Today is Thursday, August 13, the 225th day of 2009. There are 140 days left in the year.
1521 _ Spanish conquerors captured Mexico City from Aztecs
1642 _ Christiaan Huygens discovers Martian south polar cap
1868 - Quakes kill 25,000 and causes $300 million damages on Peru and Ecuador
1907 _ First taxicab (NYC)
1923 _ Mustapha Kemal elected president of Turkey
1928 _ Soviet Union Spartacan Games begins
1945 _ 35 Jews sacrifice their lives to blow up Nazi rubber plant in Silesia
1946 _ Britain transfers illegal immigrants bound to Palestine, to Cyprus
1960 _ Central African Republic and Chad proclaim independence from France
1961 _ Construction on Berlin Wall begins in East Germany (Dark day)