Monday, 13th April 2026 in Stockholm

13th April in the Stars – Star Sign Aries

Today, the zodiac sign Aries celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on April 13 blend Aries courage with radiant solar vitality. They radiate charisma and drive, propelling projects forward with unwavering momentum. Their directness makes them natural leaders who inspire others through authentic passion.

Strengths & Weaknesses Strengths: decisiveness, genuine enthusiasm, magnetic presence, and pioneering spirit. Weaknesses: impatience, emotional impulsiveness, and tendency to overwhelm others. Learning diplomatic conflict resolution strengthens their natural power.

Love These Aries seek vibrant, equal partnerships charged with passion and excitement. They love intensely and spontaneously but risk steamrolling partners. Patient, boundary-setting companions help channel this dynamic energy constructively.

Caree & Finance Professionally thriving in leadership roles, entrepreneurship, and creative ventures. Numerology 8 amplifies ambition and financial instinct for success. They pursue goals relentlessly but must curb impulsive spending habits.

Health High vitality demands consistent physical outlets—sport is non-negotiable for wellbeing. Intense activity effectively burns nervous tension and stress. Mindfulness practices help manage underlying restlessness and anxiety.

That night, the moon was in its waxing gibbous phase.

Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).

Fun Facts About 13th April

Name Days in Your Language: Thom, Thomas, Thomasina, Thompson, Tom, Tomas, Tommie, Tommy, Twain

Someone born on this day would be just 51 days old today — roughly 1,234 hours, 74,094 minutes, or 4,445,691 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 103. day of the year. In 2026, 13th April falls on a Monday.

There are 262 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 16 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 13th April

On this day, 209 notable people were born on 13th April — spanning from 1229 to 2002. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

13/04/2002

Karl Hein, Estonian footballer

Karl Jakob Hein is an Estonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club Werder Bremen, on loan from Premier League club Arsenal, and the Estonia national team.

13/04/2001

Neco Williams, Welsh footballer

Neco Shay Williams is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and the Wales national team.

13/04/2000

Rasmus Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player

Rasmus Erik Dahlin is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who is a defenceman and captain for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Having been referred to as the most talented player available in the 2018 NHL entry draft class, Dahlin was selected first overall in the draft by the Sabres.

Facundo Torres, Uruguayan footballer

Facundo Daniel Torres Pérez is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Major League Soccer club Austin FC and the Uruguay national team.

13/04/1999

Alessandro Bastoni, Italian footballer

Alessandro Bastoni is an Italian professional footballer who plays primarily as a centre-back for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Italy national team. He is best known for his passing, speed and versatility.

András Schäfer, Hungarian footballer

András Schäfer is a professional Hungarian football player who is a central midfielder for Bundesliga club Union Berlin and the Hungary national team.

13/04/1997

Mateo Cassierra, Colombian footballer

Zander Mateo Cassierra Cabezas is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Atlético Mineiro and the Colombia national team.

Kyle Walker-Peters, English footballer

Kyle Leonardus Walker-Peters is an English professional footballer who plays as a full back for Premier League club West Ham United.

13/04/1996

Marko Grujić, Serbian footballer

Marko Grujić is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Super League Greece club AEK Athens and the Serbia national team.

13/04/1994

Kahraba, Egyptian footballer

Mahmoud Abdel Moneim Abdel Hamid Soliman, commonly known as Mahmoud Kahraba or simply Kahraba, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays for Egyptian Premier League club ENPPI and the Egypt national team.

13/04/1993

Melvin Gordon, American football player

Melvin Gordon III is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers, earning unanimous All-American honors and winning the Doak Walker Award as the top college running back in 2014. Gordon was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft with the 15th overall pick. He was also a member of the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens.

Darrun Hilliard, American basketball player

Darrun Cordell Hilliard II is an American professional basketball player for Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB.

13/04/1992

Jordan Silk, Australian cricketer

Jordan Christopher Silk is an Australian cricketer who plays for Tasmania. Silk was recruited from Sydney grade cricket, where he holds the record for being the youngest player to make a century on debut.

13/04/1991

Josh Gordon, American football player

Joshua Caleb Gordon, nicknamed "Flash", is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the Baylor Bears and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2012 NFL Supplemental draft. Throughout his career, Gordon was lauded for his on-field production, but also faced several suspensions for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

13/04/1989

Josh Reynolds, Australian rugby league player

Joshua Reynolds is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who played as a five-eighth for Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League.

13/04/1988

Allison Williams, American actress and singer

Allison Howell Williams is an American actress. She began her career in comedy and rose to prominence as a horror queen beginning in the late 2010s. Her accolades include a National Board of Review Award and nominations at the Critics' Choice, GMSA and SAG Awards.

Anderson, Brazilian footballer

Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, commonly known as Anderson, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who works as assistant manager of Adana Demirspor. He played as a midfielder and is best known for his spell with Manchester United from 2007 to 2015.

13/04/1987

Steven De Vuyst, Belgian politician

Steven De Vuyst is a Belgian politician and former member of the Chamber of Representatives. A member of the Workers' Party of Belgium, he represented East Flanders from June 2019 to May 2024.

13/04/1986

Lorenzo Cain, American baseball player

Lorenzo Lamar Cain is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Kansas City Royals. The Brewers drafted him in the 17th round of the 2004 MLB draft from Tallahassee Community College in Florida. In 2010, Cain made his MLB debut, and, following the season, the Brewers traded him to Kansas City with three other players for pitcher Zack Greinke.

13/04/1984

Anders Lindegaard, Danish footballer

Anders Rozenkrantz Lindegaard is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

13/04/1983

Claudio Bravo, Chilean footballer

Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Hunter Pence, American baseball player

Hunter Andrew Pence, nicknamed "the Reverend," is an American former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Texas Rangers. In the 2004 Major League Baseball draft he was drafted in the second round by the Astros. Pence made his major league debut in 2007. He is a four time All-Star and was a member of the 2012 and 2014 World Series championship teams with the Giants.

13/04/1982

Nellie McKay, British-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress

Eleanora Marie McKay is an English–American singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera (2006).

Ty Dolla Sign, American singer, songwriter, and musician

Tyrone William Griffin Jr., known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gained initial recognition for his guest appearance on fellow California rapper YG's 2010 single "Toot It and Boot It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100. He signed with Atlantic Records in 2012, and Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Entertainment the following year.

13/04/1980

Kelli Giddish, American actress

Kelli Marie Giddish is an American television, stage, and film actress. She is best known as NYPD Detective/Sergeant Amanda Rollins in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2011–present). Giddish previously played Di Henry in All My Children (2005–2007), Dr. Kate McGinn in Past Life (2010), and Annie Nolan Frost in Chase (2010–2011).

Quentin Richardson, American basketball player

Quentin Lamar Richardson is an American former professional basketball player who was formerly the director of player development for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Q-Ball", he played professionally for 13 seasons for the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, and Orlando Magic. He won the NBA Three-Point Contest in 2005.

13/04/1979

Baron Davis, American basketball player

Baron Walter Louis Davis is an American former professional basketball player who is a television host and sports analyst. He was a two-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004, and twice led the NBA in steals. He was drafted with the third overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He also played in the NBA for the New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and New York Knicks. Davis played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, earning All-American honors before turning professional after his sophomore year. He was a star high school player while at Crossroads School. Davis holds the NBA's career playoff record for steals per game with an average of 2.28 over 50 games.

13/04/1978

Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer

Carles Puyol Saforcada is a Spanish former professional footballer who played his entire career for Barcelona. Considered one of the best defenders ever and one of the sport's greatest captains, he mainly played as a centre-back, but could also play in either full-back position, mostly as a right-back.

13/04/1977

Margus Tsahkna, Estonian lawyer and politician

Margus Tsahkna is an Estonian politician. He has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since the third cabinet of Kaja Kallas was sworn in on 17 April 2023 and continues in that role in Kristen Michal's cabinet. He was also the leader of the Estonia 200 party from 19 November 2023 to 31 August 2024.

13/04/1976

Jonathan Brandis, American actor (died 2003)

Jonathan Gregory Brandis was an American actor. Beginning his career as a child model, Brandis moved on to acting in commercials and subsequently won television and film roles. Brandis made his acting debut in 1982 as Kevin Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live. In 1990, he portrayed Bill Denbrough in the television miniseries It, and starred as Bastian Bux in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. In 1993, at the age of 17, he was cast in the role of teen prodigy Lucas Wolenczak on the NBC series seaQuest DSV. The character was popular among teenage viewers, and Brandis regularly appeared in teen magazines. He died by suicide in 2003.

Dan Campbell, American football player and coach

Daniel Allen Campbell is an American professional football coach and former tight end who is the head coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the NFL for 11 seasons. Campbell played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and was selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, and Detroit Lions.

Glenn Howerton, American actor

Glenn Franklin Howerton III is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing Dennis Reynolds on the FX/FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present), which he co-developed and on which he serves as an executive producer and writer alongside the other main cast members.

13/04/1975

Lou Bega, German singer

David Lubega Balemezi, known professionally as Lou Bega, is a German singer. His 1999 song "Mambo No. 5", a remake of Pérez Prado's 1949 instrumental piece, reached no. 1 in many European countries and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Bega added words to the song and sampled the original version extensively. Bega's signature musical sounds consist of combining musical elements of the 1940s and 1950s with modern beats and grooves.

13/04/1973

Bokeem Woodbine, American actor

Bokeem Woodbine is an American actor. In 1994, he portrayed Joshua, the main character's troubled brother, in Jason's Lyric. He won a Black Reel Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for his role as Kansas City mob enforcer Mike Milligan in the second season of Fargo. Woodbine also portrayed Daniel in season 2 of the WGN series Underground, Herman Schultz / Shocker in the film Spider-Man: Homecoming, and saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman in the Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic Ray.

13/04/1972

Aaron Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Aaron Francis Lewis is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and founding member of the post-grunge/alternative metal band Staind, with whom he released eight studio albums. Since 2010, he has pursued a solo career in country music with his debut EP, Town Line, which was released in 2011. Lewis's first full-length solo release, The Road, was released by Blaster Records in 2012.

13/04/1971

Franck Esposito, French swimmer

Franck Esposito is a former World Record holding, and four-time Olympic, butterfly swimmer from France. He swam for France at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics; and won the bronze medal in the 200 Butterfly at the 1992 Olympics. During his career, he set the short course World Record in the 200 fly four times.

Danie Mellor, Australian painter and sculptor

Danie Mellor is an Australian artist who was the winner of 2009 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Born in Mackay, Queensland, Mellor grew up in Scotland, Australia, and South Africa before undertaking tertiary studies at North Adelaide School of Art, the Australian National University (ANU) and Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. He then took up a post lecturing at Sydney College of the Arts. He works in different media including printmaking, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Considered a key figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art, the dominant theme in Mellor's art is the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian cultures.

Bo Outlaw, American basketball player

Charles "Bo" Outlaw is an American former professional basketball player. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, and is a 1989 alumnus of John Jay High School.

13/04/1970

Ricky Schroder, American actor

Richard Bartlett Schroder is an American actor and filmmaker. As a child actor billed as Ricky Schroder he debuted in the film The Champ (1979), for which he became the youngest Golden Globe award recipient, and went on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons (1982–87). He has continued acting as an adult, usually billed as Rick Schroder, notably in the Western miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989) and on the police drama series NYPD Blue (1998–2001). He made his directorial debut with the film Black Cloud (2004) and has produced several films and television series, including the anthology film Locker 13 and the war documentary The Fighting Season.

13/04/1967

Dana Barros, American basketball player and coach

Dana Bruce Barros is an American former professional basketball player from the National Basketball Association (NBA). In college, he played at Boston College, finishing as one of the school's all-time leading scorers. He was the head men's basketball coach at Newbury College in Massachusetts. He is now the owner of AAU Basketball organization, the "Dana Barros Gladiators", based in Avon, Massachusetts, and now Stoughton, Massachusetts. He is of Cape Verdean descent.

Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter

Olga Teresa Tañón Ortiz is a Puerto Rican singer. Over the course of her career, she has earned two Grammy Awards, three Latin Grammy Awards, and 29 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards. She has sold over five million copies of her albums.

13/04/1966

Mando, Greek singer

Adamantia Stamatopoulou, known as Mando, is a Greek singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Piraeus by her jazz pianist father, Nikos Stamatopoulos and a classical soprano mother, Mary Apergi.

13/04/1965

Patricio Pouchulu, Argentinian architect and educator

Patricio Pouchulu is a contemporary organic architect.

13/04/1964

Davis Love III, American golfer and sportscaster

Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for over 450 weeks, reaching a high ranking of 2nd. He captained the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 2012 and 2016. Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.

13/04/1963

Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player and author

Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, political activist and writer, who was the World Chess Champion from 1985 to 2000. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked the world's No. 1 player for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).

13/04/1960

Rudi Völler, German footballer and manager

Rudolf "Rudi" Völler is a German professional football manager and former player, who is currently the director of the Germany national team. During his active years as a player he was sometimes nicknamed "Tante Käthe", a name bestowed upon him by Thomas Berthold in reference to his permed hairstyle, and in Italy, he is nicknamed "Il tedesco volante" by supporters of Roma.

