List of January 13th Major News Events

1941 Glenn Miller Band

The four Modernaires joins the iconic Glenn Miller Band on a permanent basis. The four singers - Hal Dickinson, Chuck Goldstein, Bill conway and Ralph Brewster - enjoy many years of success as part of the band and as a separate group as well.

1942 Plastic Car

Wartime material shortages forced manufacturers to become very creative. Therefore, Ford Motor Company-one of the first leading manufacturers of mass-produced vehicles had registered for a patent on a plastic car. This was the date that the patent became official. The plastic that was used to make this particular model of car was derived from the soybean plant.

1942 Great Britain War Crimes

1942 : Representatives from nine German occupied countries meet in London to declare that all those found guilty of war crimes would be punished after the war ended,. Knowledge of German atrocities occurring in Poland and Russia where butchering of innocents including Jews, political dissidents, and clergy was taking place. At the end of the war a court was set up to try those who had committed the atrocities.

1950 Soviet Storms Out Of UN

Soviet UN representative Jacob Malik stormed out of A Security Council meeting all in a "huff" on this day. He was angry that his proposal to expel the Nationalist Chinese representative was defeated. This is the second time in a week that Malik had left a meeting mad. The reason he was angry was because he felt that the communist People's Republic of China is the true Chinese government, therefore the PRC is the government that should be represented, and not the one of Nationalist China.

1964 India Religious Violence

Religious violence involving anti-Muslim rioting in the Indian city of Calcutta has left 100 dead, 438 injured and 7000 arrests with a 24 hour curfew in many areas of the city following arson and looting against Muslims causing 70,000 Muslims to flee their homes and businesses in the city .

1973 Women's Rights

1973 : A female West Virginia University student had filed a discrimination complaint through the West Virginia Human Rights Division. The reason for the complaint was that this female student was denied resident tuition prices because her husband was attending an out-of-state school.

The case was yet to be decided, but it appeared as of this date it was a good chance that it would be ruled that this woman was discriminated against. This is the second case like this that was filed within a few months.

1974 George Orwell

A commentary on George Orwell's Novel 1984 was printed in a local West Virginia newspaper by a real life predictive theorist who saw quite a bit of truth that has derived from this novel.

George Orwell's novel 1984 was published in 1948-a few years after World War II ended. It is considered a political science-fiction work, and contains quite a bit of references to economic ruin, dominating individuals by the power of a state, and the destruction of the world.

1982 U.S.A. Aircraft Crash

In Washington D.C., a Boeing 727 aircraft had crashed into the Potomac River, just two miles from the White House. In the process, 78 people were killed. This crash was caused by bad weather.

1985 Ethiopia Train Crash

1985 : A train full of passengers crashes into a ravine with no warning in Ethiopia killing nearly all passengers and crew on board ( Over 400 )

1993 Iraq Allied Bombing

American, British and French bombers have carried out a series of bombing raids over southern Iraq because Iraqis have repeatedly breached the "no-fly zone" set up after the Gulf War .

1997 Peru Hostages in Embassy

Left wing guerrillas who have been holding 72 hostages in the Japanese embassy in Lima, Peru started firing at security forces surrounding the embassy claiming the security forces had broken an agreement that they would stay at least 100 meters from the compound. ( Three months later government forces did storm the building killing all 14 Tupac Amaru guerrillas, and saving 71 of the 72 hostages that had been held ) .

2001 Salvador Earthquake

A major earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale has struck the south American city of San Salvador leaving over 1,000 dead .

2006 Iran Nuclear Program Will Continue Despite Sanctions

Iran's President Ahmadinejad has said Iran will not back down over Tehran's nuclear programme following it's reopening of Isfahan and Natanz Nuclear facilities, despite the threat sanctions and referral to the UN Security Council. Around the world Western leaders are deciding how to handle the latest announcement which could lead to Iran becoming a Nuclear Power within 5 to 6 years in an area of the world where tensions run high over Israel's Nuclear Capabilities.

2007 Crops Destroyed by Cold Snap

A cold snap lasting from January 13th to January 18th hit the West Coast and froze several crops throughout California, Oregon and Washington State. Often called the Western U.S. Freeze of 2007, this weather-related disaster claimed thousands of acres of citrus crops and even caused snow to fall in parts of Southern California..

2009 Israel - Gaza Attacks

2009 : The Israeli attacts and occupation of Gaza continues with 60 more targets bombed overnight, the Israeli offensive is now entering it's 3rd week and the number of bombings and the death toll in Gaza is approaching 1,000 with nearly 300 of the deaths being children. Israeli troops are now in Gaza City suburbs and are engaged in street fighting with Palestinian militants. The attacks and Israeli occupation are in retaliation for rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza on Israeli cities.

2010 U.S. Banking Sector Interrogated By Washington

The senior officers of the Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are answering questions in Washington on the financial crisis, where they will be facing the U.S. Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's (F.C.I.C.'s) examination the causes of the 2008 U.S. financial meltdown. They have said that they underestimated the severity of the crisis, and apologized for the mistakes that occured. In the hearing they have faced questions over their role in it, which ended with their being bailed out with $360 billion of taxpayer's money and a 26-year high of unemployment. Barack Obama is preparing to unveil a plan for recouping some of the billions in bailout funds by imposing a fee on the banks. The bankers themselves have defended their levels of pay and bonuses.

2011 A German Tanker Capsizes on the Rhine River

A tanker carrying a large amount of sulfuric acid sunk on the Rhine river. Two crewmembers were rescued while two others were missing. There were no reports of leaks from the ship.   

2013 Paris Rally Against Gay Marriage

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered to rally against gay marriage in Paris, France after President Hollande had indicated he wanted to extend rights for gay couples in the country. Sam-sex civil unions were already legal in the country.

2014 German Breweries Fined

2014 : German brewers Bitburger, Krombacher, Warsteiner, Barre and Veltins were fined along with several individuals for price-fixing. The offences were alleged between 2006 and 2008 and they were found guilty of acting together to raise prices on draught and bottled beer. The fine was for $145 million. Several other breweries were also under investigation.