On this day in history

August 13

29 births · 15 deaths · 5 events

Prev Leo Next

Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

2004 Summer Olympics

22 years ago

Born this day

1926

Fidel Castro

Would be 100

Photo (modified): Unknown (Mondadori Publishers) · Public domain

Oldest record

715th

Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon

birth anniversary

View profile

Famous births29

1311 · 715 yrs

Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon

Alfonso XI (11 August 1311 – 26 March 1350), called the Avenger (el Justiciero), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and Constance of Portugal.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 38

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown source · Public domain

1397 · 629 yrs

Guillaume Dufay

Guillaume Du Fay ( dyoo-FEYE, French:; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and reproduced.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 77

View profile Photo (modified): Master of the Missal of Paul Beye · Public domain

1567 · 459 yrs

Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain (French:; baptized 13 August 1574 – 25 December 1635) was a French explorer, navigator, cartographer, soldier, geographer, diplomat, and chronicler who founded Quebec City and established New France as a permanent French colony in North America.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ExplorationDied aged 68

View profile Photo (modified): Samuel de Champlain · Public domain

1752 · 274 yrs

Maria Carolina of Austria

Maria Carolina of Austria (Maria Karolina Luise Josepha Johanna Antonia; 13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV and III, who later became King of the Two Sicilies.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 62

View profile Photo (modified): Jean-Étienne Liotard · Public domain

1802 · 224 yrs

Nikolaus Lenau

Nikolaus Lenau was the pen name of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau (13 August 1802 – 22 August 1850), a German-language Austrian poet.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 48

View profile Photo (modified): Friedrich von Amerling · Public domain

1814 · 212 yrs

Anders Jonas Ångström

Anders Jonas Ångström (Swedish:; 13 August 1814 – 21 June 1874) was a Swedish physicist and one of the founders of the science of spectroscopy. Ångström is also well known for his studies of astrophysics, heat transfer, terrestrial magnetism, and the aurora borealis.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 59

View profile Photo (modified): Uppsala University · Public domain

1819 · 207 yrs

Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet

Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet ( STOHKS; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903), was a British mathematician and physicist, born in County Sligo, Ireland, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Swan Electric Engraving Co. · Public domain

1872 · 154 yrs

Richard Willstätter

Richard Martin Willstätter FRS(For) HFRSE (German pronunciation:, 13 August 1872 – 3 August 1942) was a German organic chemist whose study of the structure of plant pigments, chlorophyll included, won him the 1915 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1888 · 138 yrs

John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird (13 August 1888 – 14 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer and innovator who demonstrated the world's first mechanical television system on 26 January 1926.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyWould be 138

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1899 · 127 yrs

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of cinema.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 127

View profile Photo (modified): Ante Brkan · Public domain

1912 · 114 yrs

Salvador Luria

Salvador Edward Luria ( LOOR-ee-ə; born Salvatore Luria, Italian:; August 13, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an Italian microbiologist, later a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 114

View profile Photo (modified): Provided by U.S. National Library of Medicine - please see here for more information. · Public domain

1913 · 113 yrs

Makarios III

Makarios III (born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos; 13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Greek Cypriot prelate and politician who served as Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and as the first president of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, with a second term between December 1974 and 1977.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionWould be 113

View profile Photo (modified): New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Fernandez, Orlando, photographer. Cropped by Badseed using The G · Public domain

Showing 12 of 29

Famous deaths15

1826 · 200 yrs

René Laennec

René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (French:; 17 February 1781 – 13 August 1826) was a French medical doctor and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 45

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1863 · 163 yrs

Eugène Delacroix

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( DEL-ə-krwah, -⁠KRWAH; French:; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): Eugène Delacroix · Public domain

1865 · 161 yrs

Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (German:; Hungarian: Semmelweis Ignác Fülöp; 1 July 1818 – 13 August 1865) was a Hungarian medical doctor and scientist of German descent who was an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures, known as the "saviour of mothers".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 47

View profile Photo (modified): József Borsos / Albert Doctor · Public domain

1896 · 130 yrs

John Everett Millais

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( MIL-ay; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest student to enter the Royal Academy Schools.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 67

View profile Photo (modified): John Everett Millais · Public domain

1910 · 116 yrs

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 90

View profile Photo (modified): Henry Hering (1814-1893) · Public domain

1912 · 114 yrs

Jules Massenet

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French:; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Photographer: Eugène Pirou (1841-1909) Restorer: Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1913 · 113 yrs

August Bebel

Ferdinand August Bebel (22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German social democratic politician. One of the founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he was a leader of the German workers' movement for over four decades.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 73

View profile Photo (modified): George Grantham Bain Collection · Public domain

1917 · 109 yrs

Eduard Buchner

Eduard Buchner (German:; 20 May 1860 – 13 August 1917) was a German chemist and expert on fermentation (sometimes called a zymologist), awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on fermentation.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 57

View profile Photo (modified): Nobel Foundation · Public domain

1938 · 88 yrs

Robert Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 115

View profile Photo (modified): Robert Johnson (self-portrait) · Public domain

1946 · 80 yrs

H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 79

View profile Photo (modified): George Charles Beresford · Public domain

1956 · 70 yrs

Yakub Kolas

Yakub Kolas (also Jakub Kołas, Belarusian: Яку́б Ко́лас, 3 November 1882 – 13 August 1956), real name Kanstantsin Mikhailavich Mitskievich (Канстанці́н Міха́йлавіч Міцке́віч, Russian: Константи́н Миха́йлович Мицке́вич, Polish: Konstanty Mickiewicz) was a Belarusian writer, dramatist, poet and translator.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 144

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1984 · 42 yrs

Tigran Petrosian

Tigran Vardani Petrosian (Armenian: Տիգրան Վարդանի Պետրոսյան; Russian: Тигран Вартанович Петросян; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 97

View profile Photo (modified): uploader Koperczak ( talk ) 08:49, 3 April 2009 (UTC), photographer unknown · Public domain

Showing 12 of 15

Events5

1704 · 322 yrs

Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim (German: Zweite Schlacht bei Höchstädt; French: Bataille de Höchstädt; Dutch: Slag bij Blenheim) fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1787 · 239 yrs

Seventh Russo-Turkish War

The Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to the Russian Empire in the course of the previous Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). It took place concomitantly with the Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791), the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790), and the Theatre War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1937 · 89 yrs

Battle of Shanghai

The Battle of Shanghai (traditional Chinese: 淞滬會戰; simplified Chinese: 淞沪会战; pinyin: Sōng hù huìzhàn) was a major battle fought between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in the Chinese city of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1993 · 33 yrs

1993 World Championships in Athletics

The 4th World Championships in Athletics (German: Leichtathletik-Weltmeisterschaften 1993), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2004 · 22 yrs

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympics (Greek: Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, romanized: Theriní Olympiakí Agónes 2004), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 28is Olympiádas), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (Αθήνα 2004), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

Nearby dates

Born on August 13? Find your birthday matches →

Share August 13

Living room with framed Who Shares My Birthday poster

Close-up

FrameShown to scale · framed 34 × 46 cmThis is the frame we'll deliver, with a white mount

Printable keepsake

Your birthday matches poster

A personalised A3 framed print of everyone famous born on August 13, what happened on your birthday in history and your zodiac sign. We print and frame it for you and deliver it to your door (UK only).

Name on poster

Your photo

Kept private and only used to make your poster.