This Day In History – August 13

1814 – The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces, is signed in London.

1831 – Nat Turner sees a solar eclipse, which he believes is a sign from God. Eight days later he and 70 other slaves kill approximately 55 whites in Southampton County, Virginia.

1899 – Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (d. 1980) was born.

1906 – The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged.

1913 – First production in the UK of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.

1918 – Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.

1920 – A roundup by U.S. deputy marshals for 212 draft dodgers was going on in the Chicago area. Names of the culprits were obtained from Washington by the district attorney. The men pursued either failed to register for the draft or were shirking their military obligations.

1942 – Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the “Development of Substitute Materials” project, better known as the Manhattan Project.

1946 – H. G. Wells, English writer (b. 1866) died.

1961 – The German Democratic Republic closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants’ attempts to escape to the West.

1969 – The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine to enjoy a ticker-tape parade in New York. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon.

1972 – Hani Hanjour, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 (d. 2001) was born.

1978 – 150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.

1995 – A downs syndrome woman whose organs are failing has been rejected as a candidate for a heart-lung transplant. Ms. Jensen graduated from high school and worked at busing tables. However, two hospitals have said that she could not comprehend the treatment regime or the medical complications of the surgery and therefore cannot have a transplant to save her life. Dr. William Bronston, a rehabilitation authority says that Ms. Jensen’s rights have been violated under the national Americans with Disabilities Act.

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