August 13

### Up to 1900

- 3113 B.C. – Maya Calendar, started on this date (some sources give August 11). It ends either on December 21 or 23, 2012. Although some people thought the world would end in 2012, life continued as normal.
- 29 BC – Octavian holds the first of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate victory over the Dalmatian tribes.
- 523 – John succeeds Hormisdas as Pope.
- 582 – Maurice becomes Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.
- 1099 – Paschal II is elected Pope.
- 1315 – Louis X of France marries Clemence d'Anjou.
- 1326 – Aradia de Toscano, according to legend/folklore, is initiated into a Dianic witchcraft cult, subsequently founds the tradition of Stregheria later known as the Malandanti.
- 1415 – Henry V of England lands at Chef-en-Caux, France with 8000 men.
- 1516 – Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain signed. In it, Francis recognizes Charles's claim to Naples, and Charles recognizes Francis's claim to Milan.
- 1521 – Tenochtitlán (present day Mexico City) falls to conquistador Hernán Cortés
- 1532 – The Duchy of Brittany absorbed into the Kingdom of France.
- 1536 – Buddhist monks from Kyoto's Enryaku Temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples throughout Kyoto in the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance. (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1536).
- 1553 – Michael Servetus arrested by John Calvin in Geneva as a heretic.
- 1624 – Louis XIII of France appoints Cardinal Richelieu as Prime Minister.
- 1704 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim – English and Austrians victorious over French and Bavarians.
- 1762 – Seven Years' War: British forces take Havana in the then–Spanish colony of Cuba.
- 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Royal Navy defeats the Penobscot Expedition with the most significant loss of US Naval Forces before the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.
- 1792 – Louis XVI of France is formally arrested by the National Tribunal and declared an enemy of the people.
- 1806 – The United Kingdom takes control of the Cape Colony in present–day South Africa from the Netherlands.
- 1809 – Battle of Bergisel: Tyroleans under Andreas Hofer defeat the French.
- 1814 – The Convention of London, a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United Provinces, is signed in London.
- 1826 – Scotsman Alexander Gordon Laing enters Timbuktu, at the first time that a European is known to have arrived there.
- 1831 – Nat Turner sees a solar eclipse which he believes is a sign of God. 8 days later he and 70 other slaves kill approximately 55 whites in Southampton County, Virginia.
- 1868 – A large earthquake strikes near Arica (then in Peru, now in Chile), causing an estimated 25,000 casualties and a tsunami that causes damage as far away as Hawaii and New Zealand.
- 1878 – The Luray Caverns in Northwest Virginia are discovered.
- 1898 – Spanish-American War: Spanish and US forces engage in a mock battle in Manila, after which the Spanish commander surrenders in order to keep the city out of Filipino hands.
- 1898 – Carl Gustav Witt discovers 433 Eros, the first near–Earth asteroid to be found.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1905 – Norway holds a referendum in favour of dissolving the union with Sweden.
- 1913 – Otto Witte, an acrobat, is crowned King of Albania.
- 1913 – Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.
- 1918 – Women enlist in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson is the first woman to enlist.
- 1918 – BMW is founded as a public company in Germany.
- 1920 – Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw begins, lasts till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.
- 1923 – First major seagoing ship arrives at Gdynia, newly constructed Polish seaport.
- 1923 – Gustav Stresemann forms Germany's first "Grand Coalition" government.
- 1935 – The wall of the dam Alla Sella Zerbino breaks in the Ligurian Appenines in Italy. Flooding in Molare and Ovada kills over 100 or more.
- 1937 – The Japanese attack Shanghai, China.
- 1940 – World War II: Battle of Britain begins – The Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.
- 1942 – Walt Disney's fifth animated feature, _Bambi_, premiers.
- 1948 – Austria joins UNESCO.
- 1952 – West Germany and Japan join the International Monetary Fund.
- 1954 – The national anthem of Pakistan – Qaumi Taranah – is broadcast for the first time.
- 1960 – The Central African Republic declares independence from France.
- 1961 – The German Democratic Republic closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin, to stop its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West. The Berlin Wall is built as a result.
- 1964 – Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans are hanged for the murder of John Alan West, becoming the last people to be executed in the United Kingdom.
- 1968 – Alexandros Panagoulis attempts to assassinate Greek military leader George Papadopoulos in Varkiza, Athens.
- 1969 – The three Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, are released from a 3–week quarantine to enjoy a ticker–tape parade in New York City. That evening, at a dinner in Los Angeles, California, they are given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Richard Nixon.
- 1977 – Members of the British National Front clash with anti–National Front demonstrators in Lewisham, London. 111 people are injured and 214 arrested.
- 1978 – 150 Palestinians in Beirut are killed in a terrorist attack during the second phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
- 1984 – The new International Airport of Jakarta is opened.
- 1987 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan assumes responsibility for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.
- 1996 – Marc Dutroux, his wife Michelle Martin and Lelièvre were arrested.
- 1997 – _South Park_ debuts on Comedy Central.
- 1999 – The rising sun flag, already in use since 1868, becomes the official Flag of Japan.

