April 13 facts for kids

April 13 is the 103rd day of the year (104th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 262 days remain until the end of the year. Welcome to the page about April 13th! This day has seen many important events throughout history, from ancient battles to modern scientific achievements. Let's explore some of the key moments and famous people connected to this date.

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 1111 – Henry V became the Holy Roman Emperor. This was a big deal for the powerful empire in Europe.
• 1204 – During the Fourth Crusade, the city of Constantinople was captured by Crusaders. This temporarily ended the Byzantine Empire.
• 1455 – The Thirteen Years' War began with the Battle for Kneiphof.

Important Moments (1601–1900)

• 1612 – The famous Japanese samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, won a duel against Sasaki Kojirō on Funajima island.
• 1613 – Samuel Argall captured Pocahontas in Virginia. He planned to trade her for English prisoners held by her father, Chief Powhatan.
• 1699 – The Sikh religion was officially organized as the Khalsa. This brotherhood of Warrior-Saints was created by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India.
• 1742 – The famous music piece Messiah by George Frideric Handel was performed for the first time in Dublin, Ireland.
• 1777 – During the American Revolutionary War, American forces faced a defeat in the Battle of Bound Brook in New Jersey.
• 1829 – A new law in the United Kingdom gave Roman Catholics the right to vote and be part of Parliament.
• 1849 – Lajos Kossuth announced the Hungarian Declaration of Independence.
• 1861 – The American Civil War began when Union forces gave up Fort Sumter to Confederate forces.
• 1865 – In the American Civil War, Raleigh, North Carolina was taken over by Union forces.
• 1870 – The famous Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.
• 1873 – The Colfax massacre occurred in Louisiana. Many black men were killed while surrendering to a mob.

Modern History (1901–present)

• 1909 – An event known as the 31 March Incident led to Sultan Abdul Hamid II losing his power.
• 1919 – The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in India. British Indian Army troops killed many unarmed people.
• 1941 – The USSR and Japan signed a neutrality pact. This meant they agreed not to fight each other.
• 1943 – During World War II, mass graves of Polish prisoners were found in the Katyń Forest. This caused problems between the Polish government and the Soviet Union.
• 1943 – The Jefferson Memorial was officially opened in Washington, D.C. This happened on the 200th birthday of President Thomas Jefferson.
• 1945 – In World War II, German troops killed over 1,000 prisoners in Gardelegen, Germany.
• 1945 – Also in World War II, Soviet and Bulgarian forces captured the city of Vienna.
• 1948 – An attack in Sheikh Jarrah led to the deaths of many Jewish doctors, nurses, and students from Hadassah Hospital. This was called the Hadassah medical convoy massacre.
• 1953 – The CIA started a program called Project MKUltra.
• 1958 – American pianist Van Cliburn won first prize at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
• 1960 – The United States launched Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.
• 1964 – At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier became the first African-American man to win the Best Actor award. He won for his role in the film Lilies of the Field.
• 1970 – An oxygen tank exploded on the Apollo 13 Service Module. This put the astronauts in great danger on their way to the Moon.
• 1972 – The Universal Postal Union decided to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only official Chinese representative. This meant the Republic of China (Taiwan) was no longer recognized by them.
• 1972 – The Vietnam War's Battle of An Lộc began.
• 1975 – An attack by the Phalangist group killed 26 militia members. This marked the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
• 1976 – The U.S. Treasury Department brought back the two-dollar bill. This was part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
• 1976 – An explosion at an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland, killed forty workers.
• 1997 – Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.
• 2017 – The U.S. dropped the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat on Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
• 2023 – The home of Jack Teixeira was searched as part of an investigation into leaked Pentagon documents. He was arrested later that day.

