December 13
1642 - New Zealand is discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.
1862 - Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside launched futile attacks against entrenched Confederate soldiers during the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg; the soundly defeated Northern troops withdrew two days later.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson arrives 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 labor movement. (Martial law formally ended in 1983.)
1989 - South African president F.W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela for the first time.
1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana was chosen to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
2000 - Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency a day after the U.S. Supreme Court shut down further recounts of disputed ballots in Florida; Democrat Al Gore conceded, delivering a call for national unity.
2001 - The Pentagon publicly released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the September 11 attacks exceeded his “most optimistic” expectations.
2002 - President George W. Bush announced he would take the smallpox vaccine along with U.S. military forces, but was not recommending the potentially risky inoculation for most Americans.
2003 - American forces captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
2012 - U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew from consideration to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton after running into opposition from Republicans over her explanation of the September attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. (Rice had said the attack stemmed from a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islamic video, an assertion which later proved incorrect.)
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.
2017 - Congressional Republicans reached agreement on a major overhaul of the nation’s tax laws that would provide generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans; middle- and low-income families would get smaller tax cuts.
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.
2020 - The first vials of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 began making their way to distribution sites across the United States.
2021 - The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted to pursue contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; lawmakers also revealed a series of frantic texts he received as the attack was under way, in which members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even President Donald Trump’s son urged Meadows to push Trump to act quickly to stop the siege by his supporters. (The House voted to hold Meadows in contempt, but the Justice Department declined to prosecute.)
2021 - The Air Force said it had discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine; they were believed to be the first service members removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
Birthdays
27 - Emma Corrin (actress)
33 - Taylor Swift (singer)
33 - Katherine Schwarzenegger (author)
35 - Michael Socha (actor)
36 - Amanda Elise Lee (model)
41 - Amy Lee (singer)
41 - Chelsea Hertford (actress)
47 - James Kyson Lee (actor)
48 - Debbie Matenopoulos (TV host)
48 - Ashley Hosbach (reality star)
51 - Jeffrey Pierce (actor)
52 - Bart Johnson (actor)
55 - Jamie Foxx (actor/comedian)
56 - NeNe Leakes (actress/reality star)
63 - Johnny Whitaker (actor)
65 - Steve Buscemi (actor)
68 - John Anderson (singer)
72 - Wendie Malick (actress)
73 - Robert Lindsay (actor)
74 - Ted Nugent (singer)
77 - Kathy Garver (actress)
81 - John Davidson (singer)
92 - Buck White (singer)
97 - Dick Van Dyke (actor/comedian)
======================================
Today in Sports History - December 13
1936 - The Redskins played their last game in Boston, losing to the Green Bay Packers 21-6 in the NFL Championship Game. The next season the Redskins began playing in Washington, DC.
1942 - The Washington Redskins defeat 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.
1956 - Jackie Robinson (Los Angeles Dodgers) was traded to the Giants for pitcher Dick Littlefield and $35,000. Robinson retired instead of accepting the trade.
1977 - Fourteen members of the University of Evansville men's basketball team die in a plane crash.
1983 - An NBA record was set when the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets played a triple overtime that resulted in Pistons winning 186-184.
1995 - Paul Coffey (Detroit Red Wings) became the first NHL defenseman to reach 1,000 career points.
1997 - Michigan defensive back 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 set a new Colts record for total yards from scrimmage in a season with 2,090. The record had been held by Eric Dickerson with 2,036.
1999 - Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne wins the Heisman Trophy.
2003 - Oklahoma quarterback Jason White wins the Heisman Trophy.
2007 - Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report was released, identifying 85 names to differing degrees in connection with the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.
2010 - Auburn quarterback Cam Newton wins the Heisman Trophy.
2014 - Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy.
2015 - Alabama running back Derrick Henry wins the Heisman Trophy.
2018 - Dirk Nowitzki takes the floor for his record 21st season in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant's record of 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
1642 - New Zealand is discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman.
