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This day in history

This day in history: 13 February

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

367 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 13 February.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2021: A major winter storm causes blackouts and kills at least 82 people in Texas and northern Mexico.

Holidays and observances

Black Love Day (United States)

Children's Day (Myanmar)

Christian feast day: Absalom Jones (Episcopal Church (USA))

Christian feast day: Agabus (for catholics)

Christian feast day: Benignus of Todi

Christian feast day: Blessed Agostina Camozzi

Christian feast day: Castor of Karden

Christian feast day: Dyfnog

Christian feast day: Ermenilda of Ely

Christian feast day: February 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Fulcran

Christian feast day: Jordan of Saxony

Events

2021A major winter storm causes blackouts and kills at least 82 people in Texas and northern Mexico.

2021Former U.S. President Donald Trump is acquitted in his second impeachment trial.

2017Kim Jong-nam, brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, is assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

2012The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the first launch of the European Vega rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

2011For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.

2010A bomb explodes in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, killing 17 and injuring 60 more.

2008Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.

2007Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential electi

2004The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

2001A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 315.

1996The Nepalese Civil War is initiated in the Kingdom of Nepal by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).

1991Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.

1984Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1983A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people.

1981A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.

1979An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.

1978Hilton bombing: A bomb explodes in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing two refuse collectors and a policeman.

1975Fire at One World Trade Center (North Tower) of the World Trade Center in New York.

1967American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.

1961An allegedly 500,000-year-old rock is discovered near Olancha, California, US, that appears to anachronistically encase a spark plug.

1960Black college students stage the first of the Nashville sit-ins at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.

1960With the success of a nuclear test codenamed "Gerboise Bleue", France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.

1955Israel obtains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.

1955Twenty-nine people are killed when Sabena Flight 503 crashes into Monte Terminillo near Rieti, Italy.

1954Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game.

1951Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the "high-water mark" of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.

1945World War II: Royal Air Force bombers are dispatched to Dresden, Germany to attack the city with a massive aerial bombardment.

1945World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.

1935A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, the son of Charles Lindbergh.

1931The British Raj completes its transfer from Calcutta to New Delhi.

1920The Negro National League is formed.

1914Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

1913The 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibetan independence following a period of domination by Manchu Qing dynasty and initiates a period of almost four decades of independence.

1880Thomas Edison observes thermionic emission.

1867Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards.

1861Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

1849The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized

1820The Assassination of the Duke of Berry takes place in Paris. The Duke of Berry, nephew of Louis XVIII, is stabbed to death while attending the Paris Opera.

1755Treaty of Giyanti signed by VOC, Pakubuwono III and Prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divides the Javanese kingdom of Mataram into two: Sunanate of Surakarta and Sultanate of Yogyakarta.

1726Parliament of Negrete between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile brings an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26.

Born on this day

2005Sergio Mestre, Spanish footballer

2003Raúl Asencio, Spanish footballer

2002Jaden Ivey, American basketball player

2002Sophia Lillis, American actress

2001Kaapo Kakko, Finnish ice hockey player

2000Vitinha, Portuguese footballer

1995Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, French-Cameroonian footballer

1995Kendall Fuller, American football player

1994Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer

1992Keith Appling, American basketball player

1991Eliaquim Mangala, French footballer

1991Luke Voit, American baseball player

1991Vianney, French singer

1990Mamadou Sakho, French footballer

1990Nathan Eovaldi, American baseball player

1989Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian footballer

1988Dave Rudden, Irish author

1988Ryan Goins, American baseball player

1987Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer

1986Aqib Talib, American football player

1986Luke Moore, English footballer

1985Al Montoya, American ice hockey player

1985J. R. Giddens, American basketball player

1985Kwak Ji-min, South Korean actress

1985Somdev Devvarman, Indian tennis player

1984Hinkelien Schreuder, Dutch swimmer

1983Anna Watkins, English rower

1983Mike Nickeas, Canadian baseball player

1982Even Helte Hermansen, Norwegian guitarist and composer

1982Michael Turner, American football player

1981Luisão, Brazilian footballer

1981Luke Ridnour, American basketball player

1980Carlos Cotto, Puerto Rican-American wrestler and boxer

1979Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian mass murderer

1979Mena Suvari, American actress and fashion designer

1979Rachel Reeves, English economist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer

1979Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer

1978Cory Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1978Niklas Bäckström, Finnish ice hockey player

1978Philippe Jaroussky, French singer

Died on this day

2025Jim Guy Tucker, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Arkansas (born 1943)

2021Kadir Topbaş, Turkish politician (born 1945)

2019Callistus Ndlovu, Zimbabwean academic and politician (born 1936)

2018Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, French-born Danish royal (born 1934)

2017Aileen Hernandez, American union organizer and activist (born 1926)

2017E-Dubble, American rapper (born 1982)

2017Kim Jong-nam, North Korean politician (born 1971)

2017Ricardo Arias Calderón, Panamanian politician (born 1933)

2017Seijun Suzuki, Japanese filmmaker (born 1923)

2016Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and judge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (born 1936)

2016O. N. V. Kurup, Indian poet and academic (born 1931)

2015Faith Bandler, Australian activist and author (born 1918)

2015Stan Chambers, American journalist and actor (born 1923)

2014Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (born 1939)

2014Laura Motta, Brazilian catholic nun (born 1919)

2014Ralph Waite, American actor and activist (born 1928)

2014Richard Møller Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager (born 1937)

2013Andrée Malebranche, Haitian artist (born 1916)

2013Gerry Day, American journalist and screenwriter (born 1922)

2013Miles J. Jones, American pathologist and physician (born 1952)

2013Pieter Kooijmans, Dutch judge and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for The Netherlands (born 1933)

2013Yuko Tojo, Japanese activist and politician (born 1939)

2012Daniel C. Gerould, American playwright and academic (born 1928)

2012Louise Cochrane, American-English screenwriter and producer (born 1918)

2012Russell Arms, American actor and singer (born 1920)

2010Dale Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1936)

2010Lucille Clifton, American poet and academic (born 1936)

2009Edward Upward, English author and educator (born 1903)

2008Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1915)

2007Charlie Norwood, American captain and politician (born 1941)

Quote of the day

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”

Epictetus

Questions people ask

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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