What happened on May 13? There are more than 280 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 13
May 13 is the 134th day of the year 2024. There are 232 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 20th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Pottsboro, Texas 75076 sunrise will occur at 06:25 AM and sunset will occur at 08:21 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 261 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For May 13
- 1373Julian of Norwich has visions which are later transcribed in her Revelations of Divine Love.
- 1497Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.
- 1515Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk are officially married at Greenwich.
- 1568Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
- 1619Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason.
- 1648Construction of the Red Fort at Delhi is completed.
- 1779War of Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the part of its territory that was taken from it (the Innviertel).
- 1780The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in early Tennessee.
- 1787Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with eleven ships full of convicts (the “First Fleet”) to establish a penal colony in Australia.
- 1804Forces sent by Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli to retake Derna from the Americans attack the city.
- 1830Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.
- 1846Mexican-American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.
- 1848First performance of Finland’s national anthem.
- 1861American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.
- 1861Pakistan’s (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri.
- 1861The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
- 1864American Civil War: Battle of Resaca – the battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1865American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – in far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
- 1880In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
- 1888With the passage of the Lei Áurea (“Golden Law”), Brazil abolishes slavery.
- 1909The first Giro d'Italia starts from Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna will be the winner.
- 1912The Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) is established in the United Kingdom.
- 1917Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal.
- 1923Robert Bellarmine, a Doctor of the Catholic Church, is beatified.
- 1939The first commercial FM radio station in the United States is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The station later becomes WDRC-FM.
- 1940Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the Nazi invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
- 1940World War II: Germany’s conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech to the House of Commons.
- 1941World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting with German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance.
- 1943World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.
- 19481948 Arab-Israeli War: the Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14.
- 1950The first round of the Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone.
- 1951The 400th anniversary of the founding of the National University of San Marcos is commemorated by the opening of the first large-capacity stadium in Peru.
- 1952The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting.
- 1954The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese Middle School students in Singapore, take place.
- 1958During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
- 1958May 1958 crisis: a group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria.
- 1958The trade mark Velcro is registered.
- 1960Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Thirty-one students are arrested, and the Free Speech Movement is born.
- 1963The U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland is decided.
- 1967Dr. Zakir Hussain becomes the third President of India. He is the first Muslim President of the Indian Union. He holds this position until August 24, 1969.
- 1969Race riots, later known as the May 13 Incident, take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- 1972Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
- 1980An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
- 1981Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
- 1985Police storm MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia to end a stand-off, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
- 1989Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
- 1992Li Hongzhi gives the first public lecture on Falun Gong in Changchun, People’s Republic of China.
- 1994Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Show with David Letterman.
- 1995A 33 years old British mother Alison Hargreaves, became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.
- 1996Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
- 1998India carries out two nuclear tests at Pokhran, following the three conducted on May 11. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
- 1998Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped.
- 2000In Enschede, Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage.
- 2005The Andijan Massacre occurs in Uzbekistan.
- 2005The Binh Bridge opens to traffic in Hai Phong, Vietnam.
- 20062006 São Paulo violence: a major rebellion occurs in several prisons in Brazil.
- 2008The Jaipur bombings in Rajasthan, India results in dozens of deaths.
- 2011the 2011 Charsadda bombing in the Charsadda District of Pakistan two bombs exploded killing 98 and wounding 140.
Who Were Born On May 13?
