AP US History This Day in American History August 13 1680 – The New Mexico Indians drive their Spanish rulers out Sante Fe, which leads to a bitter war of reconquest that lasts ten years

AP US History This Day in American History August 13 1870 – John Wesley Powell, the first white explorer of the Grand Canyon, records his impressions: “We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown… The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly.”

AP US History This Day in American History August 13 1942 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin drafted a memorandum to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt opposing their decision not to invade Western Europe at that time.

AP US History This Day in American History August 13 1961 – Shortly after midnight, East German soldiers begin laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city.