May 13

1501 – Amerigo Vespucci, this time under the Portuguese flag, sets sail on his second voyage to the west.

1780 – The Cumberland Compact, a foundation document of the Tennessee State Constitution, is signed by 256 of the settlers of the Cumberland River area, at Fort Nashborough, later Nashville, providing for democratic government and a formal system of justice.

1805 – Forces under Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, attack U.S. Marines that had been holding the city of Derne for the past year, but are driven off, suffering heavy casualties.

1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.

1846 – Congress declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following the request from President Polk on the 11th.

1861 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.

1888 – The Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery, passing the Lei Áurea, the ‘Golden Law’.

1940 –  Germany troops cross the Meuse river, beginning the conquest of France during World War II.

1948 – The day prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the Kfar Etzion kibbutz in the ‘West Bank’ of Israel, is attacked and overran by forces of the Arab Legion who kill over 120 Haganah fighters and kibbutz residents.

1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.

1980 – An F3 force tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan, killing 5 people, injuring 79 more and causing $50,000,000 in damage.

1985 – Police bomb the MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia, killing 6 adults, 5 children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents in the resulting fire.

1995 – Alison Hargreaves, 33, becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

2013 – Physician Kermit Gosnell is found guilty by a jury in Pennsylvania of murdering 3 infants born alive during attempted abortions, involuntary manslaughter of a woman during an abortion procedure, and 200 other counts including infanticide and racketeering. Waiving his right to appeal in exchange for an agreement by prosecutors not to seek the death penalty, he is sentenced instead to life in prison without the possibility of parole.