January 13 in History

January 13 spans 58 recorded events across recorded history, from 27 BC to 2021. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

Holidays and observances on January 13

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The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California.

1847 — The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California.

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Historical Events 58 events 27 BC – 2021

More major events on January 13

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

  1. 1990 Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office as Governor of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. Source
  2. 2000 A Short 360 aircraft chartered by the Sirte Oil Company crashes off the coast of Brega, Libya, killing 21. Source

Did you know

In 1847, The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, was an invasion of Mexico by the United States. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

It followed the 1845 American annexation of Texas, which Mexico still considered its territory because it refused to recognize the Treaties of Velasco, signed by President Antonio López de Santa Anna after he was captured by the Texian Army during the 1836 Texas Revolution. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

The Republic of Texas was de facto an independent country, but most of its Anglo-American citizens who had moved from the United States to Texas after 1822 wanted to be annexed by the United States. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

In 1847, The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.


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-27 Augustus

Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people.

He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years.
Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (Latin: Octavianus), was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace (the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta) when the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The principate, a style of government in which the emperor showed nominal deference to the Senate, was established during his reign and lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century. Octavian was born into an equestrian branch of the gens Octavia. Octavian's great-uncle, the dictator Julius Caesar, named him as his primary heir in his will, and after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Octavian inherited his estate and assumed his name. He fought for the loyalty of Caesar's legions. He was made a senator during a state emergency and seized power by marching on Rome in 43 BC, becoming its youngest elected consul. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed a triumvirate regime with legally sanctioned powers to outlaw and oppose Caesar's assassins and their allies. Following their victory at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as de facto oligarchs. Competing ambitions eventually tore their alliance apart; Octavian had Lepidus exiled in 36 BC for opposing him in Sicily, while Marcus Agrippa, Octavian's naval commander, defeated Antony in Greece at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Antony and his wife Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, killed themselves during Octavian's invasion of Egypt, which then became Octavian's personal property. After the demise of the triumvirate, Augustus reached an accord with the remaining Roman elite: he would restore the façade of a free republic, centered around the Senate, the executive magistrates and the legislative assemblies. But his control of the military and half of Rome's provinces meant he maintained autocratic power legitimized by his appointment as commander-in-chief of most Roman armies. To avoid the appearance of monarchy or dictatorship, he eventually refused to stand for reelection to the consulship, but the Senate granted him the powers of the tribunate and censorship and the titles princeps ('first citizen'), augustus ('the revered'), and pater patriae (lit. 'father of the country'), and named the month of August after him. After the death of Lepidus, Augustus also assumed the title of pontifex maximus ('supreme pontiff'). Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, and completing the conquest of Hispania. His expansionism, however, suffered a major setback in Germania. Beyond the frontiers, he secured the empire with a buffer region of client states and negotiated peace treaties with the Parthian Empire and Kingdom of Kush. He reformed the Roman system of taxation and currency, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing professional army, established the Praetorian Guard as well as official police and fire-fighting services for the city of Rome, and renovated much of the city during his reign. Augustus was a writer and patron of poets such as Virgil, and has been featured in various works of art from ancient to modern times. He died in AD 14 at age 75 from natural causes, and the Senate posthumously deified him. Persistent rumors have claimed his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as emperor by his stepson and adoptive son Tiberius.
532 Nika riots

The Nika riots break out, during the racing season at the Hippodrome in Constantinople, as a result of discontent with the rule of the Emperor Justinian I.

The Nika riots (Greek: Στάσις τοῦ Νίκα, romanized: Stásis toû Níka), Nika revolt or Nika sedition took place against Byzantine emperor Justinian I in Constantinople over the course of a week in 532 AD. They are often regarded as the most violent riots in the city's history, with nearly half of Constantinople being burned or destroyed and tens of thousands of people killed.
1435

Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement by the Spanish of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands who had converted, or were converting to, Christianity, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV.

