Once Upon A Time – Dec. 13 – 1642 – Abel Tasman Sights South Island Of Present Day New Zealand; Calls It Staten Landt

304 Lucy, a young Christian lady, is executed for her faith in Syracuse, Sicily, an attempt having been first made to force her into prostitution. Within a century she will be one of the most popular saints, and Scandinavians will later become her strongest followers.

1577 Francis Drake sets sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world.

1636 The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. Recognized today as the founding of the United States National Guard.

1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland [1].

1732 Moravian missionaries first reach St. Thomas Island where they establish a work that, after many difficulties, will produce a church among the island’s slaves.

1920 League of Nations establishes the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

1952 John Ajayi Agbona founds the Christ Apostolic Mission Church Oke-Igbala in Nigeria. Many miracles accompany his ministry and the denomination spreads into several other countries.

2002 The European Union announces that Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will become members from May 1, 2004.

2003 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces.

More Historical Events
Dec 13 in Film & TV
1989 “Driving Miss Daisy” directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy is released (Best Picture 1990).

Dec 13 in Music
1961 The Beatles sign a formal agreement to be managed by Brian Epstein.

Dec 13 in Sport
2007 The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.

Did You Know?
1920 Francis G. Pease’s interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory is the first to measure the diameter of a star – the Betelgeuse.

Would You Believe?
1294 Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months; Celestine hoped to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit.