December 13 in history: Actor Smita Patil passed away in 1986

Bengaluru, Dec 13: Today is Saturday, December 13, 2014. What happened on this day in history? Oneindia takes a look at the past: [Dec 12: This day in history]

1642: New Zealand was discovered by Abel Tasman, the Dutch navigator.

1918: US President Widrow Wilson reaches France. He became the first US president to visit Europe while in office.

1940: German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler issues preparations for Operation Martita against Greece.

1941: British forces launch an offensive in Libya.

1955: India and the USSR affirm the Panchsheel.

1972: Astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to set foot on the moon, climbs into his lunar lander on the moon.

1981: The government of Poland imposed martial law to crush Solidarity Movement.

1986: Actress Smita Patil passed away in Mumbai.

1989: Former presidents of South Africa FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela meet for the first time.

1996: Kofi Annan becomes the UN Secretary-General.

1999: Dr V Kurien gets the Paulos Mar Gregorius Award.

2000: George W Bush becomes US president 36 days after elections are held.

Former Indian cricket captain Vijay Samuel Hazare becomes the first recipient of the 'Castrol Lifetime Achievement award'.

All 12 battalions of the Manipur Rifles Personnel go on strike.

2001: Indian Parliament attacked by terrorists, 15 killed including the terrorists.

2003: Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein caught by US forces.

Oneindia News