124 things happened on 13 February, from AD 106 to 2021. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1689 · 337 years ago
William III and Mary II were proclaimed joint rulers of England. Parliament had given them the crown after King James II fled to France. William was a Dutch prince, also known as William of Orange, and Mary was his wife. They ruled England, Scotland and Irela…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
During the night, the old Norman central tower of Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire fell down, possibly because of digging nearby. Instead of rebuilding the same tower, the builders created a huge eight-sided space called the Octagon. It is topped by a large wooden lantern with glass windows. The Octagon is now the cathedral's most famous feature.
UK story
The Clergy Act became law, stopping bishops and other clergy from holding power in government. It meant that bishops of the Church of England lost their seats in the House of Lords. Before this, 22 bishops sat in the Lords and could block laws proposed by the House of Commons. Bishops were not allowed back into the Lords until 1661.
UK story
William III and Mary II were proclaimed joint rulers of England. Parliament had given them the crown after King James II fled to France. William was a Dutch prince, also known as William of Orange, and Mary was his wife. They ruled England, Scotland and Ireland together until Mary died in 1694.
UK story
The Treaty of Westminster is finalised between Edward IV of England and the Scottish Lord of the Isles.
The Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome to be tried by the Roman Inquisition, a Church court. Galileo had studied the sky with his telescope, and he supported the idea that the Earth moves around the Sun. Many in the Church opposed this idea. At the trial he was found 'vehemently suspect of heresy', sentenced to house arrest, and his books were banned.
New Delhi was officially opened as the capital of British-ruled India, taking over from Calcutta. The city was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. King George V had laid its foundation stone in 1911. New Delhi is still India's capital, home to its Parliament and Supreme Court.
African American college students sat down at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee, in the first of the Nashville sit-ins. In many parts of the USA, black and white people were then kept apart, which is called segregation. The students protested peacefully, without violence. Their campaign lasted until May and was known for its early success.
Astronomers in the United States announced that they had found the largest known diamond in the universe. It is a white dwarf star called BPM 37093, about 48 light years from Earth. It is thought to be made mainly of carbon and oxygen, and diamond is a crystal form of carbon. The astronomers nicknamed the star 'Lucy', after the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
The European Space Agency launched its first Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in South America. Vega was a small rocket designed to carry satellites weighing between 300 and 2,500 kilograms into orbit. It was mainly used for science missions and for watching the Earth from space. The Guiana Space Centre is known as Europe's Spaceport.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope John XII co-sign the Diploma Ottonianum, recognising John as ruler of Rome.
War of the Straits: The Battle of the Bosporus is fought in a stormy sea into the night between the Genoese, Venetian, Aragonese, and Byzantine fleets.
Challenge of Barletta: Tournament between 13 Italian and 13 French knights near Barletta.
Parliament of Negrete between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile brings an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26.
Treaty of Giyanti signed by VOC, Pakubuwono III and Prince Mangkubumi. The treaty divides the Javanese kingdom of Mataram into two: Sunanate of Surakarta and Sultanate of Yogyakarta.
The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized.
Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Work began on the covering of the Senne (pictured), burying the polluted main river of Brussels to allow for urban renewal in the centre of the city.
Thomas Edison observes thermionic emission.
The 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibetan independence following a period of domination by Manchu Qing dynasty and initiates a period of almost four decades of independence.
Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
The Negro National League is formed.
World War II: The siege of Budapest concludes with the unconditional surrender of German and Hungarian forces to the Red Army.
Korean War: Battle of Chipyong-ni, which represented the "high-water mark" of the Chinese incursion into South Korea, commences.
Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game.
With the success of a nuclear test codenamed "Gerboise Bleue", France becomes the fourth country to possess nuclear weapons.
Geode prospectors near Olancha, California, discovered what they claimed to be a 500,000-year-old rock with a 1920s-era spark plug encased within (pictured).
American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.
Fire at One World Trade Center (North Tower) of the World Trade Center in New York.
Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Taiwan opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as the chairman of the Kuomintang party after being indicted on charges of embezzlement during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei; Ma also announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election.
For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is acquitted in his second impeachment trial.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “William III and Mary II are proclaimed joint rulers of England”?
C: 1689. 1689 — that’s 337 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Ely Cathedral's central tower collapses, leading to its famous Octagon”?
B: 1322. 1322 — that’s 704 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
A: Ely Cathedral's central tower collapses, leading to its famous Octagon. 1322: Ely Cathedral's central tower collapses, leading to its famous Octagon · 1642: A new law removes bishops from the House of Lords · 1689: William III and Mary II are proclaimed joint rulers of England Find it on the page
“A new law removes bishops from the House of Lords” happened in 1642. How many years ago was that?
C: 384 years. 2026 − 1642 = 384. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 13 February.
UK story
Eleanor Farjeon was an English writer of children's stories, plays and poems. Her collection The Little Bookroom won the 1955 Carnegie Medal for the best British children's book. In 1956 she received the very first Hans Christian Andersen Medal, a top international award for children's writers. She also wrote the words of the hymn 'Morning Has Broken'.
UK story
John Hunter was a Scottish surgeon and one of the leading scientists of his day. He believed in careful observation and scientific methods in medicine. He taught and worked with Edward Jenner, who pioneered the smallpox vaccine. His collection of nearly 14,000 specimens of humans and animals is kept at the Hunterian Museum in London.
Well-known people who died on 13 February.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 13 February somewhere in the world.
World Radio Day celebrates radio and the way it brings information, entertainment and learning to people everywhere. UNESCO, part of the United Nations, created the day in 2011. The date was picked because the United Nations set up its own radio service on 13 February 1946. Each year has a theme, such as youth and radio, or radio and sport.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “February 13” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.