2013

2013 was the 142nd year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

50 Years Forward logo

• The City of Birmingham observed the 50th anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham campaign and church bombing under the banner of "50 Years Forward".
• January 1: Cooper Green Mercy Hospital reopened as a primary and urgent care clinic.
• January 1: Three teens were killed in the 2013 Jasper plane crash.
• January 17: A rare thundersnow brought 2" to the Birmingham area.
• January 22: Paul Finebaum hosted his last show on WJOX-FM.
• February 4: A BJCTA "DART" trolley, fueled by compressed natural gas, caught fire downtown.
• February 13: Alabama Power ended service from the Powell Avenue Steam Plant to UAB.
• March 22: A flight information display at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport fell over, killing a 10-year-old boy and injuring his mother and siblings.
• March 29: A fire in the vacant S. J. Bennett Professional Building resulted in a structural collapse.
• March 30: Activist Angela Davis addressed the Birmingham NAACP at 6th Avenue Baptist Church.
• June 16: Birmingham was selected as an "All-America City" by the National Civic League.
• August 14: 2013 Airport Highlands plane crash.
• August 23-25: 2013 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
• September 11-15: Empowerment Week.
• September 13–15: 2013 U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting.
• October 2: The Birmingham Comprehensive Plan was adopted by the Birmingham City Council.
• October 12: The inaugural Cask & Drum festival was held in Lakeview.
• November 7-10: 2013 National Humanities Conference
• November 28: A plane crash in a Trussville field resulted in minor injuries.
• December 17: One person was killed and 8 others seriously injured in a natural gas explosion at Marks Village in Gate City.

Business

• January 1: Warren Averett LLC acquired accounting offices in Tampa, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia.
• January 2: WJOX-FM became a CBS Sports Radio affiliate.
• January 2: ProAssurance acquired the Medmarc Insurance Group of Chantilly, Virginia.
• January: Daxko acquired North Carolina-based Active Life Apps.
• January: Kyung Chung purchased Max's Delicatessen from Steve Dubrinsky.
• January: Choice Hotels rebranded its Alabama Jameson Inns as Quality Inns.
• January 20: Weld entered into a partnership with The Tuscaloosa News to share resources.
• January 22: The Alabama Media Group put the 6-year-old Birmingham News building up for sale.
• Express Oil Change acquired Tire Engineers.
• April: Urban Cookhouse opened a third location in Crestline Village.
• July 29: Russell Athletic closed its Alexander City mill.
• August: The 880 Building was sold to local investors for $2.3 million.
• Two North Twentieth was sold for $19 million.
• White Arnold & Dowd merged with Stockham & Stockham attorneys.
• Harbert Realty Services acquired Harris Tynes Realty Group.
• Sterne Agee purchased Yorvik Partners brokerage of London, England.
• Tom's Sound moved from 4401 4th Avenue South to 4013 1st Avenue North.

Establishments

• January 1: Substrate Radio was launched by Jason Hamric.
• January 13: Heavenly Donut Company opened on Cahaba River Road.
• March 1: Octane coffee opened in Homewood.
• March: Harold & MOD was founded.
• March: South Boutique opened in Trussville.
• May 1: Krewe on First opened.
• May 20: Cahaba Beach Dog Park opened in Inverness.
• May 21: Yellowhammer Multimedia was incorporated by Cliff Sims.
• July 2: Birmingham Mountain Radio began broadcasting over the air on FM 107.3.
• August 1: Carrigan's Public House opened on Morris Avenue.
• Bessemer City Middle School opened.
• September: Tau Poco opened on 20th Street North
• September: Adventure Park at Grants Mill opened at Grants Mill Station in Irondale.
• September 7: Dixie Fish Co. opened on U.S. Highway 280.
• The Collins bar opened on 2nd Avenue South.
• October: Freshfully and Harold & MOD opened a retail shop in the Burger-Phillips building.
• October 19: Coyote J. Calhoun's "The Edge 24/7" internet radio broadcast debuted.
• November: Seasick Records opened in Avondale.
• November 24: Octane coffee opened in the Westin Birmingham at Uptown.
• December: McEnally's Mercantile opened in Clay.
• December: The Alabama Biscuit Company opened in Cahaba Heights.
• Andy Beck and Rich Shannon founded Viper Imaging.
• Jefferson County Veterans Treatment Court
• Red Mountain Makers was founded.
• Will Wright and Mazi Rasulnia founded Pack Health at the Innovation Depot.
• Carey Fountain founded DoReMe Media Group.
• Shegun Otulana founded TheraNest.
• Toshimi and Vanessa Hira opened La Catrina at the Pinnacle at Tutwiler Farm in Trussville
• Jegil Dugger founded PYE.
• Daxko software engineers Trent Kocurek and Adam Aldrich founded Airship.
• Tyler Jones and Mark Slagle founded 1504 (narrative studio).
• Carlisle Jones and Zach Mckown founded Lawnchair Youth.

