October 13

October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). There are 79 days remaining.

Events

1-1899

54 - Roman Empire emperor Claudius I dies after being poisoned by his wife Agrippina.

1307 - All Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into "admitting" heresy.

1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

1775 - The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).

1792 - In Washington, DC, the cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House since 1818) is laid.

1812 - War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights - On the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaerof are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock.

1843 - In New York City, Henry Jones and 11 others found B'nai B'rith (the oldest Jewish service organization in the world).

1845 - A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.

1900-1999

1918 - Talaat Pasha and the Young Turk (C.U.P.) ministry resign and sign an armistice, ending Ottoman participation in World War I

1943 - World War II: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.

1946 - France adopts the constitution of the Fourth Republic.

1960 - 1960 World Series: Baseballer Bill Mazeroski becomes the first person to end a World Series with a home run.

1962 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf opens on Broadway.

1972 - An Aeroflot Ilyushin-62 crashed outside Moscow killing 176

1972 - Andes flight disaster: Fairchild passenger plane transporting a rugby team crashes in Andes. They are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive, as chronicled in the 1993 film .

1976 - A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashes in Santa Cruz, Bolivia killing 100 (97, mostly children killed on the ground)

1976 - The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle was obtained by Dr. F.A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, who was then working at the C.D.C.

1977 - Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.

1995 - Microsoft releases Windows 95.

1999 - The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).