### From 2001

- 2001 – The Arena auf Schalke is opened, as the home of the football team FC Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
- 2002 – Major flooding occurs in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, in what is referred to there as the "Flood of the Century".
- 2004 – Games of the XXVIII Olympiad opens in Athens, Greece.
- 2004 – Hurricane Charley, a category 4 storm, strikes the Fort Myers, Florida, area.
- 2004 – Black Friday crackdown by NSS on a peaceful protest in the capital city of Maldives, Malé.
- 2004 – 156 Congolese Tutsi refugees massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.
- 2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks the Olympic Games' individual gold medal record.
- 2008 – South Ossetian War: Russian troops occupy the Georgian city of Gori.
- 2014 – English film producer, Norman Spencer, becomes a centenarian.

### Up to 1900

- 582 – Arnulf of Metz, French bishop and saint (d. 640)
- 1311 – King Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon (d. 1350)
- 1625 – Rasmus Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician and physicist (d. 1698)
- 1651 – Balthasar Permoser, German sculptor (d. 1732)
- 1666 – William Wotton, English scholar (d. 1727)
- 1700 – Heinrich von Bruhl, German politician (d. 1763)
- 1717 – Louis François, Prince of Conti, French prince (d. 1776)
- 1743 – Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1808)
- 1752 – Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen Consort of Naples and Sicily (d. 1814)
- 1757 – James Gillray, British caricaturist (d. 1815)
- 1762 – Therione de Mericourt, French revolutionary (d. 1817)
- 1790 – William Wentworth, Australian explorer and politician (d. 1872)
- 1792 – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen consort of William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1849)
- 1800 – Ippolito Rosellini, Italian Egyptologist (d. 1843)
- 1802 – Nikolaus Lenau, Austrian writer (d. 1850)
- 1803 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and writer (d. 1869)
- 1810 – Christian C. A. Lange, Norwegian historian and archivist (d. 1861)
- 1814 – Anders Jonas Angstrom, Swedish astronomer and physicist (d. 1874)
- 1818 – Lucy Stone, American Women's Rights activist (d. 1893)
- 1819 – Aurelio Saffi, Italian politician (d. 1890)
- 1819 – George Gabriel Stokes, Irish physicist (d. 1903)
- 1820 – George Grove, English musicologist (d. 1900)
- 1842 – Albert Sorel, French writer and historian (d. 1906)
- 1851 – Felix Adler, German–born American educator (d. 1933)
- 1852 – Christian Krohg, Norwegian painter (d. 1925)
- 1853 – Antonio Salandra, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1931)
- 1857 – Henri Pittier, Swiss–Venezuelan naturalist and biologist (d. 1950)
- 1860 – Annie Oakley, American sharp shooter (d. 1926)
- 1866 – Giovanni Agnelli, Italian industrialist and founder of Fiat (d. 1945)
- 1867 – William Craigie, Scottish philologist and lexicographer (d. 1957)
- 1867 – George Luks, American painter (d. 1933)
- 1869 – Tony Garnier, French architect and urban planner (d. 1948)
- 1871 – Karl Liebknecht, German political activist (d. 1919)
- 1872 – Richard Willstaetter, German chemist (d. 1942)
- 1873 – Christian Rakovsky, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1941)
- 1879 – John Ireland, English composer (d. 1962)
- 1887 – Julius Freed, American investor and banker (d. 1952)
- 1888 – John Logie Baird, Scottish inventor (d. 1946)
- 1889 – Camillien Houde, 34th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1958)
- 1890 – Li Zongren, Chinese politician (d. 1969)
- 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 movie director (d. 1980)
- 1899 – Soledad Mexia, Mexican–American supercentenarian (d. 2013)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1904 – Felix Wankel, German engineer and inventor (d. 1988)
- 1904 – Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1907 – Basil Spence, Scottish architect (d. 1976)
- 1907 – William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor, English politician (d. 1966)
- 1908 – Gene Raymond, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Salvador Luria, Italian–born biologist (d. 1991)
- 1913 – Makarios III, Archbishop and President of Cyprus (d. 1977)
- 1913 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (d. 1998)
- 1914 – Luis Mariano, Basque operetta singer (d. 1970)
- 1918 – Frederick Sanger, English chemist and two–time Nobel Prize winner (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Noor Hassanali, 2nd President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Norman Spencer, English film producer
- 1919 – George Shearing, British jazz pianist (d. 2011)
- 1920 – Neville Brand, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Jimmy McCracklin, American blues musician (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Benny Bailey, American jazz trumpeter
- 1925 – José Sazatornil, Spanish actor (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Fidel Castro, President of Cuba (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Pedro Pedrossian, Brazilian politician (d. 2017)
- 1930 – Tomás Borge, Nicaraguan politician (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Bernard Manning, English comedian (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Eddie Marlin, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Norman Read, New Zealand athlete (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Madhur Jaffrey, Indian actress and cookery writer
- 1933 – Joycelyn Elders, 15th Surgeon General of the United States
- 1934 – Gyoji Matsumoto, Japanese footballer
- 1936 – Vyjayanthimala, Indian actress, dancer, singer and politician
- 1937 – James David Santini, American politician (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Dave "Baby" Cortez, American pianist
- 1940 – Bill Musselman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2000)
- 1940 – Dirk Sager, German journalist (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Ambrogio Fogar, Italian sailor, writer, rally driver and all–round adventurer and television presenter (d. 2005)
- 1941 – Henning Voscherau, German politician (d. 2016)
- 1941 – Susan Jameson, English actress
- 1942 – Sheila Armstrong, English soprano
- 1944 – Kevin Tighe, American actor
- 1945 – Lars Engqvist, Swedish politician
- 1945 – Howard Marks, Welsh drug smuggler (d. 2016)
- 1946 – Janet Yellen, American economist, 15th Chair of the Federal Reserve
- 1947 – Margareta Winberg, Swedish politician
- 1948 – Roberto Micheletti, Honduran politician
- 1949 – Philippe Petit, French high wire artist
- 1949 – Bobby Clarke, Canadian ice hockey player

