December 13
1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.
1769 - Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter.
1862 - Confederate forces dealt Union forces a major defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in office.
1937 - The Chinese city of Nanjing fell to Japanese forces during the Sino-Japanese War; what followed was a massacre of war prisoners, soldiers and citizens. (China maintains that up to 300,000 people were killed; Japanese nationalists say the death toll was far lower, and some maintain the massacre never happened.)
1978 - The U.S. Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first U.S. coin honoring a woman.
1981 - The Polish government imposed martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.
1988 - PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.
1989 - South African President F.W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela for the first time.
1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana was chosen to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
2000 - Republican George W. Bush accepted the presidency, 36 days after the election; Vice President Al Gore conceded.
2001 - The Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his "most optimistic" expectations.
2001 - Five suspected Islamic militants killed nine people in an attack on India's parliament before being killed themselves.
2001 - President George W. Bush served formal notice that the United States was pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.
2002 - Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as Boston archbishop because of the priest sex abuse scandal.
2003 - American forces captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who was hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
2007 - Shareholders of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, approved a takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
2010 - President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul hit its first major legal roadblock as a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia declared that the law's central requirement that nearly all Americans carry insurance was unconstitutional.
2014 - Thousands of protesters marched in New York, Washington and other U.S. cities to call attention to the killing of unarmed Black men by white police officers who faced no criminal charges.
2019 - The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment accusing President Donald Trump of abuse of power in his dealings with Ukraine and obstruction of Congress in the investigation that followed.
Birthdays
31 - Taylor Swift (singer)
32 - Marcel Spears (actor)
32 - Rickie Fowler (golfer)
33 - Michael Socha (actor)
39 - Chelsea Hertford (actress)
39 - Amy Lee (singer)
41 - Kimee Balmilero (actress)
45 - James Kyson Lee (actor)
46 - Debbie Matenopoulos (TV personality)
49 - Jeffrey Pierce (actor)
50 - Bart Johnson (actor)
53 - Lusia Strus (actress)
53 - Jamie Foxx (actor/comedian)
54 - NeNe Leakes (actress/reality star)
61 - Johnny Whitaker (actor)
63 - Steve Buscemi (actor)
64 - Morris Day (singer/actor)
66 - Steve Forbert (singer)
66 - John Anderson (country singer)
70 - Wendie Malick (actor)
71 - Robert Lindsay (actor)
72 - Ted Nugent (singer)
75 - Kathy Garver (actress)
79 - John Davidson (singer)
91 - Christopher Plummer (actor)
95 - Dick Van Dyke (actor/comedian)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 13
1931 - The Green Bay Packers were named NFL champions after having finished the season with the league's best record (12-2).
1936 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the Boston Redskins 21-6 to win the NFL Championship Game; it was the final game in Boston for the Patriots, who moved to Washington, D.C. the next year.
1942 - The Washington Redskins upset the Chicago Bears 14-6 to win the NFL Championship Game.
1949 - The American League rejected a revival of the spitball, which had been outlawed since 1920.
1966 - The television rights for the first four Super Bowls were sold to CBS and NBC for a total of $9.5 million.
1977 - Air Indiana Flight 216, a DC-3 carrying the University of Evansville basketball team on a flight to Nashville, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 29 people on board.
1983 - An NBA record was set when the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets played a triple overtime game that resulted in the Pistons winning 186-184.
1995 - Paul Coffey (Detroit Red Wings) became the first NHL defenseman to reach 1,000 career points.
1997 - Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson wins the Heisman Trophy.
1998 - Gary Anderson (Minnesota Vikings) kicked six field goals against Baltimore. In the game Anderson set an NFL record for 34 straight field goals without a miss.
1998 - Marshall Faulk of the Indianapolis Colts set a new record for total yards from scrimmage in a season with 2,090, breaking the previous mark of 2,036 set by Eric Dickerson.
1999 - Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne wins the Heisman Trophy.
2003 - Oklahoma quarterback Jason White wins the Heisman Trophy.
2007 - The Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was released, implicating seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars.
2014 - Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy.
2018 - German basketball forward Dirk Nowitzki takes the court for his record 21st NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
1642 - New Zealand was discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.
1769 - Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter.
1862 - Confederate forces dealt Union forces a major defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Europe while in office.
