December 13

### Up to 1900

- 1294 – Pope Celestine V resigns from the papacy after only five months. He was the last pope to resign voluntarily until Pope Benedict XVI did so in 2013.
- 1545 – The Council of Trent begins.
- 1577 – Francis Drake sets sail on his global voyage from Plymouth, Southwest England, on the ship _The Golden Hind_.
- 1642 – Abel Tasman reaches New Zealand.
- 1643 – English Civil War: The Battle of Alton takes place in Hampshire.
- 1675 – The Swedish–controlled North German city of Wismar is attacked by Danish troops during the Scanian War.
- 1758 – English transport ship _Duke William_ sinks in the North Atlantic Ocean, killing over 360 people.
- 1769 – Dartmouth College is founded in New Hampshire.
- 1862 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats Union General Ambrose Burnside.
- 1864 – Paraguay declares war on Brazil.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking – Nanjing, defended by the National Revolutionary Army under command of General Tang Shengzhi, falls to the Japanese. This is followed by the Nanking Massacre committed by Japanese forces against local civilians.
- 1939 – Holocaust: Neuengamme Concentration Camp opens.
- 1939 – World War II: The Battle of River Plate takes place between the German Navy and the British Royal Navy.
- 1941 – World War II: The Kingdoms of Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
- 1941 – A glacier breaks apart at Palcacocha Lake in the Peruvian Andes, resulting in a mud avalanche that kills around 6,000 people in the city of Huaraz.
- 1943 – World War II: Massacre of Kalavryta by German occupying forces in Greece.
- 1949 – Israel's parliament, the Knesset, votes to make Jerusalem the capital city of Israel.
- 1959 – Archbishop Makarios III becomes the first President of Cyprus.
- 1960 – Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie is removed from power while on a visit abroad, in Brazil.
- 1962 – NASA launches _Relay 1_, the first active repeater communications satellite in orbit.
- 1967 – The deposed King Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful coup against the Regime of the Colonels.
- 1967 – The Pioneer 8 space probe is launched.
- 1972 – Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan become the last people to–date to have set foot on the Moon.
- 1974 – Malta becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1977 – A DC–3 aircraft chartered from Indianapolis–based National Jet crashes near Evansville Regional Airport in Indiana, killing 29 people, including the entire University of Evansville basketball team.
- 1979 – Joe Clark's Canadian government is defeated in a vote of confidence. A new election in early 1980 brings Pierre Trudeau back as Prime Minister of Canada, less than a year after being voted out of the post.
- 1981 – General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares Martial Law in Poland.
- 1982 – The Arabian peninsula is struck by magnitude 6 earthquake, killing around 2,800 people.
- 1985 – Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, killing all 256 people on board.
- 1989 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out an attack at the Derryard Checkpoint in Northern Ireland, killing 2 British soldiers.
- 1996 – Kofi Annan is chosen as UN Secretary–General. He succeeds Boutros Boutros-Ghali on January 1, 1997.
- 2000 – The "Texas Seven" escape from the John B. Connally Unit near Kennedy, Texas and go on a robbery spree.

### From 2001

- 2001 – The Indian parliament building in New Delhi is attacked by terrorists.
- 2002 – The EU announces that ten new member states are to join on May 1, 2004.
- 2003 – Saddam Hussein is captured by United States–led forces near his home town of Tikrit.
- 2006 – Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is adopted.
- 2007 – Treaty of Lisbon is adopted.
- 2011 – Gunman Nordine Amrani shoots six people dead at a Christmas market in Liege, Belgium, before killing himself.
- 2014 – A landslide in Java, Indonesia, kills at least 18 people and leaves 90 missing.
- 2016 – Syrian civil war: Government forces take control of the city of Aleppo.