13/04/1959

John Middendorf, American mountain climber (died 2024)

John William Middendorf IV was an American big wall climber, mountaineering writer and designer of climbing equipment.

13/04/1958

Jean-Marc Pilorget, French footballer and manager

Jean-Marc Pilorget is a French former professional football player and manager. He held the record of the most appearances for Paris Saint-Germain, with 435 matches, until 2024.

13/04/1956

César, Brazilian footballer (died 2024)

César Martins de Oliveira, simply known as César, was a Brazilian football forward, who played in several Série A clubs. He was the top goalscorer of the Série A 1979.

13/04/1955

Steve Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Steven J. Camp is an American contemporary Christian music artist and pastor. In the tradition of Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses, Camp sent out his own 107 theses on Reformation Day, 1998, calling for a reformation in contemporary Christian music: calling Christian musicians to make direct, uncompromising music that confronts the world with the message of the scriptures.

Muwenda Mutebi II, current King of Buganda Kingdom

Kabaka Ronald Edward Frederick Kimera Muwenda Mutebi II is the 36th Kabaka or king of the Kingdom of Buganda.

Safet Sušić, Bosnian footballer and manager

Safet "Pape" Sušić is a Bosnian former professional football manager and player. A gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, he is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation. Sušić played for Yugoslavia in two FIFA World Cups, 1982 and 1990, and at UEFA Euro 1984. As a manager, he notably qualified the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

13/04/1952

Gabrielle Gourdeau, Canadian writer (died 2006)

Gabrielle Gourdeau was a writer in Quebec, Canada.

Sam Bush, American mandolinist

Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.

Jonjo O'Neill, Irish jockey and trainer

John Joseph "Jonjo" O'Neill is an Irish National Hunt racehorse trainer and former jockey.

13/04/1951

Leszek Borysiewicz, Welsh immunologist and academic

Sir Leszek Krzysztof Borysiewicz is a British professor, immunologist and scientific administrator. He served as chairman of Cancer Research UK (2016-2023). Prior to that he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (2010-2017) and chief executive of the Medical Research Council (2007-2010).

Peabo Bryson, American singer

Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads including the hit singles "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", "You're Looking Like Love to Me" and "As Long as There's Christmas" with Roberta Flack, "A Whole New World" with Regina Belle, and "Beauty and the Beast" with Canadian singer Celine Dion, the latter two being contributions to Disney animated feature soundtracks. Bryson is a winner of two Grammy Awards.

Peter Davison, English actor

Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett, known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He is best known for playing the fifth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (1981–1984) and Tristan Farnon in the BBC comedy drama series All Creatures Great and Small.

Joachim Streich, German footballer (died 2022)

Joachim Streich was a German professional footballer who won the bronze medal with East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Max Weinberg, American musician and bandleader

Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He is the father of former Slipknot and Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jay Weinberg.

13/04/1950

Ron Perlman, American actor

Ronald N. Perlman is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in Quest for Fire (1981), Salvatore in The Name of the Rose (1986), Vincent in the television series Beauty and the Beast (1987–1990), for which he won a Golden Globe Award, One in The City of Lost Children (1995), Johner in Alien Resurrection (1997), Koulikov in Enemy at the Gates (2001), Hellboy in both Hellboy (2004) and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Clay Morrow in the television series Sons of Anarchy (2008–2013), Nino in Drive (2011) and Benedict Drask in Don't Look Up (2021). As a frequent collaborator of Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, he has had roles in the del Toro films Cronos (1992), Blade II (2002), Pacific Rim (2013), Nightmare Alley (2021), and del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).

Tommy Raudonikis, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 2021)

Thomas Walter Raudonikis was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played 40 International games and World Cup games as Australia representative halfback and captained his country in two matches of the 1973 Kangaroo tour.

William Sadler, American actor

William Thomas Sadler is an American actor. He began his career in various Broadway productions including Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues (1985). Known as a character actor, his best known film roles include Die Hard 2 (1990), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), The Mist (2007), and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020). He portrayed President Matthew Ellis in various Marvel Cinematic Universe media including Iron Man 3 (2013) and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015–2016), and he also portrayed Gino Fish in the Jesse Stone television films.

13/04/1949

Len Cook, New Zealand-English mathematician and statistician

Leonard Warren Cook CBE CRSNZ is a professional statistician who was Government Statistician of New Zealand from 1992 to 2000, and National Statistician and Director of the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics, and Registrar General for England and Wales from 2000 to 2005. He served as Families Commissioner in New Zealand from 2015 to 2018.

Christopher Hitchens, English-American essayist, literary critic, and journalist (died 2011)

Christopher Eric Hitchens was a British and American author and journalist. Known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, he gained prominence as a columnist and speaker. His epistemological razor, which states that "what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence", is used in philosophy and law.

13/04/1948

Nam Hae-il, South Korean admiral

Nam Hae-il is a former South Korean naval officer who served as the 25th Chief of Naval Operations of the Republic of Korea Navy, appointed in 2005. He attended the Republic of Korea Naval Academy in 1972 and Naval War college in 1978.

Drago Jančar, Slovenian author and playwright

Drago Jančar is a Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist. Jančar is one of the best-known contemporary Slovene writers. In Slovenia, he is also known for his political commentaries and civic engagement. Jančar's novels, essays, and short stories have been translated into 21 languages and published in Europe, Asia, and the United States. The most numerous translations are into German, followed by Czech and Croatian.His plays have also been staged by a number of foreign theatres, and in Slovenia they are frequently considered the highlights of the theatrical season. He lives and works in Ljubljana.

Mikhail Shufutinsky, Soviet and Russian singer, actor, TV presenter

Mikhail Zakharovich Shufutinsky is a Russian pop singer. He is currently the pre-eminent singer of Russian chanson music. He was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist of Russia in 2013.

13/04/1947

Rae Armantrout, American poet and academic

Rae Armantrout is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. She has published more than two dozen books, including both poetry and prose.

Mike Chapman, Australian-English songwriter and producer

Michael Donald Chapman is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud and Racey with business partner Nicky Chinn, creating a sound that became identified with the "Chinnichap" brand. He later produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and the Knack. Chapman received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2014 Australia Day Honours.

Jean-Jacques Laffont, French economist and academic (died 2004)

Jean-Jacques Marcel Laffont was a French economist specializing in public economics and information economics. Educated at the University of Toulouse and the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique (ENSAE) in Paris, he was awarded PhD in economics by Harvard University in 1975.

Thanos Mikroutsikos, Greek composer and politician (died 2019)

Athanasios "Thanos" Mikroutsikos was a Greek composer and politician. He is considered one of the most important composers of the recent Greek musical scene.

13/04/1946

Al Green, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor

Albert Leornes Greene, known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including "Tired of Being Alone" (1971), "I'm Still in Love with You" (1972), "Love and Happiness" (1973), "Take Me to the River" (1974), and his signature song, "Let's Stay Together" (1972). Green became an ordained pastor and recorded gospel music during the 1980s.

13/04/1945

Judy Nunn, Australian actress and author

Judith Anne Nunn (AM), , is an Australian former actress, and author of both adult and children's fiction titles. She has collaborated with writers Patricia Bernard and Fiona Waite.

Lowell George, American singer-songwriter and founder of Little Feat

Lowell Thomas George was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He was the primary guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the rock band Little Feat. Before forming Little Feat, he was a member of Frank Zappa's band the Mothers of Invention.

13/04/1944

Susan Davis, Russian-American social worker and politician

Susan Carol Davis is a former American politician who served as the U.S. representative for California's 49th congressional district for one term and California's 53rd congressional district for nine terms from 2001 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

13/04/1943

Alan Jones, Australian rugby coach and radio host

Alan Belford Jones is an Australian former talkback host, coach of the Australia national rugby union team, and rugby league coach and administrator. He has worked as a school teacher, a speech writer in the office of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, and in musical theatre. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Queensland and completed a one-year teaching diploma at Worcester College, Oxford. He has received civil and industry awards.

Tim Krabbé, Dutch journalist and author

Hans Maarten Timotheus "Tim" Krabbé is a Dutch journalist, novelist and chess player.

13/04/1942

Bill Conti, American composer and conductor

William Conti is an American composer and conductor. He is best known for his film scores, including Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky V (1990), Rocky Balboa (2006), The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), The Next Karate Kid (1994), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Dynasty and The Right Stuff (1983), which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He also received nominations in the Best Original Song category for "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky and for the title song of For Your Eyes Only. He was the musical director at the Academy Awards a record nineteen times.

13/04/1941

Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Michael Stuart Brown ForMemRS NAS AAA&S APS is an American geneticist and Nobel laureate. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph L. Goldstein in 1985 for describing the regulation of cholesterol metabolism.

Jean-Marc Reiser, French author and illustrator (died 1983)

Jean-Marc Reiser was a French comics creator, notable for his black comedy and controversial contemporary satire.

13/04/1940

J. M. G. Le Clézio, Breton French-Mauritian author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, usually identified as J. M. G. Le Clézio, of French, Mauritian, and British nationality, is a writer and professor. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot for his novel Le Procès-Verbal and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature for his life's work, as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization".

Vladimir Cosma, French composer, conductor and violinist[citation needed]

Vladimir Cosma is a Romanian composer, conductor and violinist, who has made his career in France and the United States.

Max Mosley, English racing driver and engineer, co-founded March Engineering, former president of the FIA (died 2021)

Max Rufus Mosley was a British businessman, lawyer and racing driver. He served as president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for Formula One.

Ruby Puryear Hearn, African-American biophysicist

Ruby Louise Puryear Hearn is an American biophysicist who has dedicated her career to health policy. Her work spans initiatives in maternal, infant, and child health; AIDS; substance abuse; and minority medical education.

13/04/1939

Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)

Seamus Justin Heaney was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is Death of a Naturalist (1966), his first major published volume. American poet Robert Lowell described him as "the most important Irish poet since Yeats", and many others, including the academic John Sutherland, have said that he was "the greatest poet of our age". Robert Pinsky has stated that "with his wonderful gift of eye and ear Heaney has the gift of the story-teller." Upon his death in 2013, The Independent described him as "probably the best-known poet in the world".

Paul Sorvino, American actor and singer (died 2022)

Paul Anthony Sorvino was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law.

13/04/1938

Klaus Lehnertz, German pole vaulter

Klaus Lehnertz is a retired West German pole vaulter. He competed for the United Team of Germany at the 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal. He also won two medals at the European Cup in 1965-67, but placed only 13th and 9th at the European Championships in 1962 and 1966, respectively. Domestically he held West German outdoor and indoor titles.

13/04/1937

Col Joye, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025)

Colin Frederick Jacobsen, better known by his stage name Col Joye, was an Australian pioneer rock and pop singer-songwriter, musician and entrepreneur with a career spanning almost sixty-seven years, starting from the late 1950s.

Edward Fox, English actor

Edward Charles Morice Fox is an English actor and a member of the Fox family.

Lanford Wilson, American playwright, co-founded the Circle Repertory Company (died 2011)

Lanford Wilson was an American playwright. His work, as described by The New York Times, was "earthy, realist, greatly admired [and] widely performed". Wilson helped to advance the off-off-Broadway theater movement with his earliest plays, which were first produced at the Caffe Cino beginning in 1964. He was one of the first playwrights to move from off-off-Broadway to off-Broadway, then Broadway and beyond.

13/04/1934

John Muckler, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (died 2021)

John Muckler was a Canadian professional hockey coach and executive, who last served as the general manager of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Muckler had over 50 years of professional hockey experience as a part owner, general manager, director of player personnel, director of hockey operations, head coach, assistant coach, and player. He had been a part of five Stanley Cup championships in various roles with the Edmonton Oilers.

13/04/1932

Orlando Letelier, Chilean-American economist and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (died 1976)

Marcos Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean Marxist and diplomat during the presidency of Salvador Allende. A member of the Socialist Party of Chile, he fled from the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Letelier accepted several academic positions in Washington D.C. after his exile from Chile. In 1976, agents of Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the Pinochet regime's secret police, killed him in Washington by a car bomb. The agents had been working in collaboration with members of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations, an anti-Castro militant group.

13/04/1931

Anita Cerquetti, Italian soprano (died 2014)

Anita Cerquetti was an Italian dramatic soprano who had a short but meteoric career in the 1950s. Her voice was very powerful and pleasing to audiences.

Robert Enrico, French director and screenwriter (died 2001)

Robert Georgio Enrico was a French film director and scriptwriter best known for making the Oscar-winning short An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1961).

Dan Gurney, American race car driver and engineer (died 2018)

Daniel Sexton Gurney was an American racing driver, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1959 to 1970. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motorsport, Gurney won four Formula One Grands Prix across 11 seasons. In endurance racing, Gurney won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 with Ford, as well as the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1959 with Ferrari.

Jon Stone, American composer, producer, and screenwriter (died 1997)

Jon Arthur Stone was an American television screenwriter, director, producer and chlidren's author who was best known as an original crewmember on the children's television show Sesame Street and is credited with helping to develop characters such as Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird. Stone won 18 television Emmy Awards. Many regard him as among the best children's television writers.

