January 13: This Day In History

Mawlid al-Nabi (birth of the prophet, Muslim) begins at sundown

532 – Nika riots in Constantinople.1435 – Sicut Dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the Guanche natives in Canary Islands by the Spanish, is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV.1607 – The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.1830 – The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.

1869 – The first Black labor convention, Convention of the Colored National Labor Union, held

1893 – U.S. Marines land in Honolulu, Hawaii from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.

1898 – Émile Zola’s J’accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.

1913 – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.

1915 – An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.

1935 – A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.

1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.

1953 – An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.

1953 – Don Barksdale becomes first Black person to play in an NBA All-Star Game

1964 – Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta, resulting in 100 deaths.

1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member when he is appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

1968 – Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison

1990 – Lawrence Douglas Wilder of Virginia is inaugurated as the first African American to be elected governor in the U.S. Wilder won the election in Virginia by a mere 7,00 votes in a state once the heart of the Confederacy.

1991 – Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding 1000.

1987 – Even Mecham, then governor of Arizona, rescinded the gubernatorial decree by former Governor Bruche Babbit that established the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a state holiday.

2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.