July 13th

John Parker was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, on July 13, 1729. Parker played a prominent role in the first battle of the War for Independence, as leader of the volunteer American militia known as the Minutemen.

On the night of April 18, 1775, Parker received warning of the approach of the king's soldiers under Major John Pitcairn. Parker assembled about seventy volunteers to face the British. In the ensuing skirmish on Lexington Green on April 19, eight Americans were killed and ten were wounded.

The Minutemen followed the British forces to Concord, sniping at them as they retreated. According to legend, the colonists adopted "Yankee Doodle" as their theme song.

In 1793, Jean Paul Marat, the French revolutionary writer of the radical newspaper L'Ami du peuple (The Friend of the People) was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday. She had claimed to be reporting traitors to the cause of the Revolution at the time of the murder. The assassination inspired Jacques Louis David to paint the gruesome scene. Corday was executed four days later.

In 1863 the Civil War military draft caused rioting to erupt across New York City. In the following three days about 1,000 people were killed.

In 1897, two years after experimenting with sending and receiving radio signals from different parts of his house, twenty-one year old Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received a US patent for the radio.

1938 marked the introduction of Pay TV. Spectators paid 25 cents to witness the first television theatre that opened in Boston, MA. The variety show with dancing and song lasted 45 minutes and was attended by 200 people. The acts were performed on a floor above the theatre and transmitted downstairs by TV.

In 1939 Frank Sinatra made his recording debut with the Harry James band. Frankie sang Melancholy Mood and From the Bottom of My Heart. He did good.

Back in 1959, The Shirelles song, "Dedicated To The One I Love" was ahead of its time. The song only hit number 83 on "Billboard" magazine's Top 100 chart but when the song was re-released in 1961, it went to number three on the charts.

In 1960 John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Los Angeles.

In 1967 race-related rioting broke out in Newark, N.J. with 27 people murdered in four days of violence.

In 1972 George McGovern claimed the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Miami Beach, Fla. Apparently only Massachusetts residents were very impressed.

On July 13, 1977 a 25-hour blackout hit the New York City area after lightning struck upstate power lines. It only lasted one night but what a night it was. By the time it was over, a record 3,776 people had been arrested. Looting, vandalism, and arson had caused an estimated $300 million worth of damage.

In 1985 it was "Live Aid!" Described as the Woodstock of the eighties, the world's biggest rock festival was organized by Boomtown Rats as an international rock concert from London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney. The concert that took place to raise money for Africa's starving people was attended by 162,000 people, while 1.5 billion people watched the show from their televisions. The effort raised over $70 million.

On Jul 13 1994 Jeff Gillooly, Tonya Harding's ex-husband, was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. He serves six months.

One year ago today, Budweiser escaped from a nation that doesn’t believe in kings. Anheuser-Busch agreed to a takeover by giant Belgian brewer InBev SA.