2013 in Belgium

Events in the year 2013 in Belgium.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Albert II (until 21 July); Philippe (from 21 July)
• Prime Minister: Elio Di Rupo

Events

• January 1: Bart De Wever (New Flemish Alliance) becomes mayor of Antwerp.
• January 6: Noémie Happart crowned Miss Belgium 2013.
• January 13: Following accusations of tax evasion, Belgium's Dowager Queen Fabiola of Belgium has her annual allowance cut by over 400,000 pounds.
• February 9: Five people killed in a plane crash at Charleroi airport. The airport was closed shortly after the crash.
• February 21: 30,000 angry workers take to the streets of Brussels to demonstrate against government austerity plans.
• May 4: During a railway accident in Wetteren several tank cars filled with acrylonitrile explode.
• May 19: Anderlecht draw against Zulte Waregem to win the Jupiler Pro League.
• May 21: Soccer club Beerschot AC declared bankrupt by the Court of Commerce.
• May 30: Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Aloys Jousten as bishop of Liège
• July 3: King Albert II announces his pending abdication in favour of his son Philippe.
• July 14: Jean-Pierre Delville consecrated as bishop of Liège
• July 21: King Albert II abdicates in favour of his son, King Philippe.
• July 25: First official heatwave in Belgium since the 2006 European heat wave.
• August 25: Sebastian Vettel wins the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix.
• October 6: Samson Kiptoo Bunge wins the Marathon of Brussels in 2:15.49.
• October 8: François Englert and Briton Peter Higgs awarded the Nobel prize for Physics.
• October 12: Popgroup Clouseau make a comeback with the song "Vliegtuig" {Airplane} in the Ultratop 50.
• October 19: Ten parachutists and a pilot die in a plane crash shortly after take-off.
• December 3: Three heavy pile-ups occur on the A19 motorway due to fog
• December 7: Veerle Baetens wins the European Film Award for Best Actress. Death of a Shadow wins in the category Best Short Film.

Sports

• February 27: Ellen van Dijk wins 2013 Le Samyn des Dames
• August 23–26: Ellen van Dijk wins 2013 Lotto-Belisol Belgium Tour

Deaths

• 4 January – Amanda Stassart, 89, member of the Resistance during World War II and air hostess
• 6 January – Bart Van den Bossche, Flemish singer, actor and radio and television presenter
• 30 January – Roger Raveel, 91, Belgian painter
• 13 February – Robert Senelle, 94, Belgian academic and constitutionalist
• 23 February – Julien Ries, 92, Belgian religious historian, titular archbishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church
• 23 February – Maurice Rosy, 85, Belgian comics writer
• 6 March - Ward de Ravet, 88, Belgian actor
• 7 March - Didier Comès, 70, Belgian comics artist
• 14 March - François Narmon, 79, Belgian businessman and president of Dexia Group and the Belgian Olympic Committee
• 14 March - Vic Nees, 77, Flemish composer, choral conductor, musicologist, and music educator
• 17 March - François Sermon, 89, Belgian footballer
• 4 May - Christian de Duve, 95, Nobel Prize-winning Belgian cytologist and biochemist
• 4 May - Jacques Stockman, 74, Belgian footballer
• 13 May - André Denys, 65, Belgian politician, Governor of the province of East Flanders
• 25 June - Raymond Trousson, 77, Belgian literary historian
• 28 June - Jacques Planchard, 84, Belgian politician, Governor of Belgian Luxembourg
• 1 July - Armand Baeyens, 85, road bicycle racer
• 31 July - Michel Donnet, 96, Belgian pilot who served in the Belgian Army and British Royal Air Force during the World War II
• 10 September - Anne-Sylvie Mouzon, 57, Belgian politician
• 11 September - Fernand Boone, 79, Belgian football goalkeeper
• 17 September - Pierre Macq, 83, physicist
• 23 September - Hugo Raes, 84, writer and poet
• 9 October – Wilfried Martens, 77, former Prime Minister of Belgium
• 20 October – Thomas Blondeau, 35, Flemish writer, poet and journalist
• 15 November – Félix Geybels, 77, footballer
• 30 November – Tabu Ley Rochereau, 73, Congolese rumba singer and musician
• 1 December – Dany Vandenbossche, 57, politician

See also

• 2013 in Belgian television
• 2013 in the European Union

References