Human Saga

On January 13

No pivotal events are recorded on exactly January 13 in the Human Saga — here is the surrounding week in history.

This week in history (Jan 10 – Jan 16)

16 January 27 BCEAugustus founds the Principate (First Settlement)Politics & governance

In January 27 BCE, Octavian formally 'restored the Republic' to the Senate and people of Rome, only to receive back overarching powers in a carefully staged settlement.

14 January 1761Third Battle of Panipat checks Maratha expansionMilitary & conflict

On 14 January 1761 the Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, allied with the Rohillas and the Nawab of Awadh, crushed the Maratha army under Sadashivrao Bhau at Panipat north of Delhi.

On 10 January 1776 the English-born radical Thomas Paine published Common Sense, a roughly fifty-page pamphlet that made a plain-language argument for American independence and against hereditary monarchy.

15 January 2001Wikipedia is launchedCulture, arts & philosophy

On 15 January 2001 Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia that anyone could edit.

11 January 2002Guantánamo Bay detention camp opensPolitics & governance

On 11 January 2002 the first twenty detainees in the US 'War on Terror' arrived at Camp X-Ray, a hastily built facility at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

10 January 20252024 confirmed as first year above 1.5 °CEnvironment & climate

Climate agencies including the EU's Copernicus service confirmed 2024 as the warmest year in the instrumental record and the first full calendar year more than 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial baseline — the threshold central to the Paris…

16 January 378 CETeotihuacan's 'entrada' into Tikal reshapes Maya dynastic politicsMilitary & conflict

Maya inscriptions record that on a day corresponding to 16 January 378 CE, a figure named Siyaj K'ak' ('Fire is Born') arrived at Tikal, apparently as the emissary or general of a powerful lord called Spearthrower Owl, widely identified…

16 January 929 CEAbd al-Rahman III proclaims the Caliphate of CórdobaPolitics & governance

On 16 January 929, the Umayyad emir Abd al-Rahman III of Córdoba assumed the title of caliph and Commander of the Faithful, taking the regnal name al-Nasir li-din Allah.

16 January 2016The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank opensEconomy & trade

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, first proposed by Xi Jinping in 2013, formally opened for business on 16 January 2016 after its founding agreement entered into force in late 2015.

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