Disestablishments

• January: Thorpe-Sunbelt Inc. of Houston, Texas purchased Empire Refractory Specialists.
• April: Paramount yogurt shop closed.
• The Barking Kudu closed.
• May 4: Bessemer police shut down Gip's Place for operating illegally.
• Colonial Properties Trust was acquired by Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. of Memphis, Tennessee.
• July: Café de Paris closed.
• August 8: Judge Joseph Boohaker ordered the closure of New Woman All Women Health Care.
• August 16: Pike's Hickory Pit closed.
• August 31: Marty's closed.
• Metro Bar closed.
• Plant Odyssey closed.
• December 15: The Eastwood K-Mart closed.
• December 20: Mix bakery closed.
• December 29: Yankee Pizzeria closed.
• December 31: Lyric Hot Dogs closed.
• December: PKA Architects was acquired by BDG Architects of Tampa, Florida.
• December: Molton, Allen & Williams was acquired by USI Insurance Services of Valhalla, New York.

Education

• July 1: Alabaster City Schools formally split from Shelby County Schools.

Government

• January 15: 2013 State of the City address.
• March 19: Governor Robert Bentley signed Act 2013-67 creating the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
• May 14: The Birmingham City Council passed the "Kevin Felder ordinance" establishing stiff security and reporting requirements for nightclubs.
• The Jefferson Rehabilitation and Health Center in Ketona was sold to Tara Jane, LLC, of Orchard Park, New York
• June 25: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County v. Holder, striking down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• August 27: 2013 Birmingham municipal election
• September 9: The Pelham City Council approved the creation of Pelham City Schools.
• October 8: 2013 Birmingham municipal election runoffs
• October 22: Birmingham city officials were sworn in and Maxine Parker was elected City Council president.
• October 29: The State of Alabama settled two lawsuits by agreeing to block several provisions of the controversial Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act.
• December 17: The Birmingham City Council passed a Food Truck ordinance.

Nonprofits

• January: 800+ HIV/AIDS patients were transferred from the closed St George's Clinic at Cooper Green Mercy Hospital to UAB's 1917 Clinic.
• January 24: The Shades Valley Family YMCA renovations had their official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
• September 1: Rachel Lindley began her tenure as news director for WBHM-FM.
• Julian Maha founded KultureCity.

Sports

• January 5: BBVA Compass Bowl: The Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Pitt Panthers 38-17.
• January 7: The 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to claim a 15th National Championship.
• February 17: Mercedes Marathon: Mario Macias of Colorado won with a record time of 2:18:48. Camille Heron of West Lafayette, Indiana led female runners with a time of 2:44:25.
• March 3-9: NCAA Division II track & field, swimming, diving and wrestling championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex
• April 10: 2013 Birmingham Barons opened the new Regions Field in downtown Birmingham with a game against the Mississippi Braves.
• May 26: LSU beat Vanderbilt 5-4 in 11 innings to win the 2013 SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. The tournament reportedly drew a record 134,496 total fans.
• May 29: The Barons won the 2013 Rickwood Classic
• June 6-9: David Frost finished one stroke ahead of Fred Couples to win a rain-soaked Regions Tradition at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club.
• October 6: UAB Blazers football coach Garrick McGee promoted Jimmy Williams to defensive coordinator and demoted Reggie Johnson to outside linebackers coach.
• November 30: The Auburn Tigers defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 34-28 in the 2013 Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Individuals

