On This Day: 13 December

13 December in Indian history

• 2001Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists.India

13 December in world history

• 2003Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit.
• 2002European 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.
• 1989The 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.
• 1988PLO 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.
• 1981Polish prime minister Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law.
• 1974In 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.
• 1972Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
• 1962NASA launches Relay 1, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
• 1960While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
• 1957A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Iranian Hamadan province, killing at least 1,130 people.
• 1939The Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HM
• 1938The Holocaust: The Neuengamme concentration camp opens in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, Germany.
• 1937Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese forces, capturing the Chinese city of Nanjing, began committing numerous atrocities over the next several weeks, including looting, rape and the execution of prisoners of war and civilians.
• 1862American Civil War: Union forces under Ambrose Burnside suffered severe casualties against entrenched Confederate defenders at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.
• 1809Napoleonic Wars: While transporting supplies to Guadeloupe, French commodore François
• 1643First English Civil War: Roundhead forces under Sir William Waller led a successful surprise attack in Hampshire on a winter garrison of Cavalier infantry and cavalry.
• 1294Saint Celestine V resigned the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.

Born on 13 December

• 1989Hellen Obiri, Kenyan runner
• 1981Amy Lee, American singer, songwriter and pianist
• 1953Ben Bernanke, American economist
• 1940Sanjaya Lall, Indian economist and academic (died 2005)India
• 1908Elizabeth Alexander, English geologist, academic, and physicist (died 1958)
• 1897Albert Aalbers, Dutch architect, designed the Savoy Homann Bidakara Hotel (died 1961)

Died on 13 December

• 2018Noah Klieger, Holocaust survivor who became an award-winning Israeli journalist (born 1926)
• 1986Smita Patil, Indian actress and journalist (born 1955)India
• 1979Behçet Necatigil, Turkish author, poet and translator (born 1916)
• 1565Conrad Gessner, Swiss botanist and physician (born 1516)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 13 December in history?

2003: Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit. 2002: 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. 2001: Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists. 1989: 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.

What happened on 13 December in Indian history?

2001: Indian Parliament attack: Sansad Bhavan, the building housing the Indian Parliament, is attacked by five Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists. Twelve people are killed, including the terrorists.

Which famous people were born on 13 December?

Hellen Obiri, Kenyan runner (1989); Amy Lee, American singer, songwriter and pianist (1981); Ben Bernanke, American economist (1953); Sanjaya Lall, Indian economist and academic (died 2005) (1940).

Which day is observed on 13 December?

Acadian Remembrance Day (Acadians); National Day (Saint Lucia); Martial Law Victims Remembrance Day (Poland); Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day (China); Nusantara Day (Indonesia).