On this day in history - March 13

What Happened On This Day – March 13

• 2013 Pope Francis succeeds Pope Benedict XVI

  Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina became the 266th leader of the Catholic Church, which has 1.2 billion members around the world.

• 1997 A series of unidentified lights appear over Phoenix, Arizona

  The Phoenix Lights caused heated debate in the UFO community. It emerged later that some of the lights were caused by illumination flares dropped from a U.S. Air Force plane.

• 1943 German troops liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków

  Thousands of men, women and children were murdered by the nazis or deported to extermination camps. The horrific event is portrayed in the film, Schindler's List.

• 1845 Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is premiered

  The German composer's opus 64 is one of the most frequently performed violin concertos in history.

• 1781 Uranus is discovered

  German-born British astronomer William Herschel is credited with the planet's discovery. It is the third largest planet by radius in the solar system.