13 January 1249

A Wednesday in history

Weekday

Wednesday

Season

Winter (N. Hemisphere)

Century

13th century

Records

399

  1. 2012

    The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia (pictured) ran aground on a reef and capsized off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany.

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  2. 2003

    The trans-Neptunian object 208996 Achlys was discovered by Chad Trujillo and Michael E. Brown at Palomar Observatory, California.

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  3. 2001

    The first of two large earthquakes in the span of a month struck El Salvador, killing at least 944 people and destroying over 100,000 homes.

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  4. 2000

    Steve Ballmer replaced Bill Gates as the chief executive officer of Microsoft.

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  5. 1972

    Ghanaian military officer Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup to overthrow Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo.

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  6. 1972

    Bernice Gera won a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, allowing her to become the first female professional baseball umpire.

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  7. 1969

    British rock band Led Zeppelin released their first album, Led Zeppelin, in the United States.

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  8. 1968

    American singer Johnny Cash recorded his landmark album At Folsom Prison live at Folsom State Prison in California.

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  9. 1963

    Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio (pictured), was assassinated by military officers in a coup d'état led by Emmanuel Bodjollé, Étienne Eyadéma, and Kléber Dadjo.

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  10. 1953

    Nine Moscow doctors were accused of a plot to poison members of the Soviet political and military leadership.

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  11. 1949

    In the first recorded instance of strike action by Catholic laity against the clergy, gravediggers at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York City, went on strike.

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  12. 1916

    The first Feminist Congress of Yucatán (delegates pictured) began in Mérida, Mexico, to propose reforms for women's social, educational, and legal rights.

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  13. 1915

    About 30,000 people were killed when an earthquake struck the Province of L'Aquila in Italy.

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  14. 1884

    Welsh physician William Price (pictured) was arrested for attempting to cremate his deceased infant son; this eventually led to the passing of the Cremation Act 1902 by Parliament.

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  15. 1847

    The Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, informally ending the fighting of the Mexican–American War in California.

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  16. 1842

    First Anglo-Afghan War: William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British Army, was the sole European of the 14,000 people retreating from Kabul to Jalalabad who evaded capture or death.

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  17. 1815

    British troops captured Fort Peter in St. Marys, in the only battle of the War of 1812 to take place in the state of Georgia.

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  18. 1797

    French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle off the coast of Brittany between two British frigates and a French ship of the line ended with hundreds of deaths when the latter ran aground.

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  19. 1435

    Pope Eugene IV promulgated the papal bull Sicut dudum, forbidding the enslavement of the native Guanche of the Canary Islands by the Spanish.

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Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.