Born on This Day Ground-breaking comedian who attacked 1960s social conventions in profanity-laced routines that frequently got him arrested. Singer-songwriter whose work with Art Garfunkel (like “Bridge Over Troubled Water”) influenced the 1960s counterculture. Sacha Baron Cohen British actor and comedian who creates outrageous characters like Borat to satirize modern society in hidden-camera interviews. French astronomer Charles Messier discovers the first spiral galaxy, dubbing it the Whirlpool Galaxy. Only in the early 2000s did scientists confirm the spiral shape of our own home, the Milky Way—one of as many as 2 trillion galaxies in the universe. Also on This Day in History Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on October 13th Mass arrests of the Knights Templar On Friday, October 13, 1307, around 15,000 members of the Knights Templar are rounded up and arrested in France. Continental Congress authorizes first naval force On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force—the precursor to the United States Navy. Since the outbreak of open hostilities with the British in April, little consideration had been given to protection by sea until Congress received news that a British naval fleet was on its […] Sir Isaac Brock saves Canada from U.S. invasion During the War of 1812, British and Indian forces under Sir Isaac Brock defeat Americans under General Stephen Van Rensselaer at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, on the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada. The British victory, in which more than 1,000 U.S. troops were killed, wounded, or captured, effectively ended any further U.S. invasion of […] Italy declares war on Germany

On October 13, 1943, the government of Italy declares war on its former Axis partner Germany and joins the battle on the side of the Allies. With Mussolini deposed from power and the collapse of the fascist government in July, Gen. Pietro Badoglio, Mussolini’s former chief of staff and the man who had assumed power […] American Basketball Association debuts On October 13, 1967, the Anaheim Amigos lose to the Oakland Oaks, 134-129, in the inaugural game of the American Basketball Association. In its first season, the ABA included 11 teams: the Pittsburgh Pipers, Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels and New Jersey Americans played in the Eastern Division, and the New Orleans Buccaneers, Dallas […] Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes On the afternoon of October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 begins its descent toward Santiago, Chile, too early and crashes high in the Andes Mountains. After more than two unthinkably harrowing months, 16 of the 45 who boarded the plane will be rescued—and sometimes referred to as the Miracle in the Andes. The […] Singer Charlie Rich protests John Denver’s big win at the CMA Awards On October 13, 1975, country star Charlie Rich shocks audiences at the Grand Ole Opry’s Country Music Awards event by dramatically protesting a win by fellow artist John Denver. Rich, voted Entertainer of the Year by the Country Music Association of America one year earlier, stood onstage at the CMA awards show to announce that […] Palestinians hijack German airliner Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa airliner and demand the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany’s Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, also known as the Red Army Faction. The Red Army Faction was a group of ultra-left revolutionaries who terrorized Germany for three decades, assassinating more than 30 corporate, military and government leaders in an effort to […] Grand jury dismissed in JonBenét Ramsey murder case The Colorado grand jury investigating the case of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, who was murdered in December 1996 is dismissed and the Boulder County district attorney announces no indictments will be made due to insufficient evidence. On the morning of December 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey discovered her 6-year-old daughter was missing after finding a […] Chilean miners are rescued after 69 days underground On October 13, 2010, the last of 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground for more than two months at a caved-in mine in northern Chile, are rescued. The miners survived longer than anyone else trapped underground in recorded history. The miners’ ordeal began on August 5, 2010, when the San Jose gold and […] William Shatner goes to space On October 13, 2021, Canadian actor William Shatner—best known for his iconic “Star Trek” role as Captain Kirk—boards Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin space shuttle with three other people, and becomes the oldest living person to travel into space at age 90. News stations broadcast the historic launch. As exciting as exploring space may seem, despite […]