13/04/1929

Marilynn Smith, American golfer (died 2019)

Marilynn Louise Smith was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won two major championships and 21 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

13/04/1928

Alan Clark, English historian and politician, Minister of State for Trade (died 1999)

Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade and Defence. He became a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1991.

Gianni Marzotto, Italian racing driver and businessman (died 2012)

Count Giannino Marzotto was an Italian racing driver and entrepreneur. Marzotto served as President of the Mille Miglia Club and won the Mille Miglia race in 1950 and 1953.

13/04/1927

Rosemary Haughton, English philosopher, theologian, and author (died 2024)

Rosemary Elena Konradin Haughton was a British Catholic lay theologian, who lived in the United States over a period of thirty years.

Maurice Ronet, French actor and director (died 1983)

Maurice Ronet was a French film actor, director, and writer.

13/04/1926

Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress (died 1983)

Ellie Loukou, known professionally as Ellie Lambeti, was a Greek actress.

John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, English businessman (died 2014)

John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough was a British peer. He was the elder son of the 10th Duke of Marlborough and his wife, the Hon. Alexandra Mary Cadogan. He was known as "Sunny" after his courtesy title of Earl of Sunderland.

13/04/1924

John T. Biggers, American painter (died 2001)

John Thomas Biggers was an African-American muralist who came to prominence after the Harlem Renaissance and toward the end of World War II. Biggers created works critical of racial and economic injustice. He also served as the founding chairman of the art department at Houston's Texas State University for Negroes, a historically black college.

Jack T. Chick, American author, illustrator, and publisher (died 2016)

Jack Thomas Chick was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Christian "Chick tracts". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art morality plays.

Stanley Donen, American film director and choreographer (died 2019)

Stanley Donen was an American film director and choreographer. He received the Honorary Academy Award in 1998, and the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2004. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.

13/04/1923

Don Adams, American actor and director (died 2005)

Donald James Yarmy, known professionally as Don Adams, was an American actor. In his five decades on television, he was best known as bumbling Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart, which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his performance in the series (1967–1969). Adams also provided voices for the animated series Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–1966) and Inspector Gadget (1983–1986) as well as several revivals and spinoffs of the latter in the 1990s.

A. H. Halsey, English sociologist and academic (died 2014)

Albert Henry 'Chelly 67' Halsey was a British sociologist. He was emeritus Professor of Social and Administrative Studies at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.

13/04/1922

Heinz Baas, German footballer and manager (died 1994)

Heinrich "Heinz" Baas was a German football player and manager.

John Braine, English librarian and author (died 1986)

John Gerard Braine was an English novelist. Braine is usually listed among the angry young men, a loosely defined group of English writers who emerged on the literary scene in the 1950s.

Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician and teacher, 1st President of Tanzania (died 1999)

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, revolutionary and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, after which he led its successor state, Tanzania, as president from 1964 to 1985. He was a founding member and chair of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party and of its successor, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, from 1954 to 1990. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he promoted a political philosophy known as Ujamaa.

Valve Pormeister, Estonian architect (died 2002)

Valve Pormeister née Ulm was an Estonian landscape architect who became an architect. She was one of the first women to influence the development of Estonian architecture, becoming one of the country's most inventive modernisers of rural architecture in the 1960s and 1970s. She is often known as the "Grand Old Lady" of Estonian architecture.

13/04/1920

Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (died 1982)

Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker, dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close business dealings with the Holy See. He was a native of Milan and was chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of Italy's biggest political scandals.

Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2012)

Claude Cheysson was a French Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of Pierre Mauroy from 1981 to 1984.

Liam Cosgrave, Irish lawyer and politician, 6th Taoiseach of Ireland (died 2017)

Liam Cosgrave was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977, Leader of Fine Gael from 1965 to 1977, Leader of the Opposition from 1965 to 1973, Minister for External Affairs from 1954 to 1957, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce and Government Chief Whip from 1948 to 1951. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1943 to 1981.

Theodore L. Thomas, American chemical engineer, Patent attorney and writer (died 2005)

Theodore Lockard Thomas was an American chemical engineer and patent attorney who wrote more than 50 science fiction short stories, published between 1952 and 1981. He also collaborated on two novels with Kate Wilhelm, as well as producing stories under the pseudonyms of Leonard Lockhard and Cogswell Thomas, and was nominated for the 1967 Nebula Award for Best Short Story and for a Hugo Award.

13/04/1919

Roland Gaucher, French journalist and politician (died 2007)

Roland Gaucher was the pseudonym of Roland Goguillot, a former French far-left activist turned journalist and politician. He then becomes one of the main thinkers of the French far-right, he had participated in Marcel Déat's fascist party Rassemblement National Populaire (RNP) under the Vichy regime. Sentenced to five years of prison for Collaborationism after the war, he then engaged in a career of journalism, while continuing political activism. One of the co-founders of the National Front (FN) in October 1972, he became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the FN in 1986.

Howard Keel, American actor and singer (died 2004)

Harold Clifford Keel, professionally Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s, including Show Boat (1951). He played the role of oil baron Clayton Farlow in the television series Dallas from 1981 to 1991.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American activist, founded American Atheists (died 1995)

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an American activist who supported atheism, separation of church and state, and feminism. In 1963, she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine and identified as a militant feminist.

13/04/1917

Robert Orville Anderson, American businessman, founded Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. (died 2007)

Robert Orville Anderson was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist who founded Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). Anderson also supported several cultural organizations, from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to Harper's Magazine. He died December 2, 2007, at his home in Roswell, New Mexico.

Bill Clements, American soldier, engineer, and politician, 15th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (died 2011)

William Perry Clements Jr. was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole term served by Mark Wells White, a Democrat who defeated Clements in the 1982 election only to lose his campaign for reelection in 1986.

13/04/1916

Phyllis Fraser, Welsh-American actress, journalist, and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (died 2006)

Phyllis Cerf Wagner, also known as Phyllis Fraser, was an American socialite, writer, publisher, and actress. She was a co-founder of Beginner Books.

13/04/1914

Orhan Veli Kanık, Turkish poet and author (died 1950)

Orhan Veli Kanık or Orhan Veli was a Turkish poet. He was one of the founders of the Garip Movement together with Oktay Rıfat and Melih Cevdet.

13/04/1913

Dave Albritton, American high jumper and coach (died 1994)

David Donald Albritton was an American athlete, teacher, coach, and state legislator. He had a long athletic career that spanned three decades and numerous titles and was one of the first high jumpers to use the straddle technique. He was born in Danville, Alabama.

Kermit Tyler, American lieutenant and pilot (died 2010)

Kermit Arthur Tyler was an American Air Force officer. Tyler was assigned as a pilot in the 78th Pursuit Squadron at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

13/04/1911

Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer and manager (died 1946)

Ivan "Ico" Hitrec was a Yugoslav football player.

Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (died 1994)

Jean-Louis Lévesque, was a Canadian entrepreneur, thoroughbred racehorse owner, and philanthropist.

Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (died 1983)

Nino Sanzogno was an Italian conductor and composer.

13/04/1909

Eudora Welty, American short story writer and novelist (died 2001)

Eudora Alice Welty was an American short-story writer, novelist, and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Order of the South. She was the first living author to have her works published by the Library of America. Her house in Jackson, Mississippi, has been designated as a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as a house museum.

13/04/1907

Harold Stassen, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (died 2001)

Harold Edward Stassen was an American Republican Party politician, military officer, and attorney who was the 25th governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 1948. Though he was considered for a time to be the front-runner, he lost the nomination to New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. He thereafter regularly continued to run for the presidency and other offices, such that his name became most identified with his status as a perennial candidate.

13/04/1906

Samuel Beckett, Irish novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989)

Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish novelist, playwright, poet, and literary critic. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical works feature bleak, impersonal, and tragicomic episodes of life, coupled with black comedy and literary nonsense. Beckett is widely regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century, credited with transforming modern theatre. As a major figure of Irish literature, he is best known for his tragicomedy play Waiting for Godot (1953). For his foundational contribution to both literature and theatre, Beckett received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."

Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (died 1991)

Lawrence "Bud" Freeman was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet.

13/04/1905

Rae Johnstone, Australian jockey (died 1964)

William Raphael "Rae" Johnstone, was an Australian flat-race jockey. After enjoying considerable success in his native country, he relocated to Europe in 1932 and spent most of the rest of his life in France. He won twelve British Classic Races and two Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes. On his retirement in 1957 he was described as "one of the greatest international jockeys of modern times". He died of a heart attack in 1964.

13/04/1904

David Robinson, English businessman and philanthropist (died 1987)

Sir David Robinson was a British entrepreneur and philanthropist.

13/04/1902

Philippe de Rothschild, French Grand Prix driver, playwright, and producer (died 1988)

Philippe, Baron de Rothschild was a member of the Rothschild banking family who became a Grand Prix motor racing driver, a screenwriter and playwright, a theatrical producer, a film producer, a poet, and a wine grower.

Marguerite Henry, American author (died 1997)

Marguerite Henry was an American writer of children's books, writing fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals. She won the Newbery Medal for King of the Wind, a 1948 book about horses, and she was a runner-up for two others. One of the latter, Misty of Chincoteague (1947), was the basis for several related titles and the 1961 movie Misty.

13/04/1901

Jacques Lacan, French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (died 1981)

Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave annual seminars in Paris from 1952 to 1980 and published papers that were later collected in the book Écrits. Transcriptions of the seminars 1953–1980 were published. His work made a significant impact on continental philosophy and cultural theory in areas such as post-structuralism, critical theory, feminist theory and film theory, as well as on the practice of psychoanalysis itself.

Alan Watt, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian Ambassador to Japan (died 1988)

Sir Alan Stewart Watt was an Australian diplomat.

13/04/1900

Sorcha Boru, American potter and ceramic sculptor (died 2006)

Sorcha Boru was the studio name of Claire Everett Stewart, an American potter and ceramic sculptor. Most of her works include small items such as figurines, vases, planters, and salt and pepper shakers, mostly done in the art deco style. One of her pieces includes an "Alice in Wonderland" chess set (1932).

Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (died 1976)

Pierre Molinier was a French painter, photographer and "maker of objects". Integrated into the Surrealist movement in 1955 through André Breton, he became known for erotic imagery that merged sexuality, fetishism, and religious ritual. In the final decade of his life, he created photomontages in which he appeared as a transvestite figure, combining his body with mannequins to produce provocative works that challenged social taboos.

13/04/1899

Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and game designer, created Scrabble (died 1993)

Alfred Mosher Butts was an American architect, famous for inventing the board game Scrabble in 1931.

Harold Osborn, American high jumper and decathlete (died 1975)

Harold Marion Osborn D.O. was an American track athlete. He won a gold medal in Olympic decathlon and high jump in 1924 and was the first athlete to win a gold medal in both the decathlon and an individual event.

13/04/1897

Werner Voss, German lieutenant and pilot (died 1917)

Werner Voss was a World War I German flying ace credited with 48 aerial victories. A dyer's son from Krefeld, he was a patriotic young man while still in school. He began his military career in November 1914 as a 17‑year‑old Hussar. After turning to aviation, he proved to be a natural pilot. After flight school and six months in a bomber unit, he joined a newly formed fighter squadron, Jagdstaffel 2 on 21 November 1916. There he befriended Manfred von Richthofen.

13/04/1896

Fred Barnett, English footballer (died 1982)

Fred Barnett was an English professional footballer who played for Hawley, Northfleet United, Tottenham Hotspur, Southend United, Watford and Dartford.

13/04/1894

Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1973)

Sir Arthur William Fadden was an Australian politician and accountant who served as the 13th prime minister of Australia from 29 August to 7 October 1941. He held office as the leader of the Country Party from 1940 to 1958 and served as treasurer of Australia from 1940 to 1941 and 1949 to 1958.

May Brodney, Australian labour activist (died 1973)

(Maria) May Brodney previously known as May Francis was an Australian labour activist and a founder member of the Communist Party of Australia in Melbourne.

13/04/1892

Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, English air marshal, head of RAF Bomber Command during World War II (died 1984)

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet,, commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as "Butcher" or "Butch" Harris, was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) RAF Bomber Command during the height of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented Radar (died 1973)

Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt was a Scottish radio engineer and pioneer of radio direction finding and radar technology.

13/04/1891

Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1921)

Maurice Vincent Buckley, was an Australian soldier serving under the pseudonym Gerald Sexton who was awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War. This is the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Nella Larsen, Danish/African-American nurse, librarian, and author (died 1964)

Nella Larsen was an American novelist, nurse, and librarian. She published two novels–Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929)–and a few short stories.

Robert Scholl, German accountant and politician (died 1973)

Robert Scholl was a Württembergian politician and father of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Robert Scholl was a critic of the Nazi Party before, during and after the Nazi regime, and was twice sent to prison for his criticism of Nazism. He was mayor of Ingersheim 1917–1920, mayor of Forchtenberg 1920–1930 and lord mayor of Ulm 1945–1948, and co-founded the All-German People's Party in 1952.

