On This Day — 13 August

2000s

2020

Israel–United Arab Emirates relations are formally established.

Israel–United Arab Emirates relations

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2015

At least 76 people are killed and 212 others are wounded in a truck bombing in Baghdad, Iraq.

2015 Sadr City market truck bombing

2014

A Cessna Citation Excel crashes in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil killing all seven people aboard, including Brazilian Socialist Party presidential candidate Eduardo Campos.

Cessna Citation Excel

2008

Russo-Georgian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.

Russo-Georgian War

2004

One hundred fifty-six Congolese Tutsi refugees are massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

1900s

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1990

A mainland Chinese fishing boat Min Ping Yu No. 5202 is hit by a Taiwanese naval vessel and sinks in a repatriation operation of mainland Chinese immigrants, resulting in 21 deaths. This is the second tragedy less than a month after Min Ping Yu No. 5540 incident.

Min Ping Yu No. 5202

1978

One hundred fifty Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.

Palestinians

1977

Members of the British National Front (NF) clash with anti-NF demonstrators in Lewisham, London, resulting in 214 arrests and at least 111 injuries.

National Front (UK)

1973

Aviaco Flight 118 crashes on approach to A Coruña Airport in A Coruña, Spain, killing all 85 people on the plane and one other one the ground.

Aviaco Flight 118

1969

The Apollo 11 astronauts enjoy a ticker-tape parade in New York City. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon.

Apollo 11

1968

Alexandros Panagoulis attempts to assassinate the Greek dictator Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos in Varkiza, Athens.

Alexandros Panagoulis

1967

Two young women became the first fatal victims of grizzly bear attacks in the 57-year history of Montana's Glacier National Park in separate incidents.

Night of the Grizzlies

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1964

Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans are hanged for the murder of John Alan West becoming the last people executed in the United Kingdom.

Murder of John Alan West

1961

Cold War: East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started. The day is known as Barbed Wire Sunday.

Cold War

1960

The Central African Republic declares independence from France.

Central African Republic

1954

Radio Pakistan broadcasts the "Qaumī Tarāna", the national anthem of Pakistan for the first time.

Radio Pakistan

1944

World War II: German troops begin the pillage and razing of Anogeia in Crete that would continue until September 5.

Razing of Anogeia

1942

Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project.

Eugene Reybold

1940

World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches an air operation, codenamed Adlertag, during the Battle of Britain in an attempt to destroy the British Royal Air Force.

World War II

1937

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Shanghai begins.

Second Sino-Japanese War

1920

Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Warsaw begins and will last till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.

Polish–Soviet War

1918

Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha May Johnson is the first woman to enlist.

United States Marine Corps

1918

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is established as a public company in Germany.

BMW

1913

First production in the UK of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.

Stainless steel

1906

The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged. (Their records were later restored to reflect honorable discharges but there were no financial settlements.)

25th Infantry Regiment (United States)

1905

Norwegians vote to end the union with Sweden.

1905 Norwegian union dissolution referendum

1900

The steamer Deutschland of Hamburg America Lines set a new record for the eastward passage when it docked on Plymouth, England, five days, 11 hours and 45 minutes after sailing from New York, breaking by three hours, six minutes its previous mark in its maiden voyage in July.

SS Deutschland (1900)

1800s

1898

Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engage in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands.

Spanish–American War

1898

Carl Gustav Witt discovers 433 Eros, the first near-Earth asteroid to be found.

Carl Gustav Witt

1889

William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut is granted United States Patent Number 408,709 for "Coin-controlled apparatus for telephones."

Hartford, Connecticut

1868

The 8.5–9.0 Mw  Arica earthquake struck southern Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), causing 25,000+ deaths and a destructive basin wide tsunami that affected Hawaii and New Zealand.

1868 Arica earthquake

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1814

The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Netherlands, is signed in London, England.

Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814

1806

Battle of Mišar during the Serbian Revolution begins. The battle ends two days later with a Serbian victory over the Ottomans.

Battle of Mišar

Before 1800

1792

King Louis XVI of France is formally arrested by the National Tribunal, and declared an enemy of the people.

Louis XVI

1779

American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy defeats the Penobscot Expedition with the most significant loss of United States naval forces prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

American Revolutionary War

1724

Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101, a chorale cantata on a famous tune.

Johann Sebastian Bach

1704

War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim: English and Imperial forces are victorious over French and Bavarian troops.

War of the Spanish Succession

1650

Colonel George Monck of the English Army forms Monck's Regiment of Foot, which will later become the Coldstream Guards.

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle

1645

Sweden and Denmark sign Peace of Brömsebro.

Treaty of Brömsebro (1645)

1624

The French king Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu as prime minister.

Louis XIII

1553

Michael Servetus is arrested by John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland as a heretic.

Michael Servetus

1536

Buddhist monks from Kyoto, Japan's Enryaku-ji temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in what will be known as the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance.

Kyoto

1532

Union of Brittany and France: The Duchy of Brittany is absorbed into the Kingdom of France.

Union of the Duchy of Brittany with the Crown of France

1521

After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés capture Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquer the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

Fall of Tenochtitlan

1516

The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is signed. Francis I of France recognizes Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, recognizes Francis's claim to Milan.

War of the League of Cambrai