Today in history: Jan. 13
In 2021, President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House over the violent Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol, becoming the only president to be twice impeached, and more events that happened on this day in history.
1898: “J’accuse”
In 1898, Emile Zola’s famous defense of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, “J’accuse,” (zhah-KOOZ’), was published in Paris.
1982: Plane Crash
In 1982, an Air Florida 737 crashed into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge and fell into the Potomac River while trying to take off during a snowstorm, killing a total of 78 people, including four motorists on the bridge; four passengers and a flight attendant survived.
1990: L. Douglas Wilder
In 1990, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia became the nation’s first elected Black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond.
2000: Microsoft
In 2000, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive and promoted company president Steve Ballmer to the position.
2001: El Salvador
In 2001, an earthquake estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey at magnitude 7.7 struck El Salvador; more than 840 people were killed.
2011: Christina Taylor Green
In 2011, a funeral was held in Tucson, Arizona, for 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, the youngest victim of a mass shooting that also claimed five other lives and critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
2012: Cruise
Ten years ago: The Italian luxury liner Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio and flipped onto its side; 32 people were killed. (Capt. Francesco Schettino would be sentenced to 16 years in an Italian prison for abandoning ship and other crimes when he fled in a lifeboat and refused an order from the Italian Coast Guard to return to the listing ship.)
2017: Takata Corp.
In 2017, federal prosecutors in Detroit announced that Takata Corp. had agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal charge and pay $1 billion in fines and restitution for concealing a deadly defect in its air bag inflators.
2020: The Royals
In 2020, at a royal family summit in eastern England, Queen Elizabeth II brokered a deal to secure the future of the monarchy; it would allow Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, to live part-time in Canada.
2021: Impeachment
In 2021, President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House over the violent Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol, becoming the only president to be twice impeached; ten Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump on a charge of “incitement of insurrection.” (Trump would again be acquitted by the Senate in a vote after his term was over.)
2021: Klete Keller
In 2021, five-time Olympic swimming medalist Klete Keller was charged with participating in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol after video emerged that appeared to show him among those storming the building. (Keller later pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding and agreed to cooperate with authorities.)
2021: Siegfried Fischbacher
In 2021, Siegfried Fischbacher, part of the entertainment duo Siegfried and Roy who performed in Las Vegas with their famed white tigers, died at 81.
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