13/04/1890

Frank Murphy, American jurist and politician, 56th United States Attorney General (died 1949)

William Francis Murphy was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist from Harbor Beach, Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving as United States Attorney General, 35th governor of Michigan, and Mayor of Detroit. He also served as the last American Governor-General of the Philippines and the first High Commissioner to the Philippines.

Dadasaheb Torne, Indian director and producer (died 1960)

Ramchandra Gopal Torne, also known as Dadasaheb Torne, was an Indian director and producer, best known for making the first feature film in India, Shree Pundalik. This historic record is well established by an advertisement in The Times of India published on 25 May 1912. Several leading reference books on cinema including The Guinness Book of Movie Facts & Feats, A Pictorial History of Indian Cinema and Marathi Cinema : In Restrospect amply substantiate this milestone achievement of the pioneer Indian feature-filmmaker.

13/04/1889

Herbert Yardley, American cryptologist and author (died 1958)

Herbert Osborn Yardley was an American cryptologist. He founded and led the cryptographic organization the Black Chamber. Under Yardley, the cryptanalysts of The American Black Chamber broke Japanese diplomatic codes and were able to furnish American negotiators with significant information during the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922.

13/04/1887

Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and golfer (died 1995)

Gordon Samuel Fahrni, a recipient of the Order of Canada, was a Canadian physician and a leader in the Canadian Medical community. He served as president of the Canadian Medical Association from 1941 to 1942. An expert on goitre surgery, he was a founder of the American Goitre Association. He was a medical practitioner for 54 years, dying at age 108.

13/04/1885

Vean Gregg, American baseball player (died 1964)

Sylveanus Augustus "Vean" Gregg was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, Gregg played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Naps, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators from 1911 through 1925.

Juhan Kukk, Estonian politician, Head of State of Estonia (died 1942)

Juhan (Johann) Kukk was an Estonian politician.

György Lukács, Hungarian philosopher and critic (died 1971)

György Lukács was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher, literary historian, literary critic, and aesthetician. He was one of the founders of Western Marxism, an interpretive tradition that departed from the Soviet Marxist ideological orthodoxy. He developed the theory of reification, and contributed to Marxist theory with developments of Karl Marx's theory of class consciousness. He was also a philosopher of Leninism. He ideologically developed and organised Vladimir Lenin's pragmatic revolutionary practices into the formal philosophy of vanguard-party revolution.

Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, Dutch politician (died 1961)

Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy was a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 3 September 1940 until 25 June 1945. He oversaw the government-in-exile based in London under Queen Wilhelmina during the German occupation of the Netherlands. He was a member of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP).

13/04/1880

Charles Christie, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded the Christie Film Company (died 1955)

Charles Herbert Christie and Alfred Ernest Christie were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs.

13/04/1879

Edward Bruce, American lawyer and painter (died 1943)

Edward Bright Bruce was the administrator of the New Deal art projects of the United States Department of the Treasury: the Public Works of Art Project (1933–1934), the Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934–1943), and the Treasury Relief Art Project (1935–1938). Ned Bruce was a successful lawyer and entrepreneur before giving up his business career altogether at the age of 43 to become an artist. However, like most artists during the Depression, he found it impossible to make a living making art, and he grudgingly returned to business as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. In 1932 he joined the Treasury Department, where his expertise in monetary policy and art guided federal efforts to employ workers in the visual arts during the Great Depression in the United States.

Oswald Bruce Cooper, American type designer, lettering artist, graphic designer, and educator (died 1940)

Oswald Bruce Cooper was an American type designer, lettering artist, graphic designer, and teacher of these trades. He is best known as the designer and namesake of the Cooper Black typeface.

13/04/1875

Ray Lyman Wilbur, American physician, academic, and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Interior (died 1949)

Ray Lyman Wilbur was an American medical doctor who served as the third president of Stanford University and as the 31st United States Secretary of the Interior under President Herbert Hoover, also a Stanford alum.

13/04/1873

John W. Davis, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Solicitor General (died 1955)

John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1924, losing to Republican incumbent Calvin Coolidge.

13/04/1872

John Cameron, Scottish international footballer and manager (died 1935)

John Cameron was a Scottish footballer and manager. He played as a forward for Queen's Park, Everton and Scotland and was noted as an effective goal-maker and goalscorer. In 1899 he became player-manager at Tottenham Hotspur and guided them to victory in the 1901 FA Cup. As a result, they became the only club outside the English Football League to win the competition. In 1898 he became the first secretary of the Association Footballers' Union, which was the ill-fated fore-runner of the Professional Footballers' Association. He later coached Dresdner SC and during the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany. After the war he coached Ayr United for one season and then became a football journalist, author and publisher. He had previously worked as a columnist for various newspapers before the war.

Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian-Croatian journalist and author (died 1945)

Alexander Friedrich Ladislaus Roda Roda was an Austrian writer and satirist.

13/04/1866

Butch Cassidy, American criminal (died 1908)

Robert LeRoy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American cowboy, train and bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Wild Bunch" in the Old West.

13/04/1865

Lucie Lagerbielke, Swedish writer and painter (died 1931).

Lucie Lagerbielke was a Swedish author, painter and baroness who was known for her works on Western esotericism.

13/04/1860

James Ensor, English-Belgian painter, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism (died 1949)

James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.

13/04/1857

Fanny Ingvoldstad, Norwegian painter (died 1935)

Fanny Hulda Marie Ingvoldstad was a Norwegian painter.

13/04/1856

Urania Marquard Olsen, Danish-Norwegian actress and theatre director (died 1932)

Urania Charlotte Amalie Marquard Olsen was a Danish-Norwegian actress and theatre director.

13/04/1854

Lucy Craft Laney, American founder of the Haines Normal and Industrial School, Augusta, Georgia (died 1933)

Lucy Craft Laney was an American educator who in 1883 founded the first school for black children in Augusta, Georgia. She was principal for 50 years of the Haines Institute for Industrial and Normal Education.

13/04/1852

Frank Winfield Woolworth, American businessman, founded the F. W. Woolworth Company (died 1919)

Frank Winfield Woolworth was an American entrepreneur, the founder of F. W. Woolworth Company, and the operator of variety stores known as "Five-and-Dimes" which featured a selection of low-priced merchandise. He pioneered the now-common practices of buying merchandise directly from manufacturers and fixing the selling prices on items, rather than haggling. He was also the first to use self-service display cases, so that customers could examine what they wanted to buy without the help of a sales clerk.

13/04/1851

Robert Abbe, American surgeon and radiologist (died 1928)

Robert Abbe was an American surgeon and pioneer radiologist in New York City. He was born in New York City and educated at the College of the City of New York and Columbia University.

William Quan Judge, Irish occultist and theosophist (died 1896)

William Quan Judge was an American mystic, esotericist, and occultist, and one of the founders of the original Theosophical Society.

13/04/1850

Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, Irish astronomer (died 1917)

Arthur Matthew Weld Downing was an Anglo-Irish mathematician and astronomer. Downing's major contribution to astronomy is in the calculation of the positions and movements of astronomical bodies, as well as being a founder of the British Astronomical Association.

13/04/1841

Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (died 1905)

Louis-Ernest Barrias was a French sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school. In 1865 Barrias won the Prix de Rome for study at the French Academy in Rome.

13/04/1832

Juan Montalvo, Ecuadorian author and diplomat (died 1889)

Juan María Montalvo Fiallos was an Ecuadorian essayist and novelist. His writing was strongly marked by anti-clericalism and opposition to presidents Gabriel García Moreno and Ignacio de Veintemilla. He was the publisher of the magazine El Cosmopolita. One of his best-known books is Las Catilinarias, published in 1880. His essays include Siete tratados (1882) and Geometría Moral. He also wrote a sequel to Don Quixote de la Mancha, called Capítulos que se le olvidaron a Cervantes. He was admired by writers, essayists, intellectuals such as Jorge Luis Borges and Miguel de Unamuno. He died in Paris in 1889. His body was embalmed and is exhibited in a mausoleum in his hometown of Ambato.

13/04/1828

Josephine Butler, English feminist and social reformer (died 1906)

Josephine Elizabeth Butler was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture in British law, the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, the abolition of child prostitution and an end to human trafficking of young women and children into European prostitution.

Joseph Lightfoot, English bishop and theologian (died 1889)

Joseph Barber Lightfoot, known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English Anglican theologian and Bishop of Durham.

13/04/1825

Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist and politician (died 1868)

Thomas D'Arcy McGee was an Irish-Canadian politician, Catholic spokesman, journalist, poet, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. The young McGee was an Irish Catholic who opposed British rule in Ireland, and was part of the Young Ireland attempts to overthrow British rule and create an independent Irish Republic. He escaped arrest and fled to the United States in 1848, after which some of his political positions reversed. He remained ardently Catholic, but his Irish nationalism moderated. He became disgusted with American republicanism, Anti-Catholicism, and classical liberalism. McGee became intensely monarchistic in his political beliefs and in his religious support for the embattled Pope Pius IX.

13/04/1824

William Alexander, Irish archbishop, poet, and theologian (died 1911)

William Alexander was an Irish cleric in the Church of Ireland.

13/04/1810

Félicien David, French composer (died 1876)

Félicien-César David was a French composer.

13/04/1808

Antonio Meucci, Italian-American engineer (died 1889)

Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci was an Italian inventor and an associate of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a major political figure in the history of Italy. Meucci is best known for developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone.

13/04/1802

Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist and herpetologist (died 1884)

Leopold Joseph Franz Johann Fitzinger was an Austrian zoologist.

13/04/1794

Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist and academic (died 1867)

Marie Jean Pierre Flourens, father of Gustave Flourens, was a French physiologist, the founder of experimental brain science, and a pioneer in anesthesia.

13/04/1787

John Robertson, American lawyer and politician (died 1873)

John Robertson was a nineteenth-century politician and lawyer from the U.S. state of Virginia. He was the brother of Thomas B. Robertson and Wyndham Robertson.

13/04/1784

Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (died 1877)

Friedrich Heinrich Ernst Graf von Wrangel was a Generalfeldmarschall of the Prussian Army.

13/04/1780

Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer, invented the Screw-pile lighthouse (died 1868)

Alexander Mitchell was an Irish engineer who from 1802 was blind. He is known as the inventor of the screw-pile lighthouse.

13/04/1771

Richard Trevithick, Cornish-English engineer and explorer (died 1833)

Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He was an early pioneer of steam-powered road and rail transport, and his most significant contributions were the development of the first high-pressure steam engine and the first working railway steam locomotive. The world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place on 21 February 1804, when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

13/04/1769

Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (died 1830)

Sir Thomas Lawrence was an English painter who served as the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At age ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits.

13/04/1764

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician, French Minister of War (died 1830)

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was a made a Marshal of the Empire in 1812 by Emperor Napoleon, who regarded him as his finest general in defensive warfare.

13/04/1747

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (died 1793)

Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, was a French Prince of the Blood who supported the French Revolution.

13/04/1743

Thomas Jefferson, American lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the United States (died 1826)

Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who served as the second vice president of the United States from 1797 to 1801 and as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and natural rights, and produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels.

13/04/1735

Isaac Low, American merchant and politician, founded the New York Chamber of Commerce (died 1791)

Isaac Low was an American merchant in New York City who served as a member of the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association. He later served as a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress. Though originally a Patriot, he later joined the Loyalist cause in the American Revolution.

13/04/1732

Frederick North, Lord North, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (died 1792)

Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led the Kingdom of Great Britain through most of the American Revolutionary War. He also held a number of other cabinet posts, including Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

13/04/1729

Thomas Percy, Irish bishop and poet (died 1811)

Thomas Percy was Bishop of Dromore, County Down, Ireland. Before being made bishop, he was chaplain to George III of the United Kingdom. Percy's greatest contribution is considered to be his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one work most responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that was a significant part of the Romantic movement.

13/04/1713

Pierre Jélyotte, French tenor (died 1797)

Pierre Jélyotte was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, Mondonville and Destouches.

13/04/1648

Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (died 1717)

Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon was a French mystic, spiritual writer, and lay teacher of prayer whose writings on inward prayer, abandonment to God, and pure love became one of the central subjects of the late seventeenth-century Quietist controversy in France. Her works, especially Moyen court et très facile de faire oraison and her biblical commentaries, circulated widely in manuscript and print. They influenced François Fénelon, archbishop of Cambrai, but drew the opposition of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Louis Antoine de Noailles, and other French ecclesiastical authorities.

13/04/1636

Hendrik van Rheede, Dutch botanist (died 1691)

Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein was a Dutch military officer and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Between 1669 and 1676 he served as a governor of Dutch Malabar at Kochi and employed twenty-five people on his book Hortus Malabaricus, describing 740 plants in the region. As Lord of Mydrecht, he also played a role in the governance of the Cape colonies. Many plants such as the vine Entada rheedei are named for him. The standard author abbreviation Rheede is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

13/04/1618

Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (died 1693)

Roger de Rabutin, comte de Bussy, commonly known as Bussy-Rabutin, was a French memoirist. He was the cousin and frequent correspondent of Madame de Sévigné.