Sicut dudum (from Latin: "Just as Long Ago") was a papal bull promulgated by Pope Eugene IV in Florence on January 13, 1435, which forbade the enslavement of the Indigenous Guanches people of the Canary Islands who had converted, or were converting to, Christianity and ordered, under pain of excommunication, that all such slaves be set free within 15 days. The bull is also known as Creator Omnium with the date of 17 December 1434. Sicut dudum is the incipit of the third paragraph of Creator Omnium, echoing the abbreviated version reported by Cardinal Cesare Baronius in his Annales Ecclesiastici.
1547 Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, is sentenced to death for treason, on the grounds of having quartered his arms to make them similar to those of the King, Henry VIII of England.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person to have been executed at the insistence of King Henry VIII. As a fellow translator and imitator of classical Latin authors, his name is closely linked in literature with that of the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, about whom he wrote an elegy, the only poem published in his life. Owing largely to the powerful position of his father Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Henry took a prominent part in court life, and served as a soldier both in France and in Scotland. He was a man of reckless temper, which involved him in many quarrels, and finally brought upon him the wrath of the ageing Henry VIII. He was arrested, tried for treason and beheaded on Tower Hill.
1793 Nicolas Jean Hugou de Basseville

Nicolas Jean Hugon de Bassville, representative of Revolutionary France, is lynched by a mob in Rome.

Nicolas Jean Hugou de Bassville or Basseville (French pronunciation: [nikɔla ʒɑ̃ yɡu də basvil]; 7 February 1743 – 13 January 1793) was a French journalist and diplomat. He was born at Abbéville.
1797 French Revolutionary Wars

French 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 aground, resulting in over 900 deaths.

The French Revolutionary Wars (French: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries. The wars are divided into two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered territories in the Italian peninsula, the Low Countries, and the Rhineland with its very large and powerful military which had been totally mobilized for war against most of Europe with mass conscription of the vast French population. French success in these conflicts ensured military occupation and the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe. As early as 1791, the other monarchies of Europe looked with outrage at the revolution and its upheavals; and they considered whether they should intervene, either in support of King Louis XVI to prevent the spread of revolution, or to take advantage of the chaos in France. Austria stationed significant troops on its French border and together with Prussia issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which threatened severe consequences should anything happen to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. After Austria refused to recall its troops from the French border and to back down on the perceived threat of using force, France declared war on Austria and Prussia in the spring of 1792; both countries responded with a coordinated invasion that was turned back at the Battle of Valmy in September. This victory emboldened the National Convention to abolish the monarchy. A series of victories by the French Revolutionary Army abruptly ended with defeat at Neerwinden in the spring of 1793. The French suffered additional defeats in the remainder of the year, and these difficult times allowed the Jacobins to rise to power and impose the Reign of Terror to unify the nation. In 1794 the situation improved dramatically for the French as huge victories at Fleurus against the Austrians and Dutch and against the Spanish at the Battle of the Black Mountain signalled the start of a new stage in the wars. By 1795, the French had captured the Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch Republic. The French also put Spain and Prussia out of the war with the Peace of Basel. A hitherto unknown general named Napoleon Bonaparte began his first campaign in Italy in April 1796. In less than a year, French armies under Napoleon destroyed the Habsburg forces and evicted them from the Italian peninsula, winning almost every battle and capturing 150,000 prisoners. With French forces marching toward Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Campo Formio on 17 October 1797, ending the First Coalition against the Republic. The War of the Second Coalition began in 1798 with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by Napoleon. The allies took the opportunity presented by the French effort in the Middle East to regain territories lost from the First Coalition. The war began well for the allies in Europe, where they gradually pushed the French out of Italy and invaded Switzerland – racking up victories at the battles of Magnano, Cassano, and Novi along the way. However, their efforts largely unraveled with the French victory at Zurich in September 1799, which caused Russia to drop out of the war. Meanwhile, Napoleon's forces won a series of battles at the Pyramids, Mount Tabor, and Abukir but lost a crucial Siege of Acre in 1799 that turned the tide of the campaign. The perceived victories in Egypt further enhanced Napoleon's popularity back in France, and he returned to France in the autumn of 1799, but leaving the French army in a desperate situation in Egypt as the Egyptian campaign ultimately ended in failure. Furthermore, the Royal Navy had won the Battle of the Nile in 1798, further strengthening British control of the Mediterranean and weakening the French Navy for the rest of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon's arrival from Egypt led to the fall of the French Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, with Napoleon installing himself as consul. Napoleon then reorganized the French army and launched an assault against the Austrians in Italy during the spring of 1800. This brought a decisive French victory at the Battle of Marengo in June 1800, after which the Austrians withdrew from the peninsula once again. Another crushing French victory at Hohenlinden in Bavaria forced the Austrians to seek peace for a second time, leading to the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. With Austria and Russia out of the war, Britain found itself increasingly isolated and agreed to the Treaty of Amiens with Napoleon's government in 1802, concluding the Revolutionary Wars. However, the lingering tensions proved too difficult to contain, and the Napoleonic Wars began over a year later with the formation of the Third Coalition, continuing the series of Coalition Wars.
1815 War_of_1812

War of 1812: British troops capture Fort Peter in St.

Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
The War of 1812 was a conflict initiated by the United States against the United Kingdom and its allies fought mainly in North America and at sea during the wider Napoleonic Wars. The United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on 17 February 1815.
1822 Flag_of_Greece

The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.

The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the Blue-and-White or the Cyan-and-White, is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has 9 horizontal stripes of alternating blue and white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Christianity. The blazon of the flag is azure, four bars argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from light blue to dark blue, the latter being increasingly used since the late 1960s. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822.
1833 Andrew Jackson

United States President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President elect Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He rose to fame as a U.S. Army general and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. His political philosophy, which dominated his presidency, became the basis for the rise of Jacksonian democracy. His legacy is controversial: being praised as an advocate for white working Americans and preserving the union of states, and criticized for his racist policies, particularly towards Native Americans. Born in the colonial Carolinas before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer, married Rachel Donelson, and briefly represented Tennessee in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. After resigning, he served as a Tennessee Superior Court justice from 1798 to 1804. He founded The Hermitage and became a wealthy planter who profited from the forced labor of hundreds of enslaved African Americans. As commander of the Tennessee militia, he led troops in the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and negotiating the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which forced the indigenous Creek to cede vast tracts of the present day states of Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. He later commanded United States forces during the First Seminole War; his campaign was one of the factors that prompted Spain to negotiate the cession of Florida to the United States. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. Because no candidate secured the electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams with the support of Henry Clay, who later joined Adams's cabinet. Jackson's supporters, who alleged that Adams and Clay had formed a "corrupt bargain", created a new political coalition that would become the Democratic Party. Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide victory despite issues such as his slave trading and "irregular" marriage. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act. This act, which has been described as ethnic cleansing, displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi River. It resulted in thousands of deaths in what has become known as the Trail of Tears. Jackson faced a challenge to the integrity of the federal union when South Carolina threatened to nullify a high protective tariff set by the federal government. He threatened the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but the crisis was defused when it was amended. In 1832, he vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States, viewing the Bank as a branch of government run by the elite. After a lengthy struggle, the Bank was dismantled. In 1835, Jackson became the only U.S. president to pay off the national debt. After leaving office, he supported the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk, as well as the annexation of Texas. Opinions about Jackson are often polarized. Supporters characterize him as a defender of democracy and the U.S. Constitution, while critics point to his reputation as a demagogue who ignored the law when it suited him. Scholarly rankings of U.S. presidents historically placed Jackson high in the ranking of presidents. However, in the late 20th century his reputation declined, and in the 21st century his ranking has fallen.
1840 Lexington (steamship)

The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.

The Lexington was a paddlewheel steamboat operating along the Northeastern coast of the United States from 1835 to 1840. Commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt, it was one of the fastest and most luxurious steamers in operation. On 13 January 1840, en route from New York City to Boston, the casing around the ship's smokestack caught fire, igniting nearly 150 bales of cotton and causing the passengers and crew to attempt to abandon ship. Of the estimated 143 people on board, only four survived. The fire had been caused by overheating, due to faulty work on converting the engine for coal-burning. This was compounded by serious errors by the crew, including violation of safety regulations, and the failure of a nearby vessel to come to the aid of the survivors.
1842 William Brydon

Dr.

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, Afghanistan.
William Brydon (10 October 1811 – 20 March 1873) was a British medical doctor who was assistant surgeon in the Bengal Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, famous for reportedly being the only member of an army of 4,500 men, plus 12,000 accompanying civilians, to reach safety in Jalalabad at the end of the 1842 retreat from Kabul. He also saw action during the Siege of Lucknow when he was holed up alongside Henry Lawrence.
1849 Colony of Vancouver Island

Establishment of the Colony of Vancouver Island.

