Events on July 13 31
Year 1174
William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
Year 1260
The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Year 1558
Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines.
Year 1643
English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down: In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, heavily defeats the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller.
Year 1787
The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
Year 1793
Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction.
Year 1794
The Battle of the Vosges is fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
Year 1830
The General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India.
Year 1854
In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon.
Year 1863
New York City draft riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
Year 1878
Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
Year 1919
The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.
Year 1923
The Hollywood Sign is dedicated in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. It originally reads "Hollywoodland," but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.
Year 1941
World War II: Montenegrins begin a popular uprising against the Axis powers (Trinaestojulski ustanak).
Year 1956
John McCarthy(Dartmouth College), Marvin Minsky(MIT), Claude Shannon (Bell Labs), and Nathaniel Rochester (IBM) assemble the first coordinated research meeting on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence" at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. USA.
Year 1962
In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.
Year 1973
Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break-in.
Year 1977
New York City: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting.
Year 1985
The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney.
Year 1985
Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon.
Year 2003
French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.
Year 2008
Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001.
Year 2011
Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130.
Year 2011
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of United Nations.
Year 2013
Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan.
Year 2016
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May.