THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― OCTOBER 13

October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 79 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56). 

NATIONAL NO BRA DAY  

54 – Nero succeeds Claudius to become Roman Emperor.

1307 – On Friday, October, 13 hundreds of Knights Templar in France are simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair, to be later tortured into a "confession" of heresy and executed.

1773 – What later became known as the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier while hunting for objects that could confuse comet hunters, and was designated in Messier's catalogue as M51. Its companion galaxy, NGC 5195, was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Méchain, although it was not known whether it was interacting or merely another galaxy passing at a distance.

1775 – On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force—the precursor to the United States Navy.

1792 – The cornerstone is laid for a presidential residence in the newly designated capital city of Washington. In 1800, President John Adams became the first president to reside in the executive mansion, but it was not until 1909 that President Theodore Roosevelt changed the name to the White House.

1812 – During the War of 1812, British and Indian forces under Sir Isaac Brock defeat Americans under General Stephen Van Rensselaer at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, on the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada. The British victory, in which more than 1,000 U.S. troops were killed, wounded, or captured, effectively ended any further U.S. invasion of Canada. Sir Isaac Brock, Britain's most talented general in the war, was killed during the battle.

1843 – B'nai B'rith, the oldest Jewish service organization in the world, is founded in New York City by Henry Jones and 11 others. B'nai B'rith, meaning "Sons of the Covenant," organized its first lodge in November, and Isaac Dittenhoefer was elected the first president. The fraternal organization went on to become a national leader in charity work and disaster relief, and in 1913 it formed the Anti-Defamation League to combat anti-Semitism. Today, some 500,000 men and women are members of B'nai B'rith.

1845 – A majority of the citizens of the independent Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that when accepted by the Congress, will make Texas the 28th state.

1864 – Maryland voters adopt a new constitution, including abolition of slavery.

1884 – A prime meridian, based at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in London, was established by Sir George Airy in 1851. By 1884, over two-thirds of all ships and tonnage used it as the reference meridian on their charts and maps. 

1902 – The Coal Strike of 1902, also known as the Anthracite Coal Strike, was a strike by the United Mine Workers of America in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. Miners were on strike asking for higher wages, shorter workdays and the recognition of their union.

1943 – On this day in 1943, the government of Italy declares war on its former Axis partner Germany and joins the battle on the side of the Allies.

1957 – Movie audiences in America are treated to the science-fiction thriller, The Amazing Colossal Man. The film revolves around a character named Colonel Manning, who strays too close to the test of an atomic device in the Nevada desert and is bombarded with "plutonium rays."

1960 – Pittsburgh Pirate's Bill Mazeroski hits the only walk-off, 7th game, World Series-winning home run in MLB history off the New York Yankees's pitcher Ralph Terry winning the game 10-9 and the series 4-3.

1976 – The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle was obtained by Dr. F.A. Murphy. Ebola Zaire has been completely sequenced and Ebola Reston is nearly completed. The gene order of these viruses reaffirms their independence as a family. Also, some ancient conserved sequences along with the gene order, i.e. the layout of the genes along the RNA molecule, put the family 'Filoviridae' into an order, the only order in virology, 'Mononegavirales'. This emphasizes the ancient phylogenetic connection between three families- 'Filoviridae', 'Paramyxoviridae' (measles, mumps) and 'Rhabdoviridae' (rabies).

1999 – The United States Senate rejects ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

2010 – On this day in 2010, the last of 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground for more than two months at a caved-in mine in northern Chile, are rescued. The miners survived longer than anyone trapped underground in recorded history. The rescued miners were later honored with trips to a variety of destinations, including England, Israel and Florida’s Walt Disney World, where a parade was held in their honor.

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1872 – Leon Leonwood Bean, American hunter, businessman, and author, founded L.L.Bean (d. 1967)

1925 – Margaret Thatcher, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2013)

1941 – Paul Simon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1962 – Jerry Rice, American football player (Hall of Fame, 2010) and sportscaster

From Wikipedia and Google, except as noted.