# June 13
**June 13** is the 164th day of the year in the [Gregorian calendar](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregorian-calendar), with 201 days remaining in a common year.[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423) The date is associated with several widely remembered events, including the first combat use of a cruise missile in 1944 and the first publication of the [Pentagon Papers](https://www.edgepedia.org/pentagon-papers) in 1971, and it carries religious, national, and informal observances in a number of countries.[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) • [3](https://nationaltoday.com/june-13/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position in the year | 164th day of 2025, with 201 days remaining[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423) |
| First cruise missile attack | 13 June 1944: the first of four V-1 missiles fell on Swanscombe, Kent, at 4:18 a.m.[4](https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-cruise-v-1-fi-103-fzg-76/nasm_A19720633000) |
| Pentagon Papers | 13 June 1971: the New York Times began publishing excerpts of the leaked secret study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423) |
| Miranda rights | 13 June 1966: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that criminal suspects must be informed of their rights[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423) |
| Notable births | W. B. Yeats (1865), Fernando Pessoa (1888), Ban Ki-moon (1944)[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) |
| Notable deaths | Miyamoto Musashi (1645), Ludwig II of Bavaria (1886), Charles Haughey (2006)[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) |
| Observances | Feast of St. Anthony (Portugal, Spain), Sewing Machine Day, International Albinism Awareness Day[3](https://nationaltoday.com/june-13/) • [5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) |
## The first cruise missile attack, 1944
The V-1 launch on 13 June 1944 was the first combat use of a cruise missile. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the first of four missiles fell on Swanscombe, Kent, at 4:18 a.m., days after the Allied D-Day landings in France.[4](https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-cruise-v-1-fi-103-fzg-76/nasm_A19720633000) • [6](https://www.iwm.org.uk/file-download/download/public/13301) The Imperial War Museum records that over 10,000 V-1s were launched against Britain from mid-1944, killing nearly 6,000 people; most were fired from launch sites on the French coast, and their pre-set controls guided them to a target area where they dived to earth and exploded.[6](https://www.iwm.org.uk/file-download/download/public/13301) The bomb's characteristic buzzing sound earned it the popular name "buzz bomb."[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) The weapon itself was 27.3 feet long and weighed 4,740 pounds when fully loaded with fuel and warhead.[7](https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/book_hellburnedthrough.pdf)
## Peasant army enters London, 1381
During the [Peasants' Revolt](https://www.edgepedia.org/peasants-revolt) of 1381, rebels led by [Wat Tyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/wat-tyler) entered London on 13 June. A detailed chronology of the revolt records that in the afternoon of 13 June the Kent rebels arrived at the [Southwark](https://www.edgepedia.org/southwark) entrance to the city, that supporters inside the walls lowered the drawbridge, and that the rebels soon set fire to John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace, burning it to the ground.[8](https://www.1381.online/for_teachers/teacher_knowledge/1381%20a%20chronology.pdf) HISTORY's account describes the mob burning and looting the city, destroying government buildings, releasing prisoners, and beheading a judge along with several dozen leading citizens.[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) The following day, Richard II met the rebels at Mile End and granted charters giving serfs their freedom.[8](https://www.1381.online/for_teachers/teacher_knowledge/1381%20a%20chronology.pdf)
## Twentieth-century milestones
**United States.** In the decision [Miranda v. Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/miranda-v-arizona), handed down on 13 June 1966, the Supreme Court held that suspects in criminal cases must be told of their constitutional right to stay silent and to speak with a lawyer.[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423) A year to the day later, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court; the Senate confirmed him on August 30 by a vote of 69 to 11.[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) On 13 June 1971, the New York Times began publishing excerpts of the Pentagon Papers, a top secret study of America's involvement in Vietnam since 1945, leaked by military analyst [Daniel Ellsberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-ellsberg).[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423)
**Space and diplomacy.** On 13 June 1983, the U.S. space probe [Pioneer 10](https://www.edgepedia.org/pioneer-10) crossed the orbit of Neptune, at the time classified as the farthest planet from the Sun.[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) On 13 June 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in [Pyongyang](https://www.edgepedia.org/pyongyang), the first meeting between the two countries' leaders since the [Korean War](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-war).