February 13

February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 321 days remaining until the end of the year (322 every 4 years).

Events

Up to 1900

1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, England, falls.
1462 – The Treaty of Westminster is finalized between Edward IV of England and the Scottish Lord of the Isles.
1503 – Disfida di Barletta: A tournament between 13 Italian and 13 French knights takes place near Barletta.
1542 – Catherine Howard, fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
1575 – Henry III of France is crowned King.
1633 – Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the inquisition.
1660 – Charles XI of Sweden becomes King at the age of 4 years, meaning that a regent rules Sweden until 1672.
1668 – Spain recognizes Portugal as an independent country.
1689 – William III and Mary II are crowned King and Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland.
1692 – At least thirty members of the MacDonald Clan are massacred in Glencoe, Scotland.
1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Persian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of Mughal Emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1857 – British passenger steamer Tempest disappears in the North Atlantic Ocean after leaving New York City, with 150 people on board.
1858 – Searching for the source of the Nile, Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke become the first Europeans to reach Lake Tanganyika.
1861 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies surrenders at Gaeta to the army of Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy.
1880 – Thomas Edison observes the Edison effect.
1881 – The feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is first published in Paris by the activist Hubertine Auclert.

1901 – 2000

1918 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake strikes Guangdong province, China.
1931 – New Delhi becomes the capital city of India.
1934 – Soviet steamship Cheliuskin sinks in the Arctic Ocean.
1935 – Bruno Hauptmann is found guilty of kidnapping and murdering the infant son of Charles Lindbergh.
1944 – Norwegian passenger ship Irma is torpedoed near Kristiansund, killing 61 people. It is revealed after the Second World War that it was a torpedo from the Norwegian Navy that hit the ship.
1945 – The Royal Air Force bombs the German city of Dresden in World War II.
1945 – World War II: The Siege of Budapest ends with the unconditional surrender of the German and Hungarian armies to the Red Army.
1951 – Korean War: The Battle of Chipyong-ni begins.
1955 – Israel gains four of the seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
1960 – France becomes the fourth country to own nuclear weapons.
1961 – A 500,000–year–old rock is discovered near Olancha, California.
1971 – South Vietnamese troops invade Laos, with American support.
1978 – A bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing 2 refuse collectors and a police officer.
1980 – The 1980 Winter Olympics begin in Lake Placid, New York. The games became best known for the Miracle on Ice hockey game on February 22.
1981 – A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.
1982 – The Rio Negro massacre occurs in Guatemala.
1983 – A cinema fire in Turin, Italy, kills 64 people.
1984 – Konstantin Chernenko becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1988 – The Winter Olympic Games open in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Like in 1976, Canada hosts the Olympics without winning a gold medal (They do, however, win a record 14 gold medals when they host the games in Vancouver in 2010).
1990 – Agreement is reached on a two–stage plan to re–unite Germany.
1991 – US bombers hit Baghdad in the Gulf War.
1996 – English pop music group Take That announces that it is splitting. The band re–forms in 2005.
2000 – The last Peanuts comic strip is printed in newspapers, a day after the death of Charles Schulz.

From 2001

2001 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits El Salvador, killing at least 400 people.
2004 – The Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the Universe's largest–known diamond, white dwarf.
2007 – Taiwan's Opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou resigns as Chairman of the Kuomintang Party.
2008 – Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations.
2010 – A bomb attack in Pune, Maharashtra, India, kills 17 people.
2011 – After the removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the army suspends the constitution, and announces that it will remain in power until elections later in the year.
2012 – The European Space Agency's Vega rocket is launched from French Guiana.
2014 – Prime Minister of Italy Enrico Letta announces his intention to resign, less than ten months into the job, after instabilities in his coalition government.
2014 – Belgium's parliament votes to extend its euthanasia law to terminally–ill children, becoming the first country to allow euthanasia for people of all ages.
2017 – Kim Jong-nam (older half–brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un) is murdered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

