13th May is the 133rd day of the year (134th in leap years). 232 days remain until the end of the year. Find out some important events that happened on this day in history.

 

Historical events

535 — St Agapitus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.

609 — Pope Boniface I turns Pantheon in Rome into a Catholic church.

1568 — Mary Queen of Scots is defeated at Battle of Langside.

1588 — King Henri III flees Paris.

1637 — Cardinal Richelieu of France reputedly creates the table knife.

1648 — Construction of the Red Fort at Delhi is completed.

1767 — Classical musician and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s first opera “Apollo et Hyacinthus”, written when he was 11 years old, premieres in Salzburg.

1777 — University library at Vienna opens.

 

13th May in the 19th Century

1830 — The Republic of Ecuador is founded, with Juan Jose Flores as president.

1835 — First foreign embassy in Hawaii forms.

1846 — The US declares war on Mexico, two months after fighting begins.

1848 — First performance of Finland’s national anthem.

1861 — Queen Victoria announces Britain’s position of neutrality.

1888 — Princess Isabel of Brazil signs “Lei Auréa” abolishing slavery.

 

13th May in the 20th Century

1905 — James J. Jeffries retires as a boxing champion.

1906 — Bezalel Art School opens in Jerusalem.

1913 — The first four-engined aircraft built and flown by aviator Igor Sikorsky in Russia.

1913 — Women’s suffrage march through Washington organised by suffragist Alice Paul and led by Inez Milholland.

1917 — First appearance of Mary to 3 shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.

1918 — First US airmail stamps issued (24 cents).

1940 — Winston Churchill says “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” in his first speech as Prime Minister to British House of Commons.

1942 — Helicopter makes its first cross-country flight.

1943 — German and Italian forces in Africa surrender.

1949 — The first British-produced jet bomber, the Canberra, makes its first test flight.

1950 — Diner’s Club issues its first credit cards.

1950 — First ever race of the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship run at Silverstone, England and won by Giuseppe Farina of Italy in an Alfa Romeo.

1958 — The trademark Velcro registered.

1965 — Rolling Stones record “Satisfaction”.

1970 — Beatles film “Let it Be” premieres.

1981 — Pope John Paul II shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehemet Ali Agca in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City.

1991 — “Michael Jackson: Magic and Madness” goes on sale.

1991 — Apple releases Macintosh System 7.0.

1992 — Three astronauts simultaneous walked in space for the first time.

1996 — O.J. Simpson appears on British TV discussing his not guilty verdict.

1996 — Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.

 

13th May in the 21st Century

2012 — 49 dismembered bodies found on a Mexican highway as part of the Mexican drug war.

2013 — Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield departs the International Space Station to return to Earth.

2017 — 22-year-old UK blogger halts spread of global ransomware cyber-attack by accidentally identifying “kill switch”.

2018 — Family of six carry out 3 church bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia, killing at least 13. Islamic State claims responsibility.

2018 — China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier begins sea trials in Dalian, China.