1792

White House cornerstone laid

Born on This Day

Lenny Bruce

1925 - 1966

Ground-breaking comedian who attacked 1960s social conventions in profanity-laced routines that frequently got him arrested.

Paul Simon

1941 -

Singer-songwriter whose work with Art Garfunkel (like "Bridge Over Troubled Water") influenced the 1960s counterculture.

Sacha Baron Cohen

1971 -

British actor and comedian who creates outrageous characters like Borat to satirize modern society in hidden-camera interviews.

Lenny BruceGetty Images
Paul SimonGetty Images
Sacha Baron CohenGetty Images
1773
OCT13

French astronomer Charles Messier discovers the first spiral galaxy, dubbing it the Whirlpool Galaxy. Only in the early 2000s did scientists confirm the spiral shape of our own home, the Milky Way—one of as many as 2 trillion galaxies in the universe.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 13th

1775

Continental Congress authorizes first naval force

On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force—the precursor to the United States Navy. Since the outbreak of open hostilities with the British in April, little consideration had been given to protection by sea until Congress received news that a British naval fleet was on its […]

1812

Sir Isaac Brock saves Canada from U.S. invasion

During the War of 1812, British and Indian forces under Sir Isaac Brock defeat Americans under General Stephen Van Rensselaer at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, on the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada. The British victory, in which more than 1,000 U.S. troops were killed, wounded, or captured, effectively ended any further U.S. invasion of […]

0:34m read
1943

Italy declares war on Germany

On October 13, 1943, the government of Italy declares war on its former Axis partner Germany and joins the battle on the side of the Allies. With Mussolini deposed from power and the collapse of the fascist government in July, Gen. Pietro Badoglio, Mussolini’s former chief of staff and the man who had assumed power […]

1:56m read
1967

American Basketball Association debuts

On October 13, 1967, the Anaheim Amigos lose to the Oakland Oaks, 134-129, in the inaugural game of the American Basketball Association. In its first season, the ABA included 11 teams: the Pittsburgh Pipers, Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels and New Jersey Americans played in the Eastern Division, and the New Orleans Buccaneers, Dallas […]

2:40m read
1972

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes

On the afternoon of October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 begins its descent toward Santiago, Chile, too early and crashes high in the Andes Mountains. After more than two unthinkably harrowing months, 16 of the 45 who boarded the plane will be rescued—and sometimes referred to as the Miracle in the Andes. The […]

2:58m read
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1975

Singer Charlie Rich protests John Denver’s big win at the CMA Awards

On October 13, 1975, country star Charlie Rich shocks audiences at the Grand Ole Opry’s Country Music Awards event by dramatically protesting a win by fellow artist John Denver. Rich, voted Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association of America one year earlier, stood onstage at the CMA awards show to announce that […]

1:48m read
1977

Palestinians hijack German airliner

Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa airliner and demand the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany’s Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, also known as the Red Army Faction. The Red Army Faction was a group of ultra-left revolutionaries who terrorized Germany for three decades, assassinating more than 30 corporate, military and government leaders in an effort to […]

0:52m read
1999

Grand jury dismissed in JonBenét Ramsey murder case

The Colorado grand jury investigating the case of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, who was murdered in December 1996 is dismissed and the Boulder County district attorney announces no indictments will be made due to insufficient evidence. On the morning of December 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey discovered her 6-year-old daughter was missing after finding a […]

1:54m read
2010

Chilean miners are rescued after 69 days underground

On October 13, 2010, the last of 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground for more than two months at a caved-in mine in northern Chile, are rescued. The miners survived longer than anyone else trapped underground in recorded history. The miners’ ordeal began on August 5, 2010, when the San Jose gold and […]

2:18m read
2021

William Shatner goes to space

On October 13, 2021, Canadian actor William Shatner—best known for his iconic “Star Trek” role as Captain Kirk—boards Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin space shuttle with three other people, and becomes the oldest living person to travel into space at age 90. News stations broadcast the historic launch. As exciting as exploring space may seem, despite […]

2:44m read
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