January 13 - Definition and Overview

January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. It is still celebrated as New Year's Eve by those on the Julian calendar. There are 352 days remaining (353 in a leap year).

Events

• 888 - Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.
• 1328 - Edward III of England marries Philippa, daughter of the Count of Hainault.
• 1602 - William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is published.
• 1605 - The controversial play Eastward Ho! by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.
• 1607 - Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
• 1622 - Work on the printing of the First Folio of William Shakespeare is suspended.
• 1625 - John Milton, 16, admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge.
• 1847 - The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.
• 1854 - The accordion is patented by Anthony Faas.
• 1893 - The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting.
• 1898 - Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
• 1913 - Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. founded. Currently the largest African-American women's organization
• 1935 - A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
• 1942 - Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
• 1953 - Marshal Josip Broz Tito chosen President of Yugoslavia.
• 1957 - Wham-O Company produces the first Frisbee.
• 1958 - Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera
• 1966 - Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
• 1972 - Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana were ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
• 1982 - Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists. Plane was not properly de-iced. There were five survivors.
• 1986 - A month-long violent struggle began in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
• 1989 - The final episode of the American soap opera Ryan's Hope is aired, ending a 14-year run on the network.
• 1990 - L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
• 1991 - Soviet military troops attacked Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius.
• 1992 - Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
• 1998 - ABC and ESPN negotiate a $1.15 billion a season contract to keep Monday Night Football.
• 1999 - Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls basketball team announces his retirement (for the second time -- he has since rescinded his retirement).
• 2001 - An earthquake hits El Salvador. More than 5,000 deaths.
• 2002 - US President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel.

Births

• 1596 - Jan van Goyen, painter (d. 1656)
• 1653 - Philipp Jakob Spener, theologian (d. 1705)
• 1749 - Friedrich Müller, painter, narrator, lyricistand dramatist, also known as Maler Müller (d. 1825)
• 1805 - Thomas Dyer, mayor of Chicago, IL (d. 1862)
• 1808 - Salmon Chase, Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln, Chief Justice, (d. 1873)
• 1832 - Horatio Alger, Jr., Unitarian minister, author (d. 1899)
• 1859 - Karl Bleibtreu, critic (d. 1928)
• 1864 - Wilhelm Wien, physicist (d. 1928)
• 1866?- G. I. Gurdjieff, Greek-Armenian mystic. He stated he was born at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve Julian calendar (d. 1949)
• 1866 - Vasily Kalinnikov, composer (d. 1901)
• 1867 - Francis Everett Townsend, American physician and social reformer
• 1879 - Melvin Jones, founder of Lions Clubs International (d. 1961)
• 1884 - Sophie Tucker, singer, comedienne, vaudeville performer (d. 1966)
• 1893 - Clark Ashton Smith, writer (d. 1961)
• 1899 - Kay Francis, stage & later film actress with Warner Bros. (d. 1968)
• 1919 - Army Archerd, Hollywood journalist
• 1919 - Robert Stack, actor (d. 2003)
• 1922 - Albert Lamorisse, film director (d. 1970)
• 1924 - Paul Feyerabend, philosopher (d. 1994)
• 1925 - Gwen Verdon, actress, dancer (d. 2000)
• 1926 - Carolyn Gold Heilbrun (Amanda Cross), feminist author (d. 2003)
• 1926 - Michael Bond, writer
• 1927 - Brock Adams, American politician (d. 2004)
• 1927 - Generoso Pope, Jr., publisher (d. 1099)
• 1930 - Frances Sternhagen, actress
• 1930 - Liz Anderson, singer
• 1931 - Charles Nelson Reilly, actor
• 1934 - Rip Taylor, actor
• 1938 - Billy Gray, actor
• 1938 - William B. Davis, actor
• 1942 - Richard Moll, actor
• 1943 - Carol Cleveland, actress
• 1949 - Brandon Tartikoff, television executive (d. 1997)
• 1954 - Trevor Rabin, musician
• 1955 - Jay McInerney, writer
• 1955 - Fred White, musician (Earth, Wind and Fire)
• 1960 - Kevin Anderson, actor
• 1961 - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress
• 1962 - Trace Adkins, musician
• 1964 - Penelope Ann Miller, actress
• 1966 - Patrick Dempsey, actor
• 1969 - Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player
• 1970 - Keith Coogan, actor
• 1970 - Marco Pantani, cyclist (d. 2004)
• 1972 - Nicole Eggert, actress
• 1973 - Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian NHL goalie
• 1977 - Orlando Bloom, actor
• 1982 - Guillermo Coria, Argentinian professional tennis player

Deaths

• 86 BC - Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician
• 858 - Ethelwulf, king of Wessex (b. ca. 800)
• 888 - Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Swabia, East Francia, Saxony, Bavaria and Italy
• 1151 - Abbot Suger abbot of Saint-Denis (b. 1081)
• 1177 - Henry Jasomirgott, Duke of Austria
• 1330 - Duke Frederick I of Austria (Habsburg) ("the Handsome")
• 1363 - Meinhard III, Count of Tyrol
• 1599 - Edmund Spenser, poet (b. 1552)
• 1864 - Stephen Foster, composer (b. 1826)
• 1929 - Wyatt Earp, Western legend (b. 1848)
• 1941 - James Joyce, writer (b. 1882)
• 1962 - Ernie Kovacs, actor, comedian (b. 1919)
• 1978 - Hubert H. Humphrey - Vice President of the United States and former Senator from Minnesota (b. 1911)
• 1978 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager (b. 1908)
• 1979 - Donny Hathaway, musician
• 1985 - Carol Wayne, actress
• 1988 - Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
• 2001 - Michael Cuccione, actor
• 2001 - Stan Freeman, pianist, composer, comedian, writer
• 2002 - Ted Demme film and television director (b. 1963)
• 2002 - Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian
• 2003 - Norman Panama, screenwriter and director
• 2004 - Harold Shipman, British serial killer, found dead in his cell (b. 1946)
• 2004 - Arne Næss jr., Norwegian mountaineer and businessman (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• National Vocation Awareness Week
• Lovers of Life International - Day of Orgiastic Life
• Liberation Day in Togo
• In Sweden, Christmas ends on the 20th day, St. Knut's Day. Children celebrate a party throwing out the Christmas tree (julgransplundring)

January 12 - January 14 - December 13 - February 13 -- listing of all days