A closer look at key historic events that took place on April 13:
In 1960, the first satellite navigation system is launched
The satellite, Navy Transit 1B, was mainly used to update the navigation systems aboard the US Navy’s Polaris submarines.
Image credit: National Museum of the U.S. Navy
In 1941, the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact is signed
The five year nonaggression pact allowed both nations to free up large numbers of troops from Manchuria and Outer Mongolia to be used for more pressing purposes. Two months after the pact was signed, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the USSR.
In 1919, Jallianwala Bagh massacre takes place
British troops under Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians who had gathered for a peaceful protest in Amritsar, India, resulting in around 400 deaths. The massacre fueled widespread outrage and became a pivotal moment in India’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule.
Jallianwala Bagh memorial in Amritsar, India, preserved in the memory of those wounded and killed in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Shagil Kannur
Alfred Dreyfus. Encyclopedia Britannica
In 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded
The Museum in New York City, became one of the leading art museums in the world. It opened to the public in the Dodworth Building at 681 Fifth Avenue on April 13.
– Don’t miss out on To Vima’s daily “On this Day in History” posts.