13/04/1593

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1641)

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1640 he was Lord Deputy of Ireland, where he established a strong authoritarian rule. Recalled to England, he became a leading advisor to the King, attempting to strengthen the royal position against Parliament. When Parliament condemned Lord Strafford to death, Charles reluctantly signed the death warrant and Strafford was executed. He had been advanced several times in the Peerage of England during his career, being created 1st Baron Wentworth in 1628, 1st Viscount Wentworth in late 1628 or early 1629, and, finally, 1st Earl of Strafford in January 1640. He was known as Sir Thomas Wentworth, 2nd Baronet, between 1614 and 1628.

13/04/1573

Christina of Holstein-Gottorp (died 1625)

Christina of Holstein-Gottorp was Queen of Sweden as the second wife of King Charles IX. She served as regent in 1605, during the absence of her spouse, and in 1611, during the minority of her son, King Gustav II Adolph.

13/04/1570

Guy Fawkes, English soldier, member of the Gunpowder Plot (probable; died 1606)

Guy Fawkes, also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated in York; his father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic.

13/04/1519

Catherine de' Medici, Italian-French wife of Henry II of France (died 1589)

Catherine de' Medici was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King Henry II. She was the mother of French kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III, and a cousin to Pope Clement VII. The years during which her sons reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici" since she had extensive, albeit at times varying, influence on the political life of France.

13/04/1506

Peter Faber, French priest and theologian, co-founded the Society of Jesus (died 1546)

Peter Faber, SJ was a Savoyard Catholic priest, theologian and co-founder of the Society of Jesus, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. Pope Francis announced his canonization in 2013.

13/04/1350

Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (died 1405)

Margaret III was a ruling Countess of Flanders, Countess of Artois, and Countess of Auvergne and Boulogne between 1384 and 1405. She was the last ruler of Flanders of the House of Dampierre.

13/04/1229

Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (died 1294)

Louis the Strict was Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1253. He is known as Louis II or Louis VI following an alternative numbering. Born in Heidelberg, he was a son of Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria and Agnes of the Palatinate.

Lives Remembered on 13th April

On 13th April, 115 remarkable people passed away — from 548 to 2026. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

13/04/2026

Moya Brennan, Irish singer-songwriter and harp player (born 1952)

Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, was an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist and philanthropist. She began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed the band Clannad. Brennan released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, a successful venture. In 1999, she collaborated with Chicane on the single "Saltwater", which reached the top ten in multiple countries and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Dave McGinnis, American football player and coach (born 1951)

David McGinnis was an American professional football coach in the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2000 to 2003 and assistant head coach of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012 to 2016.

13/04/2025

Richard Armitage, American diplomat and government official (born 1945)

Richard Lee Armitage was an American diplomat and government official. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Armitage served as a U.S. Navy officer in three combat tours of duty in the Vietnam War as a riverine warfare advisor. After leaving active duty, he served in a number of civil-service roles under Republican administrations. He worked as an aide to Senator Bob Dole before serving in various posts in the Defense Department and State Department.

Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian novelist and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1936)

Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist, and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a more substantial international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom. In 2010, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature for "his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

Jean Marsh, English actress and screenwriter (born 1934)

Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh was an English actress and writer. She co-created and starred in the ITV series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975), for which she won the 1975 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Rose Buck. She reprised the role in the BBC's revival of the series (2010–2012).

13/04/2024

Faith Ringgold, American artist and author (born 1930)

Faith Ringgold was an American painter, author, mixed media sculptor, performance artist, and intersectional activist, perhaps best known for her narrative quilts.

13/04/2022

Michel Bouquet, French stage and film actor (born 1925)

Michel François Pierre Bouquet was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1947 to 2020. He won the Best Actor European Film Award for Toto the Hero in 1991 and two Best Actor Césars for How I Killed My Father (2001) and The Last Mitterrand (2005). He also received the Molière Award for Best Actor for Les côtelettes in 1998, then again for Exit the King in 2005. In 2014, he was awarded the Honorary Molière for the sum of his career. He received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 2018.

Gloria Parker, American musician and bandleader (born 1921)

Gloria Parker was an American musician and bandleader who had a radio show during the big band era. The Gloria Parker Show was broadcast nightly from 1950 to 1957, coast to coast on WABC. She played the marimba, organ, and singing glasses. Dubbed Princess of the Marimba, she conducted the 21-piece Swingphony from the Kelly Lyceum Ballroom in Buffalo, New York. This was the largest big band led by a female bandleader. Edgar Battle and Walter Thomas were arrangers for the Swingphony.

13/04/2018

Art Bell, American radio host (born 1945)

Arthur William Bell III was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM, which is syndicated on hundreds of radio stations in the United States and Canada. He also created and hosted its companion show Dreamland. Coast to Coast still airs nightly, now hosted weeknights by George Noory. Bell's past shows from 1994 to 2002 are repeated on Premiere Networks on Saturday evenings. They are retitled Somewhere in Time with Art Bell.

13/04/2017

Dan Rooney, American football executive and former United States Ambassador to Ireland (born 1932)

Daniel Milton Rooney was an American professional football executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL), and son of the Steelers' founder, Art Rooney. He held various roles within the organization, most notably as president, owner and chairman.

13/04/2015

Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan journalist and author (born 1940)

Eduardo Germán María Hughes Galeano was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "a literary giant of the Latin American left" and "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters".

Günter Grass, German novelist, poet, playwright, and illustrator, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)

Günter Wilhelm Grass was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (born 1939)

Herbert William Trimpe was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on The Incredible Hulk and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wolverine, who later became a breakout star of the X-Men.

13/04/2014

Ernesto Laclau, Argentinian-Spanish philosopher and theorist (born 1935)

Ernesto Laclau was an Argentine political theorist and philosopher. He is often described as an 'inventor' of post-Marxist political theory. He is well known for his collaborations with his long-term partner, Chantal Mouffe.

Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (born 1951)

Michael Craig Ruppert was an American writer and musician, Los Angeles Police Department officer, investigative journalist, political activist, and peak oil awareness advocate known for his 2004 book Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil.

13/04/2013

Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (born 1924)

Stephen Cuthbert Vivian Dodgson was a British composer and broadcaster. Dodgson's prolific musical output covered most genres, ranging from opera and large-scale orchestral music to chamber and instrumental music, as well as choral works and song. Three instruments to which he dedicated particular attention were the guitar, harpsichord and recorder. He wrote in a mainly tonal, although sometimes unconventional, idiom. Some of his works use unusual combinations of instruments.

13/04/2012

Cecil Chaudhry, Pakistani pilot, academic, and activist (born 1941)

Cecil Chaudhry SJ SBt PP was a Pakistani academic, human rights activist, and a veteran fighter pilot. As a flight lieutenant, he fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and as a squadron leader in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. During the 1965 war, Chaudhry and three other pilots, under the leadership of Wing Commander Anwar Shamim, attacked the Amritsar Radar Station in a difficult operation. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat for his actions during that mission.

Shūichi Higurashi, Japanese illustrator (born 1936)

Shūichi Higurashi (日暮修一) was a Japanese manga illustrator and magazine artist. Higurashi was the cover artist for Big Comic, a Japanese manga magazine, for more than forty years, from 1970 until fall 2011.

13/04/2008

John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and academic (born 1911)

John Archibald Wheeler was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr to explain the basic principles of nuclear fission. Together with Gregory Breit, Wheeler explored positron-electron pair production from the collision of two photons, now known as the Breit–Wheeler process. He is known for popularizing the term "black hole" to describe the gravitationally completely collapsed objects predicted by general relativity. He also coined "quantum foam", "neutron moderator", "wormhole" and "it from bit", and hypothesized the "one-electron universe". Stephen Hawking called Wheeler the "hero of the black hole story".

13/04/2006

Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist, poet, and critic (born 1918)

Dame Muriel Sarah Spark was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.

13/04/2005

Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (born 1924)

Johnnie Clyde Johnson was an American pianist who played jazz, blues, and rock and roll. His work with Chuck Berry led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for breaking racial barriers in the military as a Montford Point Marine, where he endured racism and inspired social change while integrating the previously all-white Marine Corps during World War II.

Phillip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (born 1912)

Philip Pavia (1911-2005) was a culturally influential American artist of Italian descent, known for his scatter sculpture and figurative abstractions, and the debate he fostered among many of the 20th century's most important art thinkers. A founder of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, he "did much to shift the epicenter of Modernism from Paris to New York," both as founding organizer of The Club and as founder, editor and publisher of the short-lived but influential art journal It Is: A Magazine for Abstract Art. Reference to the magazine appears in the archives of more than two dozen celebrated art figures, including Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim, and art critic Clement Greenberg. The Club is credited with inspiring art critic Harold Rosenberg’s influential essay “The American Action Painters" and the historic 9th Street Show.

13/04/2004

Caron Keating, Northern Irish television host (born 1962)

Caron Louisa Keating was a British television presenter.

13/04/2000

Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (born 1916)

Giorgio Bassani was an Italian novelist, poet, essayist, editor, and intellectual.

Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player and manager (born 1910)

Stanley George "Frenchy" Bordagaray was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and third baseman for the Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees between 1934 and 1945. He had a .283 batting average with 14 home runs and 270 runs batted in over 930 major league games for his career.

13/04/1999

Ortvin Sarapu, Estonian-New Zealand chess player and author (born 1924)

Ortvin Sarapu, known in New Zealand as "Mr Chess", was an Estonian-born chess player who emigrated to New Zealand and won or shared the New Zealand Chess Championship 20 times from 1952 to 1990.

Willi Stoph, German engineer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of East Germany (born 1914)

Wilhelm Stoph was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. He also served as chairman of the State Council from 1973 to 1976.

13/04/1998

Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and base jumper (born 1960)

Patrick de Gayardon was a French skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper.

13/04/1997

Bryant Bowles, American soldier and white supremacist, founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (born 1920)

Bryant William Bowles Jr. was a white supremacist bitterly opposed to racial integration of public schools in the United States.

Alan Cooley, Australian public servant (born 1920)

Sir Alan Sydenham Cooley, was a senior Australian Public Service official and policymaker.

Dorothy Frooks, American author and actress (born 1896)

Dorothy Frooks was an American writer, publisher, military officer, lawyer, and suffragist. She also ran for Congress twice, in 1920 as a member of the Prohibition Party and in 1934 on the Law Preservation ticket for New York's At-large congressional district.

Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler (born 1903)

Voldemar Väli was an Estonian two-time Olympic medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling.

13/04/1996

Leila Mackinlay, English author and educator (born 1910)

Leila Antoinette Sterling Mackinlay was a British writer of romance novels from 1930 to 1979 as Leila S. Mackinlay or Leila Mackinlay and also under the pseudonym Brenda Grey. Some of her novels are based on real people like Madame Vestris, Lola Montez or Jane Elizabeth Digby; she also wrote Musical Productions, a musical book. She was the daughter of the musician and writer Malcolm Sterling Mackinlay and granddaughter of the vocalist Antoinette Sterling.

13/04/1993

Wallace Stegner, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1909)

Wallace Earle Stegner was an American novelist, writer, environmentalist, and historian. He was often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977.

13/04/1992

Maurice Sauvé, Canadian economist and politician (born 1923)

Maurice Sauvé was a Canadian economist, politician, cabinet minister and businessman. He was the husband of Jeanne Sauvé, who served as 23rd Governor General of Canada.

Feza Gürsey, Turkish mathematician and physicist (born 1921)

Feza Gürsey was a Turkish mathematician and physicist. Among his contributions to theoretical physics, his work on the chiral model and on SU(6) symmetry of the quark model are the most well-known.

Daniel Pollock, Australian actor (born 1968)

Daniel John Pollock was an Australian film actor. He was perhaps best known for his role as Davey in the 1992 drama film Romper Stomper.

13/04/1988

Jean Gascon, Canadian actor and director (born 1920)

Jean Gascon was a Canadian opera director, actor, and administrator.

13/04/1984

Ralph Kirkpatrick, American harpsichordist and musicologist (born 1911)

Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick was an American harpsichordist and musicologist, widely known for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well as for his performances and recordings.

Dionysis Papagiannopoulos, Greek actor (born 1912)

Dionysis Papagiannopoulos was a Greek actor. He was born in Diakopto in the northeastern part of Achaea in 1912. He studied at the Drama School of the National Theatre of Greece in Athens and made his stage debut in 1938, appearing as the Knight in William Shakespeare's King Lear. He excelled in Shakespeare's Hamlet as the Grave Digger and in Dimitris Psathas' Fonazei o Kleftis as General Solon Karaleon.

13/04/1983

Gerry Hitchens, English footballer (born 1934)

Gerald Archibald Hitchens was an English footballer who played as a centre forward.

Theodore Stephanides, Greek physician, author, and poet (born 1896)

Theodore Philip Stephanides was a Greek-British doctor and polymath, best remembered as the friend and mentor of Gerald Durrell. He was also known as a naturalist, biologist, astronomer, poet, writer and translator.

