On December 13, 2003, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces near his hometown of Tikrit, in a small underground hideout dubbed a “spider hole.” The event followed an intense eight-month manhunt that began after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq earlier that year. Saddam’s arrest symbolized the collapse of his 24-year reign, […]

On December 13, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army entered Nanjing, China, marking the start of a six-week-long atrocity known as the Nanjing Massacre. As part of Japan’s broader campaign in the Second Sino-Japanese War, the occupation of Nanjing was characterized by unimaginable violence against the city’s civilian population and surrendering Chinese troops. Reports indicate that […]

On December 13, 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to reach the islands of New Zealand. This historic moment marked the beginning of European awareness of the land, which had been inhabited by the Māori people for centuries. Tasman’s journey was part of a larger Dutch effort to map and explore the […]