The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. The united colony joined Canadian Confederation, thus becoming part of Canada, in 1871. The colony comprised Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of the Strait of Georgia.
1849 Battle of Chillianwala

Second Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Chillianwala: British forces retreat from the Sikhs.

The Battle of Chillianwala (also spelled Chillianwallah) was fought in January 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh War in the Chillianwala region (Mandi Bahauddin) of Punjab, now part of Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by the British East India Company. Both armies held their positions at the end of the battle and both sides claimed victory. The battle was a strategic check to immediate British ambitions in India and a shock to British military prestige.
1888 National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.

The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with the Walt Disney Company), the society operates the magazine National Geographic, multiple TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.
1893 Independent Labour Party

The Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom holds its first meeting.

The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates. A sitting independent MP and prominent union organiser, Keir Hardie, became its first chairman. The party played a key role in the formation of the Labour Representation Committee, to which ILP members Hardie and Ramsay MacDonald were delegates at its foundation in 1900. The committee was renamed the Labour Party in 1906, and the ILP remained affiliated until 1932. In 1947, the organisation's three parliamentary representatives defected to the Labour Party, and the organisation joined Labour as Independent Labour Publications in 1975.
1893 United_States_Marine_Corps

U.S.

Marines land in Honolulu, Hawaii from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the naval infantry service branch of the United States Armed Forces. The service is responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious warfare through combined arms, implementing its own infantry, artillery, aerial, and special operations forces. The U.S. Marine Corps is a part of the United States Department of Defense and is one of the six armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States.
1895 First Italo-Ethiopian War

First Italo-Ethiopian War: The war's opening battle, the Battle of Coatit, occurs; it is an Italian victory.

The First Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the First Italo-Abyssinian War, or simply known as the Abyssinian War in Italy (Italian: Guerra d'Abissinia), was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate, while the Ethiopians claimed that the treaty simply ensured peace between the two powers. Full-scale war broke out in 1895, with Italian troops from Italian Eritrea achieving initial successes against Tigrayan warlords at Coatit, Senafe and Debra Ailà, until they were reinforced by a large Ethiopian army led by Emperor Menelik II. The Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the outnumbered Italian soldiers and Eritrean askaris a decisive blow and forced their retreat back into Eritrea. The war concluded with the Treaty of Addis Ababa. Because this was one of the first decisive victories by African forces over a European colonial power, this war became a preeminent symbol of pan-Africanism and secured Ethiopia's sovereignty until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–36.
1898 Émile_Zola

Émile Zola's J'accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair.

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in his renowned newspaper opinion headlined J'Accuse...! Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prizes in Literature in 1901 and 1902.
1900 Czech_nationalism

To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph decrees German will be language of the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces.

Czech nationalism is a form of nationalism which asserts that Czechs are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Czechs. Modern Czech nationalism arose in the 19th century in the form of the Czech National Revival. In 1848, Czech nationalism became an important political factor in the Austrian Empire due to the activities of the Old Czech Party, led by František Palacký. During World War I, Czech nationalist politicians, such as Karel Kramář in the Czech lands and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk abroad, endorsed the idea of independence from Austro-Hungarian rule.
1908 Rhoads Opera House fire

The Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania kills 171 people.

On January 13, 1908, the Rhoads Opera House in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, caught fire during a stage play sponsored by nearby St. John's Lutheran Church. Of the approximately 400 men, women, and children either in attendance or associated with the performance of the play, 171 were killed.
1915 1915 Avezzano earthquake

The 6.7 Mw Avezzano earthquake shakes the Province of L'Aquila in Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing between 29,978 and 32,610.

The 1915 Avezzano earthquake or 1915 Fucino earthquake occurred on 13 January in central Italy at 07:52:42 local time. The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The epicenter was located in the city of Avezzano (which was destroyed) in the Province of L'Aquila. Around 30,000 direct fatalities and $60 million in damage resulted from the earthquake.
1920 Reichstag Bloodbath

The Reichstag Bloodbath of January 13, 1920, the bloodiest demonstration in German history.

The Reichstag Bloodbath (German: Blutbad vor dem Reichstag) occurred on 13 January 1920 in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin during negotiation by the Weimar National Assembly on the Works Councils Act (Betriebsrätegesetz). The number of people killed and injured is controversial, but it is certainly the bloodiest demonstration in German history. The event was a historic event that was overshadowed two months later by the Kapp Putsch but remained in Berlin's labour movement and security forces' collective memory.
1935

A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to no more being a "region occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France".

