Important Events From This day in History March 13th

 

1997 U.S.A. Phoenix Lights

1997 : Thousands of people report seeing a huge carpenter's square-shaped UFO including the Arizona Republican governor Fife Symington the phenomena is known as the Phoenix Lights and although many theories have been put forward for what the lights were, many of those that saw them are still convinced they were a V-shaped UFO.

1996 Scotland Dunblane Massacre

1996 : In Dunblane, Scotland Thomas Hamilton bursts into the gymnasium of the Dunblane Primary School with four guns and opens fire on a kindergarten class killing Sixteen children and their teacher . Hamilton was known to have a history of drug use. He also had resigned from his position as a Boy Scout leader in the 1980s, due to “improper behavior”. As a result stricter gun laws were passed in Great Britain.

1936 U.S.A. Boulder Dam

1936 : Work on the Boulder Dam is now complete two years ahead of schedule . The Dam is 727ft high, 600ft Thick at the base, 4 million cubic yards of concrete were used in it's construction and has taken 5 years to complete at a cost of $115,000,000 .The Dam is just 25 miles from Las Vegas and will provide power and water needs to the growing city. The name will be changed from the Boulder Dam to the Hoover Dam.

More about the Boulder Dam

1942 World War II K9 corps

1942 : The K9 corps begins training dogs for use in warfare, often used to carry messages close to the enemy front and as scout dogs which would bark when intruder was detected.

1925 U.S.A. The Butler Act

1925 : A law goes in to place that makes it illegal to teach the theory of evolution in Tennessee schools ( The Butler Act ). In the next few years teachers who continued teaching evolution were prosecuted under this act. The basis of the Butler act was that by teaching evolution teachers would be denying the literal Biblical account of man’s origin. The law stayed in place until it was repealed in 1967

1915 France Award For General

1915 : A special military service award was given to General Michael Maunoury, a French leader who was wounded while expecting German trenches during the First World War. Maunoury was struck by a bullet that had broken his jaw and ruined his left eye.

1920 U.S.A. Beef Improvements

1920 : Improvements in the type and quality of beef were proposed by the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). USDA tips given to farmers included the following: providing enough feed and pasture, proper breeding procedures, correct fattening techniques, and adequate shelter. Farmers were also advised as how to decide whether cattle would produce suitable beef. For instance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture urged farmers to use pure bread registered bull in order for choice calves to be born consistently. Replacing old cows with heifer calves was also sometimes necessary for breeding in order to ensure quality meat production. Work also needed to be done in order to prevent disease to the flock of cattle as well.

1930 U.S.A. Clyde Tombaugh

1930 : Clyde Tombaugh, an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, discovers the ninth planet Pluto.

1938 U.S.A. When the Saints Go Marching In

1938 : Louis Armstrong and his orchestra record “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It becomes a big hit for among their list of other hits.

1938 Germany and Austria Join Forces

1938 : It was made known that Germany and Austria joined forces. Hitler defied anyone who “dared” to tear these two countries apart.

1948 U.S.A. Last of The Old West

1948 : According to an article dated this date, unregistered firearms were no longer in Bingham Canyon, Utah. This mountain mining camp town was the last town of the “Old West” to make it illegal to carry a firearm without a license.

1949 U.S.A. Imperial Records

1949 : Imperial Records is created in Los Angeles, California. Lew Chudd creates the company that became famous for distributing recordings of some of music's greatest icons, including Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson and many others.

1957 Vatican Pilgrims

1957 : Over 10,000 church pilgrims along with perish staff witnessed the 18th Anniversary celebration of the date that Pope Pius XII was crowned. Prominent guests that attended this event included Irish President Sean T. O’ Kelley, Spanish Foreign Minister Fernando Maria Castiella. Numerous ambassadors along with a total of 14 cardinals also were present.

1957 England Plane Crash

1957 : A BEA Viscount 701 crashes on the edge of Manchester Ringway airport, close to a housing estate killing 22 passengers.

1957 U.S.A. Jimmy Hoffa

1957 : Union leader Jimmy Hoffa is Charged with attempting to Bribe Lawyer.

1961 UK Spy Ring

1961 : Three men and two women go on trial at the Old Bailey charged with plotting to pass official secrets to the Russians breaking the Official Secrets Act. The trial of the accused known as the Portland Spy Ring ( because they all worked in and around the Portland area with some of the accused working as civil servants at the Underwater Weapons Establishment in Dorset ) lasted about two weeks. One of the things they were selling the Russians included the plans HMS Dreadnought, Britain's first nuclear submarine. The five accused were Gordon Lonsdale, Henry Houghton, Peter Kroger, Helen Kroger, and Ethel Gee. They were all found guilty and sentenced to terms up to 20 years.

1969 U.S.A. The Love Bug

1969 : The Love Bug, a popular Disney movie, was released on this day for the first time. It was a movie that featured the Volkswagen Beetle, a very popular German car.

1970 United Kingdom Voting Age Reduced

1970 : The first election in the UK following the lowering of voting age from 21 to 18 in January takes place in the Bridgwater by-election.

