Historical Events on Sunday, 13th July

13/07/2024

Former president of the United States Donald Trump is injured in an assassination attempt while speaking at an election campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.

The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

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13/07/2020

After a five-day search, the body of American actress and singer Naya Rivera is recovered from Lake Piru in California, where she had drowned.

On July 8, 2020, American actress and singer Naya Rivera was declared missing after she failed to return from a boating excursion on Lake Piru near her home in California. Shortly afterwards, her rented boat with her unharmed four-year-old son was located. A search conducted by various authorities in southern California began, though Rivera was formally presumed dead the next day; the search lasted until the morning of July 13, 2020, when her body was recovered and she was pronounced dead from drowning at the age of 33. The death was ruled accidental, with the investigation determining Rivera exhausted herself saving her son's life in the water. In November 2020, Rivera's ex-husband, Ryan Dorsey, and estate brought wrongful death lawsuits against Ventura County and the management of Lake Piru. The public manner of the search and Rivera's celebrity status contributed to extensive media attention on developments before and after she was found. Rivera had been a regular on the television series Glee, and was the third cast member of the series to die. Her body was found on the anniversary of the death of her Glee co-star and close friend Cory Monteith in 2013. Following her death, authorities banned swimming in Lake Piru permanently; several people had drowned in the reservoir prior to Rivera's death.

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13/07/2016

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May.

The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, so they are invariably members of Parliament.

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13/07/2014

Germany wins the FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina in the final 1–0 after extra time.

The Germany national football team represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association, founded in 1900. Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany, the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.

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13/07/2013

Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan.

Typhoon Soulik, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Huaning, was a powerful tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in Taiwan and East China in mid July 2013. The storm originated from an upper-level cold-core low well to the northeast of Guam on July 6. Gaining tropical characteristics, the system soon developed a surface low and became a tropical depression early on July 7. Tracking generally westward, a motion it would retain for its entire existence, the depression underwent a period of rapid intensification starting on July 8 that culminated in Soulik attaining its peak strength early on July 10. At that time, the system had sustained winds estimated at 185 km/h (115 mph) and barometric pressure of 925 mbar. Thereafter, an eyewall replacement cycle and cooler waters weakened the system. Though it passed over the warm waters of the Kuroshio Current the following day, dry air soon impinged upon the typhoon. Soulik later made landfall late on July 12 in northern Taiwan before degrading to a tropical storm. Briefly emerging over the Taiwan Strait, the storm moved onshore for a second time in Fujian on July 13. The system was last noted as a tropical depression early on July 14.

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13/07/2011

Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130.

Mumbai, also known as Bombay, is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India, with an estimated population of 12.5 million (1.25 crore). Mumbai is the centre of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which is among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world with a population of over 23 million. Mumbai lies on the Konkan coast on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named an alpha world city. Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires of any city in Asia.

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United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of United Nations.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 was adopted without a vote on 13 July 2011 after examining the application of the Republic of South Sudan for membership into the United Nations. The Council recommended to the General Assembly that South Sudan be admitted.

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Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 crashes in Boa Viagem, Recife, killing all 16 people on board.

On 13 July 2011, Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896, a Let L-410 Turbolet passenger aircraft on a domestic service from Recife to Mossoró, Brazil, crashed shortly after take-off in the Boa Viagem neighbourhood of Recife, after suffering an engine failure. All 16 people on board were killed.

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13/07/2008

Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001.

The Battle of Wanat took place on July 13, 2008, when around 200 Taliban insurgents attacked American troops stationed in the Waygal district of Afghanistan's far eastern Nuristan province. The distant position was primarily defended by United States Army soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

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13/07/2003

French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.

The Directorate General for External Security is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 27 November 1943. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intelligence gathering and conducting paramilitary and counterintelligence operations abroad, as well as economic espionage. The service is currently headquartered in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, but construction has begun on a new headquarters at Fort Neuf de Vincennes, in Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris.

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13/07/1995

Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-70 to deploy the TDRS-7 satellite.

Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.

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13/07/1990

Lenin Peak disaster: a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan triggers an avalanche on Lenin Peak, killing 43 climbers in the deadliest mountaineering disaster in history.

The Lenin Peak disaster occurred on 13 July 1990 when 43 climbers were killed during an avalanche on the 7,134-meter-high mountain peak in northeast Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The deadly avalanche was triggered by a moment magnitude scale 6.4 earthquake which struck at a depth of 216.8 km beneath the Hindu Kush mountains in neighbouring Afghanistan. The incident is believed to be the deadliest mountaineering disaster in history.

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13/07/1985

The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney.

Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, July 13th, 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a movement that started with the release of the successful charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984. Billed as the "global jukebox", Live Aid was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

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Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon.

