August 13

Events

Pre-1600

*29 BC – Octavian holds the first of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes.
* 523 – John I becomes the new Pope after the death of Pope Hormisdas.
* 554 – Emperor Justinian I rewards Liberius for his service in the Pragmatic Sanction, granting him extensive estates in Italy.
* 582 – Maurice becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 900 – Count Reginar I of Hainault rises against Zwentibold of Lotharingia and slays him near present-day Susteren.
* 1099 – Raniero is elected as Pope Paschal II, who would become deeply entangled in the Investiture Controversy.
*1516 – The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is signed. Francis I of France recognizes Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, recognizes Francis's claim to Milan.
*1521 – After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés capture Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquer the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
*1532 – Union of Brittany and France: The Duchy of Brittany is absorbed into the Kingdom of France.
*1536 – Buddhist monks from Kyoto, Japan's Enryaku-ji temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in what will be known as the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance. (Traditional Japanese date: Twenty-seventh day of the seventh month of the fifth year of the Tenbun (天文) era).
* 1553 – Michael Servetus is arrested by John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland as a heretic.

1601–1900

*1624 – The French king Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu as prime minister.
*1645 – Sweden and Denmark sign Peace of Brömsebro.
* 1650 – Colonel George Monck of the English Army forms Monck's Regiment of Foot, which will later become the Coldstream Guards.
*1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim: English and Imperial forces are victorious over French and Bavarian troops.
*1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy defeats the Penobscot Expedition with the most significant loss of United States naval forces prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
*1792 – King Louis XVI of France is formally arrested by the National Tribunal, and declared an enemy of the people.
* 1806 – Battle of Mišar during the Serbian Revolution begins. The battle ends two days later with a Serbian victory over the Ottomans.
*1814 – The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Netherlands, is signed in London, England.
*1868 – The 8.5–9.0 Arica earthquake struck southern Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''), causing 25,000+ deaths and a destructive basin wide tsunami that affected Hawaii and New Zealand.
*1889 – William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut is granted United States Patent Number 408,709 for "Coin-controlled apparatus for telephones."
*1898 – Spanish–American War: Spanish and American forces engage in a mock battle for Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrendered in order to keep the city out of Filipino rebel hands.
* 1898 – Carl Gustav Witt discovers 433 Eros, the first near-Earth asteroid to be found.
*1900 – The steamer Deutschland of Hamburg America Lines set a new record for the eastward passage when it docked on Plymouth, England, five days, 11 hours and 45 minutes after sailing from New York, breaking by three hours, six minutes its previous mark in its maiden voyage in July.

1901–present

*1905 – Norwegians vote to end the union with Sweden.
*1906 – The all black infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Regiment are accused of killing a white bartender and wounding a white police officer in Brownsville, Texas, despite exculpatory evidence; all are later dishonorably discharged. (Their records were later restored to reflect honorable discharges but there were no financial settlements.)
*1913 – First production in the UK of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.
* 1918 – Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha May Johnson is the first woman to enlist.
* 1918 – Bayerische Motoren Werke AG ( BMW) established as a public company in Germany.
* 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Warsaw begins and will last till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.
* 1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Shanghai begins.
*1942 – Major General Eugene Reybold of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizes the construction of facilities that would house the "Development of Substitute Materials" project, better known as the Manhattan Project.
*1944 – World War II: German troops begin the pillage and razing of Anogeia in Crete that would continue until September 5.
* 1954 – Radio Pakistan broadcasts the "Qaumī Tarāna", the national anthem of Pakistan for the first time.
*1960 – The Central African Republic declares independence from France.
*1961 – Cold War: East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started. The day is known as Barbed Wire Sunday.
*1964 – Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans are hanged for the murder of John Alan West becoming the last people executed in the United Kingdom.
*1967 – Two young women became the first fatal victims of grizzly bear attacks in the 57-year history of Montana's Glacier National Park in separate incidents.
*1968 – Alexandros Panagoulis attempts to assassinate the Greek dictator Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos in Varkiza, Athens.
* 1969 – The Apollo 11 astronauts enjoy a ticker tape parade in New York City. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon.
*1973 – Aviaco Flight 118 crashes on approach to A Coruña Airport in A Coruña, Spain, killing 85.
*1977 – Members of the British National Front (NF) clash with anti-NF demonstrators in Lewisham, London, resulting in 214 arrests and at least 111 injuries.
* 1978 – One hundred fifty Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
*1990 – A mainland Chinese fishing boat ''Min Ping Yu No. 5202'' is hit by a Taiwanese naval vessel and sinks in a repatriation operation of mainland Chinese immigrants, resulting in 21 deaths. This is the second tragedy less than a month after ''Min Ping Yu No. 5540'' incident.
* 2004 – One hundred fifty-six Congolese Tutsi refugees are massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.
*2008 – Russo-Georgian War: Russian units occupy the Georgian city of Gori.
* 2015 – At least 76 people are killed and 212 others are wounded in a truck bombing in Baghdad, Iraq.
*2020 – Israel–United Arab Emirates relations are formally established.

