May 13th Major News Events

13 May,1940 England Queen Wilhelmina

1940 : Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands safely arrived in England as a refuge from the invading Nazi Germany.

13 May,1940 Churchill First Speech as UK Prime Minister

1940 : Following Winston Churchill becoming leader of the British Coalition Government in his first speech as prime minister he told the British House of Commons "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

1947 Germany Severe Food Shortages

1947 : In Germany calls have been made for urgent assistance in the American Zone and the British Zone as residents in both areas are now suffering with severe shortages of food which is causing mass starvation, this is in turn causing antagonism and resentment to America and England.

13 May,1960 France Cold War Summit

1960 : A Summit scheduled for tomorrow with the 4 most powerful leaders who have a vested interest in the future of Germany is focused on how to proceed in Germany , the Russians want recognition of East Germany and an end to the cold war and disarmament. The 4 leaders who will be attending are Eisenhower, Macmillan, Khrushchev and de Gaulle. This is also seen by many as a showdown between Eisenhower and Khrushchev over the American U2 spy plane shot down in Russian Airspace on the May 1. Each of these leaders is expressing the same desires to end the Cold War, nuclear disarmament and an end to the build up military forces.

1968 France General Strike

1968 : 800,000 teachers, workers and student protesters marched through the French capital during a one day general strike demanding the fall of the government under Charles de Gaulle and to protest police brutality during the riots of the past few days. The strike spread all across France until around 10 million workers had downed tools and paralyzed the nation for nearly two weeks. Following concerns by the government Charles de Gaulle called an election for the end of June resulting in his party winning by a huge majority.

1980 U.S.A. Tornado Kalamazoo, Michigan

1980 : A tornado devastated Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing five people and injuring a further 85.

1988 Iran Iraq Bombs Supertankers

1988 : Iraq bombed and destroyed 2 of the worlds largest supertankers in the Southern Persian Golf loading oil in the Iranian offshore loading terminal of Larak. This is seen as a further escalation of the 7 1/2 year war between Iraq and Iran.

1993 U.S.A. Knots Landing

1993 : Knots Landing a spin off of the hit soap "Dallas " goes off the air after running from December 27, 1979 on CBS for more than 13 years.

2000 Netherlands Enschede fireworks Fire and Explosion

2000 : A warehouse in Enschede storing fireworks starts on fire and causes over 170 tons of fireworks to explode with devastating results killing more than 20 and injuring nearly 1,000, the explosion was so bad over 400 homes were completely destroyed and more than 1,000 other homes severely damaged.

2005 Vatican City Pope John Paul II to be Beatified

2005 : Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Vatican will begin the process of beatification for the late Pope John Paul II, the first step in achieving sainthood. The current Pope went against convention by beginning to beatify John Paul II so soon after his death, normally there is a period of five years after a person's death before the process begins. However, Pope Benedict XVI waited just over a month after his death to begin the process of beatification.

2006 Brazil São Paulo Violence

2006 : Attacks organized by the crime syndicate PCC against police stations, justice forums, buses and inside prisons continues from the night before. The attacks are in retaliation for police crackdown on organised crime in São Paulo after 40 police are killed by gang violence. The attacks and retaliation by police continued for 4 days during which time 150 from both sides of the law die.

2007 Iranian President Visits UAE

2007 : Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visited the United Arab Emirates to hold talks with UAE officials. The visit was the first of its kind since the United Arab Emirates was created in 1971. The leaders discussed issues dealing with energy, security, and trade.

2008 United States Pop Artist Dies

2008 : The unconventional pop artist, Robert Rauschenberg, died at the age of 82 in the US state of Florida. The artist was known for using household items and other unconventional art mediums in his paintings and sculptures and rose to fame in the 1950s. He was also known as a choreographer and had won a Grammy for "best album package" in 1984.

2010 Italy Convent Drug Smugglers Arrested

2010 : Police arrested thirty-three people as they uncovered a drug smuggling operation running out of a convent in Piacenza, Italy, near Milan. The smugglers arranged pilgrimages to South America, in which the "pilgrims" would smuggle cocaine in their prayer books. The police found over sixty pounds of cocaine at a house nearby and stated that the nuns at the convent were unaware of the drug ring.

2012 Police Find 49 Bodies in Monterrey, Mexico

2012 : Police in Monterrey, Mexico found forty-nine mutilated bodies of people who were believed to be victims of drug gangs. There were forty-three men and six women, all of the bodies were decapitated with their hands cut off to make it more difficult for police to identify them. The increase in the violence of drug gangs in the country began when President Calderon deployed the army to help combat the drug cartels.

2013 Afghanistan Roadside Bomb Kills Ten

2013 : A roadside bomb set off in the Kandahar province killed ten Afghan civilians. Victims included women and children and another twelve people were reported injured. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.