Friday 13th of March 1615

242nd Pope Innocentius XII is born as Antonio Pignatelli in Spinazzola, Apulia, Italy.

Sunday 13th of March 1898

Film director Henry Hathaway is born as Henri Léopold de Fiennes Hathaway in Sacramento, California, United States.

Wednesday 13th of March 1901

Murder suspect John Henderson is lynched by burning at the stake before a crowd of 5000 in Courthouse Yard, Corsicana, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 13th of March 1901

23rd President of the United States Benjamin Harrison dies of influenza at the age of 68 in Harrison House, 1230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

Monday 13th of March 1911

Founder of the Church of Scientology Ron Lafayette Hubbard is born in Tilden, Nebraska, United States.

Thursday 13th of March 1919

Serial killer The Axeman of New Orleans sends a letter to the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

Hell, March 13, 1919 Esteemed Mortal:They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the Axeman.When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me company.If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don‘t think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm.Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe.Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee, I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or realm of fancy.The Axeman

Sunday 13th of March 1927

Serial killer Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel aka The Monster in Human Shape aka The Beast of Birkenshaw is born in New York City, New York, United States.

Monday 13th of March 1933

Serial killer Donald Henry Gaskins aka Pee Wee Gaskins aka the Meanest Man in America is born as Donald Henry Parrott in Florence County, South Carolina, United States.

Gaskins was small for his age and immediately gained the nickname 'Pee Wee'.

Sunday 13th of March 1938

Lawyer Clarence Seward Darrow dies of pulmonary heart disease at the age of 81 in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Monday 13th of March 1939

Musician Neil Sedaka is born in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Wednesday 13th of March 1940

76-year-old Michael Francis O'Dwyer at a joint meeting of the East India Association and the Central Asian Society is shot dead by Punjabi revolutionary Udham Singh aka Shaheed-i-Azam in Caxton Hall, 10 Caxton Street, London, Westminster, Greater London, United Kingdom.

At his trial Singh told the court: "I did it because I had a grudge against him. He deserved it. He was the real culprit. He wanted to crush the spirit of my people, so I have crushed him. For full 21 years, I have been trying to wreak vengeance. I am happy that I have done the job. I am not scared of death. I am dying for my country. I have seen my people starving in India under the British rule. I have protested against this, it was my duty."

Thursday 13th of March 1958

54-year-old Kidnapper and murderer Nathan Freudenthal Leopold aka The Perfect Murderer is released on parole after serving thirty-three years, six months, and two days in Stateville Correctional Center, Crest Hill, Illinois, United States.

Leopold moved to Santurce, Puerto Rico to avoid media attention and married a widowed florist.

Thursday 13th of March 1958

Victim of John Wayne Gacy aka The Killer Clown John A. Mowery is born in Illinois, United States.

Friday 13th of March 1964

Bar manager Kitty Catherine Susan Genovese is raped stabbed to death in two separate attacks spanning at least half an hour by 29-year-old Winston Moseley outside her apartment at the age of 29 in Kewley Gardens, New York, New York, United States.

Finally, Genovese was found by a neighbor named Sophia Farrar who had courageously left her apartment to go to the crime scene. Genovese was taken away by ambulance and died en route to the hospital. Later investigation by police and prosecutors revealed that approximately a dozen  individuals nearby had heard or observed portions of the attack, though none saw or were aware of the entire incident. Nobody came to help her and nobody called the police.

Saturday 13th of March 1971

Unidentified serial killer the Zodiac Killer sends a letter to the Los Angeles Times in Pleasanton, California, United States.

"This is the Zodiac speaking. Like I have allways said, I am crack proof. If the Blue Meannies are evere going to catch me, they had best get off their fat asses & do something. Because the longer they fiddle & fart around, the more slaves I will collect for my after life. I do have to give them credit for stumbling across my riverside activity, but they are only finding the easy ones, there are a hell of a lot more down there. The reason I'm writing to the Times is this, They don't bury me on the back pages like some of the others."

Thursday 13th of March 1975

Start of the first trial against 40-year-old Serial killer Joseph Kallinger aka The Shoemaker in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States.

Thursday 13th of March 1980

38-year-old Serial killer John Wayne Gacy aka The Killer Clown is sentenced to death for the murder of 33 boys in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Saturday 13th of March 1982

Noise music band Club Moral play their thirteenth concert at the 'Anarchia' event in Universiteit Gent, Blandijnberg, Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Sunday 13th of March 1983

Cyclist Louis Louison Bobet aka Zonzon dies of cancer at the age of 58 in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

Wednesday 13th of March 1985

Serial killer Stephen Peter Morin aka Ray Constantine is executed by lethal injection at the age of 34 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Because of Morin's history of drug abuse the execution technicians were forced to probe both of Morin's arms and one of his legs with needles for nearly 45 minutes before they found a suitable vein.

Sunday 13th of March 1988

Pornographic actor John Curtis Holmes aka Johnny Wadd dies of cardiorespiratory arrest and encephalitis due to AIDS at the age of 44 in Veterans Administration Hospital, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Holmes performed in hundreds of porn-movies and claimed to have had sex with an estimated 14.000 women.

Tuesday 13th of March 1990

Psychologist and writer Bruno Bettelheim commits suicide by asphyxiation with a plastic bag at the age of 87 in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

Wednesday 13th of March 1996

Mass murderer Thomas Watt Hamilton known for The Dunblane Massacre commits suicide by a shot in his mouth at the age of 44 in Dunblane Primary School, Dunblane, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Hamilton shot 16 children and one teacher dead and wounded another 15 with two 9mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolvers before killing himself. The dead were 5-year-old Victoria Elizabeth Clydesdale, 5-year-old Emma Elizabeth Crozier, 5-year-old Melissa Helen Currie, 5-year-old Charlotte Louise Dunn, 5-year-old Kevin Allan Hasell, 5-year-old Ross William Irvine, 5-year-old David Charles Kerr, 5-year-old Mhairi Isabel MacBeath, 45-year-old teacher Gwen Mayor, 6-year-old Brett McKinnon, 5-year-old Abigail Joanne McLennan, 5-year-old Emily Morton, 5-year-old Sophie Jane Lockwood North, 5-year-old John Petrie, 5-year-old Joanna Caroline Ross, 5-year-old Hannah Louise Scott and 5-year-old Megan Turner.

Wednesday 13th of March 1996

Film director Krzysztof Kieślowski dies during open-heart surgery following a heart attack at the age of 55 in Warszawa, Województwo Mazowieckie, Poland.

Friday 13th of March 1998

47-year-old Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Peter-Jürgen Boock is released from prison after 18 years in Sozialtherapeutische Anstalt Bergedorf, Ernst-Mantius-Straße 8, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Sunday 13th of March 2005

Scenes from the 'Ganzenrijden' contest in Berendrecht, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Wednesday 13th of March 2019

A laser engraved pancake at the modelbuilding workshop in Mekano, Mutsaardstraat 31, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.