December 13 facts for kids

December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 18 days remain until the end of the year. December 13th is a day filled with interesting events throughout history, from important discoveries and battles to the birthdays of famous people and special holidays celebrated around the world. Let's explore some of the exciting things that have happened on this day!

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 1294 – Saint Celestine V decided to step down as Pope after just five months. He wanted to go back to his quiet life as a hermit, someone who lives alone for religious reasons.
• 1545 – The Council of Trent began. This was a very important meeting for the Catholic Church to discuss and make changes during a time of religious reform.
• 1577 – The famous explorer Sir Francis Drake started his amazing trip around the world from Plymouth, England.

Later History (1601–1900)

• 1623 – In the Plymouth Colony in America, a new system was set up. People accused of crimes would now have a trial decided by a group of 12 men.
• 1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony formed three groups of soldiers, called militia, to protect themselves from the Pequot Indians. This is now seen as the start of the National Guard in the U.S.
• 1642 – Abel Tasman became the first European to officially see New Zealand.
• 1643 – During the English Civil War, the Battle of Alton happened in Hampshire, England.
• 1758 – The English ship Duke William sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. Sadly, over 360 people lost their lives.
• 1769 – Dartmouth College was founded by Reverend Eleazar Wheelock. It received a special permission, called a royal charter, from King George III.
• 1818 – Cyril VI of Constantinople resigned from his important religious role because of pressure from the Ottoman Empire.
• 1862 – During the American Civil War, at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee won a victory against Union Major General Ambrose Burnside.

Modern History (1901–Present)

• 1937 – In the Second Sino-Japanese War, the city of Nanjing fell to the Japanese forces after a long battle.
• 1938 – The Neuengamme concentration camp was opened in Hamburg, Germany. This was a very sad time in history.
• 1939 – The Battle of the River Plate took place off the coast of Uruguay. This was the first naval battle of World War II. The German ship Admiral Graf Spee fought against three British Royal Navy cruisers.
• 1943 – During World War II, a tragic event known as the Massacre of Kalavryta occurred in Greece, carried out by German forces.
• 1949 – The Knesset, which is the parliament of Israel, voted to move the country's capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
• 1957 – A strong earthquake hit Iran, causing many homes to be damaged and leading to the deaths of over 1,119 people.
• 1959 – Archbishop Makarios III became the very first President of Cyprus.
• 1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was visiting Brazil, his special guards took control of the capital city. They announced that he was no longer emperor.
• 1962 – NASA launched Relay 1, which was the first active communications satellite to be put into orbit.
• 1967 – Constantine II of Greece tried to lead a counter-coup against the military government in Greece, but it was not successful.
• 1968 – Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issued a special act that gave the government more power and suspended certain legal rights.
• 1972 – During the Apollo program, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt took their third and final "Moonwalk" on Apollo 17. They are still the last humans to have walked on the Moon.
• 1974 – Malta became a republic, which means it became a country with an elected leader, while still being part of the Commonwealth of Nations.
• 1974 – In the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese forces began a major attack that eventually led to the end of the war and the surrender of South Vietnam.
• 1977 – Air Indiana Flight 216 crashed near Evansville Regional Airport. Sadly, 29 people died, including the University of Evansville basketball team.
• 1981 – General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland. This was largely due to the actions of the Solidarity movement, which was a large trade union.
• 1982 – A strong earthquake hit southwestern Yemen, causing many deaths and injuries.
• 1988 – PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gave a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. This happened because the United States would not give him a visa to visit the UN headquarters in New York.
• 1989 – During The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Provisional Irish Republican Army attacked a British Army checkpoint.
• 1995 – Banat Air Flight 166 crashed near Verona Villafranca Airport in Italy, killing 49 people.
• 2002 – The European Union announced that ten new countries would join on May 1, 2004. These countries were Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
• 2003 – During the Iraq War, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured near his hometown of Tikrit.
• 2007 – The Treaty of Lisbon was signed by the countries in the European Union. This treaty changed earlier agreements and helps form the basic rules for how the EU works. It became active on December 1, 2009.

