December 13th in History
Iraq War: Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, December 13, 2003
Today in History
- Sir Francis Drake sets sail on his round-the-world voyage (1577)
- The National Guard of the US is founded when the Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments (1636)
- American Civil War: Lee defeats Burnside at the Battle of Fredericksburg (1862)
- Nanjing falls to the Japanese, triggering the Nanking Massacre (1937)
- The crew of Apollo 17 performs its final moonwalk (1972)
- Iraq War: Saddam Hussein is captured (2003)
- “12/13/14” is the last sequential date until 01/02/34 (2014)
Birthdays
- Heinrich Heine, poet (1797)
- Werner von Siemens, engineer and inventor (1816)
- Mary Todd Lincoln, US first lady (1818)
- Alvin C. York, Medal of Honor winner (1887)
- Drew Pearson, journalist (1897)
- Carlos Montoya, guitarist (1903)
- Van Heflin, actor (1910)
- Ross Macdonald, author (1915)
- Dick Van Dyke, actor (1925)
- Christopher Plummer, actor (1929)
- Robert Prosky, actor (1930)
- Richard D. Zanuck, producer (1934)
- Herman Cain, politician (1945)
- Ted Nugent, singer-songwriter (1948)
- R. A. MacAvoy, fantasy writer (1949)
- Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman (1953)
- Steve Buscemi, actor (1957)
- Morris Day, singer-songwriter (1957)
- Jamie Foxx, actor (1967)
- Taylor Swift, singer-songwriter (1989)
Deaths
- Maimonides, rabbi and philosopher (1204)
- Donatello, painter and sculptor (1466)
- Alexander Selkirk, castaway, likely inspiration for Robinson Crusoe (1721)
- Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1784)
- Samuel Gompers, labor leader (1924)
- Thomas A. Watson, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (1934)
- Henry James, author (1947)
- Grandma Moses, painter (1961)
- Raymond Spruance, US admiral (1969)
- Pigmeat Markham, performer (1981)
- Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, philanthropist (1992)
- Stanley Williams, gang leader, co-founder of the Crips (2005)
- Richard Holbrooke, diplomat (2010)
- Russell Hoban, author (2011)
Holidays and Celebrations
- Acadian Remembrance Day (Acadians)
- Republic Day (Malta)
- St. Lucy’s Day (Scandinavian countries)
Informal and made-up holidays include Tic Tac Toe Day and Pick A Pathologist Pal Day.
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December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years). There are 18 days remaining until the end of the year.