13/04/1980

Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (born 1956)

Markus Höttinger was an Austrian racing driver who died after an accident at Germany's Hockenheimring during the third lap of the second round of the 1980 European Formula Two Championship, on 13 April 1980. He was 23 years old at the time.

13/04/1978

Jack Chambers, Canadian painter and director (born 1931)

John Richard Chambers was an artist and filmmaker. Born in London, Ontario, Chambers' painting style shifted from surrealist-influenced to photo-realist-influenced. He used the term "Perceptual Realism" and later "perceptualism" to describe his style. He began working with film in the 1960s, completing six by 1970. Stan Brakhage proclaimed Chambers' The Hart of London as "one of the greatest films ever made."

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian educator and women's rights activist (born 1900)

Chief Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, also known as Funmilayo Aníkúlápó-Kuti, was a Nigerian educator, political organizer, and women's rights advocate who intellectually engaged with anti-imperialist, Pan-Africanist, and feminist ideologies. Ransome-Kuti also identified herself as an African Socialist.

13/04/1975

Larry Parks, American actor and singer (born 1914)

Samuel Lawrence Klusman Parks was an American stage and film actor. His career arced from bit player and supporting roles to top billing, before it virtually ended when he admitted to having been a member of a Communist Party cell, which led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios. His best known role was Al Jolson, whom he portrayed in two films: The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949).

François Tombalbaye, Chadian soldier, academic, and politician, 1st President of Chad (born 1918)

François Tombalbaye, also known as N'Garta Tombalbaye, was a Chadian politician who served as the first President of Chad from the country's independence in 1960 until his overthrow in 1975. A dictatorial leader, his divisive policies as president led to factional conflict and a pattern of authoritarian leadership and political instability that is still relevant in Chad today.

13/04/1973

Henry Darger, American janitor and author (born 1892)

Henry Joseph Darger Jr. was an American janitor and hospital worker. He gained recognition only after his death for his vast body of visual art and writing.

13/04/1971

Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1949)

Michel Edouard Brière was a Canadian professional ice hockey player for one season in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1969–70. Following his rookie season with the Penguins, Brière was involved in a car accident in which he suffered major head trauma. After multiple brain surgeries and 11 months in a coma, he died as a result of his injuries at the age of 21.

Juhan Smuul, Estonian author, poet, and screenwriter (born 1921)

Juhan Smuul was an Estonian writer. Until 1954 he used the given name Johannes Schmuul. Smuul was one of the most recognized writers in Soviet Estonia and was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Estonia, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR, chairman of the Estonian Writers' Union, secretary of the board of the Union of Soviet Writers.

13/04/1969

Ambrogio Gianotti, Italian partigiano and priest (born 1901)

Don Antonio Ambrogio Gianotti was a Catholic priest and member of the Italian resistance movement.

Alfred Karindi, Estonian pianist and composer (born 1901)

Alfred Karindi was an Estonian organist and composer.

13/04/1967

Nicole Berger, French actress (born 1934)

Nicole Berger was a French actress.

13/04/1966

Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi colonel and politician, 2nd President of Iraq (born 1921)

Abdul Salam Mohammed ʿArif Al-Jumaili was an Iraqi military officer and politician who served as the second president of Iraq from 1963 until his death in a plane crash in 1966. He played a leading role in the 14 July Revolution, in which the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was overthrown on 14 July 1958.

Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (born 1881)

Carlo Carrà was an Italian painter and a leading figure of the Futurist movement that flourished in Italy during the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to his many paintings, he wrote a number of books concerning art. He taught for many years in the city of Milan.

Georges Duhamel, French soldier and author (born 1884)

Georges Duhamel was a French author, born in Paris. Duhamel trained as a doctor, and during World War I was attached to the French Army. In 1920, he published Confession de minuit, the first of a series featuring the anti-hero Salavin. In 1935, he was elected as a member of the Académie française. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-seven times. He was also the father of the musicologist and composer Antoine Duhamel.

13/04/1964

Kristian Krefting, Norwegian footballer and chemical engineer (born 1891)

Kristian August Krefting was a Norwegian footballer, military officer, chemical engineer and company owner. He was Norwegian champion with the club Lyn in 1910 and 1911, and was on the Norway national football team at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

13/04/1962

Culbert Olson, American lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of California (born 1876)

Culbert Levy Olson was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 29th governor of California from 1939 to 1943. A member of the Democratic Party, Olson was previously elected to both the Utah State Senate and California State Senate, serving one term in each. During his term as governor, Olson struggled to pass New Deal legislation due to hostility from the California legislature. He also supported the internment and removal of Japanese Americans from California after the United States entered World War II. He was the first atheist governor of an American state.

13/04/1961

John A. Bennett, American soldier (born 1936)

John Arthur Bennett was a U.S. Army soldier who remains the last person to be executed after a court-martial by the United States Armed Forces. The 18-year-old private was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria. Despite last minute appeals for clemency and pleas to President John F. Kennedy by the victim and her family to spare his life, Kennedy refused. Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1961.

13/04/1959

Eduard van Beinum, Dutch pianist, violinist, and conductor (born 1901)

Eduard Alexander van Beinum was a Dutch conductor.

13/04/1956

Emil Nolde, Danish-German painter and educator (born 1867)

Emil Nolde was a German painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early 20th century to explore color. He is known for his brushwork and expressive choice of colors. Golden yellows and deep reds appear frequently in his work, giving a luminous quality to otherwise somber tones. His watercolors include vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals.

13/04/1954

Samuel Jones, American high jumper (born 1880)

Samuel Symington Jones was an American athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. He competed for the United States in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St Louis, United States in the high jump where he won the gold medal.

Angus Lewis Macdonald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Premier of Nova Scotia (born 1890)

Angus Lewis Macdonald was a Canadian lawyer, law professor and politician from Nova Scotia. He served as the Liberal premier of Nova Scotia from 1933 to 1940, when he became the federal minister of defence for naval services. He oversaw the creation of an effective Canadian navy and Allied convoy service during World War II. After the war, he returned to Nova Scotia to become premier again. In the election of 1945, his Liberals returned to power while their main rivals, the Conservatives, failed to win a single seat. The Liberal rallying cry, "All's Well With Angus L.," was so effective that the Conservatives despaired of ever beating Macdonald. He died in office in 1954.

13/04/1945

Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (born 1874)

Ernst Alfred Cassirer was a German philosopher and historian of philosophy. Trained within the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science.

13/04/1944

Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (born 1857)

Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade was a French composer and pianist. In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, a first for a female composer.

13/04/1942

Henk Sneevliet, Dutch politician (born 1883)

Hendricus Josephus Franciscus Marie Sneevliet, known as Henk Sneevliet or by the pseudonym "Maring", was a Dutch communist politician who was active in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. As a functionary of the Communist International, Sneevliet guided the formation of both the Communist Party of Indonesia in 1914, and the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. In his native country, he was the founder, chairman, and only Representative for the Revolutionary Socialist (Workers') Party (RSP/RSAP). He took part in the communist resistance against the occupation of the Netherlands during World War II by Nazi Germany, for which he was executed by the Germans in April 1942.

Anton Uesson, Estonian engineer and politician, 17th Mayor of Tallinn (born 1879)

Anton Uesson was an Estonian politician and engineer.

13/04/1941

Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer and academic (born 1863)

Annie Jump Cannon was an American astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification. With Edward C. Pickering, she is credited with the creation of the Harvard Classification Scheme, which was the first serious attempt to organize and classify stars based on their temperatures and spectral types. She was nearly deaf throughout her career after 1893, as a result of scarlet fever. She was a suffragist and a member of the National Women's Party.

William Twaits, Canadian soccer player (born 1879)

William Twaits was a Canadian amateur soccer player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. Twaits was born in Galt, Ontario. In 1904 he was a member of the Galt F.C. team, which won the gold medal in the soccer tournament. He played all two matches as a forward.

13/04/1938

Grey Owl, English-Canadian environmentalist and author (born 1888)

Archibald Stansfeld Belaney, commonly known as Grey Owl, was a popular Canadian writer, public speaker and conservationist. Born an Englishman, he immigrated to Canada and, in the latter years of his life, passed as half-Indigenous, falsely claiming he was the son of a Scottish man and an Apache woman. With books, articles and public appearances promoting wilderness conservation, he achieved fame in the 1930s. Shortly after his death in 1938, his real identity as the Englishman Archie Belaney was exposed. He has been called one of the first persons to engage in Indigenous identity fraud in Canada.

13/04/1936

Konstantinos Demertzis, Greek politician 129th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1876)

Konstantinos Demertzis was a Greek academic and politician. He was the 49th Prime Minister of Greece from November 1935 to April 1936. Demertzis died during his mandate, of a heart attack, on April 13, 1936.

13/04/1927

Georg Voigt, German politician, Mayor of Frankfurt (born 1866)

Georg Philipp Wilhelm Voigt was a German politician. Voigt was the mayor of Rixdorf, Barmen, Frankfurt, and Marburg.

Sabás Reyes Salazar, Mexican Catholic priest (born 1888)

Sabás Reyes Salazar was a Mexican Catholic vicar and one of many priests martyred during the Cristero War. Reyes was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 21 May 2000 as one the Martyrs of the Cristero War.

13/04/1920

Stefanos Streit, Greek jurist, banker and politician (born 1896)

Stefanos Streit was a Greek jurist, banker and politician. He served as chairman of the National Bank of Greece and Minister of Finance.

13/04/1918

Lavr Kornilov, Russian general (born 1870)

Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov was a Russian military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. He served as Supreme Commander of the Russian Army and as the military leader of the Whites in the Russian Civil War. He is particularly remembered for the Kornilov Affair, an unsuccessful coup d’etat against the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky. The event became a significant turning point in the Russian Revolution, strengthening the Bolsheviks' position and influence.

13/04/1917

Diamond Jim Brady, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1856)

James Buchanan Brady, also known as Diamond Jim Brady, was an American businessman, financier and philanthropist of the Gilded Age.

13/04/1912

Takuboku Ishikawa, Japanese poet and author (born 1886)

Takuboku Ishikawa was a Japanese poet. Well known as both a tanka and "modern-style" or "free-style" poet, he began as a member of the Myōjō group of naturalist poets but later joined the "socialistic" group of Japanese poets and renounced naturalism. He died of tuberculosis.

13/04/1911

John McLane, Scottish-American politician, 50th Governor of New Hampshire (born 1852)

John McLane was a Scottish-American furniture maker and politician who served as the 50th governor of New Hampshire from 1905 to 1907.

George Washington Glick, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of Kansas (born 1827)

George Washington Glick was the ninth governor of Kansas.

13/04/1910

William Quiller Orchardson, Scottish-English painter and educator (born 1835)

Sir William Quiller Orchardson was a Scottish portraitist and painter of domestic and historical subjects who was knighted in June 1907, at the age of 75.

13/04/1909

Whitley Stokes, Anglo-Irish lawyer and scholar (born 1830)

Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar.

13/04/1890

Samuel J. Randall, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 33rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1828)

Samuel Jackson Randall was an American politician from Pennsylvania who represented the Queen Village, Society Hill, and Northern Liberties neighborhoods of Philadelphia from 1863 to 1890 and served as the 29th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1876 to 1881. He was a contender for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States in 1880 and 1884.

13/04/1886

John Humphrey Noyes, American religious leader, founded the Oneida Community (born 1811)

John Humphrey Noyes was an American preacher, radical religious philosopher, and utopian socialist. He founded utopian communities at Putney, Vermont, Oneida, New York, and Wallingford, Connecticut, and is credited with coining the term "complex marriage".

13/04/1882

Bruno Bauer, German historian and philosopher (born 1809)

Bruno Bauer was a German philosopher, theologian, and historian. A student of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and a prominent member of the Young Hegelians, he was a radical rationalist critic of the Bible and Christianity. Bauer became a central figure in the intellectual circles of the Vormärz, the period preceding the Revolutions of 1848, and his philosophical work was a major influence on, and target of critique for, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, with whom he had a close but tumultuous relationship.

13/04/1880

Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist and author (born 1813)

Robert Fortune was a Scottish botanist, plant hunter, and traveller, best known for introducing around 250 new ornamental plants, mainly from China, but also Japan, into the gardens of Britain, Australia, and North America. He also played a role in the development of the tea industry in India in the 19th century.

13/04/1878

Bezalel HaKohen, Russian rabbi (born 1820)

Bezalel Ben Moses HaKohen was a rabbi and Talmudist at Vilnius, then in the Russian Empire.

13/04/1868

Tewodros II of Ethiopia (born 1818)

Tewodros II was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death in 1868. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia and brought an end to the decentralized Zemene Mesafint.

13/04/1855

Henry De la Beche, English geologist and palaeontologist (born 1796)

Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche KCB, FRS was an English geologist and palaeontologist, the first director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, who helped pioneer early geological survey methods. He was the first President of the Palaeontographical Society. He was also a slave plantation owner in Jamaica.

13/04/1853

Leopold Gmelin, German chemist and academic (born 1788)

Leopold Gmelin was a German chemist. Gmelin was a professor at the University of Heidelberg. He worked on the red prussiate and created Gmelin's test, and wrote his Handbook of Chemistry, which over successive editions became a standard reference work still in use.

