October 13 Birthday
On October 13, 1792, the cornerstone of the White House was laid. George Washington oversaw the ceremony, though he never lived there — John Adams was the first president to occupy it, in 1800. The building was designed by James Hoban, an Irish architect, and was modeled on Leinster House in Dublin. The British burned it in 1814, and it was rebuilt. Theodore Roosevelt officially named it the White House in 1901 — before that it was called the Executive Mansion. The building has 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms. Margaret Thatcher, born this day in 1925, was a grocer's daughter who became the first female Prime Minister of Britain. She privatized state industries, broke the miners' union, and fought the Falklands War. She was loved and hated with equal intensity. She was forced out by her own party in 1990. People born on October 13 fall under the zodiac sign of Libra. The birthstone is Opal and the birth flower is Marigold. Historical events on October 13 include 54 CE: Roman Emperor Claudius dies (possibly poisoned by his wife Agrippina), 1775: Continental Congress establishes Continental Navy, 1792: Cornerstone of the White House laid by George Washington. Famous people born on October 13 include Margaret Thatcher (1925), Paul Simon (1941), Sacha Baron Cohen (1971).