diff --git a/History.markdown b/History.markdown
index e91008a5..160aff33 100644
--- a/History.markdown
+++ b/History.markdown
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 ## HEAD
 
+### Major Enhancements
+
+### Minor Enhancements
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+### Development Fixes
+
+### Site Enhancements
+
+## v1.3.0 / 2013-11-04
+
 ### Major Enhancements
   * Add support for adding data as YAML files under a site's `_data`
     directory (#1003)
diff --git a/jekyll.gemspec b/jekyll.gemspec
index 7034b251..62a866a6 100644
--- a/jekyll.gemspec
+++ b/jekyll.gemspec
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.rubygems_version = '1.3.5'
 
   s.name              = 'jekyll'
-  s.version           = '1.3.0.rc'
+  s.version           = '1.3.0'
   s.license           = 'MIT'
-  s.date              = '2013-10-29'
+  s.date              = '2013-11-04'
   s.rubyforge_project = 'jekyll'
 
   s.summary     = "A simple, blog aware, static site generator."
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
     site/_posts/2013-09-06-jekyll-1-2-0-released.markdown
     site/_posts/2013-09-14-jekyll-1-2-1-released.markdown
     site/_posts/2013-10-28-jekyll-1-3-0-rc1-released.markdown
+    site/_posts/2013-11-04-jekyll-1-3-0-released.markdown
     site/css/gridism.css
     site/css/normalize.css
     site/css/pygments.css
diff --git a/lib/jekyll.rb b/lib/jekyll.rb
index 096c718f..d99a3972 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll.rb
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ require_all 'jekyll/tags'
 SafeYAML::OPTIONS[:suppress_warnings] = true
 
 module Jekyll
-  VERSION = '1.3.0.rc'
+  VERSION = '1.3.0'
 
   # Public: Generate a Jekyll configuration Hash by merging the default
   # options with anything in _config.yml, and adding the given options on top.
diff --git a/site/_posts/2013-11-04-jekyll-1-3-0-released.markdown b/site/_posts/2013-11-04-jekyll-1-3-0-released.markdown
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2cddd5e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/site/_posts/2013-11-04-jekyll-1-3-0-released.markdown
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+---
+layout: news_item
+title: 'Jekyll 1.3.0 Released'
+date: 2013-11-04 21:46:02 -0600
+author: mattr-
+version: 1.3.0
+categories: [release]
+---
+
+It's been about six weeks since v1.2.0 and the Jekyll team is happy to
+announce the arrival of v1.3.0. This is a **huge** release full of all
+sorts of new features, bug fixes, and other things that you're sure to
+love.
+
+Here are a few things we think you'll want to know about this release:
+
+* You can add [arbitrary data][] to the site by adding YAML files under a
+  site's `_data` directory. This will allow you to avoid
+  repetition in your templates and to set site specific options without
+  changing `_config.yml`.
+
+* You can now Run `jekyll serve --detach` to boot up a WEBrick server in the
+  background. **Note:** you'll need to run `kill [server_pid]` to shut
+  the server down. When ran, you'll get a process id that you can use in
+  place of `[server_pid]`
+
+* You can now **disable automatically-generated excerpts** if you set
+  `excerpt_separator` to `""`.
+
+* If you're moving pages and posts, you can now check for **URL
+  conflicts** by running `jekyll doctor`.
+
+* If you're a fan of the drafts feature, you'll be happy to know we've
+  added `-D`, a shortened version of `--drafts`.
+
+* Permalinks with special characters should now generate without errors.
+
+* Expose the current Jekyll version as the `jekyll.version` Liquid
+  variable.
+
+For a full run-down, visit our [change log](/docs/history/)!
+
+[arbitrary data]: /docs/datafiles/