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Today in History: July 13

1099
The Crusaders launch their final assault on Jerusalem.

1534
Ottoman armies capture Tabriz in northwestern Persia.

1558
Led by the Count of Egmont, the Spanish army defeats the French at Gravelines, France.

1585
A group of 108 English colonists, led by Sir Richard Grenville, reaches Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

1643
In England, the Roundheads, led by Sir William Waller, are defeated by Royalist troops under Lord Wilmot in the Battle of Roundway Down.

1754
George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to the French, leaving them in control of the Ohio Valley.

1787
Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, enacts the Northwest Ordinance, establishing rules for governing the Northwest Territory, for admitting new states to the Union and limiting the expansion of slavery.

1798
English poet William Wordsworth visits the ruins of Tintern Abbey.

1832
Henry Schoolcraft discovers the source of the Mississippi River in Minnesota.

1862
Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Union army at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

1863
Opponents of the draft begin three days of rioting in New York City.

1866
The Great Eastern begins a two week voyage to complete a 12-year effort to lay telegraph cable across the Atlantic between Britain and the United States.

1878
The Congress of Berlin divides the Balkans among European powers.

1939
Frank Sinatra records his first song, "From the Bottom of My Heart," with the Harry James Band.

1941
Britain and the Soviet Union sign a mutual aid pact, providing the means for Britain to send war materiel to the Soviet Union.

1954
In Geneva, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and France reach an accord on Indochina, dividing Vietnam into two countries, North and South, along the 17th parallel.

1971
The Army of Morocco executes 10 leaders accused of leading a revolt.


Today in History: Born on July 13
1793
John Clare, English poet.

1886
Edward J. Flanagan, Catholic priest, founder of Boys' Town.

1928
Robert N.C. Nix, Jr., first African-American chief justice of a state supreme court.

1933
David Storey, English novelist (The Sporting Life).

1934
Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian playwright.


1935
Jack Kemp, football player, politician.

JOTD
Murphy goes into the confessional box after years of being away from the Church. He pulls aside the curtain, enters and sits himself down. There’s a fully equipped bar with crystal glasses, the best vestry wine, Guinness on tap, cigars and liqueur chocolates nearby. And on the wall a fine photographic display of various women who appear to have misplaced their garments. He hears a priest come in. “Father, forgive I think its been a while since I’ve been to confession and to be sure I must say that the confessional box is much better than it used to be. The priest replies, “Get out, you idiot. You’re on my side!”