January 13 facts for kids

January 13 is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history, from ancient times to modern days. It's a day when important decisions were made, new things were invented, and famous people were born or passed away.

Important Events in History

Ancient Times and Middle Ages (Before 1600)

• 27 BC – Octavian, a powerful Roman leader, gave control of the Roman state back to the Roman Senate and the people. He then received control over large areas like Spain, Gaul, and Syria for ten years.
• 532 – The Nika riots started in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey). These were big protests during chariot races because people were unhappy with Emperor Justinian I's rule.
• 1435 – Pope Eugene IV issued a rule called Sicut Dudum. It said that the Guanche people in the Canary Islands could not be enslaved if they had become Christians or were planning to.
• 1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was sentenced to death for treason. He was accused of making his family's coat of arms too similar to that of King Henry VIII of England.

From 1601 to 1900

• 1797 – During the French Revolutionary Wars, a French warship and two British ships fought near Brittany. The French ship got stuck, and over 900 people died.
• 1815 – In the War of 1812, British troops took over Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia. This was the only battle of that war in Georgia.
• 1822 – The design for the Greek flag was officially chosen by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
• 1840 – The steamship Lexington caught fire and sank near Long Island, causing 139 deaths.
• 1842 – Dr. William Brydon became famous during the First Anglo-Afghan War. He was the only survivor of a large army of 4,500 soldiers and 12,000 helpers who reached safety in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
• 1847 – The Treaty of Cahuenga officially ended the Mexican–American War in California.
• 1888 – The National Geographic Society, a famous organization that explores and teaches about the world, was founded in Washington, D.C.
• 1893 – The Independent Labour Party in the United Kingdom held its very first meeting.
• 1898 – French writer Émile Zola published his famous article J'accuse…!, which brought attention to the Dreyfus Affair, a big scandal in France.

From 1901 to Today

• 1908 – The Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, killed 171 people.
• 1915 – A very strong earthquake (6.7 magnitude) hit Province of L'Aquila in Italy, killing between 29,978 and 32,610 people.
• 1939 – The Black Friday bushfires in Australia burned a huge area of land (about 20,000 square kilometers) and killed 71 people.
• 1942 – Henry Ford received a patent for a car made partly from soybeans, making it much lighter than regular cars.
• 1942 – During World War II, a German test pilot used an aircraft ejection seat for the first time in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.
• 1950 – Finland officially started diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
• 1966 – Robert C. Weaver became the first African American to be a Cabinet member in the U.S. government. He was appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
• 1968 – Music legend Johnny Cash performed live at Folsom State Prison, which became a famous album.
• 1978 – The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a rule that all blood donations must be labeled to show if the donor was paid or volunteered.
• 1982 – Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet, crashed into a bridge and fell into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. shortly after takeoff. 78 people died.
• 1985 – A passenger train fell into a deep valley in Ethiopia, killing 428 people. This was the worst train disaster in Africa.
• 1988 – Lee Teng-hui became the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China.
• 1990 – Douglas Wilder became the first elected African American governor in the United States, taking office in Richmond, Virginia.
• 1993 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour launched into space for the third time as part of mission STS-54.
• 1993 – The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an international agreement to ban chemical weapons, was signed.
• 2001 – A strong earthquake hit El Salvador, killing more than 800 people.
• 2012 – The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy due to the captain's mistakes. 32 people died.
• 2018 – A false emergency alert warning of a missile attack caused widespread panic in Hawaii.
• 2020 – Thailand confirmed the first case of COVID-19 outside of China.
• 2021 – Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump was impeached for a second time following the January 6 United States Capitol attack.

