This Day in History is DUE’s daily dose of trivia for all the history buffs out there. So sit back and take a ride of all the fascinating things that happened on 13th April!
People are trapped in history and history is trapped in people, and hence, every day has been a significant one in the foibles of history. Now, let’s take a tour of “This Day in History – 13th April”.
1743: Thomas Jefferson is born
The third US President Thomas Jefferson was born today in Shadwell, Virginia. He was also the draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation’s first secretary of state and second vice president. An early advocate of total separation of church and state, he was the most eloquent American proponent of individual freedom. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated to him on his 200th birth anniversary in 1943.
1919: Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
In one of the most tragic incidents in Indian history, British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in an open space known as the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab. They killed hundreds of people and wounded many more. The massacre stirred nationalist feelings across India. What followed was Mahatma Gandhi’s full commitment to India’s independence from the British.
1964: Sidney Poitier wins Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field
Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He played the role of a construction worker who helps build a chapel in Lilies of the Field (1963). He has been known to consistently refuse to play the stereotypical roles that were offered to him as a Black actor. His work in films such as The Defiant Ones (1958) and The Blackboard Jungle (1955) had made him America’s first prominent Black film star.
1997: Tiger Woods becomes the youngest Masters Tournament winner
Tiger Woods won the prestigious Masters Tournament by a record 12 strokes in Augusta, Georgia at the age of 21 today. It was Woods’ first victory in one of golf’s four major championships and the greatest performance by a professional golfer in more than a century. It also made him the youngest golfer by two years to win the Masters and the first person of Asian or African heritage to win a major.
2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron premieres in Los Angeles
Avengers: Age of Ultron was the fourth highest-grossing film of 2015 and the second most expensive film ever made, following Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. This 11th film in the MCU also showcased the first appearances of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide.