The vice president of the United States is the second-highest office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president is empowered to preside over the United States Senate, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president is elected at the same time as the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College, but the electoral votes are cast separately for these two offices. Following the passage in 1967 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, a vacancy in the office of vice president may be filled by presidential nomination and confirmation by a majority vote in both houses of Congress. This was based on the Tyler Precedent set in 1841 when John Tyler became the first vice president to take over for a deceased president following the death of William Henry Harrison.

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13/07/1977

Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War.

Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. Stretching across the Horn of Africa, it borders Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the east. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland. Somalia has an estimated population of more than 18 million, of which 2.7 million live in the capital and largest city, Mogadishu. As one of Africa's most ethnically homogenous countries, around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis. The official and national language of the country is Somali while Arabic is recognised as a second language. The overwhelming majority of the population are Sunni Muslims.

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Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil, New York City experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting.

Immediately after World War II, New York City became known as one of the world's greatest cities. However, after peaking in population in 1950, the city began to feel the effects of suburbanization brought about by new housing communities such as Levittown, a downturn in industry and commerce as businesses left for places where it was cheaper and easier to operate, an increase in crime, and an upturn in its welfare burden, all of which reached a nadir in the city's fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when it barely avoided defaulting on its obligations and declaring bankruptcy.

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13/07/1973

Watergate scandal: Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee.

The Watergate scandal, or simply Watergate, was a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. On June 17, 1972, operatives associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign were caught burglarizing and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex. Nixon's efforts to conceal his administration's involvement led to an impeachment process and his resignation in August 1974.

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13/07/1962

In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nicknamed "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism, wit, and unflappability.

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13/07/1956

The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence.

The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence was a 1956 summer workshop widely considered to be the founding event of artificial intelligence as a field. The workshop has been referred to as "the Constitutional Convention of AI". The project's four organizers, those being Claude Shannon, John McCarthy, Nathaniel Rochester and Marvin Minsky, are considered some of the founding fathers of AI.

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13/07/1951

Vuoristorata, one of the oldest still-operating wooden roller coasters in Europe, is opened at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland.

Vuoristorata is a classic wooden roller coaster located at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. It was built in the winter of 1950 by Linnanmäki's staff on the basis of drawings by Valdemar Lebech, a Danish builder specialising in fairground rides. The construction work was led by the Danish ride operator Svend Jarlström, who at the time owned most of Linnanmäki's rides. Opened on 13 July 1951, Vuoristorata was the largest roller coaster in the Nordic countries and the tallest in Europe at the time. Expected to last up to 15 years, it was originally designed as a temporary attraction for the amusement park, opened in 1950. One of the main reasons for its construction was to attract tourists from the 1952 Summer Olympics held in the city. Since then, its temporary status was renewed for extended periods, until it was eventually regarded as a permanent structure.

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13/07/1941

World War II: Montenegrins begin the Trinaestojulski ustanak (Thirteenth of July Uprising), a popular revolt against the Axis powers.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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13/07/1930

The inaugural FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay.

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the first FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as the host nation, as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its first constitution and the Uruguay national football team had retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the purpose built Estadio Centenario.

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13/07/1919

The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.

An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air to achieve the lift needed to stay airborne.

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13/07/1913

The 1913 Romanian Army cholera outbreak during the Second Balkan War starts.

The 1913 Romanian Army cholera outbreak was a cholera outbreak the Romanian Army suffered during the Second Balkan War of 1913 against the Kingdom of Bulgaria. This conflict was part of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. As Bulgaria was then fighting with Greece and Serbia, the invasion by Romania, which had a geographic and strategic advantage, was met with minimal Bulgarian resistance.

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13/07/1878

Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.

The Treaty of Berlin was signed on 13 July 1878. In the aftermath of the Russian victory against the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, the major powers restructured the map of the Balkan region. They reversed some of the extreme gains claimed by Russia in the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano, but the Ottomans lost their major holdings in Europe. It was one of three major peace agreements in the period after the 1815 Congress of Vienna. It was the final act of the Congress of Berlin and included the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Chancellor of Germany Otto von Bismarck was the chairman and dominant personality.

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13/07/1863

American Civil War: The New York City draft riots begin three days of rioting which will later be regarded as the worst in United States history.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

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13/07/1854

In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon.

General José María Yáñez Carrillo was a Mexican soldier who fought in the Mexican War of Independence. He also served in the Mexican-American war and the war against the French attempt to create an empire in Mexico.

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13/07/1849

The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion began in Charleston, South Carolina, United States.

The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion was a rebellion of enslaved South Carolinians that took place in Charleston, South Carolina, in July 1849. On July 13, 1849, an enslaved man named Nicholas Kelly led an insurrection, wounding several guards with improvised weapons and liberating 37 enslaved people. Most were quickly captured, and Nicholas and two others were tried and hanged.

