April 13

  • 1922 Anti-Treaty IRA, under the command of Rory O’Connor, occupied the Four Courts.
  • 1970 A potentially lethal oxygen tank failure on board Apollo 13 forced the cancellation of a planned moon landing. The three-man crew returned safely to earth four days later.
  • 1919 The Amritsar (Punjab) massacre. Up to 1,000 were killed and over 1,000 injured when troops of the British Indian Army, under the command of Col. Reginald Dyer, opened fire on local residents and travelling pilgrims. The event accelerated the rise of Indian nationalism.
  • 1939 Seamus Heaney, poet and scholar, born near Castledawson, Co. Derry (70 today).