Note: These historical tidbits have been collected from various sources, mostly on the Internet. As detailed in this article, there is a lot of wrong information that is repeated hundreds of times because most websites do not validate with authoritative sources. On RF Cafe, events with hyperlinks have been verified. All will eventually be either verified or removed.

Please submit significant historical events and dates for inclusion in these lists. I will be glad to include your name and birthday. Please do not submit your death date ;-)

A couple years ago, I began commemorating the birthdays of notable people and events with special RF Cafe logos. Where available, I like to use images from postage stamps from the country where the person or event occurred.

July 13

Ernõ Rubik Born Today. Please click here to visit RF Cafe.

1836: John Ruggles received patent #1 from the U.S. Patent Office for a traction wheel used in locomotive steam engines, under a new system for numbering patents. 1897: Guglielmo Marconi received U.S. patent #586,193 for a wireless telegraph. 1919: The first lighter-than-air transatlantic flight was completed by airship R-34. 1921: Gabriel Lippmann, who produced the first color photographic plate, died. 1944: Ernő Rubik, inventor of the Rubik's Cube, was born. 1969: Russia launched the unmanned Luna 15 to the Moon. 1947: Europe accepted the Marshall Plan to aid European recovery following WWII. 1977: A lightning-induced power failure blacked out New York City for 25 hours, during which time about 4,500 rioters were arrested and $61M damage was done. 1978: Lee Iacocca was fired as president of Ford Motor Company by chairman Henry Ford 2nd. 1995: The Galileo spacecraft released a probe towards Jupiter that is to become the first Earth emissary ever to penetrate the atmosphere of any of the outer gas giants.

Webmaster: Kirt Blattenberger, BSEE, UVM 1989