1972 U.S.A. the Hopelands

1972 : According to a report made on This Day 1972, the Hopelands was soon to become Aiken’s public garden, which over 8,000 people per day have already visited. The Hopelands, an estate with a lot of over 14 acres, was willed to the city of Aiken in South Carolina as of the Friday before this date.

1979 Grenada Coup

1979 : A left wing opposition group in the Caribbean island of Grenada has toppled the country's controversial Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy in a military style coup.

1980 U.S.A. The Ford Motor Co.

1980 : A case bought against The Ford Motor Co. of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three young women riding in a Ford Pinto, ends with The Ford Motor Co. being found innocent.

1983 Zimbabwe Civil War

1983 : Zimbabwe appears to be on brink of civil war and the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition party, Joshua Nkomo, flees the country and goes to London due to fears for his safety.

1992 Turkey Earthquake

1992 : A 6.8-magnitude earthquake and aftershock near Erzincan, Turkey kill more than 500 and leave another 50,000 homeless.

2005 U.S.A. Living Church Of God Shootings

2005 : Terry Ratzmann enters the Sheraton Inn in Brookfield, Wisconsin where the Living Church of God were having their meeting and fires 22 rounds into the congregation killing the minister and his son and five other members of the congregation before shooting himself.

2006 Work begins on the 9-11 Memorial

2006 : Construction has begun on the memorial and museum to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 attacks. These will be at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center, and will feature two reflecting pools that are surrounded by trees. It will be named Reflecting Absence, and will bear the names of the 2,900 people who died there. The design has been opposed by relatives of some of the victims. The Memorial's workers arrived to begin work on Monday, March 13th, and it is due to open in 2009

2007 Canadian is arrested for sponsoring terrorist training camps

2007 : The Spanish police have arrested a Canadian man who is suspected of helping finance Islamic terrorist activities. Brian Anderson, 61, is wanted by U.S. authorities for fraud, and is thought to have helped finance a training camp in Afghanistan. He was arrested in a Madrid hotel, the Interior Ministry said. Anderson is thought to be linked to a New York businessman, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, who has been charged with terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and money laundering.

2008 U.S.A. Price of Gold

2008 : Gold reaches a landmark of $1,000 per ounce for the first time, currently March 12th, 2009 back to $926.00 per ounce.

2009 Terrorists are not ‘combatants’

2009 : The Obama administration has said that it will abandon the Bush administration’s term of 'enemy combatant' for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. This is being seen as his intended desire to separate the new administration from the previous one's detention policies. The Justice Department has argued that the President has the authority to detain terror suspects there without criminal charges. It has provided a broad definition of those who can be held, which was not significantly different from the one that was used by the Bush administration.

2009 Switzerland is to relax its secret banking practices

2009 : Switzerland has agreed to accept concessions on its banking secrecy. Despite this, it will only abide by the international rules on bank data sharing in response to requests for concrete and justified evidence. The government finished its statements by assuring that it will still be protecting banking customers from 'unjustified watching from abroad.'

2010 Alaskan woman is killed by wolves

2010 : Wolves are suspected of killing a teacher that was jogging from an isolated Alaskan village. An autopsy has revealed that Candice Berner, 32, died of injuries sustained in an animal attack. Her body was dragged off a rural road, leaving a bloody track, and into a nearby bush. It was surrounded by wolf tracks. Police have said that the area's wolves had recently become more aggressive. If confirmed, it is believed to be the first fatal wolf attack in the U.S. in fifty years.

2010 United States Obama focuses on education

2010 : The Obama Administration has called for an overhaul of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, and is trying to change the provisions that encouraged instructors to teach to tests, narrowed the curriculum, and labeled one in three American schools as failing. By announcing that the blueprint would be sent to Congress, Obama has returned to the campaign promise he made on repairing the federal law, which affects nearly 100,000 public schools. His plan will strike a careful balance, whilst retaining some of Bush-era's more crucial aspects, including its requirement for annual reading and math tests.

2010 Major Storms Northeastern United States

2010 : Major storms with wind gusts up to 75 MPH have bought down power lines and trees leaving nearly 1/2 million homes without power.

2011 Police and Protesters Clash in Bahrain

2011 : Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters in Bahrain as violence erupted during demonstrations in the capital, Manama. The protests, inspired by recent revolutions in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, were mainly by Shias who demanded reforms on the Sunni monarchy in the country.

2012 Rebekah Brooks Arrested in UK Phone Hacking Scandal

2012 : Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief, was arrested in relation to the phone hacking scandal on charges of "suspicion of conspiring to pervert the course of justice." Another five men were also arrested in relation the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

2013 Germany Three Islamist Groups Banned

2013 : Three ultra-conservative Islamist groups were banned by authorities in Germany. The three groups were accused of being anti-democratic and were though to be imposing "Sharia law."

2014 US Government Lifts BP Ban

2014 : The United States government lifted a ban on the British Petroleum (BP) company that stopped them from bidding on government contracts since 2010. The ban was put in place after the BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster. The ban was removed after BP complied to a list of safety compliance requests.

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