What is December 13?
{{calendar}} {{day}} == Events == === Up to 1900 === * [[1294]] &ndash; [[Pope Celestine V]] resigns from the [[Pope|papacy]] after only five months. He was the last [[pope]] to resign voluntarily until [[Pope Benedict XVI]] did so in [[2013]]. * [[1545]] &ndash; The [[Council of Trent]] begins. * [[1577]] &ndash; [[Francis Drake]] sets sail on his global voyage from [[Plymouth, Devon|Plymouth]], Southwest [[England]], on the ship ''[[The Golden Hind]]''. * [[1642]] &ndash; [[Abel Tasman]] reaches [[New Zealand]]. * [[1643]] &ndash; [[English Civil War]]: The [[Battle of Alton]] takes place in [[Hampshire]]. * [[1675]] &ndash; The Swedish–controlled North German [[city]] of [[Wismar]] is attacked by [[Denmark|Danish]] troops during the [[Scanian War]]. * [[1758]] &ndash; English [[transport]] [[ship]] ''Duke William'' sinks in the North [[Atlantic Ocean]], killing over 360 people. * [[1769]] &ndash; [[Dartmouth College]] is founded in [[New Hampshire]]. * [[1862]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: At the [[Battle of Fredericksburg]], Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]] defeats Union General [[Ambrose Burnside]]. * [[1864]] &ndash; [[Paraguay]] declares [[war]] on [[Brazil]]. === 1901 &ndash; 2000 === * [[1937]] &ndash; [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]: [[Battle of Nanking]] – [[Nanjing]], defended by the National Revolutionary [[Army]] under command of [[General officer|General]] [[Tang Shengzhi]], falls to the [[Japan]]ese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre committed by Japanese forces against local [[civilian]]s. * [[1939]] &ndash; [[Holocaust]]: [[Neuengamme]] Concentration Camp opens. * [[1939]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: The [[Battle of River Plate]] takes place between the German [[Navy]] and the British [[Royal Navy]]. * [[1941]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: The [[Kingdom]]s of [[Hungary]] and [[Romania]] declare [[war]] on the [[United States]]. * [[1941]] &ndash; A [[glacier]] breaks apart at Palcacocha [[Lake]] in the [[Peru]]vian [[Andes]], resulting in a [[mud]] [[avalanche]] that kills around 6,000 p