Births

Pre-1600

* 985 – Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (d. 1021)
*1311 – Alfonso XI, king of Castile and León (d. 1350)
*1584 – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, English admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland (d. 1640)
*1592 – William, Count of Nassau-Siegen, German count, field marshal of the Dutch State Army (d. 1642)

1601–1900

*1625 – Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1698)
*1662 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1748)
*1666 – William Wotton, English linguist and scholar (d. 1727)
*1700 – Heinrich von Brühl, Polish-German politician (d. 1763)
*1717 – Louis François, Prince of Conti (d. 1776)
*1756 – James Gillray, English caricaturist and printmaker (d.1815)
*1764 – Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers, French general (d. 1813)
* 1790 – William Wentworth, Australian journalist, explorer, and politician (d. 1872)
*1803 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (d. 1869)
*1814 – Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist and astronomer (d. 1874)
*1818 – Lucy Stone, American abolitionist and suffragist (d. 1893)
*1819 – Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet, Anglo-Irish mathematician and physicist (d. 1903)
*1820 – George Grove, English musicologist and historian (d. 1900)
*1823 – Goldwin Smith, English-Canadian historian and journalist (d. 1910)
*1831 – Salomon Jadassohn, German pianist and composer (d. 1902)
*1841 – Johnny Mullagh, Australian cricketer (d. 1891)
*1842 – Charles Wells, English brewer, founded Charles Wells Ltd (d. 1914)
*1849 – Leonora Barry, Irish-born American social activist (d. 1930)
* 1851 – Felix Adler, German-American religious leader and educator (d. 1933)
* 1860 – Annie Oakley, American target shooter (d. 1926)
*1866 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian businessman, founded Fiat S.p.A. (d. 1945)
*1867 – George Luks, American painter and illustrator (d. 1933)
*1872 – Richard Willstätter, German-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1942)
* 1879 – John Ireland, English composer and educator (d. 1962)
*1884 – Harry Dean, English cricketer and coach (d. 1957)
*1888 – John Logie Baird, Scottish engineer, invented the television (d. 1946)
* 1888 – Gleb W. Derujinsky, Russian-American sculptor (d. 1975)
*1889 – Camillien Houde, Canadian lawyer and politician, 34th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1958)
*1895 – István Barta, Hungarian water polo player (d. 1948)
* 1895 – Bert Lahr, American actor (d. 1967)
*1898 – Jean Borotra, French tennis player (d. 1994)
* 1898 – Regis Toomey, American actor (d. 1991)
*1899 – Alfred Hitchcock, English-American director and producer (d. 1980)
* 1899 – José Ramón Guizado, Panamanian politician, 17th President of Panama (d. 1964)

1901–present

*1902 – Felix Wankel, German engineer (d. 1988)
*1904 – Buddy Rogers, American actor and musician (d. 1999)
* 1904 – Margaret Tafoya, Native American Pueblo potter (d. 2001)
*1906 – Chuck Carroll, American football player and lawyer (d. 2003)
* 1906 – Art Shires, American baseball player and boxer (d. 1967)
*1907 – Basil Spence, Scottish architect, designed Coventry Cathedral (d. 1976)
* 1908 – Gene Raymond, American actor and pilot (d. 1998)
*1911 – William Bernbach, American advertiser, co-founded DDB Worldwide (d. 1982)
* 1912 – Claire Cribbs, American basketball player and coach (d. 1985)
* 1912 – Ben Hogan, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
* 1912 – Salvador Luria, Italian-American microbiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
*1913 – Makarios III, Greek archbishop and politician, 1st President of Cyprus (d. 1977)
* 1913 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (d. 1998)
*1914 – Grace Bates, American mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
*1917 – Sid Gordon, American baseball player (d. 1975)
* 1918 – Noor Hassanali, Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2006)
* 1918 – Frederick Sanger, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)