### Up to 1900

- 1272 – Frederick III of Sicily (d. 1337)
- 1521 – Pope Sixtus V (d. 1590)
- 1533 – King Eric XIV of Sweden (d. 1577)
- 1553 – King Henry IV of France (d. 1610)
- 1560 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, French statesman (d. 1641)
- 1640 – Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (d. 1696)
- 1662 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1729)
- 1678 – Yongzheng Emperor of China (d. 1735)
- 1684 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian historian, philosopher and author (d. 1754)
- 1720 – Carlo Gozzi, Italian dramatist (d. 1804)
- 1780 – Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner, German chemist (d. 1849)
- 1784 – Archduke Louis of Austria (d. 1864)
- 1790 – Giuseppe Marco Fieschi, conspirator against Louis Philippe I of France (d. 1836)
- 1797 – Heinrich Heine, German poet (d. 1856)
- 1804 – Joseph Howe, 5th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1873)
- 1816 – Ernst Werner von Siemens, German engineer, inventor and industrialist (d. 1892)
- 1818 – Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States (d. 1882)
- 1836 – Franz von Lenbach, German painter (d. 1904)
- 1846 – Henri-Paul Motte, French painter (d. 1922)
- 1854 – Herman Bavinck, Dutch theologian and churchman (d. 1921)
- 1860 – Lucien Guitry, French actor (d. 1925)
- 1864 – Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee (d. 1947)
- 1867 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian explorer and scientist (d. 1917)
- 1870 – Edward LeSaint, American actor and director (d. 1914)
- 1871 – Emily Carr, Canadian artist (d. 1945)
- 1874 – Josef Lhevinne, Russian pianist and professor (d. 1944)
- 1883 – Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist (d. 1950)
- 1887 – Alvin York, American soldier (d. 1964)
- 1894 – Fernando de Fuentes, Mexican movie director (d. 1958)
- 1897 – Albert Aalbers, Dutch architect (d. 1961)
- 1900 – Jonel Perlea, Romanian conductor (d. 1970)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1902 – Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1986)
- 1902 – Talcott Parsons, American sociologist (d. 1979)
- 1903 – Ella Baker, American Civil Rights activist (d. 1986)
- 1903 – Carlos Montoya, Spanish guitarist (d. 1993)
- 1906 – Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (d. 1968)
- 1906 – Laurens van der Post, South African writer (d. 1996)
- 1911 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist (d. 1999)
- 1913 – Arnold Brown, 11th General of the Salvation Army (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Archie Moore, American boxer (d. 1998)
- 1915 – B. J. Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1983)
- 1915 – Curd Jürgens, German–Austrian actor (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Archie Moore, American boxer (d. 1998)
- 1918 – Kim Won-kwon, Korean athlete
- 1918 – Rosalia Lombardo, Italian pneumonia victim (d. 1920)
- 1920 – George Shultz, 60th United States Secretary of State
- 1923 – Philip Warren Anderson, American physicist
- 1923 – Antoni Tapies, Catalan artist (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Edward Clancy, Australian cardinal (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Frankie Fraser, English gangster (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Maria Riva, American actress
- 1925 – Dick Van Dyke, American actor
- 1926 – George Rhoden, Jamaican athlete
- 1927 – Geneviève Page, French actress
- 1928 – Nati Mistral, Spanish actress (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Jack Tramiel, Polish–born American businessman (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor
- 1933 – Doug Mohns, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Richard D. Zanuck, American movie producer (d. 2012)
- 1936 – Shah Karim al-Husseini, Agha Khan IV
- 1937 – Robert Gernhardt, German poet (d. 2006)
- 1938 – Heino, German folk singer
- 1941 – John Davidson, American actor and game show host
- 1942 – Howard Brenton, English playwright and screenwriter
- 1942 – Arne Treholt, Norwegian politician
- 1942 – Anna Eshoo, American politician
- 1942 – Ferguson Jenkins, Canadian baseball player
- 1943 – Nikhil Baran Sengupta, Indian art director, producer and designer (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Herman Cain, American businessman and politician
- 1946 – Pierino Prati, Italian footballer
- 1947 – Luis Angelo Gonzalez Macchi, former President of Paraguay
- 1948 – Ted Nugent, American musician
- 1948 – Lillian Board, British athlete (d. 1970)
- 1949 – Robert Lindsay, British actor
- 1949 – Manfred Bleskin, German journalist (d. 2014)
- 1950 – Tom Vilsack, 40th Governor of Iowa

