant
• 1949 – Rick Vito, American guitarist and singer
• 1949 – Leona Mitchell, African-American and Chickasaw operatic soprano
• 1950 – Mollie Katzen, American cookbook author
• 1950 – Simon Nicol, British guitarist, singer and multi-instrumentalist, member of Fairport Convention
• 1952 – Beverly Johnson, American supermodel
• 1952 – John Lone, Hong Kong actor
• 1953 – Pat Day, American jockey
• 1954 – George Frazier, American baseball player
• 1954 – Claude Ribbe, French historian
• 1954 – Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician
• 1954 – Frank Dunn, American artist
• 1955 – John Ferenzik, American musician, keyboardist, guitarist and composer
• 1956 – Chris Carter, American television producer
• 1956 – Joseph Toal, Scottish religious figure
• 1957 – Reggie Theus, American basketball player and head coach
• 1958 – Maria Cantwell, American politician, junior senator of Washington
• 1958 – Derri Daugherty, American record producer, songwriter, guitarist and singer (The Choir, Lost Dogs)
• 1958 – Jair-Rohm Parker Wells, American musician and composer
• 1959 – Marie Osmond, American entertainer
• 1960 – Joey Belladonna, American musician (Anthrax)
• 1960 – Tim Brewster, American football coach
• 1960 – Ari Fleischer, American White House press secretary to George W. Bush
• 1960 – Peter Keisler, American attorney
• 1961 – Doc Rivers, American basketball player and coach
• 1962 – T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh, American actress
• 1962 – Kelly Preston, American actress
• 1962 – Jerry Rice, American football player
• 1963 – Colin Channer, Jamaican writer
• 1963 – Chip Foose, American automotive designer and fabricator
• 1963 – Scott Andrew Mink, American convicted murderer (d. 2004)
• 1964 – Allen Covert, American actor
• 1964 – Niè Hǎishèng, Chinese astronaut
• 1964 – Christopher Judge, American actor
• 1964 – Marco Travaglio, Italian journalist
• 1965 – Johan Museeuw, Belgian cyclist
• 1967 – Scott Cooper, American baseball player
• 1967 – Trevor Hoffman, American baseball player
• 1967 – Steve Vickers, English footballer
• 1967 – Kate Walsh, American actress
• 1967 – Javier Sotomayor, Cuban Athlete
• 1968 – Tisha Campbell-Martin, American actress and singer
• 1968 – Carlos Marin, Spanish baritone (Il Divo)
• 1969 – Rhett Akins, American country singer
• 1969 – Nancy Kerrigan, American figure skater
• 1969 – Cady McClain, American actress
• 1970 – Serena Altschul, American reporter
• 1970 – Mel Jackson, American actor and musician
• 1970 – Rob Howley, Welsh rugby player
• 1970 – Paul Potts, British opera singer
• 1971 – Hitesh Modi, Kenyan cricketer
• 1971 – Sacha Baron Cohen, English comedian
• 1971 – Billy Bush, American TV host
• 1971 – Pyrros Dimas, Greek weightlifter
• 1971 – Luis Tosar, Spanish actor
• 1972 – Summer Sanders, American swimmer and sports broadcaster
• 1973 – Brian Dawkins, American football player
• 1973 – Peter Dumbreck, Scottish racing driver
• 1973 – Matt Hughes, American mixed martial artist
• 1973 – Nanako Matsushima, Japanese actress
• 1974 – Hawick Lau, Chinese actor and singer
• 1977 – Gareth Batty, English cricketer
• 1977 – Antonio Di Natale, Italian football player
• 1977 – Justin Peroff, drummer for the Canadian indie rock collective Broken Social Scene
• 1977 – Paul Pierce, American basketball player
• 1977 – Kiele Sanchez, American actress
• 1978 – Jermaine O'Neal, American basketball player
• 1979 – Wes Brown, English footballer
• 1979 – Mamadou Niang, Senegalese footballer
• 1980 – Ashanti, American singer
• 1980 – David Haye, English boxer
• 1980 – Magne Hoseth, Norwegian footballer
• 1980 – Scott Parker, English footballer
• 1981 – Ryan Ashford, English footballer
• 1981 – Taylor Buchholz, American baseball player
• 1981 – Dimitris Mougios, Greek rower
• 1981 – Kele Okereke, English singer (Bloc Party)
• 1982 – Ian Thorpe, Australian swimmer
• 1982 – Antonio Pavanello, Italian rugby player
• 1984 – Misono, Japanese singer (Day After Tomorrow)
• 1984 – Frank Simek, American footballer
• 1986 – Gabriel Agbonlahor, English footballer
• 1987 – Ashley Newbrough, American actress
• 1988 – Scott Jamieson, Australian footballer
• 1989 – Breno Borges, Brazilian footballer
• 1992 – Aaron Dismuke, American voice actor

Deaths[link]