*1919 – Rex Humbard, American evangelist and television host (d. 2007)
* 1919 – George Shearing, English jazz pianist and bandleader (d. 2011)
* 1920 – Neville Brand, American actor (d. 1992)
* 1921 – Louis Frémaux, French conductor (d. 2017)
* 1921 – Jimmy McCracklin, American blues/R&B singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2012)
* 1921 – Mary Lee, Scottish singer (d. 2022)
*1922 – Chuck Gilmur, American basketball player, coach, and educator (d. 2011)
*1925 – Benny Bailey, American trumpet player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2005)
* 1925 – José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentine executive and policy maker (d. 2013)
*1926 – Fidel Castro, Cuban lawyer and politician, 15th President of Cuba (d. 2016)
*1928 – John Tidmarsh, English journalist and radio host (d. 2019)
*1929 – Pat Harrington, Jr., American actor (d. 2016)
*1930 – Wilfried Hilker, German footballer and referee
* 1930 – Don Ho, American singer and ukulele player (d. 2007)
* 1930 – Bernard Manning, English comedian (d. 2007)
* 1930 – Wilmer Mizell, American baseball player and politician (d. 1999)
* 1930 – Bob Wiesler, American baseball player (d. 2014)
* 1933 – Joycelyn Elders, American admiral and physician, 15th Surgeon General of the United States
* 1935 – Alex de Renzy, American director and producer (d. 2001)
* 1935 – Mudcat Grant, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2021)
* 1938 – Dave "Baby" Cortez, American R&B pianist, organist, and composer
* 1938 – Bill Masterton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1968)
*1940 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2000)
*1943 – Fred Hill, American football player
* 1943 – Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, President of Haiti
* 1943 – Michael Willetts, English sergeant; George Cross recipient (d. 1971)
*1945 – Lars Engqvist, Swedish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
* 1945 – Gary Gregor, American basketball player
* 1945 – Robin Jackman, Indian-English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2020)
* 1945 – Howard Marks, Welsh cannabis smuggler, writer, and legalisation campaigner (d. 2016)
* 1947 – Fred Stanley, American baseball player and manager
* 1947 – John Stocker, Canadian voice actor and director
* 1947 – Margareta Winberg, Swedish politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
* 1948 – Kathleen Battle, American operatic soprano
* 1949 – Jim Brunzell, American wrestler
* 1949 – Bobby Clarke, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
* 1949 – Philippe Petit, French tightrope walker
* 1949 – Willy Rey, Dutch-Canadian model (d. 1973)
*1950 – Jane Carr, English actress
* 1950 – Rusty Gerhardt, American baseball player, coach, and manager
*1951 – Dan Fogelberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007)
*1952 – Dave Carter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
* 1952 – Gary Gibbs, American football player and coach
* 1952 – Suzanne Muldowney, American performance artist
* 1952 – Herb Ritts, American photographer and director (d. 2002)
* 1952 – Hughie Thomasson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007)
* 1952 – Eugenio Lopez III, Filipino businessperson, CEO and chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation
* 1953 – Tom Cohen, American philosopher, theorist, and academic
* 1953 – Ron Hilditch, Australian rugby league player and coach
* 1953 – Thomas Pogge, German philosopher and academic
* 1953 – Peter Wright, English historian and author
* 1954 – Nico Assumpção, Brazilian bass player (d. 2001)
* 1955 – Keith Ahlers, English race car driver
* 1955 – Hideo Fukuyama, Japanese race car driver
* 1955 – Paul Greengrass, English director and screenwriter
*1956 – Rohinton Fali Nariman, Judge of the Supreme Court of India
*1958 – David Feherty, Northern Irish golfer and sportscaster
* 1958 – Feargal Sharkey, Northern Irish singer-songwriter
* 1958 – Randy Shughart, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993)
*1959 – Danny Bonaduce, American actor and wrestler
* 1959 – Bruce French, English cricketer and coach
* 1959 – Tom Niedenfuer, American baseball player
*1960 – Ivar Stukolkin, Estonian swimmer
*1961 – Koji Kondo, Japanese composer and sound director
* 1961 – Neil Mallender, English cricketer and umpire
* 1961 – Tom Perrotta, American novelist and screenwriter
*1962 – John Slattery, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
*1963 – Steve Higgins, American talk show co-host and announcer, writer, producer, comedian and impressionist
* 1963 – Valerie Plame, American CIA agent and author
* 1963 – Sridevi, Indian actress (d. 2018)
*1964 – Jay Buhner, American baseball player and sportscaster
* 1964 – Debi Mazar, American actress
* 1964 – Tom Prince, American baseball player and manager
* 1965 – Mark Lemke, American baseball player, coach, and radio host
* 1965 – Hayato Matsuo, Japanese composer and conductor
* 1966 – Scooter Barry, American basketball player
* 1966 – Shayne Corson, Canadian ice hockey player
*1967 – Dave Jamerson, American basketball player
* 1967 – Digna Ketelaar, Dutch tennis player
*1968 – Tal Bachman, Canadian singer-songwriter
* 1968 – Todd Hendricks, American football player and coach
* 1968 – Tony Jarrett, English sprinter and hurdler
* 1969 – Midori Ito, Japanese figure skater
*1970 – Will Clarke, American author
* 1970 – Elvis Grbac, American football player and coach
* 1970 – Alan Shearer, English footballer and manager
* 1971 – Patrick Carpentier, Canadian race car driver
* 1971 – Adam Housley, American baseball player and journalist
*1972 – Kevin Plank, American businessman, founded Under Armour
*1973 – Molly Henneberg, American journalist
* 1973 – Eric Medlen, American race car driver (d. 2007)
* 1974 – Scott MacRae, American baseball player and coach
* 1974 – Joe Perry, English snooker player
* 1974 – Niklas Sundin, Swedish musician and artist
* 1974 – Jarrod Washburn, American baseball player and coach
*1975 – Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer
* 1975 – Marty Turco, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
*1976 – Geno Carlisle, American basketball player
* 1976 – Nicolás Lapentti, Ecuadorian tennis player
*1977 – Michael Klim, Polish-Australian swimmer
* 1977 – Kenyan Weaks, American basketball player and coach
* 1978 – Dwight Smith, American football player
*1979 – Román Colón, Dominican baseball player
* 1979 – Corey Patterson, American baseball player
* 1979 – Taizō Sugimura, Japanese politician
* 1980 – Murtz Jaffer, Canadian journalist
* 1982 – Christopher Raeburn, English fashion designer
* 1982 – Sarah Huckabee Sanders, American political consultant and press secretary
* 1982 – Sebastian Stan, Romanian-American actor
*1983 – Dallas Braden, American baseball player
* 1983 – Aleš Hemský, Czech ice hockey player
* 1983 – Ľubomír Michalík, Slovak footballer
* 1983 – Christian Müller, German footballer
*1984 – Alona Bondarenko, Ukrainian tennis player
* 1984 – Niko Kranjčar, Croatian footballer
* 1984 – Boone Logan, American baseball player
* 1984 – James Morrison, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
*1985 – Gerrit van Look, German rugby player and coach
*1987 – Jose Lorenzo Diokno, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter
* 1987 – Devin McCourty, American football player
* 1987 – Jason McCourty, American football player
* 1987 – Jamie Reed, Welsh footballer
*1988 – Keith Benson, American basketball player
* 1988 – Brandon Workman, American baseball player
*1989 – Greg Draper, New Zealand footballer
* 1989 – Justin Greene, American basketball player
* 1989 – Israel Jiménez, Mexican footballer
*1990 – DeMarcus Cousins, American basketball player
* 1990 – Benjamin Stambouli, French footballer
*1991 – Dave Days, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1991 – Lesley Doig, Scottish lawn bowler
* 1992 – Lucas Moura, Brazilian footballer
* 1992 – Katrina Gorry, Australian football player
* 1992 – Alicja Tchórz, Polish swimmer
*1993 – Moses Mbye, Australian rugby league player
*1994 – Filip Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
* 1996 – Antonia Lottner, German tennis player
*1998 – Dalma Gálfi, Hungarian tennis player
*2000 – Na Jaemin, South Korean rapper, singer, dancer and actor