James Iredell, Jr., American lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of North Carolina (born 1788)

James Iredell Jr. was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina between 1827 and 1828.

13/04/1826

Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (born 1763)

Franz Ignaz Danzi was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi (1730–1798) and brother of the noted singer Franziska Danzi.

13/04/1794

Nicolas Chamfort, French playwright and poet (born 1741)

Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, known in his adult life as Nicolas Chamfort and as Sébastien Nicolas de Chamfort, was a French writer, best known for his epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVI's sister Madame Élisabeth, and of the Jacobin club.

13/04/1793

Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, French botanist, lawyer, and politician (born 1763)

Pierre Gaspard Anaxagore Chaumette was a French politician of the Revolutionary period who served as the president of the Paris Commune and played a leading role in the establishment of the Reign of Terror. He was a leader of the radical Hébertistes of the revolution, an ardent critic of Christianity who was one of the leaders of the dechristianization of France. His radical positions resulted in his alienation from Maximilien Robespierre, and he was arrested and executed.

13/04/1722

Charles Leslie, Irish priest and theologian (born 1650)

Charles Leslie was a former Church of Ireland priest who became a leading Jacobite propagandist after the 1688 Glorious Revolution. One of a small number of Irish Protestants to actively support the Stuarts after 1688, he is best remembered today for his role in publicising the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe.

13/04/1716

Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington, English admiral and politician (born 1648)

Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington was an English naval officer and politician. Dismissed by James II of England in 1688 for refusing to vote to repeal the Test Act, which prevented Catholics from holding public office in England, he brought the Invitation to William to William of Orange at The Hague, disguised as a simple sailor. As a reward he was made commander of William's invasion fleet which landed at Torbay, Devon on 5 November 1688, which initiated the Glorious Revolution.

13/04/1695

Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (born 1621)

Jean de La Fontaine was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, as well as in French regional languages.

13/04/1641

Richard Montagu, English bishop (born 1577)

Richard Montagu was an English cleric and prelate.

13/04/1638

Henri, Duke of Rohan (born 1579)

Henri II de Rohan, Duke of Rohan and Prince of Léon, was a Breton-French soldier, writer and leader of the Huguenots.

13/04/1635

Fakhr-al-Din II, Ottoman prince (born 1572)

Fakhr al-Din Ma'n, commonly known as Fakhr al-Din II or Fakhreddine II, was the paramount Druze emir of Mount Lebanon from the Ma'n dynasty, an Ottoman governor of Sidon-Beirut and Safed, and the strongman over much of the Levant from the 1620s to 1633. For uniting modern Lebanon's constituent parts and communities, especially the Druze and the Maronites, under a single authority for the first time in history, he is generally regarded as the country's founder. Although he ruled in the name of the Ottomans, he acted with considerable autonomy and developed close ties with European powers in defiance of the Ottoman imperial government.

13/04/1612

Sasaki Kojirō, Japanese samurai (born 1585)

Sasaki Kojirō was a Japanese swordsman who may have lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods and is known primarily for the story of his duel with Miyamoto Musashi in 1612, where Sasaki was killed. Although he suffered defeat as well as death at the hands of Musashi, he is a revered and respected warrior in Japanese history and culture. Later, Miyamoto proclaimed that Sasaki Kojirō was the strongest opponent he faced in his life.

13/04/1605

Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia (born 1551)

Boris Feodorovich Godunov was the de facto regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into the Time of Troubles.

13/04/1592

Bartolomeo Ammannati, Italian architect and sculptor (born 1511)

Bartolomeo Ammannati was an Italian architect and sculptor, born at Settignano, near Florence, Italy. He studied under Baccio Bandinelli and Jacopo Sansovino and closely imitated the style of Michelangelo.

13/04/1367

John Tiptoft, 2nd Baron Tibetot (born 1313)

John Tiptoft, 2nd Baron Tibetot, English nobleman, was the son of Pain Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tibetot and Agnes de Ros.

13/04/1275

Eleanor of England (born 1215)

Eleanor of England was the youngest child of John, King of England and Isabella of Angoulême. She married Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester.

13/04/1213

Guy of Thouars, regent of Brittany

Guy of Thouars was Duke of Brittany from 1199 to 1201 as the third husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany. They married in Angers, County of Anjou, between August and October 1199 after her son Arthur entered Angers to be recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine and Touraine. He was an Occitan noble, a member of the House of Thouars.

13/04/1138

Simon I, Duke of Lorraine (born 1076)

Simon I was the duke of Lorraine from 1115 to his death, the eldest son and successor of Theodoric II and Hedwig of Formbach and a half-brother of Emperor Lothair III.

13/04/1113

Ida of Lorraine, saint and noblewoman (born c. 1040)

Ida of Lorraine was a saint and noblewoman.

13/04/1093

Vsevolod I of Kiev (born 1030)

Vsevolod I Yaroslavich was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1078 until his death in 1093.

13/04/1035

Herbert I, Count of Maine

Herbert I, called Wakedog, was the count of Maine from 1017 until his death. He had a turbulent career with an early victory that may have contributed to his later decline.

13/04/0989

Bardas Phokas, Byzantine general

Bardas Phokas was a Byzantine general who took a conspicuous part in three revolts for and against the ruling Macedonian dynasty.

13/04/0862

Donald I, king of the Picts (born 812)

Domnall mac Ailpín, anglicised sometimes as Donald MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as Donald I, was King of the Picts from 858 to 862. He followed his brother Kenneth I to the Pictish throne. He was posthumously given the epithet "Drechruaidh" by the Duan Albanach.

13/04/0814

Krum, khan of the Bulgarian Khanate

Krum, often referred to as Krum the Fearsome was the Khan of First Bulgarian Empire from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. His able and energetic rule brought law and order to Bulgaria and developed the rudiments of state organization.

13/04/0799

Paul the Deacon, Italian monk and historian (born 720)

Paul the Deacon, also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefridus, Barnefridus, or Winfridus, and sometimes suffixed Cassinensis, was a Benedictine monk, scribe, and historian of the Lombards.

13/04/0585

Hermenegild, Visigothic prince and saint

Saint Hermenegild or Ermengild, was the son of King Liuvigild of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. He fell out with his father in 579, then revolted the following year. During his rebellion, he converted from Arianism to Catholicism. Hermenegild was defeated in 584 and exiled. His death was later celebrated as a martyrdom due to the influence of Pope Gregory I's Dialogues, in which he portrayed Hermenegild as a "Catholic martyr rebelling against the tyranny of an Arian father."

13/04/0548

Lý Nam Đế, Vietnamese emperor (born 503)

Lý Nam Đế, personal name Lý Bôn or Lý Bí (李賁), was the founding emperor of the Early Lý dynasty of Vietnam, ruling from 544 to 548. He was originally a magistrate of the Chinese Liang dynasty in Jiaozhou.

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 13th April

Christian feast day: Caradoc

Caradoc or Caradog was a reclusive Welsh priest, widely respected for his sanctity. An inquiry into his qualifications for sainthood was commissioned in 1200 and, although such inquiry did not proceed, he has long been venerated as if papally canonised. Prior to canonisation of the Forty Martyrs in 1970, he was regarded as the last Welshman to become a saint.

Christian feast day: Ida of Louvain

Ida of Louvain was a Cistercian nun of Roosendael Abbey in the 13th-century Low Countries who is officially commemorated in the Catholic Church as blessed.

Christian feast day: Pope Martin I

Pope Martin I, also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to 653 or 654. He had served as Pope Theodore I's ambassador to Constantinople, and was elected to succeed him as pope. He was the only pope when Constantinople controlled the papacy whose election had not awaited imperial mandate. For his strong opposition to Monothelitism, Pope Martin I was arrested by Emperor Constans II, carried off to Constantinople, and ultimately banished to Cherson. He is considered a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the last pope recognised as a martyr.

Christian feast day: Margaret of Castello

Margaret of Città di Castello, TOSD was an Italian Catholic educator and a Dominican tertiary. Margaret was both blind and had other physical disabilities and became known for her deep faith and holiness.

Christian feast day: Sabás Reyes Salazar

Sabás Reyes Salazar was a Mexican Catholic vicar and one of many priests martyred during the Cristero War. Reyes was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 21 May 2000 as one the Martyrs of the Cristero War.

April 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

April 12 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - April 14

Songkran Songkran (Thailand)

Thai New Year, also known as Songkran, or the Songkran Festival, is the Thai New Year's national holiday. It is celebrated annually on 13 April, with the holiday period extending from 14 to 15 April.

Songkran Water-Sprinkling Festival

The Water-Sprinkling Festival or Water-Splashing Festival, is a major and traditional festival of the Dai ethnic group marking the New Year. The Dai are an ethnic minority of China who primarily live in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in southern Yunnan, and their predominant religion is Theravada Buddhism. This festival occurs on the 6th month of the Dai calendar, which usually corresponds to mid-April of the Gregorian calendar. Additionally, it is known as the Festival for Bathing the Buddha, and typically lasts for three days.

Vaisakhi (between 1902 and 2011)

Vaisakhi, also known as Baisakhi or Mesadi or Basoa, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April or 14 April. It is seen as a spring harvest celebration primarily in Punjab and Northern India. Whilst it is culturally significant in many parts of India as a festival of harvest, Vaisakhi is also the date for the Indian Solar New Year. However, Sikhs celebrate the new year on the first the month Chet, according to the Nanakshahi calendar.

What Happened on 13th April?

45 significant events took place on Thursday, 13th April — stretching from 989 to 2025. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

13/04/2025

Rory McIlroy wins the Masters Tournament, becoming just the sixth person to complete the Grand Slam in golf.

Rory Daniel McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position during his career. A six-time major champion, he is the sixth man to complete the modern career grand slam—after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods—and the first European to do so.

13/04/2024

Six people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass stabbing at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney, Australia.

On 13 April 2024, a mass stabbing took place at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Six people were killed and twelve were injured, including a nine-month-old infant before the perpetrator, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, was fatally shot by a NSW Police Inspector after he ran at her with a knife in hand.

13/04/2023

The house of Jack Teixeira is raided in an investigation into leaked Pentagon documents; he is arrested on the same day.

Jack Douglas Teixeira is an American former airman in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. In April 2023, following an investigation into the removal and disclosure of hundreds of classified Pentagon documents, Teixeira was arrested by FBI agents and charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. In March 2024, Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

13/04/2014

Three people are killed in a shooting in Overland Park, Kansas.

Two shootings occurred on April 13, 2014, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom, a Jewish retirement community, both located in Overland Park, Kansas in the United States. A total of three people were killed in the shootings, two of whom were shot at the community center and one shot at the retirement community. The gunman, 73-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. of Aurora, Missouri, originally from North Carolina, was arrested during the attack and was subsequently tried, convicted of murder and other crimes, and sentenced to death. Miller, a former Klansman, neo-Nazi and former political candidate, died in prison in 2021 while awaiting execution.

13/04/2013

Salam Fayyad resigns as Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority following an ongoing dispute with President Mahmoud Abbas.

Salam Fayyad is a Palestinian politician and economist who served as the first prime minister of Palestine from January 2013 until his resignation in June of that same year. He was previously the fourth prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority from 2007 until the post was replaced in 2013. He was minister of finance from June to November 2005 and from March 2007 to May 2012.

Lion Air Flight 904 crashes on approach to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Indonesia, injuring 40 people.

Lion Air Flight 904 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Indonesia. On 13 April 2013, the Boeing 737-800 operating the flight crashed into water short of the runway while on final approach to land. All 101 passengers and 7 crew on board survived the accident. At 3:10 pm, the aircraft crashed approximately 1.1 kilometres (0.6 nmi) short of the seawall protecting the threshold of Runway 09. The aircraft's fuselage broke into two and 46 people were injured, 4 of them seriously.

13/04/2009

A fire destroys a homeless hostel and kills at least 22 people in Kamień Pomorski, Poland.

The Kamień Pomorski homeless hostel fire occurred in north-western Poland on 13 April 2009. The fire occurred during the night at a three-story homeless hostel in Kamień Pomorski. Twenty-three people, including 13 children, were pronounced dead, with a further 20 sustaining an injury of some sort. It was Poland's deadliest fire since a conflagration destroyed a home for the mentally ill in Górna Grupa in 1980 claiming the lives of 55 victims.

13/04/2006

The United Front for Democratic Change's attack on the Chadian capital of N'Djamena is repelled by the Chadian army

The United Front for Democratic Change was a Chadian rebel alliance, made up of eight individual rebel groups, all with the goals of overthrowing the government of Chadian president Idriss Déby. It is now part of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development. UFDC was founded between 26 and 28 December 2005 in Modeina in eastern Chad. FUC's "president" is Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, the former leader of the Rally for Democracy and Liberty rebel group, "first vice president" Hassan Salleh Algadam, "second vice president" Abakar Tollimi, and "secretary-general" Abdelwahit About. On 18 December the RDL and another allied rebel group, Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy, attacked the city of Adré. The attack was repulsed by the Chadian military, and the Chadian government accused the Sudanese government of supporting the rebels, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir denies. Chad declared a "state of belligerance" with Sudan on 23 December 2005, resulting in the Chad-Sudan Conflict. The result was the Tripoli Agreement.

