On this day: May 13

Events on May 13

• 535 Election of pope Agapetus I following the death of pope John II earlier that month. Wikipedia
• 1110 Baldwin I of Jerusalem captured Beirut from the Fatimid Caliphate with the help of a Genoese fleet. Wikipedia
• 1373 The English mystic Julian of Norwich recovered from a severe illness during which she experienced a series of intense visions of Christ, which she later described in the first known English-language book written by a woman. Wikipedia
• 1501 Amerigo Vespucci, this time under Portuguese flag, sets sail for western lands. Wikipedia
• 1725 Johann Sebastian Bach first performed the church cantata Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 183 in Leipzig, Germany. Wikipedia
• 1779 Negotiated by Russian and French mediators, the Treaty of Teschen was signed by Austria and Prussia, leading to the end of the War of the Bavarian Succession. Wikipedia
• 1846 Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following a dispute over the American annexation of the Republic of Texas and a Mexican military incursion. Wikipedia
• 1909 The inaugural edition of the Giro d'Italia, a long-distance multiple-stage bicycle race, began in Milan; the Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna was the eventual winner. Wikipedia
• 1913 The Russian inventor Igor Sikorsky flew the self-designed Russky Vityaz, the world's first four-engine fixed-wing aircraft. Wikipedia
• 1958 US vice president Richard Nixon's motorcade was attacked by a mob in Caracas, Venezuela. Wikipedia
• 1958 The Australian adventurer Ben Carlin became the only person to circumnavigate the world in an amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) by land and sea. Wikipedia
• 1967 Zakir Husain took office as the first elected Muslim President of India. Wikipedia
• 1969 Sino-Malay race riots began in Kuala Lumpur, leaving at least 190 people dead, with the government declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Parliament of Malaysia until 1971. Wikipedia
• 1972 The Troubles: A car bomb planted by Ulster loyalists exploded outside a crowded pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, beginning two days of gun battles between the British Army, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and the Ulster Volunteer Force. Wikipedia
• 1981 Mehmet 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. Wikipedia
• 1985 Eleven people, including five children, were killed after the Philadelphia Police Department dropped bombs from a helicopter during a raid on a house occupied by the Black liberation group MOVE. Wikipedia
• 1989 Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike. Wikipedia
• 1992 Li Hongzhi introduced the Falun Gong movement at a public lecture in Changchun, China. Wikipedia
• 1995 Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the aid of Sherpas or bottled oxygen. Wikipedia
• 1996 Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people. Wikipedia
• 2000 An explosion at a fireworks factory in Enschede, Netherlands, resulted in 23 deaths and approximately €450 million in damage. Wikipedia
• 2005 Uzbek Interior Ministry and State Security Service troops fired at protesters in Andijan, killing between 187 and 1,500 people. Wikipedia
• 2008 Nine bombs placed by the Indian Mujahideen, then an unknown terrorist group, exploded in a 15-minute period in Jaipur, India, killing 80 people and injuring more than 200 others. Wikipedia
• 2011 Two bomb explosions in Charsadda District, Pakistan, killed 98 people and wounded 140 others. Wikipedia
• 2012 Mexican authorities discovered 49 dismembered bodies in Cadereyta Jiménez. Wikipedia
• 2014 The worst mining disaster in Turkish history took place when an explosion caused an underground mine fire at a coal mine in Soma, Manisa, leaving 301 people dead. Wikipedia
• 2017 Eurovision Song Contest: Portugal won the contest for the first time, with the song "Amar pelos dois," performed by Salvador Sobral. Wikipedia

Born on May 13

• 1221 Alexander Nevsky, Russian prince and saint (died 1263) Wikipedia
• 1717 Maria Theresa, Archduchess, Queen, and Empress; Austrian wife of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1780) Wikipedia
• 1753 Lazare Carnot, French general, mathematician, and politician, French Minister of the Interior (died 1823) Wikipedia
• 1792 Pope Pius IX (died 1878) Wikipedia
• 1840 Alphonse Daudet, French author, poet, and playwright (died 1897) Wikipedia
• 1857 Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1932) Wikipedia
• 1882 Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor (died 1963) Wikipedia
• 1905 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th President of India (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1907 Daphne du Maurier, English novelist and playwright (died 1989) Wikipedia
• 1914 Joe Louis, American boxer (died 1981) Wikipedia
• 1938 Giuliano Amato, Italian academic and politician, 48th Prime Minister of Italy Wikipedia
• 1939 Harvey Keitel, American actor Wikipedia
• 1950 Stevie Wonder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer Wikipedia
• 1961 Dennis Rodman, American basketball player, wrestler, and actor Wikipedia
• 1964 Stephen Colbert, American comedian and talk show host Wikipedia
• 1968 Scott Morrison, Australian politician, 30th Prime Minister of Australia Wikipedia
• 1983 Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Robert Pattinson, English actor Wikipedia
• 1986 Alexander Rybak, Belarusian-Norwegian singer-songwriter, violinist, and actor Wikipedia
• 1987 Candice King, American singer-songwriter and actress Wikipedia
• 1993 Romelu Lukaku, Belgian footballer Wikipedia
• 1993 Debby Ryan, American actress and singer Wikipedia

Died on May 13

• 1573 Takeda Shingen, Japanese daimyō (born 1521) Wikipedia
• 1832 Georges Cuvier, French zoologist and academic (born 1769) Wikipedia
• 1878 Joseph Henry, American physicist and academic (born 1797) Wikipedia
• 1916 Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (born 1859) Wikipedia
• 1930 Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian scientist, explorer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861) Wikipedia
• 1938 Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1861) Wikipedia
• 1961 Gary Cooper, American actor (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1988 Chet Baker, American singer and trumpet player (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2002 Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (born 1939) Wikipedia
• 2005 George Dantzig, American mathematician and academic (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 2019 Doris Day, American singer and actress (born 1922) Wikipedia
• 2022 Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, 2nd President of the United Arab Emirates (born 1948) Wikipedia
• 2024 Alice Munro, Canadian short story writer (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2025 José Mujica, Uruguayan politician, 40th President of Uruguay (born 1935) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Abbotsbury Garland Day (Dorset, England) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: André-Hubert Fournet Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Our Lady of Fátima Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Conchita Barrecheguren (Roman Catholic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gerard of Villamagna Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Glyceria Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John the Silent (Roman Catholic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Julian of Norwich (Roman Catholic) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Frances Perkins (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Servatius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Rotuma Day (Rotuma) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “May 13” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/May 13” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 13” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for May 13 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 27 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. The 1981 entry stays as well, and comes first in the one-line summary: we keep a short list, checked by hand, of widely known events that Wikipedia's editors leave out of their selection, usually because the article carries a maintenance notice. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.