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13/07/1831

Regulamentul Organic, a quasi-constitutional organic law is adopted in Wallachia, one of the two Danubian Principalities that were to become the basis of Romania.

Regulamentul Organic was a quasi-constitutional organic law enforced in 1831–1832 by the Imperial Russian authorities in Moldavia and Wallachia. The document partially confirmed the traditional government, including rule by the hospodars, and set up a common Russian protectorate which lasted until 1854. The Regulament itself remained in force until 1858. Conservative in its scope, it also engendered a period of unprecedented reforms which provided a setting for the Westernization of the local society. The Regulament offered the two Principalities their first common system of government.

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13/07/1830

The General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali Renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India.

Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in Asia. It has been rated (A) by the Indian National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Students and alumni call themselves "Caledonians" in the name of the college festival, "Caledonia". The Scottish Church College has been embellished as GRADE-I Heritage Building on 8 November 2023.

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13/07/1814

The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.

The Carabinieri are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign policing duties. It is one of Italy's main law enforcement agencies, alongside the Polizia di Stato and the Guardia di Finanza. As with the Guardia di Finanza but in contrast to the Polizia di Stato, the Carabinieri are a military force. As the fourth branch of the Italian Armed Forces, they come under the authority of the Ministry of Defence; for activities related to inland public order and security, they functionally depend on the Ministry of the Interior. In practice, there is a significant overlap between the jurisdiction of the Polizia di Stato and Carabinieri, and both of them are contactable through 112, the European Union's Single Emergency number. Unlike the Polizia di Stato, the Carabinieri have responsibility for policing the military, and a number of members regularly participate in military missions abroad.

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13/07/1794

The Battle of Trippstadt between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria begins.

The Battle of Trippstadt was a relatively minor French military action in 1794 during the War of the First Coalition. The clash between the French Republican forces and the armies of Prussia and Habsburg Austria was fought over several days in the lower Vosges Mountains in the German states west of the Rhine River. Fighting occurred across a wide front and included action in Kaiserslautern, Trippstadt, Schänzel and Neustadt and along the banks of the Speyerbach River.

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13/07/1787

The Congress of the Confederation enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.

The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation period. A unicameral body with legislative and executive function, it was composed of delegates appointed by the legislatures of the thirteen states. Each state delegation had one vote. The Congress was created by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union upon its ratification in 1781, formally replacing the Second Continental Congress.

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13/07/1690

Nine Years' War: French naval forces led by Anne Hilarion de Tourville fresh from their victory at Beachy Head sail West and launch a raid on the small English town of Teignmouth leaving it devastated.

The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between France and the Grand Alliance. Fought primarily in Europe, related conflicts include the Williamite war in Ireland, and King William's War in North America.

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13/07/1643

English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down: In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, heavily defeats the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller.

The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Royalists and Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the struggle consisted of the First English Civil War and the Second English Civil War. The Anglo-Scottish war of 1650 to 1652 is sometimes referred to as the Third English Civil War.

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13/07/1586

Anglo–Spanish War: A convoy of English ships from the Levant Company manage to repel a fleet of eleven Spanish and Maltese galleys off the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria.

The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between Habsburg Spain and the Kingdom of England that was never formally declared. It began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in support of the Dutch rebellion against Spanish Habsburg rule.

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13/07/1573

Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months.

The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.

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13/07/1558

Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines.

The Battle of Gravelines was fought on 13 July 1558 at Gravelines, near Calais, France. It occurred during the twelve-year war between France and Spain (1547–1559).

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13/07/1402

Nanjing surrenders to Zhu Di without a fight, ending the Jingnan campaign. The Jianwen Emperor disappears and his family is incarcerated.

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu, East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of 6,600 square kilometres (2,500 sq mi), and as of 2021 a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yangtze River Delta, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to 1949, and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, being the home to one of the world's largest inland ports. The city is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. It has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honor of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award and National Civilized City. Nanjing is also considered a Beta city classification, together with Chongqing, Hangzhou and Tianjin by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranked as one of the world's top 100 cities in the Global Financial Centres Index.

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13/07/1260

The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561, it was a member of the "Livonian Confederation".

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13/07/1249

Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.

A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special vows by the new monarch, the investing and presentation of regalia to them, and acts of homage by the new monarch's subjects. In certain Christian denominations, such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism, coronation is a religious rite. As such, Western-style coronations have often included anointing the monarch with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called; the anointing ritual's religious significance follows examples found in the Bible. The monarch's consort may also be crowned, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event.

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13/07/1174

William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.

William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, 'the Rough', reigned as King of Alba from 1165 to 1214. His almost 49-year-long reign was the longest for a Scottish monarch before the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

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