This Day in History

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July 13

1249 – Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.

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.

1793 – Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction.

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.

1919 – The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.

1923 – The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.

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.

1968 - Black Sabbath played their first gig at a small backstreet blues club in Birmingham, England.

1969 - Over 100 US radio stations banned The Beatles' new single 'The Balled Of John and Yoko' due to the line "Christ, you know it ain't easy", calling it offensive.

1973 – Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break-in.

1978 - The BBC announced a ban on The Sex Pistols' latest single ‘No One Is Innocent’, which featured vocals by Ronnie Biggs, the British criminal notorious for his part in the Great Train Robbery of 1963. At the time of the recording, Biggs was living in Brazil, and was still wanted by the British authorities, but immune from extradition.

1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Sydney and Moscow.

Duran Duran became the first artists to have a No.1 on the US singles chart with a James Bond theme when 'A View To A Kill', went to the top of the charts.

1990 - Curtis Mayfield was badly injured after a strong gust of wind blew a lighting rig on him during an outside concert in Brooklyn, New York.

1996, Over 2,000 guitar players, including Chet Atkins and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, set a new world record for the largest jam session ever when they played 'Heartbreak Hotel' for 75 minutes at Nashville's Riverfront Park. The previous record was set in Vancouver, Canada on May 7th, 1994, when Randy Bachman led 1,322 amateur guitarists in a performance that lasted 68 minutes.

1997, Red Hot Chili Peppers' singer Anthony Kiedis underwent five hours of hospital surgery after being involved in a motorbike accident in Los Angeles.

A trial against John Denver for drunken driving ended in a hung jury, deadlocked 3-3. Denver's defense attorney argued that the singer suffered from a thyroid condition that had distorted blood alcohol tests.

2004, Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane, bass player with The New York Dolls, died aged 55 after checking himself in to a Los Angeles emergency room, complaining of fatigue. He was quickly diagnosed with leukemia, and died within two hours.

2013 – George Zimmerman is found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

2016 – Theresa May succeeds David Cameron and becomes the second female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Births

1745 – Robert Calder; 1821 – Nathan Bedford Forrest; 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV; 1913 – Dave Garroway; 1924 – Johnny Gilbert; 1928 – Bob Crane; 1935 – Jack Kemp; 1940 – Paul Prudhomme, Patrick Stewart; 1941 – Robert Forster; 1942 – Harrison Ford, Roger McGuinn; 1944 – Ernő Rubik (cube guy); 1946 – Cheech Marin; 1948 – Daphne Maxwell Reid (Fresh Prince of Bel Air); 1951 – Didi Conn; 1954 – Louise Mandrell; 1956 – Michael Spinks; 1957 – Cameron Crowe, Phil Margera (Bam's father); 1962 – Rhonda Vincent; 1963 – Spud Webb; 1964 – Paul Thorn; 1966 – Gerald Levert

Deaths

1793 – Jean-Paul Marat; 1882 – Johnny Ringo; 1890 – John C. Frémont; 1893 – Young Man Afraid of His Horses; 1946 – Alfred Stieglitz; 1954 – Frida Kahlo; 1967 – Tom Simpson; 1993 – Davey Allison; 2004 – Arthur Kane; 2006 – Red Buttons; 2010 – George Steinbrenner; 2012 – Richard D. Zanuck; 2013 – Cory Monteith