Today in History: December 13, Thousands protest police killings of Black men

"In 1862, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside launched failed frontal assaults against entrenched Confederate soldiers during the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg; the soundly defeated Northern troops withdrew two days later after suffering heavy casualties. In 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese soldiers captured the Chinese city of Nanjing and began what would be a weekslong massacre of an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 citizens, war prisoners and soldiers."

"In 2000, Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency a day after the U.S. Supreme Court shut down further recounts of disputed ballots in Florida; Democrat Al Gore conceded, delivering a call for national unity. In 2001, the Pentagon publicly released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his most optimistic expectations."

Dec. 13 has hosted widely varied, often consequential events. In 1862 Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside launched failed frontal assaults at Fredericksburg, suffered heavy casualties, and withdrew two days later. In 1937 Japanese soldiers captured Nanjing and began a weeks-long massacre that killed an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 citizens, prisoners, and soldiers. In 2014 thousands of protesters marched in U.S. cities over the killings of unarmed Black men by white police officers. Other milestones include Kofi Annan becoming U.N. secretary-general (1996), the disputed 2000 Bush-Gore outcome, a 2001 bin Laden videotape, Saddam Hussein's 2003 capture, the 2019 impeachment actions, and the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act. Actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke is 100.

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