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Dan Fogelberg, American musician (d. 2007)
- 1952 – Hughie Thomasson, American guitarist
- 1953 – Carla Bodendorf, German athlete
- 1953 – Thomas Pogge, German philosopher
- 1955 – Mulgrew Miller, American pianist (d. 2013)
- 1955 – Paul Greengrass, American director
- 1958 – Feargal Sharkey, Northern Irish singer
- 1959 – Andreas Ravelli, Swedish footballer
- 1959 – Thomas Ravelli, Swedish footballer
- 1959 – Michael Bradley, Irish musician
- 1960 – Phil Taylor, English darts player
- 1960 – Janusz Kurtyka, Polish historian (d. 2010)
- 1961 – Christos Christodolou, Greek basketball player
- 1961 – Cary Stayner, American serial killer
- 1961 – Chad Brown, American poker player and actor (d. 2014)
- 1962 – Manuel Valls, Spanish–born French politician, Prime Minister of France
- 1962 – John Slattery, American actor
- 1963 – Valerie Plame, American CIA agent and author
- 1963 – Sridevi, Indian actress (d. 2018)
- 1964 – Debi Mazar, American actress
- 1965 – Hayato Matsuo, Japanese composer and conductor
- 1966 – Shayne Corson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Scooter Barry, American basketball player
- 1969 – Midori Ito, Japanese figure skater
- 1970 – Casiano Delvalle, Paraguayan footballer
- 1970 – Alan Shearer, English footballer
- 1971 – Moritz Bleibtreu, German actor
- 1972 – Michael Sinterniklaas, French–American actor, director and screenwriter
- 1972 – Hani Hanjour, Saudi Arabian terrorist (d. 2001)
- 1975 – Joe Perry, English snooker player
- 1975 – Marty Turco, Canadian ice hockey goaltender

### From 1976

- 1978 – Benjani Mwaruwari, Zimbabwean footballer
- 1980 – Irina Berezhna, Ukrainian politician (d. 2017)
- 1982 – Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 29th White House Press Secretary
- 1982 – Sebastian Stan, Romanian–American actor
- 1982 – Shani Davis, American speed skater
- 1982 – Kalenna Harper, American singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Thomas Schwall, American ski jumper
- 1984 – Niko Kranjcar, Croatian footballer
- 1984 – James Morrison, British singer
- 1984 – L'Aura, Italian singer-songwriter, composer, violinist and pianist
- 1984 – Alona Bondarenko, Ukrainian tennis player
- 1984 – Colin Fleming, Scottish tennis player
- 1985 – Olubayo Adefemi, Nigerian footballer
- 1985 – Lacey Brown, American singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Mattia Pasini, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1988 – Keith Benson, American basketball player
- 1989 – Justin Greene, American basketball player
- 1990 – Shila Amzah, Malaysian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1990 – Elise Christie, Scottish short-track speed skater
- 1990 – DeMarcus Collins, American basketball player
- 1990 – Sae Miyazawa, Japanese singer (AKB48)
- 1991 – Alexander Kacaniklic, Swedish footballer
- 1993 – Johnny Gaudreau, American ice hockey player
- 1994 – Filip Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- 2000 – Piper Reese, American internet celebrity and actress

