On August 13, a single day crowns Marlborough’s Blenheim triumph, ignites the Battle of Britain, and welcomes the first female Marine.
August 13 in History
Bayreuth Festival Opens With Wagner's Ring
Kaiser Wilhelm, Dom Pedro II, King Ludwig, and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche attend the opening of Das Rheingold, backed by Ludwig's 100,000 Thaler grant in January 1874.
The Bayreuth Festspielhaus, venue for the inaugural 1876 festival featuring Wagner's Das Rheingold — Lothar Spurzem
BAYREUTH, August 13 — At last the long-promised festival has come to pass, and the first note of Richard Wagner's grand design sounded this afternoon in the Festspielhaus on the green hill above this Bavarian town. The inaugural performance of Das Rheingold, the prologue to the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen, opened before an assembly of emperors and artists, the fruit of years of struggle and the generous purse of King Ludwig II.
Kaiser Wilhelm, Dom Pedro II of Brazil, and King Ludwig himself were in attendance, as was the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who has long championed the master's cause. The evening began with Beethoven's 'Choral' Symphony before the curtain rose on the Rhinegold, a work of such novelty that the audience sat in rapt attention.
The theatre itself, designed by Gottfried Semper with a double proscenium, later expanded to six pairs by Carl Brandt, is a marvel of the age, its acoustics praised by all who heard. The enterprise owes its existence to the 100,000 Thaler granted by Ludwig in January 1874, after other fundraising faltered.
Cosima Wagner, daughter of Franz Liszt and the composer's wife, has shared in the labor, co-founding the festival that now brings her husband's life-work to the stage. The festival continues with the remaining parts of the Ring in the days ahead.
Luftwaffe Unleashes Adlertag Against RAF
German air fleets strike British airfields in a bid to crush the RAF, but the invasion of Britain hangs in the balance.
LONDON, August 13 — The German Luftwaffe today launched its long-awaited air offensive, codenamed Adlertag, or Eagle Day, in a determined effort to destroy the Royal Air Force and clear the way for an invasion of Britain. Massed formations of German bombers and fighters crossed the Channel at dawn, striking at RAF airfields and installations across the south of England.
The RAF, though outnumbered, rose to meet the attackers, and the day's fighting was fierce and continuous. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speaking of the pilots who have borne the burden of these battles, declared: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.'
Should Adlertag fail in its purpose, the German invasion of the United Kingdom, already prepared and waiting, must be indefinitely postponed. The outcome of this battle, now joined in the skies above Britain, will determine the course of the war in the west.
Ship With 492 Tamil Asylum Seekers Docks in B.C.
MV Sun Sea carrying 492 Tamil claimants docks at CFB Esquimalt under navy escort; passengers detained.
ESQUIMALT, B.C., August 13 — The MV Sun Sea, carrying 492 Sri Lankan Tamil refugee claimants, docked at CFB Esquimalt today under the escort of HMCS Winnipeg and HMCS Whitehorse. Canadian authorities boarded the ship off the coast Thursday, and the passengers were placed into detention.
Monck Raises Regiment for the Commonwealth
General George Monck has been given command of a regiment by Oliver Cromwell for service in the Anglo-Scottish War.
LONDON, August 13 — General George Monck has been given command of a regiment by Oliver Cromwell for service in the Anglo-Scottish War.
Marlborough's Great Victory at Blenheim
Allied arms triumph on the Danube, Vienna relieved
BLINDHEIM, August 13 — The village of Blindheim, whence this battle takes its name, lies in ruins this day, and the field is strewn with the fallen of France and Bavaria. The Duke of Marlborough, having marched his army 400 km from the Low Countries to the Danube in five weeks, has delivered a crushing blow to the enemy.
His force of 21,000 men, including 16,000 British, set out from Bedburg on 19 May last. Marshal Tallard, the French commander-in-chief, is taken captive and will be carried to England. The safety of Vienna is assured, and the Grand Alliance breathes easier for this day's work.
First Woman Enlists in Marine Corps
Opha May Johnson, 39, leads 300 women into reserve service
WASHINGTON, August 13 — The United States Marine Corps, for the first time in its history, has admitted a woman to its ranks. Opha May Johnson, 39 years old, was first in line today as more than 300 women enlisted in the reserve for service during the war.
Dreadful Earthquake in Peru; 25,000 Lives Lost
The shock of August 13 is estimated to have killed 25,000 people.
In the long annals of South American calamities, few have been more terrible than the earthquake which smote the coast near Arica, in Peru, on the evening of the 13th of August. The shock, which occurred at half-past nine o'clock by Greenwich time, is estimated to have carried off 25,000 souls.
Bach's New Cantata Heard in Leipzig
On August 13, Bach conducted the Thomanerchor in the first performance of his cantata BWV 101.
LEIPZIG, August 13 — Johann Sebastian Bach, Thomaskantor, this day led the Thomanerchor in the first performance of his chorale cantata, Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101. The work draws upon Martin Luther's hymn, its inner verses paraphrased into alternating recitatives and arias. Bach began this chorale cycle in June.
Diet Enacts Flag, Anthem Law
Hinomaru and Kimigayo now official symbols by 166-71 vote
TOKYO, Aug. 13 — The Act on National Flag and Anthem took effect today, formally establishing the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" as Japan's official symbols, after passing the House of Councillors by a 166-to-71 vote on August 9.
Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi called the law a major step for Japan to "move into the 21st century." The House of Representatives had approved it July 22 by a 403-to-86 margin.
The measure ranks among the most controversial Diet acts of the 1990s. A school principal's suicide over a flag dispute prompted Obuchi to draft the legislation.
167 Soldiers Discharged in Brownsville
All-black regiment punished after shooting; evidence disputed
BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Aug. 13 — The War Department has dishonorably discharged 167 soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment without trial for allegedly shooting at whites here, killing a bartender and wounding a police officer.
The men, members of a company of the segregated Buffalo Soldiers, were dismissed despite exculpatory evidence. The accused, all of the all-black unit, have maintained their innocence.
The action, taken this month, follows an August 13 night of violence. The discharge order strips the soldiers of pay and pensions.
