13 January in history

8 events that happened on 13 January, from 532 to 1991.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    532 CE 1,494 years ago

    Nika riots break out in Constantinople

    Rival chariot-racing factions united against Emperor Justinian and burned much of the city. Urged by Empress Theodora not to flee, Justinian had the rising crushed, with some 30,000 killed.

  2. 1128 CE 898 years ago

    Council of Troyes endorses the Knights Templar

    A church council at Troyes, led by a papal legate and inspired by Bernard of Clairvaux, approved a rule for the Knights Templar. The order of warrior monks became a major force in the Crusades.

    Seljuk EmpireCrusades

  3. 1847 CE 179 years ago

    Treaty of Cahuenga ends the fighting in California

    Californio leader Andrés Pico and John C. Frémont signed an informal capitulation near Los Angeles. It ended hostilities in California, which Mexico ceded to the United States in 1848.

    United StatesMexico

  4. 1898 CE 128 years ago

    Émile Zola publishes 'J'accuse...!'

    Zola's open letter in L'Aurore accused the French army of convicting the Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus wrongly and covering up the truth. It turned the Dreyfus affair into a national crisis.

  5. 1915 CE 111 years ago

    Avezzano earthquake devastates central Italy

    A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the Abruzzo region, killing about 30,000 people. In Avezzano itself almost all of the population perished.

  6. 1942 CE 84 years ago

    Henry Ford patents a plastic car body

    Henry Ford received a patent for a car body built from plastic panels on a tubular frame, part of his experiments with materials derived from soybeans. Wartime restrictions ended the project.

  7. 1968 CE 58 years ago

    Johnny Cash performs at Folsom State Prison

    Johnny Cash played two shows for inmates at Folsom Prison in California, recorded for a live album. 'At Folsom Prison' revived his career and became one of the best-known albums in country music.

  8. 1991 CE 35 years ago

    Soviet troops storm the Vilnius television tower

    Soviet forces attacked unarmed crowds defending Lithuanian broadcasting sites in Vilnius, killing 14 civilians. The violence strengthened support for Baltic independence at home and abroad.

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