January 13 in History

January 13 is the 13th day of the year. There are 353 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 1605– The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston was performed, with two of the three authors imprisoned.
• 1607 – The Bank of Genoa failed after the announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
• 1733 – James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrived in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1785 – John Walter published the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times) in London.
• 1893 – The socialist Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom held its first meeting. The Party was dissolved in 1975.
• 1898 – Emile Zola’s letter, J’accuse, was published leading to the exoneration of the falsely accused Alfred Dreyfus.
• 1910 – The first public radio broadcast was heard; a live performance of the opera Cavalleria rusticana from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
• 1942 – Henry Ford patented a plastic automobile that was 30% lighter than a regular car.
• 1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
• 1990 – L. Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected governor when he took office in Richmond, Virginia.