March 13 in Pop Culture History
1639 – Formerly ‘New College,” Harvard College was renamed after clergyman John Harvard.
1781 – German-born English astronomer William Hershel discovered Uranus.
1862 – The US government forbade all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
1868 – Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson began. He was found ‘not guilty.’
1877 – The first US Patent (#188,292) for earmuffs was issued to teen-aged Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine.
1930 – The discovery of a ninth planet, named Pluto, was announced by Clyde W. Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory. Pluto was later degraded to a ‘Dwarf Planet.’
1954 – #1 Hit March 13, 1954 – April 9, 1954: Jo Stafford – Make Love To Me!
1965 – #1 Hit March 13, 1965 – March 26, 1965: The Beatles – Eight Days a Week
1969 – Disney’s The Love Bug opened in theaters.
1975 – #1 Hit March 13, 1976 – April 2, 1976: The Four Seasons – December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
1993 – #1 Hit March 13, 1993 – April 30, 1993: Snow – Informer
1999 – #1 Hit March 13, 1999 – April 9, 1999: Cher – Believe
2013 – Pope Francis was elected in the papal conclave as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.