• Andrew Glaze succeeded Sue Brannan Walker as Poet Laureate of Alabama.
• Bob Dickerson was elected chair of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
• January 2: Stephen Nowlin succeeded Phil Hammonds as Superintendent of Jefferson County Schools.
• January 14: Jeremy Littleton was appointed chief of Montevallo Police Department.
• February 8: Ray Watts succeeded Richard Marchase as President of UAB.
• march 28: Former Alabama State Trooper commander Keith Kelley was sentenced in federal court for a 2007 sexual misconduct case in Pelham.
• May 6: Attorney Jim Porter became president of the National Rifle Association.
• August 2: Former JCCEO director Gayle Cunningham and her daughter, Kelli Caulfield, pleaded guilty to theft from JCCEO accounts.
• Selwyn Vickers succeeded interim dean Anupam Agarwal as head of the UAB School of Medicine.

Births

• April 26: Matea, a black howler, was born at the Cleveland Zoo.
• May 30: Two red panda cubs were born to Sorrel and Shifu at the Birmingham Zoo.
• July 18: Khan, a jaguar, was born at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
• December 24: Austin Perrine, a costumed superhero who helps the homeless.
• Betulas and Sassafras, black bears at the Birmingham Zoo.

Awards

• Alabama Women's Hall of Fame:
• Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame: Seybourn Lynne, Maud Kelly, William Denson, Marion Baldwin, T. Massey Bedsole
• Alabama Men's Hall of Fame: Thomas Corts, Emory Cunningham & Eugene Sledge
• Alabama Sports Hall of Fame: Ronnie Baynes, Forrest Blue, Eric Davis, Bill Jones, Bill Oliver, Vickie Orr, Nick Saban & Dannette Stone
• Alabama State Teacher of the Year: Alison Grizzle, P. D. Jackson-Olin High School
• Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame: Bert Campaneris, Jimmy Piersall, Ben Cook & Curt Bloom
• Birmingham Business Hall of Fame: Mike Goodrich, J. R. McWane, William McWane, Jim McWane, Arthur Shores, and Herb Sklenar
• Birmingham Gallery of Distinguished Citizens: Bill Ricker, Johnny Robinson, Fred Shuttlesworth, Yvonne Turner & Virgil Ware
• Bobby Bowden Collegiate Coach of the Year Award: Nick Saban
• Miss Samford: Lauren Hunt
• Miss Shelby County: Holland Brown
• Mr Football: Jeremy Johnson, Carver-Montgomery
• Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series": Tony Hale

Marriages

• January 15: Actor Jim Nabors to Stan Cadwallader
• September 14: Rep. Patricia Todd to Jennifer Clarke
• October 5: Actress Jasika Nicole to Claire Savage

Retirements

• March: Mal Moore, Director of Athletics at the University of Alabama
• May: Herman Hinton, Deputy Chief for the Birmingham Police Department
• May 17: Moody Duff, Deputy Chief for the Birmingham Police Department
• September: Frank Topping, Director of Institutional Advancement, Planning, and Development at Miles College
• December: Suzanne Durham retired from YWCA Central Alabama
• December 31: Samuetta Drew, Chief of Operations for Birmingham City Schools
• John L. Carroll, dean of the Cumberland School of Law
• Scott Vowell, presiding judge, 10th Judicial Circuit of Alabama

Deaths

Marty Eagle (1941-2013)

Hardrock Gunter (1925-2013)

Virgil Trucks (1917-2013)

Maxine Parker (1944-2013)

• January 9: Alfred Jaffe, business owner
• January 17: James Hood, integrated the University of Alabama
• January 19: Russell Yarbrough, Birmingham City Council member
• January 19: UAB physician Basil Hirschowitz
• January 23: Doug Waits, Birmingham-Southern College biology professor
• January 27: Henry David DeBardeleben, TV and film producer
• February 1: Marty Eagle, owner of Marty's bar
• February 15: Bill Steltemeier, attorney and EWTN CEO
• February 20: Sara Finley, medical geneticist
• February 21: Louis Oberdorfer, attorney
• March 6: Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Bertolone, restaurateur
• March 9: Helen Cockrell, secretary
• March 15: Cam Langley, glass artist
• March 15: Hardrock Gunter, rockabilly pioneer
• March 17: Ted Hallmark, owner of Hallmark Farm
• March 22: Luke Bresette, victim in the 2013 Birmingham airport fatality.
• March 23: Virgil Trucks, pitcher
• March 30: Mal Moore, Alabama Crimson Tide football player, coach and athletic director
• April 7: James Lewis, publisher of the Birmingham Times
• April 7: Reuben Davis, one-term Jefferson County Commissioner
• April 23: Marvin Engel, real estate executive and philanthropist
• May 1: Mike Froning, founding director of the Birmingham Education Foundation
• June 1: Dorothy Porter, singer, educator and widow of John Porter
• June 5: Jim Parsons, former Birmingham police chief
• June 11: Johnny Smith, jazz guitarist
• June 24: Jackie Fargo, wrestler
• June 29: Jack Gotta, former Birmingham Americans head coach and general manager
• July 1: Frank Parsons, attorney and 1979 mayoral candidate
• July 4: Errol Milliard, Army combat engineer, killed by rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan
• July 5: Virginia Liles, art history professor and college administrator
• July 22: Hugo Black Jr, attorney
• July 29: Ed Sprague, building supplier
• August 2: Bill Tant, diving instructor and promoter
• August 4: Jim Beckham, Alabama Power Company executive
• August: Pete Clifford, Methodist minister and former Birmingham City Council member
• September 2: Wayne Wallace, host of the "Dixie Gospel Caravan"
• September 5: Richard Vigneulle, banker and Shades Mountain Independent Church pastor
• September 6: Les Longshore, tennis pro and coach
• September 11: Demetrius Newton, Alabama State Representative
• September: Chuck Geiss, publisher of Black & White
• September 12: Sheldon Hackney, historian, educator and chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
• September 15: John Ritchie, US Air Force veteran and Chelsea founder
• September 19: Joe Rhodes, Birmingham Police Department chaplain
• September 23: Tat Bailey, electrician and landscape artist
• September 27: Caldwell Marks, co-founder of Motion Industries
• September 29: W. L. Williams Jr, attorney
• October 15: Murray Kidd, architect
• October 23: Melvin Miller, former Birmingham Park and Recreation Board director
• October 24: Tommy Langston, newspaper photographer
• October 24: Dewey White, pediatrician and state legislator
• October 28: Adolphus Bell, blues musician
• November 8: Bob Scranton, former Birmingham Barons executive
• November 9: Robert Brissie, Jefferson County Medical Examiner
• November 9: Dave McDaniel, radio host and sportscaster
• November 12: Maxine Parker, Birmingham City Council president
• November 15: Barbara Park, children's author
• November 23: Wayne Mills, country singer and bandleader
• November 27: Reverend James Naughton, pastor of St Theresa Catholic Church
• December 7: Lee Walls, newspaper publisher
• December 18: Katherine McTyeire, businesswoman
• December 25: Earl Potts, Baptist minister
• December 29: Jim Wall, former president of O'Neal Steel
• December 30: Bill Matthews, SONAT president and Mayor of Mountain Brook

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 2013 and List of homicides in 2013

Works

Regions Field

• April 12: 42, a feature film based on Jackie Robinson, premiered.
• May 29: The Charles Linn statue was dedicated at Linn Park.
• June 27: Light Rails was unveiled at the 18th Street underpass.
• "Little Music Manchild: The Malik Kofi Story", documentary by Malena Cunningham about cellist Malik Kofi
• August 18: The A. H. Parker statue by Brian Owens was dedicated at Parker High School
• September 12: Premiere of The Watsons Go to Birmingham at the Alabama Theatre.
• September 15: Four Spirits (memorial) by Elizabeth MacQueen at Kelly Ingram Park
• September 21: World premiere of "A More Convenient Season" at the Alys Stephens Center
• September 21: Bobby Bowden statue at Samford University's Seibert Stadium.