1862 - Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside launched futile attacks against entrenched Confederate soldiers during the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg; the soundly defeated Northern troops withdrew two days later.
1918 - President Woodrow Wilson arrives 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 labor movement. (Martial law formally ended in 1983.)
1989 - South African president F.W. de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela for the first time.
1996 - Kofi Annan of Ghana was chosen to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
2000 - Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency a day after the U.S. Supreme Court shut down further recounts of disputed ballots in Florida; Democrat Al Gore conceded, delivering a call for national unity.
2001 - The Pentagon publicly released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the September 11 attacks exceeded his “most optimistic” expectations.
2002 - President George W. Bush announced he would take the smallpox vaccine along with U.S. military forces, but was not recommending the potentially risky inoculation for most Americans.
2003 - American forces captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
2012 - U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew from consideration to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton after running into opposition from Republicans over her explanation of the September attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. (Rice had said the attack stemmed from a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islamic video, an assertion which later proved incorrect.)
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.
2017 - Congressional Republicans reached agreement on a major overhaul of the nation’s tax laws that would provide generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans; middle- and low-income families would get smaller tax cuts.
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.
2020 - The first vials of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 began making their way to distribution sites across the United States.
2021 - The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted to pursue contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; lawmakers also revealed a series of frantic texts he received as the attack was under way, in which members of Congress, Fox News anchors and even President Donald Trump’s son urged Meadows to push Trump to act quickly to stop the siege by his supporters. (The House voted to hold Meadows in contempt, but the Justice Department declined to prosecute.)
2021 - The Air Force said it had discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine; they were believed to be the first service members removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots.
Birthdays
27 - Emma Corrin (actress)
33 - Taylor Swift (singer)
33 - Katherine Schwarzenegger (author)
35 - Michael Socha (actor)
36 - Amanda Elise Lee (model)
41 - Amy Lee (singer)
41 - Chelsea Hertford (actress)
47 - James Kyson Lee (actor)
48 - Debbie Matenopoulos (TV host)
48 - Ashley Hosbach (reality star)
51 - Jeffrey Pierce (actor)
52 - Bart Johnson (actor)
55 - Jamie Foxx (actor/comedian)
56 - NeNe Leakes (actress/reality star)
63 - Johnny Whitaker (actor)
65 - Steve Buscemi (actor)
68 - John Anderson (singer)
72 - Wendie Malick (actress)
73 - Robert Lindsay (actor)
74 - Ted Nugent (singer)
77 - Kathy Garver (actress)
81 - John Davidson (singer)
92 - Buck White (singer)
97 - Dick Van Dyke (actor/comedian)
======================================
Today in Sports History - December 13
1936 - The Redskins played their last game in Boston, losing to the Green Bay Packers 21-6 in the NFL Championship Game. The next season the Redskins began playing in Washington, DC.
1942 - The Washington Redskins defeat 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.
1956 - Jackie Robinson (Los Angeles Dodgers) was traded to the Giants for pitcher Dick Littlefield and $35,000. Robinson retired instead of accepting the trade.
1977 - Fourteen members of the University of Evansville men's basketball team die in a plane crash.
1983 - An NBA record was set when the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets played a triple overtime that resulted in Pistons winning 186-184.
1995 - Paul Coffey (Detroit Red Wings) became the first NHL defenseman to reach 1,000 career points.
1997 - Michigan defensive back 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 set a new Colts record for total yards from scrimmage in a season with 2,090. The record had been held by Eric Dickerson with 2,036.
1999 - Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne wins the Heisman Trophy.
2003 - Oklahoma quarterback Jason White wins the Heisman Trophy.
2007 - Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report was released, identifying 85 names to differing degrees in connection with the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.
2010 - Auburn quarterback Cam Newton wins the Heisman Trophy.
2014 - Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wins the Heisman Trophy.
2015 - Alabama running back Derrick Henry wins the Heisman Trophy.
2018 - Dirk Nowitzki takes the floor for his record 21st season in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant's record of 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
