13 November History
- 1474 - In the Swiss-Burgundian Wars, Swiss infantry shatters the army of Charles the Bold at Hericourt near Belfort, countering his march to Lorraine.
- 1835 - Texans officially proclaim independence from Mexico, and calls itself the Lone Star Republic, after its flag, until its admission to the Union in 1845.
- 1851 - The London-to-Paris telegraph begins operation.
- 1860 - South Carolina's legislature calls a special convention to discuss secession from the Union.
- 1862 - Lewis Carroll writes in his diary, "Began writing the fairy-tale of Alice–I hope to finish it by Christmas."
- 1878 - New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace offers amnesty to many participants of the Lincoln County War, but not to gunfighter Billy the Kid.
- 1897 - The first metal dirigible is flown from Tempelhof Field in Berlin.
- 1907 - Paul Corno achieves the first helicopter flight.
- 1914 - The brassiere, invented by Caresse Crosby, is patented.
- 1927 - New York's Holland Tunnel officially opens for traffic.
- 1940 - U.S. Supreme Court rules in Hansberry v. Lee that African Americans cannot be barred from white neighborhoods.
- 1941 - A German U-boat, the U-81 torpedoes Great Britain's premier aircraft carrier, the HMS Ark Royal. The ship sinks the next day.
- 1942 - Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower flies to Algeria to conclude an agreement with French Admiral Jean Darlan..
- 1945 - Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France.
- 1952 - Harvard's Paul Zoll becomes the first man to use electric shock to treat cardiac arrest.
- 1956 - The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously strikes down two Alabama laws requiring racial segregation on public buses.
13 November Birthdays
- 354 - Saint Augustine, Christian theologian and philosopher.
- 1312 - Edward III, King of England who won victories against such renowned foes as Baybars, Llewellyn and Wallace.
- 1850 - Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and poet (Treasure Island, Kidnapped).
- 1856 - Louis Brandeis, the first Jew to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 1909 - Eugene Ionesco, Romanian-born dramatist (The Bald Soprano, Rhinoceros).