A referendum on territorial status was held in the Territory of the Saar Basin on 13 January 1935. Over 90% of voters opted for reunification with Germany, with 9% voting for the status quo as a League of Nations mandate territory and less than 0.5% opting for unification with France.
1939 Black Friday bushfires

The Black Friday bushfires burn 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.

The Black Friday bushfires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, were part of the 1938–1939 bushfire season in Australia, which saw bushfires burning for the whole summer, and ash falling as far away as New Zealand. It was calculated that three-quarters of the State of Victoria was directly or indirectly affected by the disaster, while other Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory were also badly hit by fires and extreme heat. This was the third-deadliest bushfire event in Australian history, only behind the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires and the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. Fires burned almost 2,000,000 hectares (4,900,000 acres) of land in Victoria, where 71 people were killed, and several towns were entirely obliterated. Over 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were burned, and 3,700 buildings were destroyed or damaged. In response, the Victorian state government convened a Royal Commission that resulted in major changes in forest management. The Royal Commission noted that "it appeared the whole State was alight on Friday, 13 January 1939". New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory also faced severe fires during the 1939 season. Destructive fires burned from the NSW South Coast, across the ranges and inland to Bathurst, while Sydney was ringed by fires which entered the outer suburbs, and fires raged towards the new capital at Canberra. South Australia was also struck by the Adelaide Hills bushfires.
1942 Henry_Ford

Henry Ford patents a soybean car, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automobiles affordable for middle-class Americans through the system that came to be known as Fordism. In 1911, he was awarded a patent for the transmission mechanism that would be used in the Ford Model T and other automobiles.
1942 World_War_II

World War II: First use of an aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
1950 HMS_Truculent_(P315)

British submarine HMS Truculent collides with an oil tanker in the Thames Estuary, killing 64 men.

HMS Truculent was a British submarine of the third group of the T-class. She was built as P315 by Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow, and launched on 12 September 1942. She sank nine enemy vessels.
1950 China–Finland relations

Finland forms diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

China–Finland relations are the foreign relations between Finland and China.
1951 First_Indochina_War

First Indochina War: The Battle of Vĩnh Yên begins.

The First Indochina War, known alternatively as the French Indochina War, was fought in French Indochina between the French Union and the Viet Minh and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 11 August 1954. Most of the engagements of this conflict occurred in Vietnam.
1953 Pravda

An 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.

Pravda is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the country with a circulation of 11 million. The first issue of Pravda was published in Vienna on October 3, 1908, with Leon Trotsky serving as its editor. Designed as an illegal, non-factional Marxist newspaper, it was smuggled across the border into Russia to unify the fractured Russian Social Democratic movement. In April 1912, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik faction hijacked the highly popular name and style, launching their own legal daily workers' newspaper called Pravda in St. Petersburg. It emerged as the leading government newspaper of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution. The newspaper was an organ of the Central Committee of the CPSU between 1912 and 1991.
1958 Moroccan_Army_of_Liberation

The Moroccan Army of Liberation ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.

The Army of Liberation was an organization of various loosely united militias fighting for the independence of Morocco from the French-Spanish protectorate.
1963 1963_Togolese_coup_d'état

Coup d'état in Togo results in the assassination of president Sylvanus Olympio.

The 1963 Togolese coup d'état was a military coup that occurred in the West African country of Togo on 13 January 1963. The coup leaders — notably Emmanuel Bodjollé, Étienne Eyadéma and Kléber Dadjo — took over government buildings, arrested most of the cabinet, and French Commander PAUC assassinated Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, outside the American embassy in Lomé. The coup leaders quickly brought Nicolas Grunitzky and Antoine Meatchi, both of whom were exiled political opponents of Olympio, together to form a new government.
1964

Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta, in response to anti-Hindu riots in East Pakistan.

About one hundred people are killed.
Since the Independence of India in 1947, there have been several instances of religious violence against Muslims in the country. These incidents often take the form of violent attacks on Muslims by Hindutva mobs, forming a pattern of sporadic sectarian violence between Hindu and Muslim communities. From 1954 to 1982, nearly 7,000 incidents occurred, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 people.
1964 Manchester,_New_Hampshire

In Manchester, New Hampshire, fourteen-year-old Pamela Mason is murdered.