• 54 – Claudius, Roman Emperor (b. 10 BC)
• 1093 – Robert I, Count of Flanders
• 1282 – Nichiren Daishonin Japanese spiritual figure (b. 1222)
• 1415 – Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel, English military officer (b. 1381)
• 1508 – Edmund de Ros, 11th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1446)
• 1605 – Theodore Beza, French theologian (b. 1519)
• 1673 – Kristoffer Gabel, Danish statesman (b. 1617)
• 1687 – Geminiano Montanari, Italian astronomer (b. 1633)
• 1694 – Samuel von Pufendorf, German jurist (b. 1632)
• 1706 – Iyasus I of Ethiopia (b. 1682)
• 1715 – Nicolas Malebranche, French philosopher (b. 1638)
• 1759 – John Henley, English minister (b. 1692)
• 1788 – Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, Irish politician and poet (b. 1702)
• 1812 – Sir Isaac Brock, British general (b. 1769)
• 1815 – Joachim Murat, French marshal (b. 1767)
• 1822 – Antonio Canova, Venetian sculptor (b. 1757)
• 1825 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (b. 1756)
• 1841 – Patrick Campbell, British naval officer (b. 1773)
• 1869 – Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, French literary critic (b. 1804)
• 1882 – Arthur de Gobineau, French philosopher (b. 1816)
• 1890 – Samuel Freeman Miller, American jurist (b. 1816)
• 1904 – Pavlos Melas, Greek military officer (b. 1870)
• 1905 – Sir Henry Irving, the first British actor to be knighted (b. 1838)
• 1909 – Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, Spanish free-thinker (b. 1849)
• 1917 – Florence La Badie, American actress (b. 1888)
• 1919 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1857)
• 1926 – Hans E. Kinck, Norwegian author and philologist (b. 1865)
• 1931 – Ernst Didring, Swedish author (b. 1868)
• 1938 – E.C. Segar, American cartoonist (Popeye) (b. 1894)
• 1945 – Milton S. Hershey, American chocolate tycoon (b. 1857)
• 1950 – Ernest Haycox, American writer (b. 1899)
• 1955 – Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican politician (b. 1897)
• 1961 – Louis Rwagasore, Burundi politician (b. 1932)
• 1966 – Clifton Webb, American actor (b. 1889)
• 1968 – Bea Benaderet, American actress (b. 1906)
• 1971 – Stafford Smythe, Canadian NHL executive (b. 1921)
• 1973 – Albert Mandler, Israeli colonel, (b.1929)
• 1974 – Ed Sullivan, American television personality (b. 1901)
• 1979 – Rebecca Helferich Clarke, English composer and violist (b. 1886)
• 1987 – Walter Brattain, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
• 1987 – Kishore Kumar, Indian singer (b. 1929)
• 1988 – Mike Venezia, American jockey (b. 1945)
• 1990 – Lê Ðức Thọ, Vietnamese general and politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1911)
• 1992 – Dantrell Davis, American gang shooting victim (b. 1985)
• 1993 – Wade Flemons, American soul singer (b. 1940)
• 1996 – Beryl Reid, British actress (b. 1919)
• 2000 – Jean Peters, American actress (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Peter Doyle, Australian pop singer (The New Seekers) (b. 1949)
• 2002 – Stephen Ambrose, American historian and biographer (b. 1936)
• 2003 – Bertram Brockhouse, Canadian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)
• 2004 – Enrique Fernando, Filipino jurist (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Vivian Malone Jones, American civil rights activist (b. 1942)
• 2006 – Wang Guangmei, wife of Liu Shaoqi (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Bob Denard, French mercenary (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Alexei Cherepanov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1989)
• 2008 – Guillaume Depardieu, French actor (b. 1971)
• 2009 – Stephen Barnett, American legal scholar (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Al Martino, American singer and actor (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Vernon Biever, American photographer (b. 1923)
• 2011 – Barbara Kent, Canadian born - U.S. silent film actress and WAMPAS Baby Stars (b.1907)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Blessed Alexandrina of Balasar
  • Edward the Confessor (translation)
  • Gerald of Aurillac
  • Our Lady of Fátima
  • Theophilus of Antioch
  • October 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Fontanalia, in honor of Fontus. (Roman Empire)
• National Police Day (Thailand)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: October 13

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

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Michel Naim Aoun (Arabic: ميشال عون‎) (born February 18, 1935^[1]) is a former Lebanese Army Commander and currently a Politician and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement.

From 22 September 1988 to 13 October 1990, he has served as Prime Minister of the legal one of two rival governments that contended for power. He declared "The Liberation War" against the Syrian Occupation on the 14th of March 1989. On the 13th of October 1990, the Syrian forces, invaded Beirut killing hundreds of unarmed soldiers and civilians. General Aoun went to the French embassy to seek intermediation for a ceasefire after the Syrian forces bombed the presidential palace in Baabda, and later was allowed to travel to France. He returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, eleven days after the withdrawal of Syrian troops. In 2006, as head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), he signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah. He visited Syria in 2009.^[2][3] Aoun is currently a Member of Parliament. He leads the "Free Patriotic Movement" party which has 27 representatives and is the second biggest bloc in the parliament.

Biography[link]

Background and early career[link]

A Maronite, Michel Aoun was born to a modest family in the mixed Christian and Shiite suburb of Haret Hreik, to the south of Beirut. He finished his secondary education at the College Des Frères in 1955 and enrolled in the Military Academy as a cadet officer.^[1] Three years later, he graduated as an artillery officer in the Lebanese Army.