13 March 209

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis, making him the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.

The Filipino singer Rachelle Ann Go won the reality talent show Search for a Star, performing a cover of Mariah Carey's "Through the Rain" in the grand final.

The Sutton Hoo visitor centre, featuring Rick Kirby's sculpture Sutton Hoo Helmet (pictured in present location) was unveiled by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.

A mass shooting at a primary school occurred in Dunblane, Scotland, killing 16 children and a teacher and prompting tighter gun control in the United Kingdom.

The 53.85 km (33.46 mi) Seikan Tunnel opened between the cities of Hakodate and Aomori, Japan.

One of England's worst incidents of football hooliganism occurred when supporters of Luton Town and Millwall rioted before a match at Kenilworth Road stadium.

Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York City, prompting research into the bystander effect due to the false story that neighbors witnessed the killing and did nothing to help her.

The Holocaust: Nazi troops began the final liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto in German-occupied Poland, sending about 2,000 Jews to the Płaszów labor camp (deportation pictured), with the remaining 5,000 either killed or sent to Auschwitz.

The Kapp Putsch (participants pictured), an attempted coup aiming to undo the German Revolution of 1918–1919, briefly ousted the government of the Weimar Republic.

Klemens von Metternich was forced to resign as the foreign minister of Austria following student demonstrations in Vienna.

German composer Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto was premiered in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as the soloist.

Napoleonic Wars: A British frigate squadron defeated a much larger squadron of French and Italian frigates and smaller vessels in the Battle of Lissa (depicted) in the Adriatic Sea.

William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus from the garden of his house in Bath, England, initially considering it to be a comet.

War of Jenkins' Ear: The British began an assault against Spanish forts in the Caribbean in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias.

Nojpetén, capital of the Itza Maya kingdom, fell to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.

A Spanish mercenary army surprised a band of rebels at the Battle of Oosterweel in the Habsburg Netherlands, beginning the Eighty Years' War.

President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States.

Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou is sworn in as the first female President of Greece amid strict COVID-19 measures.

The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people.

Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.

Serbian Army Mi-17 helicopter crashes near Belgrade airport while transporting a 5-day-old baby with respiratory problems to hospital, killing all 7 on board.

The 2013 papal conclave elects Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking the name Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.

The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children.