A Day in the Past

On this day: 13 April

124 things happened on 13 April, from 1111 to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.

Printable worksheet Take the quiz

In the UK 4

UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Around the world 29

1699 327 years ago

The Sikh religion is formalised as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.

Find out more: Sikhs (Wikipedia)
1956 70 years ago

The Vietnamese National Army captured Ba Cụt, a military commander of the religious sect Hòa Hảo, which ran a de facto state in South Vietnam in opposition to Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm.

War & peace Find out more: Ba Cụt (Wikipedia)
1970 56 years ago

At 10:08 PM EST an oxygen tank aboard the Apollo 13 Service Module explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the Apollo command and service module (codenamed "Odyssey") while en route to the Moon.

SpaceScience & discovery Find out more: Oxygen (Wikipedia)
2013 13 years ago

Salam Fayyad resigns as Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority following an ongoing dispute with President Mahmoud Abbas.

Find out more: Salam Fayyad (Wikipedia)

Quick quiz

Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!

  1. In which year did this happen: “American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian forces conducted a surprise”?

    1. 2025
    2. 1777
    3. 1829
    Show the answer

    B: 1777. 1777 — that’s 249 years ago. Find it on the page

  2. In which year did this happen: “The Roman Catholic Relief Act received royal assent, removing the most”?

    1. 1111
    2. 1829
    3. 1860
    Show the answer

    B: 1829. 1829 — that’s 197 years ago. Find it on the page

  3. Which of these happened first?

    1. The Roman Catholic Relief Act received royal assent, removing the most
    2. American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian forces conducted a surprise
    3. Henry V, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by pope Paschal II
    Show the answer

    C: Henry V, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by pope Paschal II. 1829: The Roman Catholic Relief Act received royal assent, removing the most · 1777: American Revolutionary War: British and Hessian forces conducted a surprise · 1111: Henry V, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by pope Paschal II Find it on the page

  4. “Samuel Beckett” happened in 1906. How many years ago was that?

    1. 130 years
    2. 120 years
    3. 110 years
    Show the answer

    B: 120 years. 2026 − 1906 = 120. Find it on the page

Born on this day 38

Famous people whose birthday is 13 April.

Remembering 22

Well-known people who died on 13 April.

Special days 9

Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 13 April somewhere in the world.

For older readers 22 Show stories about war, disasters, crime and other difficult history

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.

Where these facts come from

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 “April 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.