Today in History
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2008 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologizes to Indigenous Australians for the “stolen generations”
Until the 1960s, between 10% and 30% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were removed from their families.
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2004 The universe’s largest known diamond is discovered
BPM 37093 is a white dwarf star about 50 light-years from Earth and was nicknamed “Lucy” after The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.
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2000 The last “Peanuts” comic strip is published
The 17,897th and final installment were published in newspapers around the world on the day after its creator, Charles M. Schulz, died.
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1991 Two “smart bombs” kill at least 408 civilians in Baghdad
During “Operation Desert Storm,” the Amiriyah shelter bombing was one of the worst cases of civilian casualties.
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1945 The German city of Dresden is destroyed by a bombing raid
According to estimates, up to 25,000 people were killed in the raids that lasted 3 days.
Births On This Day, February 13
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1974 Robbie Williams
English singer-songwriter, producer, actor
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1950 Peter Gabriel
English singer-songwriter, producer
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1946 Richard Blumenthal
American politician
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1849 Lord Randolph Churchill
English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
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1835 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Deaths On This Day, February 13
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2002 Waylon Jennings
American singer-songwriter, musician
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1883 Richard Wagner
German composer, director
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1787 Ruđer Bošković
Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician
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1728 Cotton Mather
American minister
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1662 Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia