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HISTORY & TIMELINE
13 January

A journey through
13 January in history

The thirteenth day of the year has seen the people of the Saar vote to rejoin Germany, Togo’s first president killed in Africa’s first successful post-independence army coup, Johnny Cash play Folsom Prison and Virginia swear in the first elected Black governor in the United States. This timeline follows 13 January through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

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IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1849
The Battle of Chillianwala, painted in 1849 by Lieutenant Charles Becher Young of the Bengal Engineers (National Army Museum).The Battle of Chillianwala, painted in 1849 by Lieutenant Charles Becher Young of the Bengal Engineers (National Army Museum).Image: Lieutenant (later Colonel) Charles Becher Young (1816-1892) · Public domain
world · Asia

British and Sikh armies clash at Chillianwala

After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839 his Sikh empire in the Punjab weakened, and the British East India Company fought two wars against it. In the second, which began in 1848, the Company’s commander, Lord Gough, marched against the Sikh army of Sher Singh on the River Jhelum. On 13 January 1849, near the village of Chillianwala, Gough launched a frontal attack through thick scrub that hid the Sikh guns. The fighting was fierce and costly: the British lost about 2,300 men killed and wounded, and at nightfall the Sikhs withdrew with captured colours and many of the guns. Both sides claimed victory. Five weeks later the British won at Gujrat, and the Punjab was annexed.

Source: National Army Museum: Second Sikh War ↗
1898
The front page of L'Aurore carrying Émile Zola's open letter J'accuse…!, 1898.The front page of L’Aurore carrying Émile Zola’s open letter J’accuse…!, 1898.Image: Émile Zola · Public domain
politics · Europe

Émile Zola publishes J’accuse…!

In 1894 Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, was convicted of selling secrets to Germany and sent to Devil’s Island. The evidence against him was thin, and when another officer, Ferdinand Esterhazy, was shown to be the real traitor, a military court acquitted him in January 1898. Two days later, on 13 January 1898, the novelist Émile Zola published an open letter to the President of France on the front page of L’Aurore, under the headline J’accuse…! (‘I accuse’). He named the officers and officials he said had covered up the truth. Some 200,000 copies sold that day. Zola was convicted of libel and fled to England, but the letter split France and forced the case open again; Dreyfus was cleared in 1906.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: J’accuse ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1935
A map showing the Saar territory (red) on Germany's western border.A map showing the Saar territory (red) on Germany’s western border.Image: 52 Pickup, Feldgrau · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Europe

The Saar votes to rejoin Germany

Under the Treaty of Versailles the coal-rich Saar was governed by the League of Nations for fifteen years. In a plebiscite on 13 January 1935, supervised by an international force, about 90 per cent of voters chose to return to Germany, now ruled by Hitler, rather than stay under the League or join France. The Saar was handed over on 1 March.

Source: UN Archives Geneva: Saar plebiscite 1935 ↗
1963
Sylvanus Olympio, President of Togo, on a visit to Munich.Sylvanus Olympio, President of Togo, on a visit to Munich.Image: Ludwig Wegmann · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
politics · Africa

Togo’s first president is killed in a coup

Sylvanus Olympio led Togo to independence from France in 1960. On 13 January 1963 a group of former soldiers of the French army, angry that he would not take them into Togo’s small army, overthrew his government and shot him dead outside the United States embassy in Lomé. It was the first successful military coup in independent sub-Saharan Africa, and one of its leaders, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, later ruled Togo for 38 years.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sylvanus Olympio ↗
1968
The entrance to Folsom State Prison, California.The entrance to Folsom State Prison, California.Image: Vidor at English Wikipedia · Public domain
culture · Americas

Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash had written Folsom Prison Blues in the 1950s, and prisoners wrote to him asking him to play for them. In the mid-1960s his career and health were in trouble, and his record company was doubtful about a live album recorded inside a prison. On 13 January 1968 Cash, June Carter, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers and the Tennessee Three played two shows for the inmates of Folsom State Prison in California. The album made from them, At Folsom Prison, came out that May, went to the top of the country charts and revived his career. It was added to the US National Recording Registry in 2003.

Source: Library of Congress, National Recording Registry: At Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash (1968) ↗
1990
The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, where Wilder took the oath of office.The Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, where Wilder took the oath of office.Image: Martin Kraft · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Americas

Douglas Wilder becomes governor of Virginia

L. Douglas Wilder, a grandson of enslaved people, was sworn in as governor of Virginia outside the State Capitol in Richmond on 13 January 1990. He had won the election narrowly, and he became the first African American elected governor of any US state.

Source: Library of Virginia: Douglas Wilder was inaugurated governor of Virginia, January 13, 1990 ↗
1991
The memorial to the victims of 13 January 1991 beside the Vilnius television tower.The memorial to the victims of 13 January 1991 beside the Vilnius television tower.Image: Dezidor · CC BY 3.0
politics · Europe

Lithuanians defend Vilnius against Soviet troops

In March 1990 Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its independence. Moscow refused to accept it, and in January 1991 Soviet army and special forces units moved to take key buildings in the capital, Vilnius. Thousands of unarmed Lithuanians gathered to guard them. In the night of 12 to 13 January 1991 troops and tanks stormed the television tower and the radio and television building. Fourteen civilians were killed and hundreds injured, but the crowds protecting the parliament held and the troops did not attack it. The killings brought condemnation from around the world, and in September the Soviet Union recognised Lithuania’s independence. Lithuania marks 13 January as Freedom Defenders’ Day.

Source: Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania: January 13, the way we defended freedom ↗
1993
The headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, photographed in 2017.The headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, photographed in 2017.Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 4.0
politics · Global

130 countries sign the ban on chemical weapons

Poison gas killed and maimed tens of thousands in the First World War, and although a treaty of 1925 banned its use, countries went on making and stockpiling chemical weapons. After years of talks, the Chemical Weapons Convention went further: it banned making, storing and using them, and required existing stocks to be destroyed under international inspection. The convention was opened for signature in Paris on 13 January 1993, and 130 countries signed it in three days. It came into force in 1997, run by the new Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. By 2023 all the stockpiles declared by its members had been destroyed.

Source: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: history ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 13 January, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

EXPLORED THE DEEPER STORY?

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Discover the lighter side of the date with famous birthdays, culture, firsts and lives remembered.

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