On April 13, 1743, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, was born in Shadwell, Va.
In 1598, King Henry IV of France endorsed the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to the Protestant Huguenots. The edict was abrogated in 1685 by King Louis XIV, who declared France entirely Catholic again.
In 1742, Handel’s “Messiah” was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.
In 1860, the Pony Express completed its inaugural run from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., in 10 days.
In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was incorporated in New York. The original museum opened in 1872.
In 1873, the Colfax Massacre or Colfax Riot (as the events are termed on the official state historic marker) occurred on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana.
Estimates of the number of dead varied. Two U.S. Marshals who visited the site on April 15, 1873 and buried dead reported 62 fatalities. A military report to Congress in 1875 identified 81 black men who had been killed by name, and also estimated that 15-20 bodies were thrown into the Red River and another 18 secretly buried - for a grand total of "at least 105." A state historical marker from 1950 noted fatalities as three whites and 150 blacks. Taking into account all available estimates, author Charles Lane has estimated a minimum death toll of 62 and maximum death toll of 81.Via The Divine One, & Wikipedia.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.
In 1954, Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves.
In 1958, American Van Cliburn, 23, won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition for piano in Moscow; Russian Valery Klimov won the violin competition.
In 1960, the U.S. Navy’s Transit 1B navigational satellite was successfully launched into orbit.
In 1965, Lawrence Bradford Jr., a 16-year-old from New York City, started work as the first black page to serve in either chamber of Congress.
In 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. The astronauts managed to return safely. Astronaut Jack Swigert tells Mission Control "we've had a problem."
In 1972, the first major league baseball strike ended, eight days after it began.
In 1984, Christopher Wilder, the FBI's "most wanted man," accidentally killed himself as police moved in to arrest him in New Hampshire. Wilder was a suspect in the deaths, rapes and disappearances of 11 young women in eight states.
In 1986, Pope John Paul II visited the Great Synagogue of Rome in the first recorded papal visit to a Jewish house of worship.
In 1987, the Population Reference Bureau reported that the world's population had exceeded 5 billion.
In 1990, the Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave Lithuania a two-day ultimatum, threatening to cut off some supplies to the Baltic republic if it didn't rescind laws passed since a March 11 declaration of independence.
In 1991, an advance team of U.N. observers arrived in Kuwait City to set up a peacekeeping force along the Kuwait-Iraqi border.
In 1992, the Great Chicago Flood took place as the city’s century-old tunnel system and adjacent basements filled with water from the Chicago River.
In 1997, Tiger Woods, 21, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.
In 1999, Dr. Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Mich., to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of a Lou Gehrig's disease patient whose assisted suicide in 1998 was videotaped and shown on "60 Minutes." (Kevorkian ended up serving eight years.)
In 2000, President Bill Clinton, during a question-and-answer session with newspaper editors, heatedly said “I’m not ashamed” about being impeached and said he was “not interested” in being pardoned for any alleged crimes in the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Whitewater investigation.
In 2004, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said in Beijing that the United States doesn't support independence for Taiwan. Conceding a couple of "tough weeks in Iraq," President George W. Bush signaled he was ready to put more American troops on the front lines and use decisive force if necessary to restore order despite "gut-wrenching" televised images of fallen Americans. Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball's career list. Swimmer Michael Phelps won the 2003 Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete.
In 2005, as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, a defiant Eric Rudolph, in back-to-back court appearances in Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta, pleaded guilty to carrying out four bombings that killed two people and injured more than 120. Among the attacks were the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and two abortion clinics. Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison. Contract worker Jeffrey Ake was shown at gunpoint on a videotape aired by Al-Jazeera television, two days after he was kidnapped near Baghdad. Gymnast Paul Hamm received the 75th Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete.
In 2007, U.S. regulators sought to determine whether a chemical was intentionally added in China to wheat gluten destined for pet food. Contaminated wheat gluten was in food reported linked to numerous deaths of dogs and cats in North America and prompted the recall of more than 90 brands of pet food.