Births

Up to 1900

1457 – Mary of Burgundy, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1482)
1480 – Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal (d. 1542)
1539 – Elisabeth of Hesse, Electress Palatine (d. 1582)
1599 – Pope Alexander VII (d. 1667)
1683 – Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Italian painter (d. 1754)
1721 – John Reid, Scottish general (d. 1807)
1728 – John Hunter, Scottish anatomist (d. 1793)
1734 – Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec, French explorer and naval officer (d. 1797)
1766 – Thomas Balthus, English economist (d. 1834)
1768 – Edouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, Marshal of France (d. 1835)
1769 – Ivan Krylov, Russian writer (d. 1844)
1805 – Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician (d. 1859)
1831 – John Aaron Rawlins, 29th United States Secretary of War (d. 1869)
1834 – Heinrich Caro, German chemist (d. 1910)
1835 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Islamic religious leader (d. 1908)
1837 – Valentin Zubiaurre, Spanish composer (d. 1914)
1849 – Lord Randolph Churchill, British politician, father of Winston Churchill (d. 1895)
1849 – Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, German impostor, Captain of Köpenick (d. 1922)
1855 – Paul Deschanel, President of France (d. 1922)
1866 – Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (d. 1938)
1867 – Harold Mahony, Scottish–Irish tennis player (d. 1903)
1870 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish–American pianist and composer (d. 1938)
1873 – Feodor Chaliapin, Russian opera singer (d. 1938)
1876 – Fritz Buelow, German–American baseball player (d. 1933)
1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1949)
1880 – Dimitrie Gusti, Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian and philosopher (d. 1955)
1883 – Hal Chase, American baseball player (d. 1947)
1884 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American athlete, inventor and businessman (d. 1961)
1885 – George Fitzmaurice, American–French director (d. 1940)
1885 – Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (d. 1982)
1888 – Georgios Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1968)
1891 – Grant Wood, American painter (d. 1942)
1892 – Robert H. Jackson, 57th United States Attorney General (d. 1954)

1901 – 1950

1901 – Paul Lazarsfeld, Austrian–American sociologist (d. 1976)
1901 – Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Scottish writer (d. 1935)
1902 – Harold Lasswell, American political scientist (d. 1978)
1903 – Georgy Beriev, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1979)
1903 – Georges Simenon, Belgian writer (d. 1989)
1906 – Agostinho da Silva, Portuguese philosopher (d. 1994)
1909 – Mario Casariego y Acevedo, Guatemalan cardinal (d. 1983)
1910 – William Shockley, British–American physicist (d. 1989)
1911 – Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani Urdu poet (d. 1984)
1911 – Jean Muir, American actress (d. 1996)
1913 – Khalid bin Abdul-Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia (d. 1982)
1915 – Aung San, Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, general, and politician (d. 1947)
1915 – lyle Bettger, American actor (d. 2003)
1916 – John Reed, British singer of Gilbert and Sullivan (d. 2010)
1918 – Patty Berg, American golfer (d. 2006)
1919 – Tennessee Ernie Ford, American musician (d. 1991)
1919 – Eddie Robinson, American football coach (d. 2007)
1921 – Jeanne Demessieux, French organist, pianist and composer (d. 1968)
1922 – Francis Pym, British politician
1922 – Gordon Tullock, American economist and academic (d. 2014)
1923 – Chuck Yeager, American pilot
1923 – Michael Anthony Bilandic, 49th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2002)
1923 – James Abdnor, American politician (d. 2012)
1925 – Stuart Wagstaff, English–Australian entertainer (d. 2015)
1928 – Gerald Regan, 19th Premier of Nova Scotia
1929 – Omar Torrijos, President of Panama (d. 1981)
1930 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian painter, sculptor and illustrator (d. 2015)
1930 – Israel Kirzner, English–American economist, writer and academic
1932 – Barbara Shelley, English actress
1932 – Sarah Oliver, American actress (d. 1990)
1933 – Paul Biya, President of Cameroon
1933 – Kim Novak, American actress
1933 – Peter L. Pond, American activist and philanthropist (d. 2000)
1933 – Emanuel Ungaro, French fashion designer
1934 – George Segal, American actor
1937 – Rupiah Banda, former President of Zambia
1937 – Sigmund Jaehn, German cosmonaut
1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (d. 1999)
1939 – Valery Rozhdestvensky, Soviet–Russian cosmonaut (d. 2011)
1939 – Beate Klarsfeld, German activist
1940 – Bram Peper, Dutch sociologist and politician, former Mayor of Rotterdam
1941 – Sigmar Polke, German painter (d. 2010)
1941 – Bo Svenson, Swedish–American actor
1942 – Katsuaki Watanabe, CEO of Toyota
1942 – Peter Tork, American musician (Member of The Monkees)
1942 – Carol Lynley, American actress
1944 – Jerry Springer, American television host
1944 – Stockard Channing, American actress
1944 – Bo Svenson, American actor
1945 – Wallis Grahn, Swedish actress (d. 2018)
1945 – King Floyd, American musician (d. 2006)
1945 – Simon Schama, British historian
1945 – Marian Dawkins, British biologist
1946 – Artur Jorge, Portuguese football coach
1947 – Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball coach
1947 – Kevin Bloody Wilson, Australian comedian, singer-songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Kitten Natividad, Mexican–American actress and dancer
1949 – Peter Kern, Austrian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 2015)
1950 – Peter Gabriel, English musician
1950 – Bob Daisley, Australian musician

