1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral fell on the night of 12th-13th February 1322.
1462 – Treaty of Westminster was finalised between Edward IV of England and the Scottish Lord of the Isles on the 13th February 1462.
1542 – Catherine Howard, the 5th wife of Henry VIII of England, was executed on the 13th February 1542, for adultery.
1668 – Spain recognized Portugal as an independent nation on the 13th February 1668.
1689 – William and Mary are proclaimed co-rulers of England on the 13th February 1689.
1692 – Massacre of Glencoe: 78 Macdonalds at Glen Coe, Scotland were killed early in the morning on the 13th February 1692, for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange.
1880 – Thomas Edison observed the Edison effect on the 13th February 1880.
1914 – Copyright: In New York City the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers was established on the 13th February 1914, to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
1931 – New Delhi became the capital of India on the 13th February 1931.
1947 – Kevin Bloody Wilson the Australian comedian was born on the 13th February 1947.
1949 ~ Tim Storrier (AM) the Australian artist was born on the 13th February 1949. Tim Storrier won the 2012 Archibald Prize with a self portrait entitled The Histrionic Wayfarer (after Bosch).
1955 – Israel obtained 4 of the 7 Dead Sea scrolls on the 13th February 1955.
1961 – A 500,000-year-old rock was discovered near Olancha, California, US, on the 13th February 1961, that appeared to anachronistically encase a spark plug.
1967 – American researchers discovered the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain on the 13th February 1967.
1978 – Hilton bombing: a bomb exploded in a refuse truck outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia on the 13th February 1978, killing 2 rubbish collectors and a policeman.
2000 – The last original “Peanuts” comic strip appeard in newspapers on the 13th February 2000, one day after Charles M. Schulz died.
2001 – An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale hit El Salvador on the 13th February 2001, killing at least 400.
2004 – The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced the discovery of the universe’s largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093 on the 13th February 2004. Astronomers named this star “Lucy” after The Beatles‘ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds“.
2008 – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd mades a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations on the 13th February 2008.
2009 – At 23:31:30 on the 13th February 2009 UTC the Unix system time (time t) number reached 1234567890 seconds.
2012 – The European Space Agency (ESA) conducted the 1st launch of the European Vega rocket on the 13th February 2012, from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
