This Day in History - July 13th

1985: Live Aid concert

On 13 July 1985, at Wembley Stadium in London, Prince Charles and Princess Diana help inaugurate Live Aid, a worldwide rock concert organised to raise money for the relief of famine-stricken Africans. Continued at several stadiums around the world, the 16-hour super concert was globally linked by satellite to over a billion viewers in 169 nations. Many of the world’s top pop artists, including Madonna, David Bowie and Phil Collins, performed at the event, which ended with a performance of We Are the World, a hit song released earlier that year to benefit African hunger relief. The event, which was the brainchild of rock singer Bob Geldof, raised nearly $100 million for agricultural and technical assistance to Africa.

Also On This Day

2005

In Ghotki, Pakistan, two trains crash killing over a hundred people.

1995

The Chrysler Corporation opens a car dealership in downtown Hanoi, Vietnam.

1977

Police arrest more than 4,000 looters during a massive blackout caused by a power failure in the city of New York, America.

1971

Ten army officers involved in an aborted coup in Morocco are executed.

1960

In America, John F Kennedy wins the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for the Presidency.

1955

Nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis becomes the last woman to be hanged in Britain - executed at Holloway Prison for the murder of her lover David Blakely.

1923

In America, the world famous Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated.

1919

British airship R34 lands back in Norfolk, England after making the first round trip across the Atlantic to the United States and back again.

1878

The Balkans is re-organised with Serbia, Montenegro and Romania gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire as the Treaty of Berlin is signed.

1863

In America, the first of three days of rioting begins in New York as opponents to the draft express their anger.

1837

Queen Victoria becomes the first British monarch to live at Buckingham Palace in London. 1793 French Revolution leader Jean Paul Marat is stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday. She is guillotined four days later.

1643

English Civil War: Royalist forces defeat the Parliamentary Army at Roundway Down in Wiltshire.

1573

In the Netherlands, the Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months as the city surrenders to the Spanish Army.

1558

Spanish forces defeat a French Army at the Battle of Gravelines in Calais, France.