November 13 in History

Patriot forces led by Colonel Ethan Allen launched an ill-conceived attack on Montreal on September 25, 1775, that ended in Allen's capture and effectively terminated American hopes of bringing Quebec into the revolutionary cause. Allen, who had gained fame five months earlier for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, crossed the St. Lawrence River with roughly 110 men, expecting reinforcements from Major John Brown that never materialized. British General Guy Carleton had been alerted to the American approach and organized a mixed force of regulars, Canadian militia, and Mohawk warriors that outnumbered Allen's small contingent. The ensuing skirmish lasted less than two hours. Allen surrendered and was shipped to England in chains, where he spent the next two and a half years as a prisoner of war. The failed attack was part of a broader American invasion of Canada that continued through the fall and winter of 1775-1776 under General Richard Montgomery, who captured Montreal in November after the British garrison withdrew, and Colonel Benedict Arnold, who led a grueling march through the Maine wilderness to attack Quebec City. Montgomery was killed in the assault on Quebec on December 31, 1775, and Arnold was wounded. The surviving American forces retreated south in the spring of 1776, ending the invasion. The failure to secure Canada left the northern border as a persistent strategic vulnerability throughout the Revolutionary War and ensured that Britain retained its most important remaining North American colony.

Surgeon James Braid attended a demonstration of animal magnetism by Charles Lafontaine at the Manchester Athenaeum on November 13, 1841, and concluded that the trance states he witnessed were genuine but had nothing to do with magnetism. Braid was a Scottish surgeon practicing in Manchester, and he approached Lafontaine's traveling show with the skepticism of a trained medical professional. He attended three demonstrations over the course of a week, each time examining the subjects' physical condition more carefully. He observed changes in their eyes, muscle tone, and responsiveness that convinced him the trance state was real, but he rejected Lafontaine's claim that it was caused by any form of magnetic fluid or force passing between the operator and the subject. Braid conducted his own experiments, discovering that he could induce the same state by having subjects fixate their gaze on a bright object held slightly above their natural line of sight. The prolonged fixation produced fatigue of the eye muscles, which he believed triggered the trance through a purely neurological mechanism. He coined the term "neuro-hypnotism," later shortened to "hypnotism," derived from the Greek word for sleep, though he acknowledged that the hypnotic state was not actually sleep. His 1843 book Neurypnology laid out the scientific case for hypnosis as a neurological phenomenon, separating it from centuries of mystical associations with mesmerism, animal magnetism, and occult practice. His work gave hypnosis its name, its theoretical framework, and its first credible medical advocate. Surgeons began using hypnotic anesthesia before the introduction of ether, and the practice eventually found its way into the therapeutic toolkit of modern psychology and psychiatry.

Philippine House Speaker Manny Villar rammed through articles of impeachment against President Joseph Estrada on November 13, 2000, triggering a constitutional crisis that gripped the nation for months. Estrada, a former movie star who had won the presidency in 1998 with the largest popular vote in Philippine history, was accused of receiving over four hundred million pesos in illegal gambling payoffs, amassing hidden wealth through front companies, and betraying the public trust. Villar brought the impeachment articles to a vote with unusual speed, bypassing the normal committee process. The Senate impeachment trial began in December and was broadcast live on national television, captivating a country that watched its president's financial secrets exposed in real time. The trial collapsed on January 16, 2001, when a majority of senator-judges voted against opening a sealed bank envelope that prosecutors said contained evidence of Estrada's hidden accounts. The vote was seen as a cover-up, and within hours, tens of thousands of Filipinos began gathering at the EDSA Shrine in Manila, the same site where the 1986 People Power Revolution had toppled Ferdinand Marcos. The military withdrew its support from Estrada, and on January 20, Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was sworn in as president with the backing of the armed forces, the Catholic Church, and the business community. Estrada refused to resign but left the presidential palace. He was later convicted of plunder and sentenced to life imprisonment, then pardoned by Arroyo. He subsequently ran for president again in 2010, finishing second.

Five people. One sentence. Done. Thomas Cranmer had literally crowned Edward VI, shaped England's Protestant identity, and written the Book of Common Prayer — and now Queen Mary needed him gone. Lady Jane Grey hadn't even wanted the throne she'd briefly held. But Mary couldn't afford mercy. Cranmer's execution wouldn't come until 1556, and he'd famously thrust his "unworthy hand" into the flames first. The real story isn't treason. It's what happens when a country tries rewriting itself and runs out of room for the people who wrote the last draft.

Royalist forces under King Charles I retreated from Turnham Green when they encountered a Parliamentarian army of 24,000 London-trained band militia blocking the road to the capital. The bloodless standoff saved London from capture and proved that civilian volunteers could deter a professional royalist army, sustaining the Parliamentary cause through its most vulnerable period.

British and Jacobite forces fought to an inconclusive draw at the Battle of Sheriffmuir on November 13, 1715, with both sides claiming victory and both retreating from the field. The battle effectively halted the Jacobite advance toward England, as the Earl of Mar failed to break through to the lowlands. The 1715 rising collapsed within weeks, and James Francis Edward Stuart arrived too late to revive it.

James Braid attended a demonstration of animal magnetism by Charles Lafontaine on November 13, 1841, and became convinced that the phenomenon had a physiological rather than mystical explanation. Braid coined the term "hypnotism" to describe the state of focused concentration he observed. His scientific approach transformed mesmerism from a parlor trick into a legitimate subject of medical research.

Confederate forces under Major General John C. Breckinridge routed Union troops at the Battle of Bull's Gap on November 13, 1864, pursuing the retreating Federals to Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. The victory briefly secured Confederate control of East Tennessee's transportation corridors. However, the overall strategic situation continued to deteriorate for the South, and Breckinridge could not hold the gains.

Anarchist Léon Léauthier stabbed the Serbian ambassador to France at a Paris restaurant on November 13, 1893, during the wave of political violence known as the Ère des attentats. Léauthier had intended to kill any bourgeois diner he could find, selecting his victim at random. The attack intensified the French government's crackdown on anarchist organizations and contributed to the passage of repressive security legislation.

A magazine went after one of the most powerful men in America. Collier's didn't whisper it — they printed charges that Richard Ballinger had quietly helped private interests grab Alaskan coal lands meant for public protection. The accusation lit a firestorm. President Taft defended Ballinger. Conservation hero Gifford Pinchot didn't. Pinchot got fired. Congress investigated for months. Ballinger eventually resigned in 1911. But here's the twist — he was largely cleared. The real casualty wasn't Ballinger. It was Taft's presidency.

Billy Hughes didn't just lose his party — he kept his job. Expelled from Labor over his fierce push for military conscription during WWI, Australia's Prime Minister refused to resign. He'd campaigned twice for conscription referendums. Australians rejected both. And still Hughes governed, cobbling together a new Nationalist Party in 1917. The man who couldn't convince his own voters or his own colleagues somehow stayed in power until 1923. The Labor Party expelled him for betrayal. He outlasted nearly everyone who did it.