- 1024Hugh of Cluny, French saint (d. 1109)
- 1254Maria of Brabant, queen of France (d. 1321)
- 1588Ole Worm, Danish physician (d. 1654)
- 1638Richard Simon, French Biblical critic (d. 1712)
- 1655Pope Innocent XIII (d. 1724)
- 1699Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1782)
- 1712Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (d. 1772)
- 1717Queen Maria Theresa of Hungary and Bohemia, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1780)
- 1730Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1782)
- 1742Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (d. 1798)
- 1753Lazare Carnot, French general, politician and mathematician (d. 1823)
- 1792Blessed Pope Pius IX (d. 1878)
- 1794Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
- 1795Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist (d. 1875)
- 1822Francis of Assisi of Bourbon, King Consort of Spain (d. 1902)
- 1830Zebulon Baird Vance, three-time governor of North Carolina (d. 1894)
- 1840Alphonse Daudet, French novelist (d. 1897)
- 1842Arthur Sullivan, English composer (d. 1900)
- 1856Tom O'Rourke, American boxing manager (d. 1938)
- 1857Ronald Ross, English physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1932)
- 1881Lima Barreto, Brazilian author (d. 1922)
- 1882Georges Braque, French painter (d. 1963)
- 1883Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek doctor, inventor of the pap smear (d. 1962)
- 1894Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, 2nd President of Iceland (d. 1972)
- 1895Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-born psychologist and parapsychologist (d. 1964)
- 1898Justin/Giustino Tuveri, Italian World War I veteran (d. 2007)
- 1904Louis Duffus, South African cricketer (d. 1984)
- 1907Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (d. 1989)
- 1911Robert Middleton, American film and television actor (d. 1977)
- 1912Gil Evans, Canadian musician (d. 1988)
- 1912Judah Nadich, American rabbi (d. 2007)
- 1913William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia (d. 1980)
- 1914Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- 1918T. Balasaraswati, Indian Bharatanatyam dancer (d. 1984)
- 1920Gareth Morris, British flautist (d. 2007)
- 1922Beatrice Arthur, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1922Michael Ainsworth, British cricketer (d. 1978)
- 1922Otl Aicher, German graphic designer (d. 1991)
- 1923Red Garland, American hard bop jazz pianist (d.1984)
- 1924Harry Schwarz, South African anti-apartheid politician, lawyer and diplomat (d. 2010)
- 1924Theodore Mann, American theatre producer and director
- 1926Wallace Breem, British author (d. 1990)
- 1927Archie Scott-Brown, English race car driver (d. 1958)
- 1927Herbert Ross, American director (d. 2001)
- 1928Édouard Molinaro, French film actor, director and screenwriter
- 1928Enrique Bolaños, Nicaraguan politician
- 1928Jim Shoulders, American rodeo cowboy (d. 2007)
- 1930José Jiménez Lozano, Spanish writer
- 1930Mike Gravel, American politician
- 1930Vernon Shaw, President of Dominica
- 1931Jim Jones, American businessman and cult leader of the Peoples Temple (d. 1978)
- 1934Ehud Netzer, Israeli archaeologist (d. 2010)
- 1934Leon Wagner, American baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1935Dominic Cossa, American baritone
- 1937Roch Carrier, Canadian novelist
- 1937Roger Zelazny, American author (d. 1995)
- 1937Trevor Baylis, English inventor
- 1937Zohra Lampert, American actress
- 1938Giuliano Amato, Italian politician
- 1938Laurent Beaudoin, French/Canadian businessman
- 1939Harvey Keitel, American actor
- 1939Hildrun Claus, German athlete
- 1940Bruce Chatwin, British writer (d. 1989)
- 1941Jody Conradt, American basketball coach
- 1941Joe Brown, British singer
- 1941Ritchie Valens, American singer (d. 1959)
- 1941Senta Berger, Austrian actress
- 1942Roger Young, American television director
- 1943Kurt Trampedach, Danish artist
- 1943Mary Wells, American singer (d. 1992)
- 1944Armistead Maupin, American author
- 1945Magic Dick, American musician (The J. Geils Band)
- 1945Sam Anderson, American actor
- 1946Waneta Hoyt, American convicted serial killer (d. 1998)
- 1947Edgar Burcksen, Dutch film editor
- 1949Zoë Wanamaker, English/American actress
