August 13

Events
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 Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City) falls to conquistador Hernan Cortes
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 Lelievre 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, Male.
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.
Births
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 Francois, 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 Orleans-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 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 Jose Sazatornil, Spanish actor (d. 2015)
1926 Fidel Castro, President of Cuba (d. 2016)
1928 Pedro Pedrossian, Brazilian politician (d. 2017)
1930 Tomas 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
Deaths
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 Rene Laennec, French physician (b. 1781)
1863 Eugene 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 Kresadlo, Czech-born writer (b. 1926)
1996 David Tudor, pianist and composer (b. 1926).
1996 Antonio de Spinola, 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 Francoise 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)
Days of the year