A look back at historical events that took place on 13 December

Each day on the calendar has witnessed some or the other historic events taking place, which very successfully etch their place in the history books. Similarly, today’s date, 13 December, holds immense importance for human civilisation. On this day in 1642, Dutch navigator Abel Tasman was the first to spot News Zealand, which was later explored by Captain James Cook in 1796. From the Hollywood comeback of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman after a scandalous affair with the release of the film drama Anastasia in 1956, to American singer Taylor Swift being born in 1989, the 20th century has witnessed several historic events taking place. Therefore, let’s take a look at some of those events in detail:

Nova Herculis discovered

One of the brightest Novas of the 20th century, Nova Herculis, also called DQ Herculis was discovered today in 1934. It was the British amateur astronomer J.P.M. Prentice who found Nova Herculis in the northern constellation Hercules. Reportedly, the Nova Herculis reached an apparent visual magnitude of 1.4, meaning it remained visible to the unaided eye for months.

Japanese Imperial Army seized the Chinese city of Nanjing

It was today in 1937 that the Japanese imperial army seized Nanjing city of China, during the infamous second Sino-Japanese War. The gruesome war led to the Nanjing Massacre, which reportedly resulted in the death of 300,000 Chinese. Apart from killing innumerable male “war prisoners,” the Japanese massacred countless male civilians and reportedly raped at least 20,000 women and girls of all ages, many of whom were mutilated and killed in the process, leading many to call the incident the ‘Rape of Nanjing’.

Japanese kamikaze crashes into US cruiser Nashville

It was today in 1944 that a Kamikaze aircraft carrying a bomb under each of its wings suddenly crashed into USS Nashville, turning the cruiser into an inferno of flames and exploding ammunition. It resulted in the deaths of more than a hundred sailors, and around two hundred people were injured.

US Forces captured Saddam Hussein

After spending nine months on the run, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured on this day in 2003. Three years later, Saddam was found guilty of crimes against humanity and was executed. In March 2003, the United States forces invaded Baghdad and forced Saddam Hussein and his family to flee the city. This led to one of the most intense manhunts in history, which ended on 13 December 2003, when the US captured and arrested the disheveled Saddam Hussein without firing a single shot on the outskirts of his hometown in Tikrit, Iraq.

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