What Happened Whensday: August 13, 2008

This is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 140 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events:

3114 BC - According to the Lounsbury correlation, the Maya calendar starts.

1315 - Louis X of France marries Clemence d'Anjou.

1326 - Aradia de Toscano, according to legend/folklore, is initiated into a Dianic witchcraft cult, subsequently founds the tradition of Stregheria later known as the Malandanti.

1415 - Hundred Years' War: Henry V of England lands at Chef-en-Caux, France with 8000 men.

1516 - Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain signed. In it, Francis recognises Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles recognises Francis's claim to Milan.

1521 - Tenochtitlán (present day Mexico City) falls to conquistador Hernán Cortés.

1536 - Buddhist monks from Kyoto's Enryaku Temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance. (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1536).

1553 - Michael Servetus arrested by John Calvin in Geneva as a heretic.

1704 - War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim - English and Austrians victorious over French and Bavarians.

1814 - The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces, is signed in London.

1913 - Otto Witte, an acrobat, is crowned King of Albania.

1913 - Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.

1918 - Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.
1918 - Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany.

1920 - Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw begins, lasts till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.

1937 - Battle of Shanghai begins.

1938 - Music: Robert Johnson played a show at a roadhouse outside Greenwood, MS. It speculated that Johnson was poisoned by the bar owner. Johnson died several days later.

1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain begins - The Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.

1954 - Radio Pakistan broadcasts National Anthem of Pakistan for the first time.

1960 - The Central African Republic declares independence from France.

1961 - The German Democratic Republic closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin, to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West.

1965 - Music: The Jefferson Airplane made its stage debut at the Matrix Club in San Francisco, CA.

1967 - The Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow Joan Baez to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. because of her opposition to the Vietnam War.

1968 - Alexandros Panagoulis attempts to assassinate the Greek dictator Colonel G. Papadopoulos in Varkiza, Athens.

1979 - The roof of the uncompleted Rosemont Horizon near Chicago, Illinois collapses, killing 5 workers and injuring 16.

1996 - Marc Dutroux, his wife Michelle Martin, and Michel Lelièvre are arrested on suspicion of kidnapping. All are found guilty on June 22, 2004, with sentences of life, 30, and 25 years, respectively.

2004 - Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes Punta Gorda, Florida and devastates the surrounding area.
2004 - Black Friday crackdown by NSS on a peaceful protest in the capital city of Maldives, Malé.
2004 - 156 Congolese Tutsi refugees massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.


Notable Births

1860 - Annie Oakley, American sharpshooter (d. 1926)
1899 - Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (d. 1980)
1912 - Ben Hogan, American golfer (d. 1997)
1926 - Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary and politician
1959 - Danny Bonaduce, American actor
1970 - Elvis Grbac, American football player
1970 - Matt Hyson, American professional wrestler
1970 - Alan Shearer, English footballer
1971 - Moritz Bleibtreu, German actor
1971 - Patrick Carpentier, Quebec race car driver
1975 - Marty Turco, Canadian ice hockey player


Notable Deaths

1910 - Florence Nightingale, English nurse (b. 1820)
1946 - H. G. Wells, English writer (b. 1866)
1989 - Tim Richmond, American race car driver (b. 1955)
1995 - Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (b. 1931)
2004 - Julia Child, American chef and television personality (b. 1912)
2007 - Brian Adams, aka Demolition Crush, American professional wrestler (b. 1964)
2007 - Yone Minagawa, Japanese woman, oldest person (b. 1893)
2007 - Phil Rizzuto, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1917)