It happened today – this day in history – September 13
122AD: Building begins on Hadrian’s Wall.
1503: Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.
1574: The Turkish fleet recaptures Tunis.
1660: Novelist Daniel Defoe is born in London.
1743: Britain, Austria and Savoye-Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms.
1759: The British beat French forces at the Plains of Abrahams, Quebec.
1845: Chemist Michael Faraday discovers the influence of a magnetic field on polarized light. It becomes known as the Faraday Effect.
1847: US General Winfield Scott captures Mexico City in the American-Mexican War.
1849: Tom McCoy is the first fatality in a US prize fight.
1866: Willie Park Sr. wins the British Open golf at Prestwick.
1874: Composer and artist Arnold Schoenberg is born in Vienna.
1882: British troops invade Egypt.
1894: Writer J. B. Priestly is born in Bradford.
1898: 20,000 construction workers go on strike in Paris.
1900: Filipino resistance fighters defeat a small American column in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine-American War.
1906: The first airplane flight in Europe.
1907: The RMS Lusitania arrives in New York City aftera record five-day crossing of Atlantic.
1916: Author Roald Dahl is born in Cardiff.
1931: Capt G H Stainworth flies world speed record of 655kph.
1942: German forces attack Stalingrad.
1943: The Municipal Theatre of Corfu is destroyed during an aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe.
1944: Amon Goth is removed as head of Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp by the SS for stealing state property. He is executed by hanging on the same day in 1946.
1947: T-Bone Walker records the song Stormy Monday.
1952: Adolfo Ruiz Cortinez is elected president of Mexico.
1955: Swiss inventor George de Mestral is granted a patent for what would become known as Velcro.
1956: Igor Stravinsky’s “Canticum Sacrum,” premieres in Venice.
1958: Cliff Richard makes his British TV debut on ‘Oh Boy’, performing ‘Move It’. Before he was allowed to appear on the show, he was ordered to remove his sideburns.
1959: The USSR’s Luna 2 becomes the first probe to contact another celestial body when it crashes onto the surface of the Moon.
1960: The Federal Communications act in the USA was amended to outlaw payments of cash or gifts in exchange for airplay of records.
1961: The unmanned Mercury-Atlas 4 rocket is launched into Earth orbit.
1963: Graham Nash falls out of The Hollies’ van as it travels at 40mph after a gig in Scotland.
1965: The Beatles win their first Grammy Award for Best Group of 1964.
1966: Johannes Balthazar Vorster is sworn in as premier of South Africa.
1970: The first New York Marathon is won by Gary Muhrcke in 2:31:38.
Singles chart:
- Band Of Gold – Freda Payne
- Tears Of A Clown – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
- Give Me Just A Little More Time – Chairman Of The Board
- The Wonder Of You – Elvis Presley
- Mama Told Me Not To Come – Three Dog Night
- Love Is Life – Hot Chocolate
- Make It With You – Bread
- You Can Get It If You Really Want – Desmond Dekker
- Wild World – Jimmy Cliff
- Which Way You Goin’ Billy – The Poppy Family

Album chart:
- Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out – The Rolling Stones
- Bridge Over Troubled Water – Sinom and Garfunkel
- Cosmo’s Factory – Credence Clearwater Survival
- A Question Of Balance – The Moody Blues
- Paint Your Wagon – Original Soundtrack
- Led Zeppelin II – Led Zeppelin
- Original Greatest Hits – The Everly Brothers
- Easy Rider – Original Soundtrack
- World Of Johnny Cash – Johnny Cash
- On Stage February 1970 – Elvis Presley
1971: Two loyalists are mortally injured when the bomb they were preparing explodes prematurely in a house in Bann Street, Belfast.
1977: The second test flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
1980: A bear who went missing on a Scottish island while being filmed for a Kleenex television commercial is recaptured.
1982: Lindy Chamberlain appeared in court in Australia charged with the murder of her nine-week old baby, Azaria, who she said had been carried off by a dingo on a visit to Ayers Rock in Northern Terrritory.
1985: Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros game first appears.
1989: Archbishop Desmond Tutu leads the biggest anti-apartheid protest march in South Africa.
1990: Iraqi troops storm the residence of the French ambassador in Kuwait.
1993: The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, shake hands on the White House lawn after agreeing to a peace deal brokered by US President Bill Clinton.
1996: Rapper Tupac Shakur died after being shot six days earlier as he was driving through Las Vegas.
2001: Iain Duncan Smith becomes leader of the Tory Party.
2010: George Michael was sent to jail for eight weeks after being convicted of driving under the influence of drugs and possessing cannabis.
2015: Germany introduces temporary border controls to cope with huge migrant numbers.
2017: The International Olympic Committee announces Paris will host the Olympic Games in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028. On the same day, actress and qualified lawyer Rebel Wilson is awarded $4.56 million in damages in a libel case against Bauer Media in Melbourne, the largest defamation payout in Australia.
2018: Spanish parliament votes to exhume former dictator Francisco Franco from the Valley of the Fallen.
2019: Actress Felicity Huffman is sentenced to 14 days in prison for her role in a US college admissions scandal.
BIRTHDAYS: Barbara Bain (Mildred Fogel) actress, 89; David Clayton-Thomas, singer (Blood Sweat and Tears) 79; Jacqueline Bisset, actress, 76; Peter Cetera, singer-songwriter (Chicago) 76; Don Was (Fagenson), musician/producer, 68; Dave Mustaine, guitarist (Megadeth) 57; Zak Starkey, drummer (Oasis/The Who), 55; Michael Johnson, athlete, 53; Shane Warne, Australian cricketer, 51; Bong Joon-ho, director, 51; Goran Ivanišević, Croatian tennis player, 49; Stella McCartney, fashion designer, 49; Fiona Apple, singer-songwriter, 43; James Bourne, singer, songwriter (Busted) 37; Thomas Müller, German footballer, 31; Niall Horan, singer (One Direction) 27.