13/04/1997

Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and as one of the most famous athletes in modern history. Woods is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, holds numerous golf records, and is an inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

13/04/1996

Two women and four children are killed after an Israeli helicopter fires rockets at an ambulance in Mansouri, Lebanon.

The Mansouri attack occurred on 13 April 1996, when an Israel Defence Forces helicopter attacked an ambulance in Mansouri, a village in Southern Lebanon, killing two women and four children.

13/04/1976

The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.

The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system, collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, manages U.S. government debt, licenses and supervises banks and thrift institutions, and advises the legislative and executive branches on fiscal policy.

Forty workers die in the Lapua Cartridge Factory explosion, the deadliest industrial accident in modern Finnish history.

The Lapua Cartridge Factory explosion was an industrial disaster that occurred at the State Cartridge Factory in Lapua, Finland on 13 April 1976. It caused the deaths of 40 workers, while 60 people were injured. It remains Finland's worst industrial disaster.

13/04/1975

Beirut bus massacre: A confrontation between Phalangist paramilitaries and PLO militia marks the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.

The 1975 Beirut bus massacre, also known as the Ain el-Rammaneh incident and Black Sunday, was the collective name given to a short series of armed clashes involving Phalangist and Palestinian elements in the streets of central Beirut, which is commonly presented as the spark that set off the Lebanese Civil War in the mid-1970s.

13/04/1972

The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.

The Universal Postal Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Bern, Switzerland.

Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian civil wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

13/04/1970

At 10:08 PM EST an oxygen tank aboard the Apollo 13 Service Module explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the Apollo command and service module (codenamed "Odyssey") while en route to the Moon.

Oxygen is a chemical element; it has the symbol O and its atomic number is 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table. It is highly reactive, a nonmetal, and a potent oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds. Oxygen is the most abundant element in Earth's crust, making up almost half of the Earth's crust in the form of various oxides such as water, carbon dioxide, iron oxides, and silicates. It is also the third-most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen and helium.

13/04/1964

At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American man to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.

The 36th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1963, were held on April 13, 1964, hosted by Jack Lemmon at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. This ceremony introduced the category for Best Sound Effects, with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World being the first film to win the award.

13/04/1960

The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.

The Transit system, also known as NAVSAT or NNSS, was the first satellite navigation system to be used operationally. The radio navigation system was primarily used by the U.S. Navy to provide accurate location information to its Polaris ballistic missile submarines, and it was also used as a navigation system by the Navy's surface ships, as well as for hydrographic survey and geodetic surveying. Transit provided continuous navigation satellite service from 1964, initially for Polaris submarines and later for civilian use as well. In the Project DAMP Program, the missile tracking ship USAS American Mariner also used data from the satellite for precise ship's location information prior to positioning its tracking radars.

13/04/1953

CIA director Allen Dulles launches the mind-control program Project MKUltra.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and conducting covert operations. The agency is headquartered in the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley, Virginia, and is sometimes metonymously called "Langley". A major member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA has reported to the director of national intelligence since 2004, and is focused on providing intelligence for the president and the Cabinet, though it also provides intelligence for a variety of other entities including the United States Armed Forces and foreign allies.

13/04/1948

In an ambush, 78 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital, and a British soldier, are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah. This event came to be known as the Hadassah medical convoy massacre.

Hadassah Medical Center is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Its declared mission is to extend a "hand to all, without regard for race, religion or ethnic origin."

13/04/1945

World War II: German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen, Germany.

Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, ending World War II in Europe.

World War II: Soviet and Bulgarian forces capture Vienna.

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, the largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, with the largest and most populous being the Russian SFSR. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, it was the flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.

13/04/1943

World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C., built in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the nation's third president. Built between 1939 and 1943, the memorial features multiple quotes from Jefferson intended to capture his ideology and philosophy, known as Jeffersonian democracy. Jefferson was widely considered among the most influential political minds of his era and one of the most consequential intellectual forces behind both the American Revolution and the American Enlightenment.

13/04/1941

A pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.

The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact , also known as the Japanese–Soviet Non-aggression Pact , was a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed on April 13, 1941, two years after the conclusion of the Soviet-Japanese Border War. The agreement meant that for most of World War II, the two nations fought against each other's allies but not against each other. In 1945, late in the war, the Soviets scrapped the pact and joined the Allied campaign against Japan.

13/04/1924

A.E.K., a major Greek multi-sport club, is established in Athens by Greek refugees from Constantinople.

A.E.K. is the most successful Greek multi-sport club, based in Nea Filadelfeia, Athens, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens.

13/04/1919

Jallianwala Bagh massacre: British Indian Army troops led by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer kill approximately 379–1,000 unarmed demonstrators including men and women in Amritsar, India. Approximately 1,500 are injured.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Baisakhi fair to protest against the Rowlatt Act and the arrest of pro-Indian independence activists Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal. In response to the public gathering, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer surrounded the people with Gurkhas of Nepalese origin and Sikh infantrymen of the British Indian Army.

13/04/1909

The 31 March Incident leads to the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

The 31 March incident was an uprising in the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. The incident broke out during the night of 30–31 Mart 1325 in Rumi calendar, thus named after 31 March where March is the equivalent to Rumi month Mart. Occurring soon after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, in which the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) had successfully restored the Constitution and ended the absolute rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, it is sometimes referred to as an attempted countercoup or counterrevolution. It consisted of a general uprising against the CUP within Constantinople, largely led by reactionary groups, particularly Islamists opposed to the secularising influence of the CUP and supporters of absolutism, although liberal opponents of the CUP within the Liberty Party also played a lesser role. Eleven days later the uprising was suppressed and the former government restored when elements of the Ottoman Army sympathetic to the CUP formed an impromptu military force known as the Action Army. Upon entering Constantinople on 24 April Sultan Abdul Hamid II, accused by the CUP of complicity in the uprising, was deposed and the Ottoman National Assembly elevated his half-brother, Mehmed V, to the throne. Mahmud Shevket Pasha, the military general who had organised and led the Action Army, became the most influential figure in the restored constitutional system until his assassination in 1913.

13/04/1873

The Colfax massacre: More than 60 to 150 black men are murdered in Colfax, Louisiana, while surrendering to a mob of former Confederate soldiers and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Colfax massacre, sometimes referred to as the Colfax riot, occurred on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1873, in Colfax, Louisiana, the parish seat of Grant Parish. Between 62 and 153 black men were murdered while surrendering to a mob of former Confederate soldiers and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

13/04/1870

The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the fourth-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, it was the most-visited museum in the United States and the fifth-most visited art museum in the world.

13/04/1865

American Civil War: Raleigh, North Carolina is occupied by Union forces.

Raleigh is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the second-most populous city in the state, tenth most populous city in the Southeast, the largest city in the Research Triangle area, and the 39th-most populous city in the U.S. Known as the "City of Oaks" for its oak-lined streets, Raleigh covers 148.54 square miles (384.7 km2) and had a population of 467,665 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Wake County and is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who founded the lost Roanoke Colony.

13/04/1861

American Civil War: Union forces surrender Fort Sumter to Confederate forces.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

13/04/1849

Lajos Kossuth presents the Hungarian Declaration of Independence in a closed session of the National Assembly.

Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, politician, statesman, revolutionist and governor-president of the Hungarian State during the war of independence of 1848–1849.

13/04/1829

The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 gives Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom the right to vote and to sit in Parliament.

The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from Parliament and from higher offices of the judiciary and state. It was the high point of a fifty-year process of Catholic emancipation which had offered Catholics successive measures of "relief" from the anti-Catholic civil and political disabilities imposed by Penal Laws in both the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

13/04/1777

American Revolutionary War: American forces are ambushed and defeated in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey.

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence or simply the American Revolution, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.

13/04/1742

George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.

13/04/1699

The Sikh religion is formalised as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.

Sikhs are followers of Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the teachings of Guru Nanak. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word śiṣya, meaning 'seeker', 'disciple' or 'student'.

13/04/1613

Samuel Argall, having captured Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, sets off with her to Jamestown with the intention of exchanging her for English prisoners held by her father.

Sir Samuel Argall was an English sea captain, navigator, and Deputy-Governour of Virginia, an English colony.

13/04/1612

Samurai Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojirō in a duel at Funajima island.

Miyamoto Musashi was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Musashi is considered a kensei of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū style of swordsmanship. In his final years, Musashi authored The Book of Five Rings and Dokkōdō.

13/04/1455

Thirteen Years' War: the beginning of the Battle for Kneiphof.

The Thirteen Years' War, also called the War of the Cities, was a conflict fought in 1454–1466 between the Prussian Confederation, allied with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, and the State of the Teutonic Order.

13/04/1204

Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.

Constantinople was the historical name for the city of Istanbul up until 1930, located on a peninsula at the southeastern tip of Thrace in Europe; with the Bosporus strait and the ancient cities of Chalcedon and Chrysopolis in Bithynia, Anatolia to the east; the Golden Horn and the citadel of Galata (Pera) to the north; the Sea of Marmara to the south; and the Princes' Islands to the southeast. Constantinople served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires between its consecration in 330 and the formal abolition of the Ottoman sultanate in 1922.

13/04/1175

Saladin routs his Muslim opponents, the Zengids, in the battle of the Horns of Hama, consolidating his control over Syria except for Aleppo.

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, commonly known as Saladin, was a Kurdish commander and political leader. He was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.

13/04/1111

Henry V, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by pope Paschal II.

Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, in 1098.

13/04/1055

Election of Pope Victor II following the death of Pope Leo IX in the previous year.

Pope Victor II, born Gebhard von Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes who led the Gregorian Reform.

13/04/0989

The death of Bardas Phokas the Younger in the battle of Abydos ends his second rebellion against Byzantine Emperor Basil II.

Bardas Phokas was a Byzantine general who took a conspicuous part in three revolts for and against the ruling Macedonian dynasty.

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Karl Hein, Estonian footballer

Neco Williams, Welsh footballer

Rasmus Dahlin, Swedish ice hockey player

Facundo Torres, Uruguayan footballer

Alessandro Bastoni, Italian footballer

András Schäfer, Hungarian footballer

Mateo Cassierra, Colombian footballer

Kyle Walker-Peters, English footballer

Marko Grujić, Serbian footballer

Kahraba, Egyptian footballer

Melvin Gordon, American football player

Darrun Hilliard, American basketball player

Jordan Silk, Australian cricketer

Josh Gordon, American football player

Josh Reynolds, Australian rugby league player

Allison Williams, American actress and singer

Anderson, Brazilian footballer

Steven De Vuyst, Belgian politician

Lorenzo Cain, American baseball player

Anders Lindegaard, Danish footballer

Claudio Bravo, Chilean footballer

Hunter Pence, American baseball player

Nellie McKay, British-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress

Ty Dolla Sign, American singer, songwriter, and musician

Kelli Giddish, American actress

Quentin Richardson, American basketball player

Baron Davis, American basketball player

Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer

Margus Tsahkna, Estonian lawyer and politician

Jonathan Brandis, American actor (died 2003)

Dan Campbell, American football player and coach

Glenn Howerton, American actor

Lou Bega, German singer

Bokeem Woodbine, American actor

Aaron Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Franck Esposito, French swimmer

Danie Mellor, Australian painter and sculptor

Bo Outlaw, American basketball player

Ricky Schroder, American actor

Dana Barros, American basketball player and coach

Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter

Mando, Greek singer

Patricio Pouchulu, Argentinian architect and educator

Davis Love III, American golfer and sportscaster

Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player and author

Rudi Völler, German footballer and manager

John Middendorf, American mountain climber (died 2024)

Jean-Marc Pilorget, French footballer and manager

César, Brazilian footballer (died 2024)

Steve Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Muwenda Mutebi II, current King of Buganda Kingdom

Safet Sušić, Bosnian footballer and manager

Gabrielle Gourdeau, Canadian writer (died 2006)

Sam Bush, American mandolinist

Jonjo O'Neill, Irish jockey and trainer

Leszek Borysiewicz, Welsh immunologist and academic

Peabo Bryson, American singer

Peter Davison, English actor

Joachim Streich, German footballer (died 2022)

Max Weinberg, American musician and bandleader

Ron Perlman, American actor

Tommy Raudonikis, Australian rugby league player and coach (died 2021)

William Sadler, American actor

Len Cook, New Zealand-English mathematician and statistician

Christopher Hitchens, English-American essayist, literary critic, and journalist (died 2011)

Nam Hae-il, South Korean admiral

Drago Jančar, Slovenian author and playwright

Mikhail Shufutinsky, Soviet and Russian singer, actor, TV presenter

Rae Armantrout, American poet and academic

Mike Chapman, Australian-English songwriter and producer

Jean-Jacques Laffont, French economist and academic (died 2004)

Thanos Mikroutsikos, Greek composer and politician (died 2019)

Al Green, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor