13 October History
- 54 - Nero succeeds his great uncle Claudius, who was murdered by his wife, as the new emperor of Rome.
- 1307 - Members of the Knights of Templar are arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of King Philip the Fair of France.
- 1399 - Henry IV of England is crowned.
- 1670 - Virginia passes a law that blacks arriving in the colonies as Christians cannot be used as slaves.
- 1775 - The Continental Congress authorizes construction of two warships, thus instituting an American naval force.
- 1776 - Benedict Arnold is defeated at Lake Champlain.
- 1792 - President George Washington lays the cornerstone for the White House.
- 1812 - At the Battle of Queenston Heights, a Canadian and British army defeats the American who have tried to invade Canada.
- 1849 - The California state constitution, which prohibits slavery, is signed in Monterey.
- 1903 - Boston defeats Pittsburgh in baseball's first World Series.
- 1904 - Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is published.
- 1942 - In the first of four attacks, two Japanese battleships sail down the slot and shell Henderson field on Guadalcanal, in an unsuccessful effort to destroy the American Cactus Air Force.
- 1943 - Italy declares war on Germany. Allied Agony Anzio.
- 1983 - The Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying seven, the largest crew to date, lands safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
13 October Birthdays
- 1784 - Ferdinand VII, king of Spain.
- 1817 - William Kirby, Canadian writer.
- 1853 - Lillie Langtry, British actress.
- 1890 - Conrad Richter, novelist and short story writer.
- 1907 - Yves Allégret, French film director (Dédée d'Anvers, Une si jolie petite plage).
- 1909 - Herblock (Herbert Lawrence Block), multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist.
- 1910 - Ernest Kellogg Gann, pilot and adventure novelist (Island in the Sky, The High and Mighty).
- 1910 - Art Tatum, American jazz pianist.
- 1925 - Margaret Thatcher, the first female UK prime minister (1979-1990).
- 1926 - Ray Brown, jazz bass player.