A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 13th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 13, 1521, Cuauhtémoc, ruler of the Aztecs, was captured while fleeing Tenochtitlán by crossing Lake Texcoco in disguise with his wife, family and friends. On August 13, 1779, a combined US Naval and ground expeditionary force was defeated after a three week campaign known as The Penobscot Expedition, the worst defeat in US Navy history until the surprise attack against Pearl Harbor on December 7,…

A Brief History On August 13, 1961, the Soviet occupiers of East Berlin tired of unhappy citizens of the communist “workers’ paradise” defecting to the West via West Berlin and erected a barbed wire fence that would become infamous as “The Berlin Wall.” Digging Deeper The Soviets and East Germans cordoned off West Berlin and began erecting a concrete wall complete with guard towers and barbed wire to prevent their citizens from fleeing to the West. The Berlin Wall stood as an icon of the Cold War between the Democratic Western countries and the Communist bloc, and in a way…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 12th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 12th, 30 B.C., after the naval defeat of her and Mark Antony’s forces against those of Octavian, and in fear of the public humiliation of being dragged through Rome in chains, Cleopatra committed suicide by snake bite. On August 12, 30 BC, Cleopatra VII Philopater committed suicide by means of an asp bite (small cobra snake) to the breast. On…

A Brief History On August 12, 2000, during the first major Russian naval exercise since the break-up of the USSR, the Russian Oscar II class cruise missile sub, the Kursk, blew up and sank in the Barents Sea, taking all 118 men aboard to their deaths. Digging Deeper Another of the incidents we call “Naval Oops Moments” in which naval vessels are accidentally damaged or destroyed, the investigation into the sinking found that a torpedo defect caused the initial explosion and subsequent fire that caused a second, much larger explosion that sank the sub.  The second explosion seems to have…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 11th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 10th or 11th, 991, a Viking invasion of England resulted in The Battle of Maldon, fought in Essex near the River Blackwater. On August 11, 1492, Rodrigo de Borgia was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Alexander VI. On August 11, 1929, George Herman “Babe” Ruth hit his 500th home run at Cleveland’s League Park, the first…