Famous Births

Many notable people were born on April 13th. Here are a few:

Historical Figures (Before 1900)

• 1506 – Peter Faber, a French priest who helped start the Society of Jesus.
• 1519 – Catherine de' Medici, an Italian who became the wife of Henry II of France.
• 1570 – Guy Fawkes, an English soldier known for the Gunpowder Plot.
• 1732 – Frederick North, Lord North, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
• 1743 – Thomas Jefferson, an American lawyer and politician who became the 3rd President of the United States.
• 1771 – Richard Trevithick, a Cornish-English engineer and explorer.
• 1808 – Antonio Meucci, an Italian-American engineer.
• 1828 – Josephine Butler, an English feminist and social reformer.
• 1852 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, an American businessman who founded the F. W. Woolworth Company.
• 1860 – James Ensor, an English-Belgian painter who influenced expressionism and surrealism.
• 1866 – Butch Cassidy, a famous American criminal.
• 1892 – Robert Watson-Watt, a Scottish engineer who invented Radar.
• 1894 – Arthur Fadden, an Australian politician who became the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1899 – Alfred Mosher Butts, an American architect and game designer who created Scrabble.

Modern Personalities (1901–present)

• 1906 – Samuel Beckett, an Irish novelist and playwright who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1909 – Eudora Welty, an American short story writer and novelist.
• 1919 – Howard Keel, an American actor and singer.
• 1922 – Julius Nyerere, a Tanzanian politician and teacher who was the 1st President of Tanzania.
• 1923 – Don Adams, an American actor and director.
• 1924 – Stanley Donen, an American film director and choreographer.
• 1931 – Dan Gurney, an American race car driver and engineer.
• 1939 – Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet and playwright who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1939 – Paul Sorvino, an American actor and singer.
• 1940 – J. M. G. Le Clézio, a French-Mauritian author and academic who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1941 – Michael Stuart Brown, an American geneticist and academic who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1946 – Al Green, an American singer-songwriter and pastor.
• 1950 – Ron Perlman, an American actor.
• 1951 – Peter Davison, an English actor.
• 1951 – Max Weinberg, an American musician and bandleader.
• 1963 – Garry Kasparov, a famous Russian chess player and author.
• 1964 – Davis Love III, an American golfer.
• 1967 – Olga Tañón, a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter.
• 1970 – Ricky Schroder, an American actor.
• 1978 – Carles Puyol, a Spanish footballer.
• 1988 – Allison Williams, an American actress and singer.

Notable Deaths

Here are some of the well-known people who passed away on April 13th:

Historical Figures (Before 1900)

• 548 – Lý Nam Đế, a Vietnamese emperor.
• 799 – Paul the Deacon, an Italian monk and historian.
• 814 – Krum, a khan of the Bulgarian Khanate.
• 862 – Donald I, a king of the Picts.
• 1592 – Bartolomeo Ammannati, an Italian architect and sculptor.
• 1605 – Boris Godunov, a Tsar of Russia.
• 1612 – Sasaki Kojirō, a Japanese samurai.
• 1695 – Jean de La Fontaine, a French author and poet.
• 1794 – Nicolas Chamfort, a French playwright and poet.
• 1868 – Tewodros II of Ethiopia.
• 1880 – Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist and author.

Modern Personalities (1901–present)

• 1912 – Takuboku Ishikawa, a Japanese poet and author.
• 1917 – Diamond Jim Brady, an American businessman.
• 1938 – Grey Owl, an English-Canadian environmentalist and author.
• 1941 – Annie Jump Cannon, an American astronomer.
• 1944 – Cécile Chaminade, a French pianist and composer.
• 1956 – Emil Nolde, a Danish-German painter.
• 1966 – Abdul Salam Arif, an Iraqi colonel and politician who was the 2nd President of Iraq.
• 1978 – Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a Nigerian educator and women's rights activist.
• 1984 – Ralph Kirkpatrick, an American harpsichordist and musicologist.
• 1993 – Wallace Stegner, an American novelist and short story writer.
• 2006 – Muriel Spark, a Scottish novelist and poet.
• 2008 – John Archibald Wheeler, an American physicist.
• 2015 – Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist and author.
• 2015 – Günter Grass, a German novelist and poet who won the Nobel Prize.
• 2022 – Michel Bouquet, a French stage and film actor.

Holidays and Observances

• Christian feast day:

* Catholic commemoration of Ida of Louvain * April 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Songkran (a New Year's festival in Southeast Asia)

* Songkran (Thailand) * Water-Sprinkling Festival

• Vaisakhi (a spring harvest festival in Sikhism and Hinduism, observed between 1902 and 2011 on this date)

See also

In Spanish: 13 de abril para niños