On This Day — 13 March

2000s

2020

President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States.

Donald Trump

2020

Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality.

Breonna Taylor

2020

Katerina Sakellaropoulou is sworn in as the first female President of Greece amid strict COVID-19 measures.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou

2016

The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people.

March 2016 Ankara bombing

2016

Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.

Grand-Bassam shootings

2015

Serbian Army Mi-17 helicopter crashes near Belgrade airport while transporting a 5-day-old baby with respiratory problems to hospital, killing all 7 on board.

2015 Belgrade helicopter crash

2013

The 2013 papal conclave elects Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking the name Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.

2013 conclave

2012

The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children.

Sierre coach crash

2003

An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints.

Nature (journal)

1900s

1997

The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader.

Missionaries of Charity

1996

The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland.

Dunblane massacre

1993

The 1993 Storm of the Century affects the eastern United States, dropping feet of snow in many areas.

1993 Storm of the Century

📅

1992

The Mw  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).

1992 Erzincan earthquake

1989

Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-29 carrying the TDRS-4 satellite.

Space Shuttle Discovery

1988

The Seikan Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world with an undersea segment, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.

Seikan Tunnel

1979

The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d'état.

New JEWEL Movement

1974

Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802 crashes into the White Mountains near Bishop, California, killing 36.

Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802

1969

Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

Apollo 9

1964

Kitty Genovese is murdered in New York City, prompting research into the bystander effect due to the false story that neighbors witnessed the killing and did nothing to help her.

Murder of Kitty Genovese

1957

Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.

Cuba

1954

The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory led to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam.

Battle of Dien Bien Phu

1943

The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.

The Holocaust

1940

The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union officially ends after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty.

Winter War

1930

The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory.

Pluto

1920

The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.

Kapp Putsch

1900

British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.

Bloemfontein

1800s

📅

1888

The eruption of Ritter Island triggers tsunamis that kill up to 3,000 people on nearby islands.

1888 Ritter Island eruption and tsunami

1884

The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885.

Siege of Khartoum

1862

The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves

1848

The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna.

German revolutions of 1848–1849

1845

Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.

Felix Mendelssohn

1825

Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry.

Pope Leo XII

1815

Participants at the Congress of Vienna declare Napoleon an outlaw following his escape from Elba.

Congress of Vienna

1811

A French and Italian fleet is defeated by a British squadron off the island of Vis in the Adriatic during the Napoleonic Wars.

Battle of Lissa (1811)

1809

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809.

Gustav IV Adolf

Before 1800

1781

William Herschel discovers Uranus.

William Herschel

1741

The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins' Ear) begins.

Battle of Cartagena de Indias

1697

Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, falls to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.

Nojpetén

1639

Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard.

Harvard College

📅

1591

At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.

Battle of Tondibi

1567

The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War.

Battle of Oosterweel

📅

1323

Siege of Warangal: Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq sends an expeditionary army led by his son, Muhammad bin Tughluq, to the Kakatiya capital Warangal – after ruler Prataparudra has refused to make tribute payments. He besieges the city and finally, after a campaign of 8 months, Prataparudra surrenders on November 9.

Siege of Warangal (1323)