On This Day … 13 June

Events

  • 1381 – In England, the Peasants’ Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, comes to a head, as rebels set fire to the Savoy Palace.
  • 1514 – Henry Grace à Dieu, at over 1,000 tons the largest warship in the world at this time, built at the new Woolwich Dockyard in England, is dedicated.
  • 1740 – Georgia provincial governor James Oglethorpe begins an unsuccessful attempt to take Spanish Florida during the Siege of St. Augustine.
  • 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress to train its army.
  • 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: Scouting ahead of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River.
  • 1881 – The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.
  • 1917 – World War I: The deadliest German air raid on London of the war is carried out by Gotha G.IV bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Villers-Bocage: German tank ace Michael Wittmann ambushes elements of the British 7th Armoured Division, destroying up to fourteen tanks, fifteen personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns in a Tiger I tank.
  • 1944 – World War II: German combat elements, reinforced by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, launch a counterattack on American forces near Carentan.
  • 1944 – World War II: Germany launches the first V1 Flying Bomb attack on England.
    • Only four of the eleven bombs strike their targets.
  • 1952 – Catalina affair: A Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
  • 1971 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers.
  • 1981 – At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
  • 1982 – Battles of Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge, during the Falklands War.
  • 2002 – The United States withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

People (Births)

  • AD 40 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman general (d. 93).
  • 1786 – Winfield Scott, American general (d. 1866).
  • 1790 – José Antonio Páez, Venezuelan general and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 1873).
  • 1875 – Paul Neumann, Austrian swimmer and physician (d. 1932).
  • 1879 – Charalambos Tseroulis, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister for Military Affairs (d. 1929).
  • 1897 – Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner and coach (d. 1973).
  • 1901 – Tage Erlander, Swedish lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1985).
  • 1913 – Yitzhak Pundak, Israeli general, diplomat and politician (d. 2017).
  • 1918 – Helmut Lent, German soldier and pilot (d. 1944).
  • 1921 – Lennart Strand, Swedish runner (d. 2004).
  • 1930 – Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and spy (d. 2004).
  • 1933 – Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Defence.
  • 1956 – Sal Paolantonio, American lieutenant and journalist.
  • 1968 – Fabio Baldato, Italian cyclist.
  • 1982 – Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopian runner.
  • 1984 – Antje Möldner-Schmidt, German runner.
  • 2000 – Penny Oleksiak, Canadian swimmer.

People (Deaths)

  • 220 – Xiahou Dun, Chinese general.
  • 1645 – Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese samurai (b. 1584).
  • 1665 – Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, Dutch admiral (b. 1604).
  • 1993 – Gérard Côté, Canadian runner (b. 1913).
  • 1993 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1924).

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