A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 13th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On December 13, 1294, Pope Celestine V, also known as Saint Celestine, resigned from the office of Pope of the Roman Catholic Church after only five months as pope.
On December 13, 1577, Francis Drake set out from Plymouth, England on his ship, the Golden Hind, on a voyage that would take the ship and crew around the world, the first circumnavigation of the globe by an English vessel.
On December 13, 1937, the blood-lust of a number of Japanese soldiers reached unprecedented proportions when they massacred over 250,000 Chinese in Nanking!
On December 13, 1945, Irma Ida Ilse Grese, age 22, was executed in accordance with her sentence of death for the crime of committing War Crimes (Crimes Against Humanity) for her service as a concentration camp guard at Ravensbruck and Auschwitz Nazi death camps during World War II.
On December 13, 1961, renowned American painter known as Grandma Moses died at the age of 101.
On December 13, 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard arguments in a lawsuit by Norma McCorvey (known as “Jane Roe” for the purposes of the lawsuit) against the Dallas County (Texas) Attorney Henry Wade in the landmark American court case about the subject of a woman’s right to seek an abortion, ending an unwanted pregnancy.
On December 13, 2017, our Jewish friends celebrated the Festival of Lights and the Feast of Dedication, known better as Hanukkah.
On December 13, 2019 (Friday the 13th for those that keep track of such things), we had the good fortune of the widespread release of the latest movie in the Jumanji franchise, Jumanji: The Next Level.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.