In 2008, about 1,300 Iraqi police officers and soldiers were fired in Basra and Kut for failing to fight Shiite militias, the Iraqi government announced. Some were said to have merely switched sides during the battle. World Bank President Robert Zoellick urged immediate action to deal with mounting food prices that had caused hunger and deadly violence in several countries. Trevor Immelman won the Masters, becoming the first South African to wear a green jacket in 30 years. A construction worker's bid to curse the New York Yankees by planting a Boston Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled when the home team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot. Physicist John A. Wheeler, who coined the term "black holes," died in Hightstown, N.J., at age 96. Also in 2008, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said it would recount ballots in 23 constituencies where the presidential totals in the March 29 voting were disputed, further delaying official results.
In 2009, the U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea’s April 5 rocket launch. President Barack Obama allowed Americans to make unlimited transfers of money and visits to relatives in Cuba, and said he was determined to halt the surge of piracy in the Indian Ocean off the Somalia coast. Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark “The Bird” Fidrych died in an accident on his Massachusetts farm; he was 54. Harry Kalas, whose “Outta here!” home run calls thrilled Philadelphia baseball fans, died after collapsing in the broadcast booth before the Phillies’ 9-8 victory over the Nationals in Washington; he was 73.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Stanley Donen is 86. Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., is 77. Actor Lyle Waggoner is 75. Actor Edward Fox is 73. Playwright Lanford Wilson is 73. Actor Paul Sorvino is 71. Poet Seamus Heaney is 71. Movie-TV composer Bill Conti is 68. Rock musician Jack Casady is 66. Actor Tony Dow is 65. Singer Al Green is 64. Author-journalist Christopher Hitchens is 61. Actor Ron Perlman is 60. Actor William Sadler is 60. Singer Peabo Bryson is 59. Bandleader/rock musician Max Weinberg is 59. Bluegrass singer-musician Sam Bush is 58. Rock musician Jimmy Destri is 56. Singer-musician Louis Johnson (The Brothers Johnson) is 55. Comedian Gary Kroeger is 53. Actress Saundra Santiago is 53. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., is 50. Rock musician Joey Mazzola (Sponge) is 49. Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov is 47. Actress Page Hannah is 46. Actress-comedian Caroline Rhea is 46. Rock musician Lisa Umbarger is 45. Rock musician Marc Ford is 44. Reggae singer Capleton is 43. Actor Ricky Schroder is 40. Rock singer Aaron Lewis (Staind) is 38. Actor Bokeem Woodbine is 37. Singer Lou Bega is 35. Actor-producer Glenn Howerton is 34. Basketball player Baron Davis is 31. Actress Courtney Peldon is 29. Pop singer Nellie McKay is 28.
Born This Date:
British anti-government conspirator Guy Fawkes (1570); Frank Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime stores (1852); outlaw Butch Cassidy (1866); Alfred Butts, inventor of "Scrabble" (1899); Irish playwright Samuel Beckett (1906); Harold Stassen, former Minnesota governor who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination seven times (1907); author Eudora Welty (1909); actor/singer Howard Keel and atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair (both 1919); actor Don Adams (1923).
13 April In Entertainment
In 1964, the movie "Tom Jones" won the best picture and best director Academy Awards. Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Oscar, for his work in the movie "Lilies of the Field."
In 1965, the Song of the Year Grammy Award went to "Hello, Dolly." The Beatles captured the best new artist award and won the best group performance award for "A Hard Day's Night."
In 1967, The Rolling Stones played their first concert behind the Iron Curtain, in Warsaw, Poland. Riot police had to step in to deal with 2,000 people who weren't able to get tickets.
In 1971, The Rolling Stones released "Brown Sugar," the first record on their own label, Rolling Stone Records.
In 1979, singer David Lee Roth of Van Halen collapsed onstage in Spokane, Washington, due to exhaustion. [Spokane can take it out of you. — Ed.]
In 1989, entertainer Jack Jones received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He's probably best known for singing the "Love Boat" theme. [Telly Savalas's favorite crooner. — Ed.]
In 2000, Metallica sued the online song-swapping service Napster for copyright infringement.
In 2009, music producer Phil Spector was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. It was his second trial. His first ended in mistrial. He was later sentenced to 19 years to life in prison.
Thought for Today: “Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better.” — Samuel Beckett, Irish playwright and author born this date in 1906, died in 1989.
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