1937 - The Chinese city of Nanjing fell to Japanese forces during the Sino-Japanese War; what followed was a massacre of war prisoners, soldiers and citizens. (China maintains that up to 300,000 people were killed; Japanese nationalists say the death toll was far lower, and some maintain the massacre never happened.)
1978 - The U.S. Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first U.S. coin honoring a woman.
1981 - The Polish government imposed martial law in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement.
1988 - PLO chairman Yasser Arafat addressed the U.N. General Assembly in Geneva, where it had reconvened after the United States refused to grant Arafat a visa to visit New York.
1989 - South African President F.W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela for the first time.
1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana was chosen to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
2000 - Republican George W. Bush accepted the presidency, 36 days after the election; Vice President Al Gore conceded.
2001 - The Pentagon released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his "most optimistic" expectations.
2001 - Five suspected Islamic militants killed nine people in an attack on India's parliament before being killed themselves.
2001 - President George W. Bush served formal notice that the United States was pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia.
2002 - Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as Boston archbishop because of the priest sex abuse scandal.
2003 - American forces captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who was hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
2007 - Shareholders of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, approved a takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
2010 - President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul hit its first major legal roadblock as a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia declared that the law's central requirement that nearly all Americans carry insurance was unconstitutional.
2014 - Thousands of protesters marched in New York, Washington and other U.S. cities to call attention to the killing of unarmed Black men by white police officers who faced no criminal charges.
2019 - The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment accusing President Donald Trump of abuse of power in his dealings with Ukraine and obstruction of Congress in the investigation that followed.
Birthdays
31 - Taylor Swift (singer)
32 - Marcel Spears (actor)
32 - Rickie Fowler (golfer)
33 - Michael Socha (actor)
39 - Chelsea Hertford (actress)
39 - Amy Lee (singer)
41 - Kimee Balmilero (actress)
45 - James Kyson Lee (actor)
46 - Debbie Matenopoulos (TV personality)
49 - Jeffrey Pierce (actor)
50 - Bart Johnson (actor)
53 - Lusia Strus (actress)
53 - Jamie Foxx (actor/comedian)
54 - NeNe Leakes (actress/reality star)
61 - Johnny Whitaker (actor)
63 - Steve Buscemi (actor)
64 - Morris Day (singer/actor)
66 - Steve Forbert (singer)
66 - John Anderson (country singer)
70 - Wendie Malick (actor)
71 - Robert Lindsay (actor)
72 - Ted Nugent (singer)
75 - Kathy Garver (actress)
79 - John Davidson (singer)
91 - Christopher Plummer (actor)
95 - Dick Van Dyke (actor/comedian)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - December 13
1931 - The Green Bay Packers were named NFL champions after having finished the season with the league's best record (12-2).
1936 - The Green Bay Packers defeated the Boston Redskins 21-6 to win the NFL Championship Game; it was the final game in Boston for the Patriots, who moved to Washington, D.C. the next year.
1942 - The Washington Redskins upset the Chicago Bears 14-6 to win the NFL Championship Game.
1949 - The American League rejected a revival of the spitball, which had been outlawed since 1920.
1966 - The television rights for the first four Super Bowls were sold to CBS and NBC for a total of $9.5 million.
1977 - Air Indiana Flight 216, a DC-3 carrying the University of Evansville basketball team on a flight to Nashville, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 29 people on board.
1983 - An NBA record was set when the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets played a triple overtime game that resulted in the Pistons winning 186-184.
1995 - Paul Coffey (Detroit Red Wings) became the first NHL defenseman to reach 1,000 career points.
1997 - Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson wins the Heisman Trophy.
1998 - Gary Anderson (Minnesota Vikings) kicked six field goals against Baltimore. In the game Anderson set an NFL record for 34 straight field goals without a miss.
1998 - Marshall Faulk of the Indianapolis Colts set a new record for total yards from scrimmage in a season with 2,090, breaking the previous mark of 2,036 set by Eric Dickerson.
1999 - Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne wins the Heisman Trophy.
2003 - Oklahoma quarterback Jason White wins the Heisman Trophy.
2007 - The Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was released, implicating seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars.
2014 - Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy.
2018 - German basketball forward Dirk Nowitzki takes the court for his record 21st NBA season with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