### 1951 – 1975

- 1952 – Sylvester Ritter, American professional wrestler (d. 1998)
- 1953 – Ben Bernanke, American economist
- 1953 – Thomas Kurzhals, German keyboardist and songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1953 – Bob Gainey, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 – Majida El Roumi, Lebanese soprano
- 1956 – Phil Hubbard, American basketball player
- 1957 – Steve Buscemi, American actor
- 1958 – Lynn-Holly Johnson, American figure skater
- 1959 – Johnny Whitaker, American actor and singer
- 1960 – José Eduardo Agualusa, Angolan writer
- 1961 – Harry Gregson-Williams, British movie score composer, music producer and conductor
- 1961 – Toru Yoshikawa, Japanese footballer
- 1962 – Roger Ilegems, Belgian cyclist
- 1964 – Hide, Japanese musician (d. 1998)
- 1964 – Dieter Eilts, German footballer
- 1966 – Craig Brewster, Scottish footballer
- 1967 – Jamie Foxx, American actor and singer
- 1967 – Noel Fitzpatrick, Irish veterinarian
- 1969 – Sergei Fedorov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Austrian mountaineer
- 1971 – Leanne Wood, Welsh politician, leader of Plaid Cymru
- 1971 – Gloria Casarez, American activist (d. 2014)
- 1973 – Christie Clark, American actress
- 1974 – Sara Cox, English television and radio presenter
- 1974 – Nicholas McCarthy, British musician for Franz Ferdinand
- 1975 – Tom DeLonge, American musician

### From 1976

- 1976 – Radoslaw Sobolewski, Polish footballer
- 1977 – Sascha Kindred, German–born British Paralympic swimmer
- 1977 – Lauri Porra, Finnish musician
- 1977 – Peter Stringer, Irish rugby player
- 1978 – Kaspars Kambala, Latvian basketball player
- 1978 – Olav Bjortomt, British quiz player, crossword compiler
- 1980 – Satoshi Tsumabuki, Japanese actor
- 1980 – Agnieszka Wlodarczyk, Polish actress
- 1981 – Amy Lee, American singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Liam Lawrence, Irish footballer
- 1984 – Santi Cazorla, Spanish footballer
- 1984 – Michal Kadlec, Czech footballer
- 1985 – Michael Bumpus, American football player
- 1987 – James Holmes, American mass shooter
- 1988 – Rickie Fowler, American golfer
- 1989 – Taylor Swift, American country singer
- 1989 – Dasha Kapustina, Russian model
- 1989 – Katherine Schwarzenegger, American author
- 1991 – Sénah Mongo, Togolese footballer
- 1995 – Marvin Friedrich, German footballer
- 1995 – Lin Yu-ting, Taiwanese boxer

