This Day in History: July 13

On this day, July 13 …

1960: John F. Kennedy wins the Democratic presidential nomination on the first ballot at his party's convention in Los Angeles, outdrawing rivals, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Stuart Symington and Adlai Stevenson. 

Also on this day:

• 1973: Former presidential aide Alexander P. Butterfield reveals to Senate Watergate Committee staff members the existence of President Richard Nixon's secret White House taping system.
• 1977: A blackout hits New York City in the mid-evening as lightning strikes on electrical equipment cause power to fail; widespread looting breaks out. (The electricity would be restored about 25 hours later.)

(Original Caption) Detroit, Michigan: Lee A. Iacocca, photographed under the Ford emblem at a news conference, was elected earlier as President of the Ford Motor Company by the board of directors. Iacocca joined the company 24 years ago. The announcement was made by Henry Ford II, board chairman.

• 1978: Lee Iacocca is fired as president of Ford Motor Co. by chairman Henry Ford II.
• 1985: Live Aid, an international rock concert in London, Philadelphia, Moscow and Sydney, takes place to raise money for Africa's starving people.

• 1990: "Ghost," starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, is released by Paramount Pictures.
• 1999: Angel Maturino Resendiz, suspected of being the "Railroad Killer," surrenders in El Paso, Texas.

The federal probe of George Zimmerman was opened two years ago following Trayvon Martin’s high-profile shooting death in Sanford, Fla. (AP) (Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

• 2013: A jury in Sanford, Fla., clears neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing sparked a debate over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice that divided the nation.

Video

• 2018: A grand jury indictment, as announced by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and sought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, alleges that the Russian government was behind a sweeping conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The grand jury indicts 12 Russian military intelligence officers on charges that they had hacked Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic Party, releasing tens of thousands of stolen and politically damaging communications. 
• 2019: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signs a bill declaring a day of honor for Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, a Confederate general, slave trader and early Ku Klux Klan leader.