What are the important events that happened on December 13? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

December 13: Facts & Myths About This Day

December 13 is the 348^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 18 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is November 30, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,900,800 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘trihectatetracontaoctagon’ day.

Sagittarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Turquoise is the modern birthstone for this month. Onyx is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 47 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,375 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

December 13 Historical Events

• 1577 –
  Sir Francis Drake sets out from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
• 1809 –
  Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the first ovariotomy, removing a 22 pound tumor.
• 1867 –
  Fenian bomb explodes in Clerkenwell, London, killing six.
• 1937 –
  Nanjing Massacre. Japanese troops begin carrying out several weeks of raping and killing of civilians and suspected Chinese resistance after the fall of Nanjing.
• 1949 –
  The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.
• 1960 –
  While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaim him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
• 1974 –
  Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations
• 1977 –
  A DC-3 aircraft chartered from the Indianapolis-based National Jet crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff and boosters of the team.
• 2001 –
  The King of Perlis has has sweared and signed the proclamation of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong,thus became the de jure 12th Yang Di-Pertuan Agong,the head of state of Malaysia.He replaced the Sultan of Selangor,whose died in office for five years.
• 2002 –
  Enlargement of the European Union: The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.

Who were born on December 13?

• 1640 –
  Robert Plot, English naturalist (d. 1696)
• 1836 –
  Franz von Lenbach, German painter (d. 1904)
• 1874 –
  Josef Lhévinne, Russian-born pianist (d. 1944)
• 1887 –
  Alvin York, American soldier & Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
• 1887 –
  George Polya, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1985)
• 1911 –
  Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (d. 1972)
• 1923 –
  Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1953 –
  Bob Gainey, Canadian ice hockey player and General Manager
• 1957 –
  Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
• 1959 –
  Johnny Whitaker, American actor

Who died on December 13?

• 1048 –
  Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, Persian mathematician (b. 973)
• 1466 –
  Donatello, Florentine artist and sculptor (b. 1386)
• 1783 –
  Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b. 1717)
• 1979 –
  Jon Hall, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1983 –
  Alexander Schmemann, Estonian Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
• 1983 –
  Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (b. 1933)
• 1986 –
  Heather Angel, British actress (b. 1909)
• 1994 –
  Michalis Nikolinakos, Greek actor (b. 1923)
• 2004 –
  David Wheeler, English computer scientist (b. 1927)
• 2010 –
  Enrique Morente, Spanish flamenco singer (b. 1942)