While Title VII officially prevented discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, and sex for private employers, it wasn't until Executive Order 11375 that discrimination based on gender was illegal for the federal government and federal contractors.

President Johnson signed the order, which was officially titled Amending Executive Order No. 11246, Relating to Equal Employment Opportunity, on October 13, 1967.

The tiny Mediterranean country of Malta first became independent of the British in 1964, but officially became a republic on December 13, 1974.

Even though it's small, Malta is an underrated place to visit.

According to the National Museum of the US Air Force, Kilgare-Brier became the first woman to receive an airplane instructor's license on October 13, 1939.

She was an important figure for women in aviation. She also flew non-combat missions during World War II, and after the war she owned and operated her own private airport, according to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

The 2004 Summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, the country where they started, both in ancient and modern times. The opening ceremony took place on August 13.

It was the largest Olympic Games at the time, with 201 countries participating. Michael Phelps also won his first Olympic medal and broke his first record in Athens.

The Olsen twins were born on June 13, 1986.

They famously got their start on "Full House" and went on to create an empire: books, videos, perfume, clothing lines, and much more.

Taylor Swift was born on December 13, 1989 — her birthday lands on Friday the 13th this year — and she has repeatedly said that 13 is her favorite number. She even used to perform with "13" drawn on her hand.

As part of her 13 agenda, her blockbuster concert film "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" premiered in theaters on Friday, October 13, 2023. It went on to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time after grossing $261 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Roy Chapman Andrews discovered the first dinosaur eggs at a dig in Mongolia on July 13, 1923, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

Scientifically, this was huge for the field of paleontology, confirming that dinosaurs laid eggs. The museum was so impressed that Andrews went on to become its director from 1935 to 1942.

The Hollywood sign is an iconic piece of California culture. But when it was officially dedicated on July 13, 1923, it wasn't even supposed to last for more than two years.

Originally, the sign was installed to promote a new subdivision in the Hollywood Hills.

"Super Mario Bros.," one of the most iconic video games in history, was released on September 13, 1985, exclusively in Japan, per The Verge.

Since then, Mario has been in approximately 170 games, including wildly successful spin-offs like "Mario Kart," "Mario Party," and "Paper Mario."

A lunar space station has long been the subject of science fiction novels, but on November 13, 2009, that dream took one step closer to reality when NASA announced they found water on the Moon.

How much is a "significant amount"? According to NASA's Anthony Colaprete, around a dozen 2-gallon bucketfuls.

The 69th best debut album of all time, at least according to Rolling Stone, Black Sabbath's self-titled album was released on February 13, 1970.

The album is widely regarded as having created the genre of heavy metal, with instant classics like "NIB." and "The Wizard."

Steve Buscemi was born on December 13, 1957 — yes, he shares a birthday with Taylor Swift. Buscemi might be famous as an actor, but he also has a lesser-known second career: a New York City firefighter.

Buscemi became an NYC firefighter at age 18. He eventually left the service to pursue acting, but in the aftermath of 9/11, Buscemi helped with rescue efforts and worked 12-hour shifts sifting through the rubble.

Of the iconic "Friday the 13th" movie saga, "Part III" was the first to actually open on Friday the 13th (August 13, 1982), the first to experiment with 3D, and the first appearance of Jason's mask.

Even though the movie was critically panned, the movie made over $36 million against a $2.3 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

If all else fails to convince you that Friday the 13th isn't a cursed date, just remember this: It's the last day of the work week. Fridays are the best!

German forces during WWII bombed Buckingham Palace on September 13, 1940. The bombs hit both the palace and its chapel.

Even scarier, the king and queen were at the residence at the time of the attack. Even though the event was traumatic, Queen Elizabeth II — then a princess — merely stated she was "glad we have been bombed. Now I can look the East End in the face," the BBC reported.

After a week of increasingly heartbreaking COVID-19 updates, then-President Donald Trump declared a national emergency due to the pandemic.

Shakur was shot four times on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas. He succumbed to his injuries six days later on Friday, September 13.

In September 2023, police arrested one of the last surviving witnesses to his killing for the murder. Duane "Keffe D" Davis was indicted by a jury in Clark County, Nevada, on one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, plus a gang enhancement.

The arrest came after Davis spoke multiple times publicly — including in a memoir — about his involvement in the case. Davis, who remains in custody, pleaded not guilty in November 2023.

The Daily Mail reported that the unnamed teenager was struck by lightning while at an air show in England in 2010 and, incredibly, only sustained burns on his shoulder. The hospital stated he was expected to make a full recovery.

The murder of Kitty Genovese took place on March 13, 1964. The New York Times reported Genovese was assaulted and killed by Winston Moseley inside her apartment building. The crime is famous because, reportedly, 38 people heard the attack, and none of them called the police — making the "bystander effect" a household term.

