December 13 in History

Historical Events on December 13

1577 Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.

1769 Dartmouth College is founded by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth.

1937 Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: The city of Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre, in which Japanese troops rape and slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians.

1938 The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.

1939 World War II: Battle of the River Plate: Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles.

1967 Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.

1974 Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

1989 The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded.

2002 European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.

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Famous Birthdays on December 13

1929 Christopher Plummer

1962 Rex Ryan

1978 B.J. Penn

1989 Taylor Swift

All Births

Famous Deaths on December 13

1204 Maimonides

1250 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor

1784 Samuel Johnson

1944 Wassily Kandinsky

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