532 Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I's habit of choosing efficient, but unpopular advisers nearly cost him his throne early in his reign. At chariot races in Constantinople the drivers were divided between the blues and the greens. The supporters of these two teams clashed over not only sport but also political matters. On January 13, 532 they united against Justinian in a revolt that has become known as the Nika riots, which left 30,000 dead and almost brought about his overthrow.
614 Saint Mungo, founder and patron saint of Glasgow is said to have died in his bath on Sunday, January 13, 614. 'Mungo’ was only a nickname, probably meaning ‘dear one’. His real name was Kentigern. Glasgow Cathedral, also known as St Mungo’s, is said to be on the site of St Mungo’s church.
1681 George Fox traveled throughout Britain as a dissenting preacher, often being persecuted by the disapproving authorities, In 1650 he was jailed on a trumped up charge of blasphemy. When he was sentenced, Fox warned the judge, to “tremble at the word of the Lord. The judge responded by contemptuously calling Fox and his followers, “Quakers”. Despite much persecution the movement grew and by Fox's death on January 13, 1681 there were around fifty thousand Quakers worldwide.
1695 30 years before he found fame as the author of Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift was ordained on January 13, 1695, and obtained the prebend of Kilroot, near Belfast. By 1713, Swift was acknowledged as the greatest of pamphleteers of his era and as a reward, he was given the Deanery of St Patrick's Dublin. He remained there until 1747.
1822 The design of the Greek flag was adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on January 13, 1822. It has nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white and a cross in the upper hoist-side corner, which symbolizes Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the prevailing religion of Greece. The "sky blue and white" design is officially recognized by Greece as one of its national symbols .
614 Saint Mungo, founder and patron saint of Glasgow is said to have died in his bath on Sunday, January 13, 614. 'Mungo’ was only a nickname, probably meaning ‘dear one’. His real name was Kentigern. Glasgow Cathedral, also known as St Mungo’s, is said to be on the site of St Mungo’s church.
1681 George Fox traveled throughout Britain as a dissenting preacher, often being persecuted by the disapproving authorities, In 1650 he was jailed on a trumped up charge of blasphemy. When he was sentenced, Fox warned the judge, to “tremble at the word of the Lord. The judge responded by contemptuously calling Fox and his followers, “Quakers”. Despite much persecution the movement grew and by Fox's death on January 13, 1681 there were around fifty thousand Quakers worldwide.
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| George Fox |
1695 30 years before he found fame as the author of Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift was ordained on January 13, 1695, and obtained the prebend of Kilroot, near Belfast. By 1713, Swift was acknowledged as the greatest of pamphleteers of his era and as a reward, he was given the Deanery of St Patrick's Dublin. He remained there until 1747.
1822 The design of the Greek flag was adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on January 13, 1822. It has nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white and a cross in the upper hoist-side corner, which symbolizes Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the prevailing religion of Greece. The "sky blue and white" design is officially recognized by Greece as one of its national symbols .
1847 The year after the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay and began the military occupation of California by the United States, Northern California capitulated in less than a month to the US forces. After a series of defensive battles in Southern California, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing American control in California.
1864 Never very astute financially, in 1856 "the father of American music" Stephen Foster sold all rights to future songs to his publishers for $1,900. Profits went largely to the publishers and performers. Four years later Foster moved to New York City, but separated from his wife, his fortunes decreased. Impoverished, he died in Bellevue Hospital, New York City on January 13, 1864 of alcoholism and a fall from his bed.
1873 After inventing dynamite, the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel demonstrated the explosive for the first time, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England in July 1867. The British Dynamite Co Ltd was formed in 1870 by Alfred Nobel to produce and market his new explosive. The first batch of dynamite was made in the Ardeer factory on January 13, 1873.
1884 Cremation was re-introduced in Britain in the 19th century by 84-year-old Archdruid Dr. William Price. On January 13, 1884 he burned the dead body of his baby son, named Iesu Grist (the Welsh for Jesus Christ), as he believed it was wrong to bury a corpse, thereby polluting the earth. Price performed the funeral upon the summit of a hill to one side of Llantrisant.
1893 Keir Hardie, an idealistic Christian pacifist and temperance campaigner and MP, founded the Independent Labour Party to represent the laboring classes in the British Parliament. It held its first meeting on January 13, 1893.
1910 The first public radio broadcast to take place was on January 13, 1910. It was a live performance of the opera Cavalleria rusticana sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1929 Lawman Wyatt Earp, survivor of the O. K. Corral, died at Los Angeles aged 80 on January 13, 1929. Wyatt Earp was also a boxing referee. At the time of his death, Earp was better known for his notorious handling of the Fitzsimmons-Sharkey fight than the O.K. Corral shoot out. An extremely flattering, largely fictionalized, bestselling biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, published after his death created his reputation as a fearless lawman.
1930 On January 13, 1930, the first Mickey Mouse comic strip appeared in newspapers around the country. The first piece of Mickey Mouse merchandise was a tablet of paper that featured the mouse, designed for children. One of the earliest Mickey goods to go on sale was the Mickey Mouse wristwatch. Introduced in 1933, the watch originally retailed at $3.75 and sold at a rate of 2 million annually.
1941 On January 11, 1941 Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet James Joyce underwent surgery in Zurich for a perforated ulcer. While he at first improved, he relapsed the following day. On January 13, 1941, he asked for a nurse to call his wife and son, before losing consciousness again. They were still on their way when he died 15 minutes later. His last words were "Does nobody understand?"
1942 One of the first aircraft to be fitted with an ejection seat was the German Heinkel He 280 prototype jet fighter. While testing the He 280 during World War II, German pilot Helmut Schenk became the first person to use an ejection seat to make an emergency escape from an aircraft on January 13, 1942.
