What happened today in history: Kitty Genovese is murdered, the Phoenix Lights UFO incident takes place, and more key events that happened on March 13th.
1781: William Herschel Discovers Uranus
Wikimedia CommonsThough widely known as an astronomer, William Herschel was also a noted composer.
German-born English astronomer William Herschel makes the first observation of the planet Uranus with the help of a telescope. He thought it was a star or comet at first, but he later confirmed it was a planet. Herschel wanted to name the new planet after King George III of England, but other astronomers insisted on naming it after the Greek god of the sky.
1881: Czar Alexander II Is Assassinated
Czar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated in St. Petersburg by young revolutionary Ignacy Hryniewiecki. The assassin, who was a member of the political group Narodnaya Volya, or “People’s Will,” threw a bomb at him, causing a deafening explosion. The czar was taken to his palace, where doctors discovered that his legs had been partially blown off, and he soon bled to death.
1888: The “Great Blizzard” Rocks America’s East Coast
Public DomainA collapsed awning in New York City during the Blizzard of 1888.
The East Coast of the United States remains stuck in the thick of what would soon become known as the Great Blizzard of 1888. The snow had begun falling two days prior and its accumulation would soon reach nearly five feet, with drifts taller than 50 feet.
Winds reached 85 miles per hour, two-story houses were buried, and lines for everything from telegraphs to water to gas were knocked out of commission. In the end, the “Great White Hurricane” killed some 400 people and caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage.
1943: An Assassination Attempt Fails To Take Hitler’s Life
Conspirators within the German military try and fail to kill Adolf Hitler via multiple methods. Hitler was in Smolensk, Russia on his way back to Germany after a visit to the Eastern Front. It was there that ringleaders Henning von Tresckow, Fabian von Schlabrendorff, and Georg von Boeselager tried to make multiple attempts on his life in quick succession.
First, a plan to shoot him on his way from the airport was dropped when it became clear that he had an armed SS escort with him. Then a plan to kill him at lunch fell flat when he didn’t show up to eat. Finally, the plotters actually did sneak a bomb onto his plane as he was leaving, but the explosives became too cold while aboard and failed to go off.
Hitler’s death would not come for another two years, when he killed himself inside his bunker in Berlin alongside his wife, Eva Braun.
1964: Kitty Genovese Is Murdered
Wikimedia CommonsKitty Genovese, whose murder led to studies on the “bystander effect.”
Kitty Genovese is raped and stabbed to death near her apartment building in Queens, New York. Her murder sparked decades of research into the “bystander effect,” as The New York Times initially reported that dozens of witnesses had seen or heard the attack but failed to do anything about it. Later, however, researchers found police interviews that revealed some people had indeed tried to call authorities. As for the killer, Winston Moseley, he was ultimately found guilty and spent the rest of his life in prison.
1996: The Dunblane Massacre Takes Place
Thomas Hamilton fatally shoots 16 students and a teacher, then kills himself, at Dunblane Primary School near Stirling, Scotland. Hamilton, 43, had previously been accused of inappropriate behavior toward young boys. The Dunblane massacre was the deadliest school shooting in British history, and the tragedy led to heavy firearm restrictions in the United Kingdom, largely outlawing the private ownership of handguns.
1997: The Phoenix Lights UFO Incident Occurs
Wikimedia CommonsA recreation of the V-shaped craft seen during the Phoenix Lights incident of 1997.
Thousands of residents of Arizona and Nevada spot unidentified lights and objects in the sky in what’s now known as the Phoenix Lights incident. Between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., witnesses called their local police departments with reports of odd sightings, including a V-shaped craft. The official explanation was that military flares caused the strange lights, but some people remain skeptical.