Buildings

• February 13: Westin Birmingham and Todd English P.U.B. at Uptown
• February: UAB Steam Plant
• March 13: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport Terminal Modernization
• April 10: Regions Field at Railroad Park
• May: Ashby at Ross Bridge was completed.
• May 22: The new Fultondale Public Library was dedicated.
• June 25: Tom and Gean Cleckler Teen Center for Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Alabama in Hueytown
• August 4: Worship Center Christian Church, Derby Parkway
• August 19: Concord Elementary School, Oxmoor Valley Elementary School, Tuggle Elementary School and Woodlawn High School addition
• Birmingham Fire Station No. 18 in Pratt City
• Champions Plaza at the University of Alabama
• Dollar General on 5th Avenue South
• Gardendale First Baptist Church
• Mountain Brook Municipal Complex in Crestline Village
• Target at Brookwood Village

Demolitions

• The Charles Kilgore residence in Tuscaloosa was demolished.
• The Noojin Building in Gadsden was demolished.
• The Hill University Center was demolished.
• Park Lane Apartments was demolished.
• November 15: The Brighton Grocery was destroyed by fire.

Books

• The Complete History of Crimson Tide Football by multiple authors
• The Disinherited novel by Abe Fawal
• Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mays, the Parallel Lives of Baseball’s Golden Age by Allen Barra
• When Winning Was Everything: Alabama Football Players in World War II by Paul Bryant Jr and Delbert Reed
• In Love with Defeat: The Making of a Southern Liberal, autobiography by Brandy Ayers
• The Tragic City by "Paul Kersey" (Michael J. Thompson)

See Also

• 2013 Birmingham Barons
• 2013 Iron Bowl
• 2013 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
• 2013 UAB Blazers football

Context

In 2013, a meteor exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,491 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. Benedict XVI resigned as pope. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected the 266th pope, whereupon he took the name Francis. Two Chechen Islamist brothers exploded two bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing 3 and injuring 264 others. An eight-story commercial building collapsed in Savar Upazila near the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, leaving 1,129 dead and 2,500 injured. Edward Snowden disclosed operations engaged by a U.S. government mass surveillance program to news publications and fled the country, later being granted temporary asylum in Russia.

Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union. Amid mass protests across Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi was deposed in a military coup d'état. Islamic militants attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, killing at least 62 civilians and wounding over 170. Typhoon Haiyan "Yolanda", one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, hit the Philippines and Vietnam, causing devastation with at least 6,149 dead. Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 3, carrying the Yutu rover, became the first spacecraft to "soft"-land on the Moon since 1976.

The top-grossing films of 2013 were The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, Frozen, and Man of Steel.

Television series that ended in 2013 included 30 Rock, Hoarders, CSI: NY, The Office, Futurama (again), Burn Notice, Dexter, Breaking Bad, and What Not to Wear.

Top pop music hits in 2013 included "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell, "Royals" by Lorde, "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz, "Harlem Shake" by Baauer, and "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton. Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" featuring Pharrell Williams took Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, while their album Random Access Memories took Album of the Year, Best Dance/Electronica Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Song of the Year went to "Royals" by Lorde. Best New Artist was a tie, going to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Notable births in 2013 included Prince George of Cambridge. Notable deaths included singer Patti Page, former New York mayor Ed Koch, physicist Donald A. Glaser, President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, film critic Roger Ebert, former U.K. prime minister Margaret Thatcher, comedian Jonathan Winters, country music singer George Jones, singer and actress Deanna Durbin, actress Jean Stapleton, swimmer and actress Esther Williams, author Richard Matheson, media personality David Frost, writer Frederik Pohl, engineer Ray Dolby, author Tom Clancy, astronaut Scott Carpenter, actress Marcia Wallace, musician Lou Reed, actor Paul Walker, actor Peter O'Toole, and actor James Avery.

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