August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining.

Events

up to 999

• 523 - John succeeds Hormisdas as Pope.

1000-1499

• 1099 - Paschal II elected Pope.
• 1315 - Louis X of France marries Clemence d'Anjou.
• 1326 - Aradia de Toscano 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.

1500-1899

• 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
• 1553 - Michael Servetus arrested by John Calvin in Geneva as a heretic.
• 1704 - War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Blenheim - English and Austrians victorious over French and Bavarians.

1900-1999

• 1905 - Norway holds referendum in favour of dissolving the union with Sweden.
• 1913 - invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.
• 1920 - Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw begins, lasts till August 25. The Red Army is defeated.
• 1923 - First major sea-going ship arrives at Polish seaport.
• 1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain begins - The British fighter bases and radar installations.
• 1942 - The Walt Disney Company's animated cartoon Bambi premiers.
• 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 thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West.
• 1987 - U.S. President Reagan assumes responsibility for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.
• 1993 - Pope John Paul II visits the United States.
• 1997 - The popular, controversial animated series South Park debuts on Comedy Central.

2000-2099

• 2004 - The 28th Summer Olympics opens in Athens, Greece (August 29).
• 2004 - Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm, strikes the Fort Myers area in Florida.

Births

up to 999

• 582 - Arnulf of Metz, patron saint of brewing (d. 640)

1000-1399

• 1311 - Alfonso XI of Castile, king of Castile and Leon (d. 1350)
• 1313 - Aradia de Toscano, insurrectionist, teacher, witch, purported incarnation of the goddess Aradia

1400-1899

• 1422 - William Caxton, printer
• 1625 - Rasmus Bartholin, physician, mathematician and physicist (d. 1698)
• 1666 - William Wotton, Fellow of the Royal Society
• 1792 - Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen - queen consort of King William IV of the United Kingdom
• 1818 - Lucy Stone, pioneering women's rights activist
• 1820 - Sir George Grove, author, Dictionary of Music and Musicians (d. 1900)
• 1823 - Goldwin Smith, historian and journalist (d. 1910)
• 1851 - Felix Adler, educator, founder of the Ethical Movement (d. 1933)
• 1860 - Annie Oakley, sharpshooter (d. 1926)
• 1866 - Giovanni Agnelli, industrialist (d. 1945)
• 1888 - John Logie Baird, television pioneer (d. 1946)
• 1895 - Bert Lahr, actor (d. 1967)
• 1899 - Alfred Hitchcock, director (d. 1980)

1900-1999

• 1902 - Felix Wankel, engineer and inventor (d. 1988)
• 1904 - Charles (Buddy) Rogers, actor (d. 1999)
• 1907 - Sir Basil Spence, architect (d. 1976)
• 1912 - Salvador Luria, biologist; Nobel Prize, 1969 (d. 1991)
• 1912 - Ben Hogan, golf champion (d. 1997)
• 1913 - Fred Davis, English snooker player (d. 1998)
• 1919 - George Shearing, musician
• 1920 - Neville Brand, actor (d. 1992)
• 1927 - Fidel Castro, revolutionary and politician
• 1930 - Don Ho, musician
• 1933 - Doctor Joycelyn Elders, United States Surgeon General
• 1935 - Jim (Mudcat) Grant, baseball player
• 1948 - Kathleen Battle, soprano
• 1949 - Bobby Clarke, ice hockey star
• 1951 - Dan Fogelberg, singer
• 1952 - Herb Ritts, celebrity photographer (d. 2004)
• 1959 - Danny Bonaduce, actor
• 1969 - Midori Ito, Japanese figure skater
• 1970 - Alan Shearer, England and Newcastle soccer player
• 1975 - Joe Perry, English snooker player

Deaths

900-1899

• 900 - Zwentibold, last King of Lotharingia
• 1667 - Jeremy Taylor - author and bishop of Down and Connor
• 1686 - Louis Maimbourg, historian
• 1863 - Eugène Delacroix, painter

1900-1999

• 1910 - Florence Nightingale, nursing pioneer
• 1912 - Jules Massenet, composer (b. 1842)
• 1946 - H. G. Wells, writer
• 1964 - Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Anthony Allen, murderers. The last people to be executed in Great Britain.
• 1965 - Ikeda Hayato, thrice Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1899)
• 1989 - Tim Richmond, NASCAR race car driver (b. 1955)
• 1995 - Mickey Mantle, Baseball Hall of Fame member (b. 1931)
• 1996 - David Tudor, pianist and composer

2000-2099

• 2003 - Helmut Rahn, German soccer player
• 2003 - Ed Townsend, songwriter and producer
• 2004 - Julia Child, American chef, TV personality (b. 1912)

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Vertumnalias in honor of Vertumnus
• International Left-Handers Day

August 12 - August 14 - July 13 - September 13 -- listing of all days