1951 – 1975

1952 – Freddy Maertens, Belgian cyclist
1956 – Liam Brady, Irish footballer
1956 – Peter Hook, English musician
1956 – Princess Alia bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1958 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress
1958 – Tip Tipping, English actor and stuntman (d. 1993)
1959 – Gaston Gingras, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 – Pierluigi Collina, Italian football referee
1960 – Pia Sundhage, Swedish soccer player and coach
1960 – Artur Yusupov, Russian–German chess player
1961 – Marc Crawford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – Henry Rollins, American singer, actor and writer
1961 – Richard Tyson, American actor
1962 – Anibal Acevedo Vila, former Governor of Puerto Rico
1962 – Hugh Dennis, English actor and comedian
1964 – Stephen Bowen, American engineer, captain and astronaut
1964 – Ylva Johansson, Swedish politician
1965 – Peter O'Neill, 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
1967 – Stanimir Stoilov, Bulgarian footballer
1967 – Johnny Tapia, American boxer (d. 2012)
1968 – Daisuke Ikeda, Japanese professional wrestler
1968 – Niamh Kavanagh, Irish singer
1969 – Joyce DiDonato, American mezzo–soprano
1970 – Elmer Bennett, American basketball player
1970 – Karoline Krüger, Norwegian singer-songwriter and pianist
1971 – Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player
1971 – Todd Williams, American baseball player
1974 – Robbie Williams, English singer
1974 – Ana Patricia Rojo, Mexican actress
1975 – Ben Collins, English racing driver
1975 – Tony Dalton, American–born actor

From 1976

1976 – Suzanne Maddock, British actress
1978 – Philippe Jaroussky, French tenor
1979 – Rafael Marquez, Mexican footballer
1979 – Rachel Reeves, English politician
1979 – Mena Suvari, American actress
1979 – Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian mass murderer (2011 Norway attacks)
1980 – Sebastian Kehl, German footballer
1981 – Sam Burley, American athlete
1981 – Liam Miller, Irish footballer (d. 2018)
1983 – Anna Watkins, British rower
1984 – Eveli Saue, Estonian orienteer and athlete
1985 – Hedwiges Maduro, Dutch footballer
1985 – Alexandros Tziolis, Greek footballer
1986 – Jamie Murray, Scottish tennis player
1987 – Eljero Elia, Dutch footballer
1988 – Aston Merrygold, British singer (JLS)
1989 – Carly McKillip, Canadian singer and actress
1989 – Rodrigo Possebon, Brazilian footballer
1990 – Gyaincain Norbu, 11th Panchen Lama
1990 – Mamadou Sakho, French footballer
1993 – Alex Sawyer, British actor, director and singer
1994 – Memphis Depay, Dutch footballer
1995 – Ayame Koike, Japanese actress

Deaths

Up to 1900

721 – Chilperic II (b. 672)
858 – Kenneth I of Scotland
1130 – Pope Honorius II
1141 – Bela II of Hungary (b. 1110)
1199 – Stefan Nemanja, Serbian Grand Prince (b. 1113)
1219 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (b. 1192)
1332 – Andronik II Palaiologus, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (b. 1250)
1539 – Isabella d'Este, Italian Renaissance figure (b. 1474)
1542 – Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII of England (b. 1521)
1571 – Benvenuto Cellini, Italian artist (b. 1500)
1592 – Jacopo Bassano, Italian painter (b. 1510)
1600 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter (b. 1538)
1608 – Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Lithuanian Prince (b. 1526)
1660 – Charles X, King of Sweden (b. 1622)
1662 – Elizabeth of Bohemia (b. 1596)
1693 – Johann Kaspar Kerli, German organist and composer (b. 1627)
1728 – Cotton Mather, American Puritan minister (b. 1663)
1741 – Johann Joseph Fux, Austrian composer (b. 1660)
1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat (b. 1717)
1787 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Croat–Italian physicist (b. 1711)
1813 – Samuel Ashe, Governor of North Carolina (b. 1725)
1837 – Mariano Jose de Larra, Spanish journalist and writer (b. 1809)
1883 – Richard Wagner, German composer (b. 1813)
1888 – Jean-Baptiste Lamy, French–American archbishop (b. 1814)
1889 – Joao Mauricio Wanderley, Brazilian magistrate and politician (b. 1815)

