January 13 Through History

Explanation: The Council of Troyes, convened by Pope Honorius II, was the occasion for Bernard of Clairvaux to draft the Latin Rule of the Templars. The Order of the Temple would become one of the most powerful military and financial institutions of the Middle Ages, before being dissolved in 1312 by Pope Clement V under pressure from Philip IV of France.

Explanation: The tribune J'accuse...! was published in the daily newspaper L'Aurore, run by Georges Clemenceau. This open letter to President Félix Faure denounced the injustice of the trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer wrongly convicted of espionage. It led to Zola being convicted of defamation and forced into exile in England.

Explanation: This broadcast on January 13, 1910 marked a revolution in the history of media and music. Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo and Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, two Italian verismo operas from the late XIX century, were heard by thousands of listeners equipped with crystal receivers in the New York area.

Explanation: Henri Farman, a Franco-British aviation pioneer, completed a closed 1-kilometer aerial circuit that day aboard a biplane, setting a world record. This feat earned him the Grand Prix de l'Aviation worth 50,000 francs. Farman would later become an aircraft manufacturer and play a key role in French military aviation during World War I.

Explanation: The album At Folsom Prison, recorded at Folsom State Prison in California, is considered one of the greatest live albums in the history of rock and country. Cash had already performed for prisoners in the 1950s. This recording revived his declining career and gave birth to the iconic track Folsom Prison Blues.

Explanation: The Costa Concordia, a cruise ship belonging to the Italian company Costa Cruises, ran aground near the island of Giglio after striking a reef. The shipwreck caused 32 deaths. Captain Francesco Schettino, accused of abandoning the ship before the passengers, was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2015. The wreck, one of the largest in recent history, was refloated and dismantled in 2014.

Explanation: La sédition Nika, du cri de guerre « Nika ! » (« Victoire ! » en grec), est l'une des plus violentes émeutes de l'histoire de Byzance. Née d'une rivalité entre factions du cirque (Bleus et Verts), elle détruit une grande partie de Constantinople en cinq jours. C'est l'impératrice Théodora qui convainc Justinien de ne pas fuir, permettant à son général Bélisaire d'écraser la révolte. On dénombre environ 30 000 morts.

Explanation: Orlando Bloom (born in 1977), known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (born in 1961), famous for Seinfeld and Veep, and Patrick Dempsey (born in 1966), star of Grey's Anatomy, were all three born on January 13. The coincidence of several entertainment personalities sharing the same birthday highlights how eventful that date really is.

Explanation: Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Order of the Temple, was burned alive in Paris in 1314 on the orders of King Philip IV the Fair, who coveted the Order's wealth. Pope Clement V had dissolved the Order at the Council of Vienne in 1312. France was then the center of gravity of European politics and of the Order of the Temple, founded in Troyes in 1129.

Explanation: The Chemical Weapons Convention, signed on January 13, 1993 in Paris, entered into force in 1997. It prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague, oversees its implementation. It received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, notably for its role in managing chemical weapons in Syria.