# What happened on December 13 in history?

**Date:** December 13  
**Events recorded:** 38  
**Years spanned:** 1076 – 2007  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/december/13/

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## Featured Event

**2007** — The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lisbon)

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## Events on this date

- **1076** — The city of Salerno surrenders to Robert Guiscard. Duke Gisulf continues his resistance in the citadel until May of the following year. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salerno))
- **1294** — Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Celestine_V))
- **1545** — The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent))
- **1577** — Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake))
- **1623** — The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony))
- **1636** — The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians, a date now considered the founding of the National Guard of the United States. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Bay_Colony))
- **1642** — Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Tasman))
- **1643** — English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War))
- **1758** — The English transport ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, killing over 360 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_William_(ship)))
- **1769** — Dartmouth College is founded by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth_College))
- **1818** — Cyril VI of Constantinople resigns from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch under pressure from the Ottoman Empire. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_VI_of_Constantinople))
- **1862** — American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee repulses attacks by Union Major General Ambrose Burnside on Marye's Heights, inflicting heavy casualties. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1864** — American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: The Second Battle of Fort McAllister ends with the fort being seized by Union forces under General William B. Hazen, threatening the city of Savannah with investment. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman's_March_to_the_Sea))
- **1937** — Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: The city of Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre, in which Japanese troops rape and slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War))
- **1938** — The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust))
- **1939** — The Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_River_Plate))
- **1943** — World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalavryta_massacre))
- **1949** — The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knesset))
- **1957** — The Mw  6.5 Farsinaj earthquake strikes Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII, causing at least 1,119 deaths and damaging over 5,000 homes. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_Farsinaj_earthquake))
- **1959** — Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_archbishops_of_Cyprus))
- **1960** — While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_Ethiopia))
- **1962** — NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA))
- **1967** — Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_II_of_Greece))
- **1968** — Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artur_da_Costa_e_Silva))
- **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. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program))
- **1974** — Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta))
- **1974** — In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese forces launch their 1975 Spring Offensive (to 30 April 1975), which results in the final capitulation of South Vietnam. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War))
- **1977** — Air Indiana Flight 216 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff, and boosters of the team. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Indiana_Flight_216))
- **1981** — General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojciech_Jaruzelski))
- **1982** — The 6.0 Ms  North Yemen earthquake shakes southwestern Yemen with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 2,800, and injuring 1,500. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_North_Yemen_earthquake))
- **1988** — PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman_of_the_Palestine_Liberation_Organization))
- **1989** — The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles))
- **1994** — Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 crashes in Morrisville, North Carolina, near Raleigh–Durham International Airport, killing 15. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagship_Airlines_Flight_3379))
- **1995** — Banat Air Flight 166 crashes in Sommacampagna near Verona Villafranca Airport in Verona, Italy, killing 49. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banat_Air_Flight_166))
- **2001** — Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indian_Parliament_attack))
- **2002** — European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_enlargement_of_the_European_Union))
- **2003** — Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War))
- **2007** — The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lisbon))

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## Notable births on December 13

- **2009** — **Maddox Batson** — American singer and songwriter ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddox_Batson))
- **2002** — **Brock Bowers** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Bowers))
- **2001** — **Jayden Goodwin** — Australian cricketer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayden_Goodwin))
- **2000** — **Simona Waltert** — Swiss tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simona_Waltert))
- **1999** — **Marina Bassols Ribera** — Spanish tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bassols_Ribera))
- **1996** — **Gleyber Torres** — Venezuelan baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleyber_Torres))
- **1995** — **Emma Corrin** — English actor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Corrin))
- **1993** — **Danielle Collins** — American tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Collins))
- **1993** — **Jamal Fogarty** — Australian rugby league player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Fogarty))
- **1991** — **Dave Leduc** — Canadian martial artist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Leduc))

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## Notable deaths on December 13

- **2025** — **Juan José Zerboni** — Mexican actor (born 1953) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Jos%C3%A9_Zerboni))
- **2024** — **Lorraine O'Grady** — American artist (born 1934) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_O'Grady))
- **2022** — **Stephen "tWitch" Boss** — American dancer and media personality (born 1982) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_%22tWitch%22_Boss))
- **2018** — **Noah Klieger** — Holocaust survivor who became an award-winning Israeli journalist (born 1926) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Klieger))
- **2016** — **Alan Thicke** — Canadian actor, songwriter, game and talk-show host (born 1947) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Thicke))
- **2006** — **Lamar Hunt** — American businessman, co-founded the American Football League and World Championship Tennis (born 1932) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_Hunt))
- **2005** — **Alan Shields** — American painter and ferryboat captain (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Shields))
- **2004** — **David Wheeler** — English computer scientist and academic (born 1927) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wheeler_(computer_scientist)))
- **2002** — **Zal Yanovsky** — Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who founded The Lovin' Spoonful (born 1944) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zal_Yanovsky))
- **1998** — **Lew Grade** — Ukrainian-born British impresario and media proprietor (born 1906) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lew_Grade))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/december/13/](https://thisday.info/events/december/13/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.