1942 On January 13, 1942, Henry Ford was granted a patent for his method of making cars with plastic bodywork. This revolutionary vehicle, known as the Soybean Car or Hemp Body car, was the first of its kind to have a body entirely made of plastic.
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| Campo de Cahuenga, scene of the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga |
1864 Never very astute financially, in 1856 "the father of American music" Stephen Foster sold all rights to future songs to his publishers for $1,900. Profits went largely to the publishers and performers. Four years later Foster moved to New York City, but separated from his wife, his fortunes decreased. Impoverished, he died in Bellevue Hospital, New York City on January 13, 1864 of alcoholism and a fall from his bed.
1873 After inventing dynamite, the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel demonstrated the explosive for the first time, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England in July 1867. The British Dynamite Co Ltd was formed in 1870 by Alfred Nobel to produce and market his new explosive. The first batch of dynamite was made in the Ardeer factory on January 13, 1873.
1884 Cremation was re-introduced in Britain in the 19th century by 84-year-old Archdruid Dr. William Price. On January 13, 1884 he burned the dead body of his baby son, named Iesu Grist (the Welsh for Jesus Christ), as he believed it was wrong to bury a corpse, thereby polluting the earth. Price performed the funeral upon the summit of a hill to one side of Llantrisant.
1893 Keir Hardie, an idealistic Christian pacifist and temperance campaigner and MP, founded the Independent Labour Party to represent the laboring classes in the British Parliament. It held its first meeting on January 13, 1893.
1910 The first public radio broadcast to take place was on January 13, 1910. It was a live performance of the opera Cavalleria rusticana sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1929 Lawman Wyatt Earp, survivor of the O. K. Corral, died at Los Angeles aged 80 on January 13, 1929. Wyatt Earp was also a boxing referee. At the time of his death, Earp was better known for his notorious handling of the Fitzsimmons-Sharkey fight than the O.K. Corral shoot out. An extremely flattering, largely fictionalized, bestselling biography, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal, published after his death created his reputation as a fearless lawman.
1930 On January 13, 1930, the first Mickey Mouse comic strip appeared in newspapers around the country. The first piece of Mickey Mouse merchandise was a tablet of paper that featured the mouse, designed for children. One of the earliest Mickey goods to go on sale was the Mickey Mouse wristwatch. Introduced in 1933, the watch originally retailed at $3.75 and sold at a rate of 2 million annually.
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| Comic strip panel from Mickey Mouse published December 1932. Wikipedia |
1941 On January 11, 1941 Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet James Joyce underwent surgery in Zurich for a perforated ulcer. While he at first improved, he relapsed the following day. On January 13, 1941, he asked for a nurse to call his wife and son, before losing consciousness again. They were still on their way when he died 15 minutes later. His last words were "Does nobody understand?"
1942 One of the first aircraft to be fitted with an ejection seat was the German Heinkel He 280 prototype jet fighter. While testing the He 280 during World War II, German pilot Helmut Schenk became the first person to use an ejection seat to make an emergency escape from an aircraft on January 13, 1942.
1942 On January 13, 1942, Henry Ford was granted a patent for his method of making cars with plastic bodywork. This revolutionary vehicle, known as the Soybean Car or Hemp Body car, was the first of its kind to have a body entirely made of plastic.
1951 On January 13, 1951, mammoth meat was allegedly served during the annual dinner of The Explorers Club in New York. It was claimed to have been taken from a frozen carcass found on an island off Alaska
1964 At the age of 38, Karol Wojtyła became the youngest bishop in Poland. Six years later he was appointed archbishop of Kraków, Poland on January 13, 1964. Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II in October 1978, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
1968 Johnny Cash performed in Folsom State Prison on January 13, 1968. By this time Cash had been performing at prisons for several years, after having his own run-ins with the law, mostly due to drugs. The recording of the concert went on to sell more than three million copies.
1979 On January 13, 1979 The YMCA filed a libel suit against the Village People for their "YMCA" hit. It considered the song defamatory. The two sides settled out of court and the YMCA later expressed pride towards the band for their song as a salute to their organization.
1988 When president Chiang Ching-kuo died of a heart attack at age 77 on January 13, 1988, he was succeeded by Lee Teng-hui who became the first Taiwan native to become president of the Republic of China.
2000 Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft on January 13, 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect for himself. In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work; instead he would be devoting most of his time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
2004 British general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman died on January 13, 2004. British doctor Harold Shipman (AKA 'Doctor Death') was proven to have murdered at least 250 of his patients, but may have killed as many as 459 people, making one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded human history. Shipman died one day prior to his 58th birthday, by hanging himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison.
1988 When president Chiang Ching-kuo died of a heart attack at age 77 on January 13, 1988, he was succeeded by Lee Teng-hui who became the first Taiwan native to become president of the Republic of China.
2000 Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft on January 13, 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect for himself. In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work; instead he would be devoting most of his time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
2004 British general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman died on January 13, 2004. British doctor Harold Shipman (AKA 'Doctor Death') was proven to have murdered at least 250 of his patients, but may have killed as many as 459 people, making one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded human history. Shipman died one day prior to his 58th birthday, by hanging himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison.
2017 Fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia. On Friday January 13, 2017, Finn Air's flight 666 left for HEL (Helsinki) at 13:00 on a 13-year-old aircraft. Despite all the ominous coincidences, they arrived safely.
2021 Donald Trump was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on January 13, 2021. Trump's impeachment came amid his attempts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election, with the article citing the Trump–Raffensperger phone call and allegations that he incited the storming of the United States Capitol one week prior. He is the only U.S. president (and the only holder of any federal office) to be impeached twice. The Senate later acquitted Trump for a second time.
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