Edward Coolidge is tried and convicted of the crime, but the conviction is set aside by the landmark Fourth Amendment case Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971).
Manchester is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 census. Manchester is the tenth-most populous city in New England. Along with the city of Nashua, it is one of two seats of New Hampshire's most populous county, Hillsborough County. The Manchester–Nashua metropolitan area has approximately 423,000 residents and lies near the northern end of the Northeast megalopolis.
1966 Robert_C._Weaver

Robert C.

Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member when he is appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Robert Clifton Weaver was an American economist, academic, and political administrator who served as the first United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1966 to 1968, when the department was newly established by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Weaver was the first African American to be appointed to a US Cabinet-level position.
1968 Johnny_Cash

Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison.

John R. Cash was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm, bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his backing band, the Tennessee Three, that was characterized by its train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, and his free prison concerts. Cash wore a trademark all-black stage wardrobe, which earned him the nickname "Man in Black".
1972 Kofi_Abrefa_Busia

Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

Kofi Abrefa Busia was a Ghanaian political leader and academic who was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. As a leader and prime minister, he helped to restore civilian government to the country following military rule. He was overthrown in a military coup in 1972.
1977 Japan_Air_Lines_Cargo_Flight_1045

Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045, a Douglas DC-8 jet, crashes onto the runway during takeoff from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, killing five.

Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 was a charter flight on January 13, 1977, from Grant County, Washington, to Tokyo, Japan, with a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska. The McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62AF operating the flight crashed during the initial climb shortly after takeoff from Anchorage, in part because the captain, Hugh L. Marsh, was intoxicated as shown by a blood alcohol level of 0.29; the co-pilot and the other crew were not impaired. All of those on board, including three flight crew members, were killed in the crash.
1978 Food_and_Drug_Administration

United States Food and Drug Administration requires all blood donations to be labeled "paid" or "volunteer" donors.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, caffeine products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), cosmetics, animal foods & feed, and veterinary products.
1982 Air_Florida_Flight_90

Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.

Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated from Washington National Airport to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, with an intermediate stopover at Tampa International Airport, that crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River just after takeoff from Washington National Airport on January 13, 1982. The Boeing 737-200 that executed the flight, registered as N62AF, struck the bridge, which carries Interstate 395 between Washington, D.C., and Arlington County, Virginia, hitting seven occupied vehicles and destroying 97 feet (30 m) of guard rail before plunging through the ice into the Potomac River.
1985

A passenger train plunges into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.

On 13 January 1985, an express train derailed on a curved bridge over the gorge of the Awash River in Awash, Ethiopia. The official death toll was 428, with more than 500 injuries.
1986 Aden

A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.

Aden is an ancient port city in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea, and has been the de facto capital of the internationally recognized government of Yemen since 2014. It is approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of the Strait of Bab al-Mandab. With its strategic location on the coastline, Aden serves as a gateway between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, making it a crucial maritime hub connecting Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
1988 Lee_Teng-hui

Lee Teng-hui becomes the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China.

Lee Teng-hui was a Taiwanese politician, economist, and agronomist who served as the fourth president of the Republic of China and chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He was the first president to be born in Taiwan, the last to be indirectly elected, and the first to be directly elected.
1990 Douglas_Wilder

Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office as Governor of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.

Lawrence Douglas Wilder is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstruction era, and the first African American ever elected as governor. He is currently a professor at the namesake Wilder School at Virginia Commonwealth University.
1991 January_Events

Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding around 1,000 others.

The January Events were a series of violent confrontations between the civilian population of Lithuania, supporting independence, and the Soviet Armed Forces. The events took place between 11 and 13 January 1991, after the restoration of independence by Lithuania. As a result of the Soviet military actions, 14 civilians were killed and over 140 were injured as they peacefully protested for freedom in what is known as the Vilnius massacre. The 13 January was the most violent day of the month in Lithuania and this was the bloodiest act of repression by Soviet forces since the April 9 tragedy. The events were primarily centered in the capital city Vilnius, but Soviet military activity and confrontations also occurred elsewhere in the country, including Alytus, Šiauliai, Varėna, and Kaunas.
1993 Space_Shuttle_program

Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was carried over from the 1969 plan for the Space Transportation System (STS) of reusable spacecraft. Only the shuttle and supporting rockets were funded for development; a proposed nuclear lunar shuttle in the plan was canceled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.
1993 Chemical_Weapons_Convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed.