- 1950Bobby Valentine, American baseball player and manager
- 1950Danny Kirwan, British musician (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1950Manning Marable, American academic and author (d. 2011)
- 1950Stevie Wonder, American singer and musician
- 1951James Whale, English radio personality
- 1951Paul Thompson, British rock drummer (Roxy Music)
- 1951Sharon Sayles Belton, American politician
- 1952John Kasich, American politician and political commentator
- 1952Mary Walsh, Canadian comedian and actress
- 1954Johnny Logan, Irish singer and songwriter
- 1956Richard Madeley, English television presenter
- 1956Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Indian spiritual figure
- 1956Steve Blackwood, American actor and musician
- 1957Alan Ball, American screenwriter, director and producer
- 1957Andrea Klump, German Red Army Faction terrorist
- 1957Koji Suzuki, Japanese writer
- 1957Manuel “Mar” Araneta Roxas II, Philippine politician
- 1958Frances Barber, British actress
- 1961Dennis Rodman, American basketball player and actor
- 1962Eduardo Palomo, Mexican actor (d. 2003)
- 1962Kathleen Jamie, Scottish poet
- 1962Paul McDermott, Australian comedian
- 1962Sean McDonough, American sportscaster
- 1963Wally Masur, Australian tennis player
- 1964Ronnie Coleman, American bodybuilder
- 1964Stephen Colbert, American comedian and actor
- 1964Tom Verica, American actor
- 1965Hikari Ota, Japanese comedian
- 1965José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountaineer (d. 2006)
- 1965Lari White, American country music singer
- 1965Tasmin Little, English violinist
- 1966Alison Goldfrapp, English musician
- 1966Darius Rucker, American singer (Hootie & the Blowfish)
- 1966Kamen Vodenicharov, Bulgarian entertainer
- 1966Nikos Aliagas, Greek TV show host
- 1967Chuck Schuldiner, American musician (Death, Control Denied) (d. 2001)
- 1967Melanie Thornton, American pop singer (La Bouche) (d. 2001)
- 1968Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (d. 1997)
- 1968PMD, American rapper
- 1969Buckethead, American musician
- 1971Tom Nalen, American football player
- 1972Stefaan Maene, Belgian swimmer
- 1974Brian Geraghty, American actor
- 1975Cristian Bezzi, Italian rugby player
- 1975Jamie Allison, Canadian professional ice hockey player
- 1976Mark Delaney, Welsh footballer
- 1976Trajan Langdon, American basketball player
- 1977Ilse DeLange, Dutch singer
- 1977Neil Hopkins, American actor
- 1977Robby Hammock, American baseball player
- 1977Samantha Morton, English actress
- 1978Barry Zito, American baseball player
- 1978Dilshan Vitharana, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1978Mike Bibby, American basketball player
- 1978Ryan Bukvich, American baseball player
- 1978Steve Mildenhall, English footballer
- 1979Michael Madden, American musician (Maroon 5)
- 1979Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland of Sweden
- 1980Chris Barker, American bassist (Anti-Flag)
- 1980Mau Marcelo, Filipino singer
- 1980Waka Inoue, Japanese gravure idol and actress
- 1981Jimmy Wang Yang, American professional wrestler
- 1981Rebecka Liljeberg, Swedish actress
- 1981Sunny Leone, Canadian/American pornographic actress
- 1982Albert Crusat, Spanish footballer
- 1982Oguchi Onyewu, American footballer
- 1982Yoko Kumada, Japanese gravure idol
- 1983Anita Görbicz, Hungarian handball player
- 1983Grégory Lemarchal, French singer (d. 2007)
- 1983Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer
- 1984Benny Dayal, Indian singer
- 1985Iwan Rheon, Welsh stage/television actor and singer
- 1985Jaroslav Halak, Slovak hockey player
- 1985Travis Zajac, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986Alexander Rybak, Norwegian singer
- 1986Giuliana Marino, German glamour model
- 1986Robert Pattinson, English actor, musician and model
- 1986Scott Sutter, English footballer
- 1987Candice Accola, American actress and singer
- 1987Carrie Prejean, American beauty pageant contestant
- 1987Hunter Parrish, American actor
- 1987Matt Doyle, American broadway actor and singer
- 1988Casey Donovan, Australian singer
- 1991Francisco Lachowski, Brazilian model
- 1993Debby Ryan, American actress
- 1993Romelu Lukaku, Belgian footballer
Who Died On May 13?
