Did you know
In 1962, NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.
December 13 in History
1962 — NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit
December 13 spans 38 recorded events across recorded history, from 1076 to 2007. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
38 events
1076 – 2007
Today in history
More major events on December 13
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 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. Source
- 2003 Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit. Source
- 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. Source
Did you know
The Relay program consisted of Relay 1 and Relay 2, two early American satellites in elliptical medium Earth orbit. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
Did you know
Both were primarily experimental communications satellites funded by NASA and developed by RCA. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.
Did you know
As of December 2, 2016, both satellites were still in orbit. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.
Did you know
Relay 1 provided the first American television transmissions across the Pacific Ocean. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.
1076
The city of Salerno surrenders to Robert Guiscard.
Duke Gisulf continues his resistance in the citadel until May of the following year.
1294
Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.
Head of the Catholic Church in 1294
1545
The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.
Roman Catholic Church ecumenical council 1545–1563
1577
Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
English sailor and privateer (c. 1540–1596)
1623
The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies.
English colonial venture in America (1620–1691)
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.
1628-1691 English colony in North America
1642
Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand.
Dutch seafarer, explorer and merchant (1603–1659)
1643
English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
Series of wars in England, 1642–1651
1758
The English transport ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, killing over 360 people.
British transport 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.
Private university in Hanover, New Hampshire, US
1818
Cyril VI of Constantinople resigns from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch under pressure from the Ottoman Empire.
Encumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1813 to 1818
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.
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.
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.
1938
The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany
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.
1943
World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.
1943 razing of Kalavryta by Nazi troops during the Axis occupation of Greece
1949
The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Unicameral legislature of Israel
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.
Natural disaster in Iran
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.
Title of the ruling monarch of Ethiopia from 1270 to 1974/1975
1967
Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.
King of Greece from 1964 to 1973
1968
Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No.
5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus.
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.
Mediterranean island country
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.
1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia
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.
1977 aviation accident in the U.S.
1981
General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity.
Leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989
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.
Seismic event in the southern Arabian Peninsula
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.
Leader of the Executive Committee 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.
1994
Flagship Airlines Flight 3379 crashes in Morrisville, North Carolina, near Raleigh–Durham International Airport, killing 15.
1994 aviation accident in North Carolina
1995
Banat Air Flight 166 crashes in Sommacampagna near Verona Villafranca Airport in Verona, Italy, killing 49.
1995 aviation accident
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.
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.
Expansion of the EU
2003
Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
2003–2011 conflict in Iraq
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.