On This Day — 13 November

2000s

2022

A mass stabbing occurs in Moscow, Idaho in which four University of Idaho students are killed in off-campus housing.

2022 University of Idaho murders

2015

Islamic State operatives carry out a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris, including suicide bombings, mass shootings and a hostage crisis. The terrorists kill 130 people, making it the deadliest attack in France since the Second World War.

Islamic State

2012

A total solar eclipse occurs in parts of Australia and the South Pacific.

Solar eclipse

2002

Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

Iraq disarmament crisis

2001

War on terror: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.

War on terror

2000

Philippine House Speaker Manny Villar passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.

Philippines

1900s

1996

As part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) project, Joel Armengaud discovers the project's first Mersenne prime number,

Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search

1995

Mozambique becomes the first state to join the Commonwealth of Nations without having been part of the former British Empire.

Mozambique

1995

Nigeria Airways Flight 357 crashes at Kaduna International Airport in Kaduna, Nigeria, killing 11 people and injuring 66.

Nigeria Airways Flight 357

1994

In a referendum, voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union.

1994 Swedish European Union membership referendum

1993

China Northern Airlines Flight 6901 crashes on approach to Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport in Ürümqi, China, killing 12 people.

China Northern Airlines Flight 6901

1992

The High Court of Australia rules in Dietrich v The Queen that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented.

High Court of Australia

1991

The Republic of Karelia, an autonomous republic of Russia, is formed from the former Karelian ASSR.

Republic of Karelia

1990

In Aramoana, New Zealand, David Gray shoots dead 13 people in a massacre before being tracked down and killed by police the next day.

Aramoana

1989

Hans-Adam II, the present Prince of Liechtenstein, begins his reign on the death of his father.

Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein

1985

The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts and melts a glacier, causing a lahar (volcanic mudslide) that buries Armero, Colombia, killing approximately 23,000 people.

Nevado del Ruiz

1985

Xavier Suárez is sworn in as Miami's first Cuban-born mayor.

Xavier Suarez

1982

Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim in a boxing match held in Las Vegas. Kim's subsequent death (on November 18) leads to significant changes in the sport.

Ray Mancini

1982

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

1970

Bhola cyclone: A 240 km/h (150 mph) tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night.

1970 Bhola cyclone

1969

Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, D.C. stage a symbolic March Against Death.

Vietnam War

📅

1967

The first of its many UFO sightings is made at Pudasjärvi, Finland.

UFOs of Pudasjärvi

1966

In response to Fatah raids against Israelis near the West Bank border, Israel launches an attack on the village of As-Samu.

Fatah

1966

All Nippon Airways Flight 533 crashes into the Seto Inland Sea near Matsuyama Airport in Japan, killing 50 people.

All Nippon Airways Flight 533

1965

The SS Yarmouth Castle catches fire and sinks, killing 87.

SS Yarmouth Castle

1956

The Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a lower court ruling that invalidated Alabama laws requiring segregated buses, thus ending the Montgomery bus boycott.

Supreme Court of the United States

1954

Great Britain defeats France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.

Great Britain national rugby league team

1950

General Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, President of Venezuela, is assassinated in Caracas.

Carlos Delgado Chalbaud

1947

The Soviet Union completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles.

Soviet Union

1942

World War II: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: U.S. and Japanese ships engage in an intense, close-quarters surface naval engagement during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

1940

Walt Disney's animated musical film Fantasia is first released at New York's Broadway Theatre, on the first night of a roadshow.

Walt Disney

1927

The Holland Tunnel opens to traffic as the first Hudson River vehicle tunnel linking New Jersey to New York City.

Holland Tunnel

1922

The United States Supreme Court upholds mandatory vaccinations for public school students in Zucht v. King.

Supreme Court of the United States

1918

World War I: Allied troops occupy Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Allies of World War I

1917

World War I: beginning of the First Battle of Monte Grappa (in Italy known as the "First Battle of the Piave"). The Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces, despite help from the German Alpenkorps and numerical superiority, will fail their offensive against the Italian Army now led by its new chief of staff Armando Diaz.

Battle of Monte Grappa

1916

World War I: Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription.

World War I

1914

Zaian War: Berber tribesmen inflict the heaviest defeat of French forces in Morocco at the Battle of El Herri.

Zaian War

1901

The 1901 Caister lifeboat disaster occurs, killing 9 of the 12 crew members.

1901 Caister lifeboat disaster

1800s

1893

13 November stabbing is committed by Léon Léauthier during the Ère des attentats. This is an influential event in the birth of modern terrorism.

13 November 1893 stabbing

1887

Bloody Sunday clashes in central London.

Bloody Sunday (1887)

1864

American Civil War: The three-day Battle of Bull's Gap ends in a Union rout as Confederates under Major General John C. Breckinridge pursue them to Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

American Civil War

1851

The Denny Party lands at Alki Point, before moving to the other side of Elliott Bay to what would become Seattle.

Denny Party

1841

James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism by Charles Lafontaine, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnotism.

James Braid (surgeon)

1833

Great Meteor Storm of 1833.

Leonids

1809

A British flotilla arrived at Ras Al Khaimah and launched an amphibious assault on the town, as a part of the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809.

Ras Al Khaimah

Before 1800

1775

American Revolutionary War: Patriot revolutionary forces under Gen. Richard Montgomery occupy Montreal.

American Revolutionary War

1715

Jacobite rising in Scotland: Battle of Sheriffmuir: The forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain halt the Jacobite advance, although the action is inconclusive.

Jacobite rising of 1715