111 things happened on 13 December, from 1076 to 2019. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1939 · 87 years ago
The Battle of the River Plate was the first British naval battle of the Second World War. Three cruisers, HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter, fought the German warship Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of Uruguay. The Graf Spee was damaged in the battle. A…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth with five ships on a voyage that would take him all the way around the world. Queen Elizabeth I had approved the expedition. Drake returned in September 1580, completing the second voyage around the world in a single expedition. The trip was also a secret raiding mission that challenged the power of Spain and Portugal.
UK story
During the First English Civil War, Parliament's soldiers, led by Sir William Waller, made a surprise attack in Hampshire. They defeated Royalist foot soldiers and cavalry who were staying there for the winter. Supporters of Parliament were nicknamed Roundheads, while King Charles I's supporters were called Cavaliers. This war was fought in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646.
UK story
The Battle of the River Plate was the first British naval battle of the Second World War. Three cruisers, HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter, fought the German warship Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of Uruguay. The Graf Spee was damaged in the battle. A few days later, its own captain deliberately sank it so that Uruguay could not hold on to it.
UK story
The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies.
UK story
The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians, a date now considered the founding of the National Guard of the United States.
UK story
Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
UK story
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army engaged in a fierce firefight with the King's Own Scottish Borderers at a vehicle checkpoint complex in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
UK story
Jo Swinson (pictured) steps down as Leader of the Liberal Democrats after losing her seat in the 2019 general election making her tenure the shortest in the party's history.
Pope Celestine V resigned after only five months, so that he could return to his old life as a hermit. A hermit is someone who lives alone, often for religious reasons. Popes normally serve for life, so resigning is very rare. Before the 21st century, only five popes are known for certain to have resigned.
Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European recorded to have seen New Zealand. He was sailing for the Dutch East India Company, a powerful trading company. Tasman named the land Staten Landt. He also discovered Tasmania, the island that is named after him.
An American in Paris, by the American composer George Gershwin, was first performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. It is a symphonic poem for orchestra, a piece of music that paints a picture in sound. Gershwin was inspired by his time in Paris and tried to capture the sights and energy of the French capital. The music is influenced by jazz.
NASA launched Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit. A communications satellite picks up signals from one place on Earth and passes them on to another. Relay 1 sent the first American television pictures across the Pacific Ocean. It was built by the company RCA and was still in orbit in 2016.
Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt began their third and final moonwalk. They are the last humans so far to have set foot on the Moon. A moonwalk is an 'extra-vehicular activity', which means time spent outside a spacecraft. When it ended, Cernan became the last person to walk on the Moon.
The city of Salerno surrenders to Robert Guiscard. Duke Gisulf continues his resistance in the citadel until May of the following year.
The Council of Trent begins as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.
Dartmouth College (campus pictured) was established by royal charter in present-day Hanover, New Hampshire.
Napoleonic Wars: While transporting supplies to Guadeloupe, French commodore François
Cyril VI of Constantinople resigns from his position as Ecumenical Patriarch under pressure from the Ottoman Empire.
American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: The Second Battle of Fort McAllister ends with the fort being seized by Union forces under General William B. Hazen, threatening the city of Savannah with investment.
The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.
With Haile Selassie (pictured), Emperor of Ethiopia, out of the country, four conspirators staged a coup attempt to install Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen on the throne.
Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.
Brazilian President Artur da Costa e Silva issues AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5), enabling government by decree and suspending habeas corpus.
In the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese forces launch their 1975 Spring Offensive (to 30 April 1975), which results in the final capitulation of South Vietnam.
Polish prime minister Wojciech Jaruzelski (pictured) declared martial law.
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat gives a speech at a UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, after United States authorities refused to grant him a visa to visit UN headquarters in New York.
Croatian War of Independence: The Croatian Army retreated after the failure of Operation Whirlwind, destroying their tanks to avoid their capture.
European Union enlargement: The EU announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia will become members on May 1, 2004.
Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
The Treaty of Lisbon is signed by the EU member states to amend both the Treaty of Rome and the Maastricht Treaty which together form the constitutional basis of the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon is effective from 1 December 2009.
Beyoncé (pictured) released her fifth studio album without any prior announcement or promotion; it sold 2.3 million copies before the end of the year.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth to go around the world”?
B: 1577. 1577 — that’s 449 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Roundheads win a surprise attack in Hampshire”?
B: 1643. 1643 — that’s 383 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth to go around the world. 1939: The Battle of the River Plate is fought in the South Atlantic · 1577: Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth to go around the world · 1643: Roundheads win a surprise attack in Hampshire Find it on the page
“The Battle of the River Plate is fought in the South Atlantic” happened in 1939. How many years ago was that?
C: 87 years. 2026 − 1939 = 87. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 13 December.
Henry IV was King of Navarre and later King of France, from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French king from the House of Bourbon. He is remembered as 'Good King Henry' and 'Henry the Great'. He worked to balance the interests of Catholics and Protestants in France.
UK story
Elizabeth Alexander was a British geologist and physicist. During the Second World War she worked with radar and radio, and her work led to early discoveries in radio astronomy. Radio astronomy studies objects in space using the radio waves they give off. After the war, her study of the rocks of Singapore became an important base for later research.
Well-known people who died on 13 December.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 13 December somewhere in the world.
Saint Lucy's Day is a Christian feast day for Lucia of Syracuse, who lived in the early 300s. A legend says she took food to Christians hiding in the catacombs, tunnels under Rome. She wore a wreath of candles on her head to light the way. Because her name means 'light', the day is celebrated as a festival of light, especially in Scandinavia.
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 “December 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.