On This Day in History, May 13

May 13 is National Fruit Cocktail Day. As a fruit lover, serve some fruit cocktail with a meal today.

Spare some minutes to read your history. Use the following list of major events to learn what happened on this day, in history.

  • 1779-The War of Bavarian Succession ended.
  • 1854-The first big American billiards match was held at Malcolm Hall in Syracuse, NY.
  • 1861-Queen Victoria announced Britain’s position of neutrality.
  • 1873-Ludwig M. Wolf patented the sewing machine lamp holder.
  • 1888-Slavery was abolished in Brazil.
  • 1909-The Giro d’Italia cycle race was held for the first time.
  • 1927-“Black Friday” occurred in Germany.
  • 1940-Igor Sikorsky pilot his VS-300 helicopter’s maiden flight.
  • 1950-The first Formula One World Championship season kicked off.
  • 1954-U.S. President Eisenhower signed into law the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Act.
  • 1958-The motorcade carrying US Vice President Richard Nixon was attacked in Caracas, Venezuela; several of Nixon’s staff were injured.
  • 1968-Peace talks between the U.S. and North Vietnam began in Paris.
  • 1979-The Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family were sentenced to death in Tehran.
  • 1981-Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt.
  • 1982-The Chicago Cubs became the first major league baseball team to won 8,000 games.
  • 1985-A confrontation between Philadelphia authorities and the radical group MOVE ended as police dropped an explosive onto the group’s headquarters.
  • 1989-Thousands of students began a hunger strike on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
  • 1999-In Moscow, the impeachment of Russian President Boris Yeltsin began.
  • 2003-The U.S. government unveiled a newly designed version of the $20 bill.
  • 2012-Manchester City won the English Premier League for the first time.

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