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, Netherlands. The treaty entered into force on 29 April 1997. It prohibits the use of chemical weapons, and the large-scale development, production, stockpiling, or transfer of chemical weapons or their precursors, except for very limited purposes. The main obligation of member states under the convention is to effect this prohibition, as well as the destruction of all current chemical weapons. All destruction activities must take place under OPCW verification.
1993 Operation_Southern_Watch

Operation Southern Watch: U.S.A.F., U.S.N., R.A.F.

and French Air Force jets attack AAA and SAM sites in Southern Iraq.
Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003.
1998 Alfredo_Ormando

Alfredo Ormando sets himself on fire in St.

Peter's Square, protesting against homophobia.
Alfredo Ormando was a gay writer from Palermo who died as a result of setting himself on fire outside Saint Peter's Basilica. His self-immolation was an act of protest against the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality.
2000 Short_360

A Short 360 aircraft chartered by the Sirte Oil Company crashes off the coast of Brega, Libya, killing 21.

The Short 360 is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during the 1980s. The Short 360 seats up to 39 passengers and was introduced into service in November 1982. It is a larger version of the Short 330.
2001 January_2001_El_Salvador_earthquake

An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.

On 13 January 2001, at 11:33 CTZ, a Mw 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Usulután Department, El Salvador, at a depth of 60 km (37 mi). At least 952 people were killed; 944 in El Salvador and 8 in Guatemala, over 5,500 were injured and nearly 200 were left missing due to the earthquake; every single department in the country reported casualties and severe damage, and damage from the earthquake was reported in five countries throughout Central America.
2003 208996_Achlys

208996 Achlys was discovered by Chad Trujillo and Michael E.

Brown at Palomar Observatory.
208996 Achlys (provisional designation 2003 AZ84) is a large trans-Neptunian object orbiting the Sun in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy bodies beyond Neptune. It was discovered on 13 January 2003 by Chad Trujillo and Michael E. Brown at Palomar Observatory. Achlys has an elongated shape that is believed to be distorted by its rapid 6.8-hour rotation. Its diameter is estimated to be roughly 940 km (580 mi) across its equator to 490 km (300 mi) across its poles. After Pluto and Orcus, Achlys is the third largest member of the plutinos—a population of Kuiper belt objects following a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune, in which they complete two orbits for every three orbits completed by Neptune.
2004 Uzbekistan_Airways_Flight_1154

Uzbekistan Airways Flight 1154 crashes while landing at Tashkent International Airport, killing 37.

Uzbekistan Airways Flight 1154 (HY1154/UZB1154) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight which was operated by Uzbekistan flag carrier Uzbekistan Airways from Termez Airport in the city of Termez, near the Afghanistan border, to Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent. On 13 January 2004 the aircraft operating the flight, a Yakovlev Yak-40 registered in Uzbekistan as UK-87985, collided with a radar station while landing at Tashkent, flipped over, caught fire and exploded, killing all 37 people on board. Weather was reportedly sub par for flying.
2012 Cruise_ship

The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy due to the captain Francesco Schettino's negligence and irresponsibility.

There are 32 confirmed deaths.
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on shore excursions.
2018 2018_Hawaii_false_missile_alert

A false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike in Hawaii causes widespread panic in the state.

On the morning of January 13, 2018, an alert was accidentally issued via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alert System over television, radio, and cellular networks in the U.S. state of Hawaii, instructing citizens to seek shelter due to an incoming ballistic missile. The message was sent at 8:08 a.m. local time and the state had not authorized civil defense outdoor warning sirens to sound.
2020 Ministry_of_Public_Health_(Thailand)

The Thai Ministry of Public Health confirms the first case of COVID-19 outside China.

The Ministry of Public Health is a Thai governmental body responsible for the oversight of public health in Thailand. It is commonly referred to in Thailand by its abbreviation so tho (สธ.).
2021 President_of_the_United_States

Outgoing U.S.

President Donald Trump is impeached for a second time on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the January 6 United States Capitol attack one week prior.
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

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