On this day: 13 September

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.

According to Roman tradition, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (depicted), the most important temple in ancient Rome, was dedicated.

The Byzantines under Belisarius defeated the Vandal King Gelimer at the Battle of Ad Decimum near Carthage, and began the "Reconquest of the West" under Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.

Ögedei Khan is proclaimed Khagan of the Mongol Empire in Kodoe Aral, Khentii: Mongolia.

Battle of Tangier: a Portuguese expeditionary force initiates a failed attempt to seize the Moroccan citadel of Tangier.

Pedro Álvares Cabral and his Portuguese fleet arrive in Calicut, having crossed both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.

After three years of exile, French theologian John Calvin (pictured) returned to Geneva to reform the church under a system of Christian theology later known as Calvinism.

The siege of Inabayama Castle, the final battle in Oda Nobunaga's campaign to conquer Mino Province, began; it culminated in a decisive victory for Nobunaga.

American Revolutionary War: Franco-Spanish troops launch the unsuccessful "grand assault" during the Great Siege of Gibraltar.

The Congress of the Confederation sets the date for the first presidential election in the United States, and New York City becomes the country's temporary capital.

King Louis XVI accepts the new French constitution.

Beethoven's Mass in C major, Op. 86, is premiered, commissioned by Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy, and displeasing him.

Finnish War: In the Battle of Jutas, Swedish forces under Lieutenant General Georg Carl von Döbeln beat the Russians, making von Döbeln a Swedish war hero.

War of 1812: A supply wagon sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.

The Greek Army rebels (OS date: September 3) against the autocratic rule of king Otto of Greece, demanding the granting of a constitution.

American Civil War: Union soldiers find a copy of Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland. It is the prelude to the Battle of Antietam.

The Basuto Gun War breaks out after the Basuto launch a rebellion against the Cape Colony.

Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film.

The Santos-Dumont 14-bis makes a short hop, the first flight of a fixed-wing aircraft in Europe.

World War I: The French army repulsed a German assault against their positions on high ground near the city of Nancy.

The final act of the Greco-Turkish War, the Great Fire of Smyrna, commences.

Following a military coup in Spain, Miguel Primo de Rivera takes over, setting up a dictatorship.

Elizabeth McCombs becomes the first woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament.

Chicago Public Schools began delivering lessons via radio amid to a polio outbreak, marking the first large-scale use of radio broadcasts for distance education.

World War II: Second day of the Battle of Edson's Ridge in the Guadalcanal Campaign. U.S. Marines successfully defeat attacks by the Japanese with heavy losses for the Japanese forces.

World War II: Start of the Battle of Meligalas between the Greek Resistance forces of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the collaborationist security battalions.

Deputy Prime Minister of India Vallabhbhai Patel orders the Army to move into Hyderabad to integrate it with the Indian Union.

Margaret Chase Smith is elected United States senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

Nikita Khrushchev is appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The dike around the Dutch polder East Flevoland is closed.

The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.

The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 (model pictured) struck the Moon, the first spacecraft to reach another celestial body.

An appeals court orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, the first African-American student admitted to the segregated university.

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd of 20,000 West Berliners on Sunday, in Waldbühne.

South Vietnamese generals Lâm Văn Phát and Dương Văn Đức staged a coup attempt after being demoted by junta leader Nguyễn Khánh.

Cold War: Albania leaves the Warsaw Pact.

State police and National Guardsmen storm New York's Attica Prison to quell a prison revolt, which claimed 43 lives.

South Africa grants independence to the "homeland" of Venda (not recognised outside South Africa).

Super Mario Bros., one of the most influential and best-selling video games in history, was first released in Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Hurricane Gilbert reached a minimum pressure of 888 mb (26.22 inHg) with sustained flight-level winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), making it the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at the time.

Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.

Nirvana released their third and final studio album, In Utero, which went on to sell more than 15 million copies.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing the Oslo Accords granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

Civilian aircraft traffic resumes in the United States after the September 11 attacks.

A software bug caused a simulated pandemic in the online video game World of Warcraft, serving as a model for epidemiologists to understand how human interaction influences disease outbreaks.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.