### Up to 1900

- 558 – Childebert I, King of Paris (b. 496)
- 838 – Pepin I of Aquitaine (b. 797)
- 1048 – Abu Rahman al-Biruni, Persian scholar and polymath (b. 973)
- 1124 – Pope Callixtus II (b. 1065)
- 1126 – Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1075)
- 1204 – Maimonides, Spanish rabbi and philosopher (b. 1135)
- 1250 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1194)
- 1404 – Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1336)
- 1466 – Donatello, Florentine painter and sculptor (b. 1386)
- 1516 – Johannes Trithemius, German cryptographer and historian (b. 1462)
- 1521 – King Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1469)
- 1557 – Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia, Italian mathematician and engineer (b. 1500)
- 1565 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss botanist and physician (b. 1516)
- 1621 – Catherine Stenbock, Queen Consort of Sweden (b. 1535)
- 1721 – Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor and castaway, inspiration for Robinson Crusoe (b. 1676)
- 1729 – Anthony Collins, English philosopher (b. 1676)
- 1754 – Mahmud I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1696)
- 1769 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (b. 1715)
- 1783 – Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer (b. 1717)
- 1784 – Samuel Johnson, English poet and lexicographer (b. 1709)
- 1837 – Herman of Alaska, Russian missionary and saint (b. 756)
- 1863 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (b. 1813)
- 1868 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (b. 1794)
- 1883 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (b. 1812)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1917 – Ebe W. Tunnell, Governor of Delaware (b. 1844)
- 1922 – Hannes Hafstein, 1st Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1861)
- 1924 – Samuel Gompers, English–American labor leader (b. 1850)
- 1930 – Fritz Pregl, Slovenian–Austrian chemist (b. 1869)
- 1931 – Gustave le Bon, French psychologist (b. 1841)
- 1932 – Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (b. 1853)
- 1934 – Thomas A. Watson, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell (b. 1854)
- 1935 – Victor Grignard, French chemist (b. 1871)
- 1942 – Wlodimir Ledochowski, Austrian–Polish religious leader (b. 1866)
- 1944 – Wassily Kandinsky, Russian painter (b. 1866)
- 1944 – Lupe Velez, Mexican actress (b. 1908)
- 1954 – John Raymond Hubbell, American director and composer (b. 1879)
- 1955 – Egas Moniz, Portuguese psychiatrist and neurosurgeon (b. 1874)
- 1961 – Grandma Moses, American painter (b. 1860)
- 1962 – Harry Barris, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1905)
- 1969 – Spencer Williams, American actor and director (b. 1893)
- 1972 – Gustav Schwarzenegger, Austrian police chief and inspector (b. 1907)
- 1973 – Giuseppe Beltrami, Italian cardinal and Vatican City diplomat (b. 1889)
- 1974 – Betty Van Patter, member of the Black Panther Party, murdered.
- 1981 – Pigmeat Markham, American actor, singer and dancer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Heather Angel, English actress (b. 1969)
- 1986 – Ella Baker, American Civil Rights activist (b. 1903)
- 1992 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (b. 1899)
- 1994 – Antoine Pinay, Prime Minister of France (b. 1891)

### From 2001

- 2001 – Chuck Schuldiner, singer/guitarist of Death
- 2002 – Zal Yanovsky, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
- 2003 – William V. Roth, Jr., American politician (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Lamar Hunt, American businessman (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Kathy Staff, English actress (b. 1928)
- 2008 – Horst Tappert, German actor (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Paul Samuelson, American economist (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Maurice Herzog, French mountaineer (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Ernst Albrecht, German politician, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Andreas Schockenhoff, German politician (b. 1957)
- 2014 – Bill Bonds, American news presenter (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Joan Barril, Spanish writer and journalist (b. 1952)
- 2015 – Benedict Anderson, American academic and writer (b. 1936)
- 2015 – John Bannon, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (b. 1943)
- 2016 – Thomas Schelling, American economist (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Alan Thicke, Canadian actor (b. 1947)
- 2017 – Warrel Dane, American heavy metal singer–songwriter (b. 1961)
- 2017 – Simon Dickie, New Zealand rower (b. 1951)
- 2017 – Bruce Gray, Puerto Rican–Canadian actor (b. 1936)
- 2017 – Bill Hudson, American football player (b. 1935)
- 2017 – Dan Johnson, American politician (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Frank Lary, American baseball player (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Gerald O'Brien, New Zealand politician (b. 1924)
- 2021 – Tank, dog of Tristan Corso

## Holidays

- Saint Lucy's Day, celebrated in some European countries, mainly in Sweden
- National Day of Saint Lucia
- Republic Day (Malta)
- Acadian Remembrance Day