April 13
1598
The Edict of Nantes gave religious tolerance to the Huguenots in France.
1742
Handel’s Messiah was first publicly performed in Dublin, Ireland.
1964
Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win the Academy Award for best actor.
1970
Apollo 13 announced “Houston, we’ve got a problem,” when an oxygen tank burst on the way to the Moon.
1975
Civil War began in Lebanon when gunmen killed 4 Christian Phalangists who retaliated by killing 27 Palestinians.
1997
Tiger Woods became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first of African descent to win a major golf title.
2004
Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take third place on the lifetime list.
2012
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, exploded shortly after its launch. The U.S. and other countries called the launch a violation of United Nations Security Council rules.
Birthdays
Thomas Jefferson
American president (1743)
Butch Cassidy
outlaw (1866)
Samuel Beckett
playwright (1906)
Eudora Welty
novelist (1909)
Ben Nighthorse Campbell
U.S. senator (1933)
Seamus Heaney
poet (1939)