April 13: What Happened on This Day in History (High_school Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1204 - Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
2. 1598 - Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots. (Edict repealed in 1685.)
3. 1742 - George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.
4. 1870 - The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.
5. 1943 - The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.
6. 1960 - The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.
7. 1964 - At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
8. 1970 - An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon.
9. 1974 - Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite,Westar 1.
10. 1976 - The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as aFederal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
11. Famous Birthdays: Thomas Jefferson (American politician, 3rd President of the United States), Richard Trevithick (English engineer), Alexander Mitchell (Irish engineer, invented the Screw-pile lighthouse), Robert Watson-Watt (Scottish inventor, invented the Radar), Alfred Mosher Butts (American architect and game designer, created Scrabble)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: April 12

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: April 14

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.