- 1176Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1119)
- 1312Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1263)
- 1573Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord (b. 1521)
- 1619Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch statesman (b. 1547)
- 1704Louis Bourdaloue, French Jesuit preacher (b. 1632)
- 1742Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1719)
- 1807Eliphalet Dyer, American statesman and judge (b. 1721)
- 1809Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, first Anglican to challenge the Church’s position on slavery (b. 1731)
- 1832Georges Cuvier, French naturalist (b. 1769)
- 1835John Nash, English architect (b. 1752)
- 1866Nikolai Brashman, Russian mathematician (b. 1796)
- 1871Daniel Auber, French composer (b. 1782)
- 1878Joseph Henry, American scientist (b. 1797)
- 1884Cyrus McCormick, American inventor (b. 1809)
- 1885Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician (b. 1809)
- 1901Leopoldo Alas y Ureña, a.k.a. “Clarín”, Spanish novelist and literary critic (b. 1851)
- 1903Apolinario Mabini, Filipino political theoretician and Prime Minister (b. 1864)
- 1916Sholom Aleichem, Russian author (b. 1859)
- 1921Jean Aicard, French poet and novelist (b. 1848)
- 1925Boris Savinkov, Russian writer and terrorist (b. 1879)
- 1926Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian Catholic prelate (b. 1857)
- 1930Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1937Ekaterina Geladze, Georgian mother of Joseph Stalin (b. 1858)
- 1938Charles Edouard Guillaume, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1941Ōnishiki Uichirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 26th Yokozuna (b. 1891)
- 1945Tubby Hall, American jazz drummer (b. 1895)
- 1947Sukanta Bhattacharya, Bengali poet (b. 1926)
- 1957Michael Fekete, Hungarian-born Israeli mathematician (b. 1886)
- 1961Gary Cooper, American actor (b. 1901)
- 1962Henry Trendley Dean, American dental researcher (b. 1893)
- 1963Alois Hudal, Austrian-born Catholic bishop who assisted Nazi war criminals in escaping (b. 1885)
- 1972Dan Blocker, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1974Arthur J. Burks, “million-words-a-year” pulp magazines author (b. 1898)
- 1974Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican writer (b. 1902)
- 1975Bob Wills, American musician (b. 1905)
- 1977Mickey Spillane, Irish-American gangster (b. 1934)
- 1985Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1988Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1929)
- 1992F. E. McWilliam, Northern Irish sculptor (b. 1909)
- 1994Duncan Hamilton, British racing driver (b. 1920)
- 1999Gene Sarazen, American golfer (b. 1902)
- 2000Jumbo Tsuruta, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1951)
- 2000Paul Bartel, American actor (b. 1938)
- 2001Jason Miller, American playwright (b. 1939)
- 2001R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (b. 1906)
- 2002Clinton Davis, American artist (b. 1918)
- 2002Ruth Cracknell, Australian actress (b. 1925)
- 2002Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
- 2005Eddie Barclay, French record producer (b. 1921)
- 2005George Dantzig, American mathematician (b. 1914)
- 2005Michael Ross, American serial killer (b. 1959)
- 2006Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)
- 2006Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (b. 1949)
- 2008Ron Stone, American television reporter (b. 1936)
- 2008Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Sheikh of Kuwait (b. 1930)
- 2009Achille Compagnoni, Italian mountaineer (b. 1914)
- 2009Frank Aletter, American character actor (b. 1926)
- 2009Rabbi Meir Brandsdorfer, Belgian-born member of the Rabbinical Court of the Edah HaChareidis, Jerusalem (b. 1934)
- 2011Bruce Ricker, American jazz and blues documentarian (b. 1942)
- 2011Derek Boogaard, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1982)
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