This is a list of selected September 13 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
September 13: First night of Selichot (Ashkenazi Judaism, 2009); National Grandparents' Day (United States, 2009); Feast Day of Saint John Chrysostom (Western Christianity)
- 1759 – Seven Years' War: British forces defeated the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City, New France, though General James Wolfe was mortally wounded (pictured).
- 1814 – War of 1812: Fort McHenry was attacked by British forces during the Battle of Baltimore, later inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner," which later became the national anthem of the United States.
- 1848 – American railroad worker Phineas Gage survived an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head and destroyed areas of his brain's frontal lobes.
- 1987 – A radioactive item was scavenged from an abandoned hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, resulting in four deaths and serious contamination in 249 others.
- 1993 – After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin formally signed the Oslo Peace Accords.