Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (134th in leap years). There are 232 days remaining. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and Observances Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. 1568 - Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary Queen of Scots are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother. 1607 - Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony. 1619 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. 1779 - War of Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the a part of its territory that was taken from them (the Inn District). 1787 - Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England with eleven ships full of convicts to establish a penal colony in Australia. 1830 - Ecuador gains its independence. 1846 - Mexican-American War: The United States declares war on Mexico. 1848 - first performance of Finland's national anthem. 1861 - American Civil War: Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights. 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca - the battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta. 1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch - In far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the civil war ends with a Union victory. 1880 - In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway. 1888 - Brazil abolishes slavery. 1912 - In the United Kingdom, the Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) in established. 1913 - Igor Sikorsky becomes the first person to pilot a four engine aircraft. 1917 - Three peasant children claim to see the Blessed Virgin Mary above a holmoak tree in Cova da Irianear near Fatima, Portugal. 1940 - World War II: Nazi Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse River. Churchill makes his "blood, tears, toil and sweat" speech to the British House of Commons. 1943 - World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces. 1958 - During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators. 1958 - Pierre Pflimlin becomes Prime Minister of France 1960 - First ascent of Dhaulagiri, 7th highest mountain 1981 - Mehemet Ali Agca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II at St. Peter's Square in Rome. 1985 - Philadelphia's mayor orders police to storm the radical group's MOVE headquarters to end a stand-off. The police drop an explosive device into the headquarters killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 250 city residents in the resulting fire. 1996 - Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kills 600. 1998 - Following India's second round of nuclear tests the United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on the nation. Births 1699 - Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese prime minister († 1782) 1717 - Empress Maria Theresa of Austria († 1780) 1830 - Zebulon Baird Vance, three-time governor of North Carolina 1840 - Alphonse Daudet, French novelist 1842 - Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan, composer († 1900) 1882 - Georges Braque, painter († 1963) 1894 - Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, 2nd president of Iceland 1907 - Dame Daphne du Maurier, author († 1989) 1913 - Gil Evans, jazz musician 1914 - Joe Louis, boxer († 1981) 1923 - Bea Arthur, actress 1927 - Herbert Ross, director († 2001) 1931 - Jim Jones, cult leader († 1978) 1934 - Adolf Muschg, author 1937 - Roger Zelazny, science fiction author († 1995) 1937 - Roch Carrier, Canadian novelist and National Librarian 1939 - Harvey Keitel, actor 1941 - Ritchie Valens, singer († 1959) 1941 - Senta Berger, actress 1944 - Armistead Maupin, author 1945 - Magic Dick, musician ("J. Geils Band") 1947 - Stephen R. Donaldson, author 1950 - Stevie Wonder, singer, pianist, bassist, drummer 1961 - Dennis Rodman, basketball player, actor 1966 - Darius Rucker, Hootie & The Blowfish frontman 1981 - Sunny Leone, Penthouse Magazine's pet of the Year, 2003 Deaths 1619 - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman 1835 - John Nash (architect) 1884 - Cyrus McCormick, inventor 1916 - Sholom Aleichem, author 1930 - Fridtjof Nansen, explorer 1945 - Tubby Hall, jazz musician 1961 - Gary Cooper, actor 1972 - Dan Blocker, actor 1975 - Bob Wills, country musician 1988 - Willem Drees, Dutch prime-minister 1999 - Gene Sarazen, golfer Holidays and Observances Roman Empire - Feast of the Lemures (See Larvae) See Also: May 12 - May 14 - April 13 - June 13 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.