1901 – 2000

1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (b. 1844)
1906 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (b. 1866)
1909 – Hugo Egmont Horring, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1842)
1916 – Carlos Antonio Mendoza, 3rd President of Panama (b. 1856)
1934 – Jozsef Pusztai, Slovenian–Hungarian writer (b. 1864)
1942 – Epitacio Pessoa, President of Brazil (b. 1865)
1943 – Neyyire Neyir, Turkish actress (b. 1902)
1954 – Agnes MacPhail, Canadian politician (b. 1890)
1956 – Jan Lukasiewicz, Polish mathematician (b. 1878)
1958 – Dame Christabel Pankhurst, British suffragette (b. 1880)
1958 – Georges Rouault, French painter (b. 1871)
1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (b. 1902)
1968 – Mae Marsh, American actress (b. 1895)
1974 – Ustad Amir Khan, Indian classical singer (b. 1912)
1975 – Andre Beaufre, French general (b. 1902)
1976 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian military leader (b. 1938)
1976 – Lily Pons, French–American soprano and actress (b. 1904)
1980 – Marian Rejewski, Polish mathematician (b. 1905)
1982 – Zeng Jinlian, tallest woman ever (b. 1964)
1988 – John Curulewski, American guitarist (Styx) (b. 1950)
1991 – Arno Breker, German sculptor (b. 1900)
1992 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
1993 – Willoughby Gray, British actor (b. 1916)

From 2001

2002 – Waylon Jennings, American musician (b. 1937)
2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, Chechen politician (b. 1952)
2005 – Maurice Trintignant, French racing driver (b. 1917)
2006 – Peter Frederick Strawson, British philosopher (b. 1919)
2007 – Johanna Sallstrom, Swedish actress (b. 1974)
2008 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese movie director and producer (b. 1915)
2008 – Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (b. 1917)
2010 – John Reed, British singer of Gilbert and Sullivan (b. 1916)
2011 – Inese Jaunzeme, Latvian javelin thrower (b. 1932)
2013 – Pieter Kooijmans, Dutch politician (b. 1933)
2014 – Balu Mahendra, Indian moviemaker and screenwriter (b. 1939)
2014 – Richard Moller Nielsen, Danish footballer and coach (b. 1937)
2014 – Piero D'Inzeo, Italian equestrian show jumper (b. 1923)
2014 – Ralph Waite, American actor (b. 1928)
2015 – Kesava Reddy, Indian writer (b. 1946)
2015 – Stan Chambers, American journalist (b. 1923)
2016 – Antonin Scalia, United States Supreme Court Justice (b. 1936)
2016 – O. N. V. Kurup, Indian poet, lyricist and politician (b. 1931)
2016 – Trifon Ivanov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1965)
2016 – Christopher Zeeman, British mathematician (b. 1925)
2017 – Sara Coward, British actress (b. 1948)
2017 – Kim Jong-nam, half–brother of Kim Jong-un (b. 1971)
2017 – Jan Grabowski, Polish speedway rider (b. 1950)
2017 – Lucky Pulpit, American–trained racehorse (b. 2001)
2017 – E-dubble, American rapper (b. 1982)
2017 – Harold Denton, American public servant (b. 1936)
2017 – Bruce Lansbury, English–American television producer (b. 1930)
2017 – Seijun Suzuki, Japanese director, screenwriter and actor (b. 1923)
2018 – Joseph Bonnel, French footballer (b. 1939)
2018 – Dobri Dobrev, Bulgarian ascetic and philanthropist (b. 1914)
2018 – Tito Francona, American baseball player (b. 1933)
2018 – Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark (b. 1934)
2018 – Josefina Samper, Spanish communist and feminist (b. 1927)

Observances

World Radio Day