### Up to 1900

- 586 – Radegund, Queen consort of Clotaire I
- 604 – Emperor Wen of Sui of China (b. 541)
- 612 – Eudokia, Byzantine Empress (b. 580)
- 900 – Zwentibold, last King of Lotharingia (b. 870)
- 1134 – Irene of Hungary (b. 1088)
- 1382 – Eleanor of Aragon, queen of John I of Castile (b. 1358)
- 1447 – Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (b. 1392)
- 1667 – Jeremy Taylor, Irish writer and bishop (b. 1613)
- 1686 – Louis Maimbourg, historian (b. 1610)
- 1744 – John Cruger, Dutch–born American politician and 39th Mayor of New York City (b. 1678)
- 1749 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (b. 1719)
- 1826 – René Laënnec, French physician (b. 1781)
- 1863 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter (b. 1798)
- 1865 – Ignaz Semmelweis, Austrian–Hungarian physician (b. 1818)
- 1884 – Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington (b. 1807)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1910 – Florence Nightingale, English nurse (b. 1820)
- 1912 – Jules Massenet, French composer (b. 1842)
- 1913 – August Bebel, German politician (b. 1840)
- 1917 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist (b. 1860)
- 1933 – Hasan Prishtina, Albanian politician (b. 1873)
- 1934 – Mary Hunter Austin, American writer (b. 1868)
- 1946 – H. G. Wells, English writer (b. 1866)
- 1948 – Elaine Hammerstein, American actress (b. 1897)
- 1958 – Francis J. McCormick, American football player, basketball player and coach (b. 1903)
- 1958 – Otto Witte, German acrobat and claimant to the throne of Albania (b. 1868)
- 1965 – Ikeda Hayato, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1899)
- 1977 – Henry Williamson, English writer (b. 1895)
- 1982 – Joe Tex, American musician (b. 1933)
- 1984 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (b. 1929).
- 1989 – Tim Richmond, American race car driver (b. 1955)
- 1991 – James Roosevelt, American politician (b. 1907)
- 1994 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian–born writer (b. 1905)
- 1995 – Alison Hargreaves, British mountaineer (b. 1963)
- 1995 – Mickey Mantle, American Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1931)
- 1995 – Jan Křesadlo, Czech–born writer (b. 1926)
- 1996 – David Tudor, pianist and composer (b. 1926).
- 1996 – António de Spínola, Portuguese general and politician (b. 1910)
- 1998 – Nino Ferrer, Italian–French singer and composer (b. 1934)
- 1998 – Waneta Hoyt, American serial killer (b. 1946)
- 1999 – Ignatz Bubis, German Jewish leader (b. 1927)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Lothar Emmerich, German footballer (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Julia Child, American chef and television personality (b. 1912)
- 2005 – David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1942)
- 2007 – Yone Minegawa, Japanese supercentenarian (b. 1893)
- 2007 – Phil Rizzuto, American baseball player (b. 1917)
- 2008 – Henri Cartan, French mathematician (b. 1904)
- 2008 – Sandy Allen, American, world's tallest woman (b. 1953)
- 2009 – Les Paul, American musician (b. 1915)
- 2010 – Lance Cade, American professional wrestler (b. 1981)
- 2012 – Helen Gurley Brown, American writer, publisher and businesswoman (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Johnny Pesky, American baseball player and coach (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Lothar Bisky, German politician (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Jean Vincent, French footballer (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Eduardo Campos, Brazilian politician (b. 1965)
- 2014 – Robert Bruce Smith, IV, American music expert, writer, historian and poet (b. 1945)
- 2015 – Bob Fillion, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1920)
- 2016 – Kenny Baker, British actor (b. 1934)
- 2016 – Joyce Carol Thomas, American poet and playwright (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Françoise Mallet-Joris, Belgian writer (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Aung Shwe, Burmese politician and general (b. 1918)
- 2017 – Joseph Bologna, American actor (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Somnath Chatterjee, Indian politician (b. 1929)
- 2018 – Jim Neidhart, American professional wrestler (b. 1955)
- 2018 – Powell A. Moore, American politician (b. 1938)
- 2019 – Cecilia Caballero Blanco, First Lady of Colombia (b. 1913)
- 2019 – Nadia Toffa, Italian journalist and television presenter (b. 1979)

## Observances

- Independence Day (Central African Republic)
- International Lefthanders Day
- Lao Issara – Day of the Free Laos
- Women's Day (Tunisia)