Today in History, September 13th
On September 13, 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo accord at the White House. Plus the Battle of Quebec and the end of the Attica revolt.
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September 13 is best known for 1993, when Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the Oslo peace accord on the White House lawn, sealed by a handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. The date also saw British forces win the Battle of Quebec in 1759 and the deadly end of the Attica prison revolt in 1971.
The big story: The Oslo Accord is signed at the White House (1993)
Starting in January 1993, Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiators met in secret in Oslo, Norway. Their talks produced a framework that was unveiled on September 13, 1993, on the South Lawn of the White House. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO official Mahmoud Abbas signed the “Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements,” with President Bill Clinton presiding and more than 3,000 guests looking on. The moment most people remember came next: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who had met for the first time only that morning, shook hands. The deal called for Israeli troops to pull out of Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho and for a Palestinian government to take shape. Rabin, Peres and Arafat shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. The hopes of that day faded in the years that followed. Rabin was assassinated in 1995, and the peace process stalled.
More events on September 13
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1515 | Swiss mercenaries attacked French forces near Marignano and were beaten the next day, a defeat that helped steer Switzerland toward neutrality. |
| 1759 | British forces defeated the French at the Battle of Quebec. |
| 1848 | Railroad foreman Phineas Gage survived an iron rod passing through his skull, an injury that destroyed much of his brain’s left frontal lobe. |
| 1862 | Union soldiers found a lost copy of Robert E. Lee’s plans for the Antietam campaign, but Gen. George McClellan moved too slowly to make full use of it. |
| 1922 | The Straw Hat Riots broke out in New York City and lasted eight days. |
| 1940 | Italian forces crossed from Libya into Egypt in World War II. |
| 1963 | Mary Kay Ash launched her cosmetics company in Dallas. |
| 1971 | New York State Police stormed Attica Correctional Facility, ending a four-day revolt. Twenty-nine inmates and 10 hostages were killed. |
| 1987 | Scavengers in Goiânia, Brazil, took a highly radioactive canister from an abandoned clinic, setting off one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents. |
| 1990 | The police drama Law & Order premiered on NBC. |
| 2004 | Oprah Winfrey gave a new car to every member of her studio audience, 276 people in all. |
| 2007 | The United Nations adopted its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. |
Born on September 13
- 1857: Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate company, born near Hockersville, Pennsylvania.
- 1911: Bill Monroe, American singer and mandolin player who created bluegrass music, born in Rosine, Kentucky.
- 1916: Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, born in South Wales.
Sources
- Israel-Palestine peace accord signed, History.com
- This Day in History: September 13, History.com
- On This Day: September 13, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Children’s author Roald Dahl is born, History.com
- Milton Snavely Hershey, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Bill Monroe, Encyclopaedia Britannica
