History Events on December 13

The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.

#The_Holocaust

World War II: Battle of the River Plate: Captain Hans Langsdorff of the German Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with Royal Navy cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles.

#World_War_II

Treaty of Lisbon is signed by members states of European Union.

#Treaty_of_Lisbon

Cyril VI of Constantinople resigns from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch.

#Cyril_VI_of_Constantinople

The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the National Guard of the United States.

#Massachusetts_Bay_Colony

Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: The city of Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under the command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre, in which Japanese troops rape and slaughter hundreds of thousands of civilians.

#Second_Sino-Japanese_War

General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, largely due to the actions by Solidarity.

#Wojciech_Jaruzelski

Air Indiana Flight 216 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff, and boosters of the team.

#Air_Indiana_Flight_216

A murder-suicide in Liège, Belgium, kills six and wounds 125 people at a Christmas market.

#2011_Liège_attack

Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus.

#Artur_da_Costa_e_Silva

Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.

#Constantine_II_of_Greece

Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.

#List_of_archbishops_of_Cyprus

George Gershwin's An American in Paris is first performed.

#George_Gershwin

While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.

#Emperor_of_Ethiopia

Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.

#Francis_Drake

Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.

#Iraq_War

Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

#Malta

The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.

#Knesset

American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats Union Major General Ambrose Burnside.

#American_Civil_War

The 6.0 Ms? North Yemen earthquake shakes southwestern Yemen with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 2,800, and injuring 1,500.

#1982_North_Yemen_earthquake

World War II: The Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.

#Massacre_of_Kalavryta

Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand.

#Abel_Tasman

A Fenian bomb explodes in Clerkenwell, London, killing six.

#Fenian

NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.

#NASA

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is adopted by United Nations General Assembly.

#Convention_on_the_Rights_of_Persons_with_Disabilities

English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.

#English_Civil_War

The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded.

#The_Troubles

European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004.

#2004_enlargement_of_the_European_Union

Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.

#Apollo_program

A high-speed train crashed in Ankara, Turkey killing at least 9 persons and injured 84.

#Ankara

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York.

#Chairman_of_the_Palestine_Liberation_Organization

Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.

#Pope_Celestine_V

Council of Trent begins.

#Council_of_Trent

Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists.

Dartmouth College is founded by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth.

The English transport ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, killing over 360 people.

Battle of the Holme: Anglo-Saxon forces are defeated by Danish Vikings under Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred of Wessex) who is killed in battle.