It was later suggested that the reporting of the crime was inaccurate and greatly exaggerated. But no matter the specifics, an innocent woman died.

The Costa Concordia sank into the ocean on January 13, 2012. It became the largest passenger ship ever wrecked, with almost double the number of people on board than on the Titanic.

Thirty-two people died, and the captain was convicted of manslaughter in 2015.

On July 13, 1951, the state of Kansas was hit with over 25 inches of rain. The cities of Manhattan, Lawrence, and Topeka were most affected, and over 2 million acres of land were damaged by the flood.

The storm also affected oil tanks, some of which caught on fire and exploded. There were passengers stuck on trains for four days. And, at its highest, the flooding exceeded previous records by 4 to 9 feet.

The people of Kansas were not wrong to call this day "Black Friday."

After the buyout of United Airlines fell through on October 13, 1989, the ripples were felt throughout the stock market, specifically the junk bond market.

CNBC reported this resulted in a 7% sell-off in the Dow, and the S&P 500 lost 6%. Essentially, a lot of people lost a lot of money.

Uruguayan Flight 571 was headed toward Chile when it crash-landed in the Andes on October 13, 1972. In the following days, the survivors were reduced to hiding in the fuselage of the plane and eating deceased passengers.

The rescue efforts were called off only 10 days after the crash, so it was shocking when two men appeared 72 days later and alerted the authorities that there were 16 other survivors trapped in the mountains.

At the time, the tragedy of Aeroflot 217 was the worst plane crash in Russian history. All 174 people on board the flight (including the 10 crew members) died when the plane crashed while trying to land due to bad weather.

It's never been confirmed what the cause of the crash was — some speculate it was a lightning strike. The plane ended up just 3 miles away from the runway.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was born on July 13, 1821. Forrest first rose to fame as a Confederate general and was in charge of the infamous Fort Pillow Massacre, where he and his men reportedly killed over 200 unarmed Union soldiers who had surrendered (many of whom were Black).

Forrest is widely believed to have served as the KKK's first Grand Wizard, though he would later decree that the organization should be demolished, PBS reported.

On January 13, 1989, a computer virus swept through the UK. The Los Angeles Times reported hundreds of computers were affected by the virus, which deleted personal files specifically on the unlucky date.

The virus also slowed computers down, but fortunately didn't cross the Atlantic Ocean.

The storm officially ended on November 13, 1970, but its effects are still being felt today.

The Bhola cyclone is still the deadliest storm in the Bay of Bengal — the death toll is estimated to be from 150,000 to 550,000, according to NBC News. One district in Bangladesh lost over 45% of its population.

In addition to being deadly and extremely costly, the cyclone is credited with jump-starting a civil war. At the time of the storm, the area was called East Pakistan. The Pakistani mismanagement of the relief efforts was considered to be a huge event in the fight for Bangladeshi independence.

A Swedish flight disappeared while flying over the Baltic Sea on June 13, 1952. And for 40 years, the Swedish government stuck by the story that the plane was merely performing training exercises.

However, National Geographic wrote that in the '90s, it was leaked that the crewmembers were actually spying on the Soviet Union for NATO, even though Sweden was officially neutral during the Cold War. And Russia responded with its own confession: A Russian pilot told a Swedish diplomat that he had shot the plane down.

It's been called the "October Surprise." From October 12 to October 13, 2006, western New York was hit with two feet of snow. Over 300,000 people were left without power, thousands of trees were damaged, and the governor of New York declared a state of emergency for the Buffalo region.

The fires in Victoria from 1939 to 1940 were the culmination of a long, dry summer. But on January 13, 1939, the Black Friday bushfires consumed the area: 71 people died directly from the fire, another 438 from the resulting heatwave, and 575,000 hectares of land were burned to a crisp.

The ash that resulted from the two days of flames was intense. There were reports of it reaching as far as New Zealand.

Sam Patch was America's first professional daredevil, according to Atlas Obscura. Throughout his life, he jumped from many great heights, including Niagara Falls twice.

So, when he decided to jump from the High Falls into the Genesee River, no one thought to be concerned, but it quickly became apparent that something was wrong.

While some speculated that he was drunk, it's never been known for sure what exactly happened to Patch when he jumped into the river. But on November 13, Patch jumped, and his body was found four months later.

According to NASA, an asteroid, 99942 Apophis., will come within 20,000 miles of the Earth on April 13, 2029. This might not seem like a big deal, but it's actually extremely close in relation to space.

Although it's not expected to actually hit our planet, the closeness of the asteroid could cause damage on its surface — the gravity of Earth might cause avalanches on Apophis.