Famous Births

• 5 BC – Guangwu of Han, a Chinese emperor.
• 1381 – Colette of Corbie, a French abbess and saint in the Catholic Church.
• 1596 – Jan van Goyen, a Dutch painter.
• 1717 – Maria Sibylla Merian, a German scientist who studied insects and was also an illustrator.
• 1808 – Salmon P. Chase, an American judge and politician who became the 6th Chief Justice of the United States.
• 1832 – Horatio Alger, Jr., an American novelist and journalist.
• 1864 – Wilhelm Wien, a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1886 – Sophie Tucker, a Russian-born American singer and actress.
• 1926 – Michael Bond, an English author who created the beloved character Paddington Bear.
• 1927 – Sydney Brenner, a South African biologist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1931 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a famous American actress and comedian.
• 1938 – Cabu, a French cartoonist.
• 1940 – Edmund White, an American novelist and essayist.
• 1943 – Richard Moll, an American actor.
• 1949 – Rakesh Sharma, an Indian commander, pilot, and cosmonaut (space traveler).
• 1954 – Trevor Rabin, a South African-American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
• 1955 – Paul Kelly, an Australian singer-songwriter.
• 1960 – Eric Betzig, an American physicist and chemist who won the Nobel Prize.
• 1961 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a well-known American actress and comedian.
• 1965 – Bill Bailey, an English musician and comedian.
• 1966 – Patrick Dempsey, an American actor and race car driver.
• 1969 – Stephen Hendry, a Scottish snooker player.
• 1970 – Marco Pantani, a famous Italian cyclist.
• 1970 – Shonda Rhimes, an American producer and screenwriter, known for many popular TV shows.
• 1972 – Vitaly Scherbo, a Belarusian gymnast who won many Olympic medals.
• 1975 – Andrew Yang, an American entrepreneur and political candidate.
• 1976 – Orlando Bloom, a popular English actor.
• 1978 – Nate Silver, an American journalist and statistician.
• 1982 – Ruth Wilson, an English actress.
• 1986 – Joannie Rochette, a Canadian figure skater.
• 1990 – Liam Hemsworth, an Australian actor.
• 1993 – Max Whitlock, an English artistic gymnast.
• 1997 – Connor McDavid, a Canadian ice hockey player, considered one of the best in the world.
• 1997 – Luis Díaz, a Colombian footballer.
• 1997 – Egan Bernal, a Colombian cyclist who won the Tour de France.
• 1995 – Natalia Dyer, an American actress.

Notable Deaths

• 86 BC – Gaius Marius, a Roman general and politician.
• 703 – Empress Jitō, a Japanese empress.
• 1151 – Suger, a French historian and politician.
• 1599 – Edmund Spenser, a famous English poet.
• 1625 – Jan Brueghel the Elder, a Flemish painter.
• 1691 – George Fox, an English religious leader who started the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
• 1717 – Maria Sibylla Merian, a German scientist and illustrator.
• 1832 – Thomas Lord, an English cricketer who founded Lord's Cricket Ground.
• 1864 – Stephen Foster, a famous American composer and songwriter.
• 1882 – Wilhelm Mauser, a German engineer who co-founded the Mauser Company, known for firearms.
• 1885 – Schuyler Colfax, an American politician who served as the 17th Vice President of the United States.
• 1906 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, a Russian physicist.
• 1929 – Wyatt Earp, a famous American police officer from the Wild West.
• 1941 – James Joyce, a famous Irish novelist and poet.
• 1956 – Lyonel Feininger, a German-American painter.
• 1958 – Jesse L. Lasky, an American film producer who helped start Paramount Pictures.
• 1962 – Ernie Kovacs, an American actor and TV host.
• 1978 – Hubert Humphrey, an American politician who was the 38th Vice President of the United States.
• 1979 – Donny Hathaway, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1988 – Chiang Ching-kuo, a Chinese politician who was the President of the Republic of China.
• 2007 – Michael Brecker, an American saxophonist.
• 2009 – Patrick McGoohan, an Irish-American actor and director.
• 2010 – Teddy Pendergrass, an American singer.
• 2012 – Rauf Denktaş, the first President of Northern Cyprus.
• 2014 – Bobby Collins, a Scottish footballer.
• 2017 – Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, a British photographer and former member of the British royal family.
• 2024 – Joyce Randolph, an American actress.

Holidays and Celebrations

• Christian feast day:
  • Blessed Veronica of Milan
  • Elian
  • Hilary of Poitiers
  • Mungo
  • St. Knut's Day or Tjugondag Knut, the last day of Christmas in Sweden and Finland.
• Constitution Day (Mongolia)
• Democracy Day (Cape Verde)
• Liberation Day (Togo)
• Old New Year's Eve in countries like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Serbia.
• Sidereal winter solstice's eve celebrations in South and Southeast Asian cultures, marking the last day of the six-month Dakshinayana period:
  • Bhogi (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu)
  • Lohri (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh)
  • Uruka (Assam)
• Stephen Foster Memorial Day (United States)
• Yennayer (Berbers)

See also

In Spanish: 13 de enero para niños