01010813 This Day In History, August 13

554: Justinian's "Pragmatic Sanction" confirmed and increased the papacy's temporal power, and gave guidelines for regulating civil and ecclesiastical affairs in Rome and Italy (see also A History Of Jerusalem: Constantine and Muhammad).

1516: The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain was signed. Francis I of France recognized Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, recognised Francis's claim to Milan.

1521: Spanish Conquistador ("conqueror") Hernando Cortes captured and destroyed Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) after a three-month siege.

1535: French explorer Jacques Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence River.

1553: Michael Servetus was arrested by John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland as a heretic for his (correct) belief that the Church of Rome's "Trinity" doctrine is incorrect (as also taught at Daily Bible Study, based on what the Word of God, not any man, actually says, while the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all exist, the Holy Spirit is the power of God, not a "person" of God).

1624: Cardinal Richelieu was appointed Chief Minister of France by Louis XIII.

1704: The Battle of Blenheim during the War of the Spanish Succession. French and Bavarian forces were routed by a combined British, German and Dutch army at Blenheim, Germany. The victors lost 6,000 soldiers compared with 21,000 French and Bavarian troops.

1787: The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia (listen to our Sermon The Ottoman Empire).

1788: Prussia joined the Anglo-Dutch alliance to form the Triple Alliance to prevent the spread of the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90.

1792: King Louis XVI of France was arrested by the revolutionary National Tribunal and declared an enemy of the people.

1814: The Cape of Good Hope was formally ceded to the British by the Dutch.

1831: After witnessing a solar eclipse that he believed was "a sign from God," Nat Turner led 70 other slaves in the murder of 55 whites in Southampton County, Virginia.

1868: A powerful earthquake near Arica, Peru, killed approximately 25,000 people. An accompanying tsunami caused damage as far away as Hawaii and New Zealand.

1898: Carl Gustav Witt discovered 433 Eros, the first near-Earth asteroid to be found.

1920: During the Polish-Soviet War, the Battle of Warsaw began.

1960: The Central African Republic declared independence from France.

1961: East Germany's communist government began building the Berlin Wall after more than 3,000,000 of its citizens fled to the west. The wall snaked 103 miles (166 kilometers) around West Berlin.

1962: Representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church and Vatican City met in Metz, France. They agreed that the Russian church would have observers attending the Second Vatican Council; in return, the Roman Catholic Church agreed to not condemn Communism.

1964: The last hangings in Britain took place when two men were executed for murder at Liverpool and Manchester.

1996: Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicated there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons, heightening the possibility it could support a primitive life form.

2008: During the South Ossetian War, Russian forces occupied the Georgian city of Gori.