[1](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423) On 13 June 2002, the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the 1972 agreement with the Soviet Union that had regulated anti-ballistic missile defenses against nuclear missiles.[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13)
**Earlier events.** Other events recorded on 13 June include the publication in [Nicomedia](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicomedia) in 313 of the decisions of the [Edict of Milan](https://www.edgepedia.org/edict-of-milan), which granted religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire,[9](https://thisday.info/events/june/13/) Lafayette's arrival in [South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-carolina) on 13 June 1777 at age 19 to serve under General George Washington,[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) and the 1856 establishment of the University of Sydney's Faculty of Medicine, Australia's first university-based medical school.[10](https://litfl.com/otd/06-13/)
## Births and deaths
People born on 13 June include the Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), a driving force of the [Irish Literary Revival](https://www.edgepedia.org/irish-literary-revival) and winner of the 1923 [Nobel Prize in Literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/nobel-prize-in-literature);[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888);[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) the Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi (1897);[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) the American gastroenterologist Burrill Bernard Crohn (1884–1983), who described Crohn's disease in 1932;[10](https://litfl.com/otd/06-13/) the American anesthesiologist Arthur Ernest Guedel (1883–1956), designer of the Guedel oropharyngeal airway;[10](https://litfl.com/otd/06-13/) the South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-moon (born 1944), eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations;[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) the Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård (born 1951);[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13) and the actresses and fashion designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (born 1986).[2](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13)
Deaths on 13 June include the Japanese swordsman and author Miyamoto Musashi (1645),[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1886),[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) the Czech physician Joseph Škoda (1805–1881), known for Škoda resonance and Škoda sign,[10](https://litfl.com/otd/06-13/) and the Irish politician Charles Haughey, seventh Prime Minister of Ireland (2006).[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13)
## Observances
June 13 carries several observances. The Feast of St. Anthony falls on the date in Portugal and Spain, and St Anthony's Day is observed in Venezuela.[3](https://nationaltoday.com/june-13/) • [5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) In the United Kingdom, the sovereign's official birthday is celebrated on a Saturday in June, which can fall on 13 June; the King's Official Birthday is also a public holiday in Tuvalu and the Pitcairn Islands when the date aligns.[5](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13) • [11](https://anydayguide.com/calendar/13-06-2026) International Albinism Awareness Day, proclaimed by the United Nations in 2014 to address discrimination and violence against people with albinism, falls on 13 June.[3](https://nationaltoday.com/june-13/) Informal observances include Sewing Machine Day, which marks 13 June 1790, when Thomas Saint filed a British patent for the first mechanical chain-stitch sewing machine.[3](https://nationaltoday.com/june-13/)
## References
1. [Today in History: June 13, first Pentagon Papers excerpts published, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/217c0113a0dd2fbbe720d0c1cbdea423)
2. [What Happened on June 13, HISTORY](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-13)
3. [June 13 Holidays & Observances, National Today](https://nationaltoday.com/june-13/)
4. [Missile, Cruise, V-1 (Fi 103, FZG 76), National Air and Space Museum](https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-cruise-v-1-fi-103-fzg-76/nasm_A19720633000)
5. [On This Day in History – June 13, timeanddate.com](https://www.timeanddate.com/on-this-day/june/13)
6. [V-1 Flying Bomb large print guide, Imperial War Museums](https://www.iwm.org.uk/file-download/download/public/13301)
7. [V1 Flying Bomb, Bomber Command Museum of Canada](https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/book_hellburnedthrough.pdf)
8. [1381: a chronology, 1381.online](https://www.1381.online/for_teachers/teacher_knowledge/1381%20a%20chronology.pdf)
9. [June 13 in History, thisday.info](https://thisday.info/events/june/13/)
10. [June 13 – On This Day in Medical History, LITFL](https://litfl.com/otd/06-13/)
11. [Holidays Calendar for June 13, 2026, AnydayGuide](https://anydayguide.com/calendar/13-06-2026)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › General historical chronologies › Month and day chronicle pages › April to June*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license