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

Michelangelo begins work on the statue of David which went on to become a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture.

Philip III of Spain is crowned king of Spain and Portugal. He much less diligent than his father and showed only moderate gifts for governance. He ruled the Spanish Empire at the height of its power. He was extravagant in his spending, exacerbating Spain's growing economic problems. More

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham occurs during the Seven Years' War, leading to the British capture of Quebec City from the French and ultimately changing the course of Canadian history. More

The Grand Siege of Gibraltar by the allied French and Spanish fleets is defeated by the British garrison, with all floating batteries destroyed and allied casualties of 1,473 compared to only 83 for the British. More

English chemist Michael Faraday discovers the influence of a magnetic field on polarized light; named the "Faraday effect". More

American railroad foreman Phineas Gage suffers a traumatic brain injury when an iron rod shot through his skull through his left cheek and out his cranial vault, obliterating the greater part of the left frontal lobe of his brain; he survived with limited physical damage, although personality changes were observed and reported. More

Italy invades Egypt from their colony in Libya. Having limited success, Hitler realized that Germany would have to support the Italians and on 11 February 1941 Major-General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps landed at Tripoli. More

The Oslo Accords are signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), aiming to establish peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas signed a Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements at the White House. Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace. More

The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, establishing a framework for collective action to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

The United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; setting a global standard for the treatment of Indigenous Peoples. While the Declaration is not legally binding, it is a vital step in securing Indigenous rights worldwide. It has since been ratified by 143 countries. More