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 587 – Radegund, Frankish princess and saint (b. 520)
* 604 – Wen, emperor of the Sui Dynasty (b. 541)
* 612 – Fabia Eudokia, Byzantine empress (b. 580)
* 662 – Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine theologian
* 696 – Takechi, Japanese prince
* 900 – Zwentibold, king of Lotharingia (b. 870)
* 908 – Al-Muktafi, Abbasid caliph
* 981 – Gyeongjong, king of Goryeo (Korea) (b. 955)
* 1134 – Irene of Hungary, Byzantine empress (b. 1088)
*1297 – Nawrūz, Mongol emir
*1311 – Pietro Gradenigo, doge of Venice
*1382 – Eleanor of Aragon, queen of Castile (b. 1358)
*1447 – Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan (b. 1392)
*1523 – Gerard David, Flemish painter (b. 1460)

1601–1900

*1608 – Giambologna, Italian sculptor (b. 1529)
*1617 – Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss clergyman and theologian (b. 1540)
*1667 – Jeremy Taylor, Irish bishop and saint (b. 1613)
*1686 – Louis Maimbourg, French priest and historian (b. 1610)
*1721 – Jacques Lelong, French priest and author (b. 1665)
* 1744 – John Cruger, Danish-American businessman and politician, 39th Mayor of New York City (b. 1678)
*1749 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (b. 1719)
* 1766 – Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, English painter (b. 1726)
*1795 – Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of Indore (b. 1725)
*1826 – René Laennec, French physician, invented the stethoscope (b. 1781)
*1863 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and lithographer (b. 1798)
* 1865 – Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian physician and obstetrician (b. 1818)

1901–present

*1910 – Florence Nightingale, Italian-English nurse and theologian (b. 1820)
* 1912 – Jules Massenet, French composer (b. 1842)
*1917 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
*1934 – Mary Hunter Austin, American author and playwright (b. 1868)
* 1937 – Sigizmund Levanevsky, Soviet aircraft pilot of Polish origin (b. 1902)
* 1946 – H. G. Wells