Historical Events on January 13

  • 1797: After a battle with two British frigates around the Brittany Coast, a French vessel end up running aground during the French Revolutionary War. Over nine people are killed as a result.
  • 1815: During the War of 1812, British forces manage to capture Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia. It’s the only battle of this war that takes place in the state of Georgia.
  • 1830: The Great Fire of New Orleans starts on this date.
  • 1833: In a letter to U.S Vice President Martin Van Buren, U.S President Andrew Jackson expresses his opposition to South Carolina’s defiance of federal authority.
  • 1842: During the First Anglo-Afghan War, Doctor William Brydon becomes famous for being the only person to live out of a camp of forty-five hundred soldiers and over twelve thousand followers.
  • 1888: In Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Society is established.
  • 1893: To prevent Queen Liliuokalani from repealing the Bayonet Constitution, United States Marines land in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • 1942: A plastic automobile is patented by Henry Ford. It’s approximately a third of the weight of a regular vehicle. The plastic car – which is often called the Soybean Car – was sidelined by World War II and never fully developed.
  • 1942: An aircraft ejection seat is used for the first time by German test pilot during World War II.
  • 1968: At Folsom State Prison, Johnny Cash gives his iconic live performance.

Famous Birthdays on January 13

  • German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, Wilhelm Wien is born in 1864.
  • Canadian-American businessman Alfred Fuller is born in 1885.
  • American novelist Edmund White is born in 1940.
  • Americana actor Richard Moll is born in 1943.
  • American actress and comedian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is born in 1961.
  • American singer-songwriter Trace Adkins is born in 1962.
  • American actress Penelope Ann Miller is born in 1964.
  • American actress Nicole Eggert is born in 1972.