Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on May 13th?

The First Fleet, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, sets sail with 11 British ships to establish a penal colony in Australia, Botany Bay. The fleet consisted of two Royal Navy escort ships, six convict transports, and three store ships carrying supplies. Approximately 1,500 people, including convicts, crew, soldiers, and their families, were on board. The First Fleet's journey, which took eight months and one week, marked the beginning of European settlement in Australia.

The United States declares war on Mexico, beginning the Mexican-American War. More

The U.S. Congress passes the 17th Amendment, modifying Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution by allowing voters to cast direct votes for U.S. senators. Prior to its passage, senators were chosen by state legislatures. The amendment was ratified on April 8, 1913. More

The Socialist Party nominates Eugene V. Debs as its candidate for president in the upcoming November election. It was the fifth nomination for the 64-year-old, Indiana-born labor leader. At the time Debs was in jail, serving a 10-year sentence at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta. He was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, controversial laws pushed through Congress by President Woodrow Wilson to silence critics of U.S. involvement World War I. He wasn't due to get out until 1928. Debs had promised to pardon himself if elected. Harding, the newly elected President, pardoned Debs. More

The Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France (The Battle of France) begins with German forces crossing the Meuse River at Sedan. This event, a key part of Wehrmacht's operational plan codenamed Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), involved a rapid advance through the Ardennes forest and a breach of the Meuse-Albert Canal line. This allowed German armored units to bypass the Maginot Line and encircle Allied forces in Belgium and France. More

Vice President Nixon’s motorcade was attacked in Caracas by angry Venezuelans during his goodwill trip through Latin America. The trip was characterized by Latin American anger over the U.S. Cold War policies. Earlier on the trip Nixon had engaged in loud and bitter debates with student groups during his travels through Peru and Uruguay.

Pope John Paul II was shot four times by Mehmet Ali Agca in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

The  Philadelphia Police Department drops a satchel bomb on 6221 Osage Ave. in West Philadelphia, where members of the Black liberation advocacy group MOVE lived. Eleven people were killed, including five children. One adult and one child survived. More