Famous Birthdays

People Born Before 1900

• 1272 – King Frederick III of Sicily.
• 1476 – Lucy Brocadelli, a religious figure.
• 1491 – Martín de Azpilcueta, a Spanish thinker and economist.
• 1521 – Pope Sixtus V.
• 1533 – Eric XIV of Sweden.
• 1553 – Henry IV of France.
• 1560 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, who was a Prime Minister of France.
• 1585 – William Drummond of Hawthornden, a Scottish poet.
• 1640 – Robert Plot, an English chemist.
• 1678 – Yongzheng Emperor of China.
• 1780 – Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner, a German chemist who invented the Döbereiner's lamp.
• 1797 – Heinrich Heine, a German journalist and poet.
• 1816 – Werner von Siemens, a German engineer who founded the company Siemens.
• 1818 – Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of the 16th U.S. President.
• 1830 – Mathilde Fibiger, a Danish writer and early feminist.
• 1867 – Kristian Birkeland, a Norwegian physicist.
• 1871 – Emily Carr, a Canadian painter and author.
• 1887 – Alvin C. York, a famous American soldier.

People Born After 1900

• 1903 – Ella Baker, an important American activist.
• 1903 – Carlos Montoya, a Spanish guitarist.
• 1906 – Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.
• 1908 – Van Heflin, an American film actor.
• 1911 – Trygve Haavelmo, a Norwegian economist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1913 – Archie Moore, an American boxer.
• 1920 – George P. Shultz, an American economist and politician.
• 1923 – Philip Warren Anderson, an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1925 – Dick Van Dyke, a famous American actor, singer, and dancer.
• 1929 – Christopher Plummer, a Canadian actor.
• 1936 – Prince Karim al-Husayn Shāh, Aga Khan IV, a Swiss humanitarian leader.
• 1945 – Herman Cain, an American businessman and politician.
• 1948 – Ted Nugent, an American musician.
• 1953 – Ben Bernanke, an American economist.
• 1957 – Steve Buscemi, an American actor and director.
• 1967 – Jamie Foxx, a well-known American actor, singer, and comedian.
• 1975 – Tom DeLonge, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1981 – Amy Lee, an American singer and songwriter.
• 1989 – Taylor Swift, a very famous American singer-songwriter.
• 1995 – Emma Corrin, an English actor.
• 1996 – Gleyber Torres, a Venezuelan baseball player.

Notable Deaths

People Who Died Before 1900

• 558 – Childebert I, a Frankish king.
• 838 – Pepin I of Aquitaine.
• 1124 – Pope Callixtus II.
• 1204 – Maimonides, a Spanish rabbi and philosopher.
• 1250 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1466 – Donatello, a famous Italian sculptor.
• 1521 – Manuel I of Portugal.
• 1557 – Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, an Italian mathematician.
• 1565 – Conrad Gessner, a Swiss botanist.
• 1721 – Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor whose story inspired Robinson Crusoe.
• 1784 – Samuel Johnson, a famous English writer and dictionary maker.
• 1862 – Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, an American general and politician.
• 1895 – Ányos Jedlik, a Hungarian physicist and engineer.

People Who Died After 1900

• 1924 – Samuel Gompers, an English-born American labor leader who started the American Federation of Labor.
• 1930 – Fritz Pregl, an Austrian chemist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1935 – Victor Grignard, a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1944 – Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian-French painter.
• 1955 – Egas Moniz, a Portuguese doctor who won the Nobel Prize for medicine.
• 1961 – Grandma Moses, a famous American painter.
• 1979 – Jon Hall, an American actor.
• 1986 – Ella Baker, an American activist (also born on this day).
• 1998 – Lew Grade, a British media owner.
• 2004 – David Wheeler, an English computer scientist.
• 2016 – Alan Thicke, a Canadian actor and TV host.
• 2022 – Stephen "tWitch" Boss, an American dancer and TV personality.

Holidays and Observances

13 December is the feast day of St Lucy

This day is celebrated in different ways around the world!

• Christian feast day:
  • St Lucy
  • St Odile of Alsace
• Acadian Remembrance Day (Acadians)
• National Day (Saint Lucia)
• Martial Law Victims Remembrance Day (Poland)
• Nanking Massacre Memorial Day (China)
• Nusantara Day (Indonesia)
• Republic Day (Malta)
• Sailor's Day (Brazil)
• Saint Lucia Day (especially in Scandinavia)

See also

In Spanish: 13 de diciembre para niños