63 die in militant attack in Russian city
2005: At least 63 people were killed in one of the main cities of Russia’s Caucasus region when scores of militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings. Following the attack, President Vladimir Putin ordered a total blockade of Nalchik city to prevent the militants from slipping out.
The city of 235,000 is the capital of Kabardino-Balkariya, a republic bordering Chechnya. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks in Nalchik. Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin told Putin that 50 militants had been killed and that ten police officers had also died. Local Health Ministry spokesman Stepan Kuskov said at least three civilians were also among the dead, and that 84 people were wounded.
October 13: Other important events
1775 - The US Navy is founded as the Continental Congress orders the construction of a naval fleet.
1792 - The cornerstone of the Executive Mansion, later known as the White House, is laid during a ceremony in Washington, DC.
1880 - Transvaal declares independence from Britain.
1889 - Boers rebel against British rule in South Africa.
1914 - Garrett Morgan invents and patents gas mask.
1923 - Ankara becomes new capital of Turkey.
1943 - Italy declares war on former Axis partner Germany.
1952 - Egypt reaches agreement with Sudan on Nile waters.
1957 - The East German government seals its borders and recalls all Eastmark holdings for conversion into a new currency.
1968 - New military government in Panama names civilian cabinet.
1969 - Soviet Union sends third spacecraft into orbit in as many days, putting seven cosmonauts in space.
1970 - Canada and China announce they will establish diplomatic relations.
1981 - Hojatoleslam Ali Khamenei sworn in as President of Iran.
1986 - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II makes her visit to China.
1987 - Costa Rica’s President Oscar Arias Sanchez wins Nobel Peace Prize for sponsoring plan to end civil wars in Central America.
1988 - Egyptian author Najeeb Mahfouz becomes the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
1990 - Gen Michel Aoun, the Christian army commander, surrenders power in the face of a Syrian-led military attack during the civil war.
1992 - The pyramids, the Sphinx and other monuments survive Cairo earthquake that kills at least 400 and injures more than 4,000.
Compiled by: By Abdul Kareem, Head of Archives
