History of Today in India – 13 March

Explore the history of today 13 March in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 13 March 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 13 March in World History

• 13 Mar 2020: President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States. Read more
• 13 Mar 2020: Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality. Read more
• 13 Mar 2020: Katerina Sakellaropoulou is sworn in as the first female President of Greece amid strict COVID-19 measures. Read more
• 13 Mar 2016: The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people. Read more
• 13 Mar 2016: Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people. Read more
• 13 Mar 2013: The 2013 papal conclave elects Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking the name Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. Read more
• 13 Mar 2012: The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children. Read more
• 13 Mar 2003: An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints. Read more
• 13 Mar 1997: The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader. Read more
• 13 Mar 1996: The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland. Read more
• 13 Mar 1993: The 1993 Storm of the Century affects the eastern United States, dropping feet of snow in many areas. Read more
• 13 Mar 1992: The Mw  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Read more
• 13 Mar 1989: Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-29 carrying the TDRS-4 satellite. Read more
• 13 Mar 1988: The Seikan Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world with an undersea segment, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan. Read more
• 13 Mar 1979: The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d'état. Read more
• 13 Mar 1974: Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802 crashes into the White Mountains near Bishop, California, killing 36. Read more
• 13 Mar 1969: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module. Read more
• 13 Mar 1964: Kitty Genovese is murdered in New York City, prompting research into the bystander effect due to the false story that neighbors witnessed the killing and did nothing to help her. Read more
• 13 Mar 1957: Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista. Read more
• 13 Mar 1954: The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory led to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam. Read more
• 13 Mar 1943: The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków. Read more
• 13 Mar 1940: The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union officially ends after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Read more
• 13 Mar 1930: The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory. Read more
• 13 Mar 1920: The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin. Read more
• 13 Mar 1900: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War. Read more
• 13 Mar 1888: The eruption of Ritter Island triggers tsunamis that kill up to 3,000 people on nearby islands. Read more
• 13 Mar 1884: The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885. Read more
• 13 Mar 1862: The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. Read more
• 13 Mar 1848: The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna. Read more
• 13 Mar 1845: Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist. Read more
• 13 Mar 1825: Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry. Read more
• 13 Mar 1815: Participants at the Congress of Vienna declare Napoleon an outlaw following his escape from Elba. Read more
• 13 Mar 1811: A French and Italian fleet is defeated by a British squadron off the island of Vis in the Adriatic during the Napoleonic Wars. Read more
• 13 Mar 1809: Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 13 March in World History

• 13 Mar 2004: Coco Gauff, American tennis player Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 2 in singles and of world No. 1 in doubles by the WTA. Gauff has won eleven career singles titles, including two majors at the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open, as well as the 2024 WTA Finals. She has also won ten doubles titles, including the 2024 French Open, partnering with Kateřina Siniaková. Read more
• 13 Mar 2002: Frank Gore Jr., American football player Franklin Gore Jr. is an American professional football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and was signed by the Bills in 2024 as an undrafted free agent. He is the son of former NFL running back Frank Gore. Read more
• 13 Mar 2001: Beomgyu, South Korean singer-songwriter Choi Beom-gyu, known mononymously as Beomgyu, is a South Korean singer and songwriter. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Tomorrow X Together, formed by Big Hit Entertainment in 2019. He released his first solo song "Panic" on March 27, 2025. Read more
• 13 Mar 2001: Thomas Dearden, Australian rugby league player Thomas Dearden is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a five-eighth or halfback for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League Read more
• 13 Mar 1998: Jay-Roy Grot, Dutch footballer Jay-Roy Jornell Grot is a professional footballer who plays as a striker or right winger for Danish Superliga club OB. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Suriname national team. Read more
• 13 Mar 1998: Jack Harlow, American rapper, singer-songwriter, and actor Jackman Thomas Harlow is an American rapper and singer. He began his recording career in 2015, and released several EPs and mixtapes until signing with Don Cannon and DJ Drama's record label Generation Now, an imprint of Atlantic Records in 2018. Read more
• 13 Mar 1997: Pyper America, American model, actress, and musician Pyper America Whitworth is an American model, actress, and musician. Read more
• 13 Mar 1997: Landry Shamet, American basketball player Landry Michael Shamet is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wichita State Shockers and was selected 26th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018 NBA draft. He has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, and Washington Wizards. Read more
• 13 Mar 1996: Brayden Point, Canadian ice hockey player Brayden Point is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Lightning selected Point in the third round, 79th overall of the 2014 NHL entry draft. Point won the Stanley Cup back-to-back with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, leading the playoffs in goal-scoring both times, including scoring the Stanley Cup-clinching goal of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. Read more
• 13 Mar 1995: Mikaela Shiffrin, American skier Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin is an American alpine skier. Shiffrin is the most decorated American alpine skier in World Championships history. She has the most World Cup wins of any alpine skier in history and is the only one to have reached the milestone of 100 victories. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, four time Olympic medalist, an eight-time World Championships gold medalist, a five-time overall World Cup champion, and a nine-time winner of the World Cup slalom discipline title. Shiffrin, at 18 years and 345 days, became the youngest slalom gold medalist in Olympic history in 2014. Read more
• 13 Mar 1995: Jang Su-jeong, South Korean tennis player Jang Su-jeong is a South Korean professional tennis player.
  On 11 July 2022, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 114. On 22 May 2023, she peaked at No. 82 in the WTA doubles rankings. Read more
• 13 Mar 1994: Gerard Deulofeu, Spanish footballer Gerard Deulofeu Lázaro is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger. He is currently a free agent. Read more
• 13 Mar 1994: Mohammed Siraj, Indian cricketer Mohammed Siraj is an Indian international cricketer who plays as a right-arm fast bowler for the India national team. He plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League and Hyderabad in domestic cricket. He was a part of the squad which won the 2023 Asia Cup and was the Player of the Match in the final. Siraj was also a member of the team that won the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups. He is also an honorary Deputy Superintendent of Police in Hyderabad. Read more
• 13 Mar 1993: Tyrone Mings, English footballer Tyrone Deon Mings is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Aston Villa. Read more
• 13 Mar 1992: Lucy Fry, Australian actress Lucy Elizabeth Fry is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying Zoey in Lightning Point, Lyla in Mako: Island of Secrets, and Lissa Dragomir in the film Vampire Academy. Fry was also cast in Hulu's eight part miniseries 11.22.63 as Marina Oswald, wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, and played the lead in the 2016 Australian horror television series Wolf Creek and Tikka in the 2017 Netflix film Bright. Since 2019, she has portrayed Stella Gigante in the Epix series Godfather of Harlem. Read more
• 13 Mar 1992: George MacKay, English actor George Andrew J. MacKay is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor in Peter Pan (2003). He had starring roles in the British war drama Private Peaceful (2012), the romantic film How I Live Now (2013), For Those in Peril (2013), for which he won a BAFTA Scotland Award, and Marrowbone (2017). He gained wider recognition for his leading role in the war film 1917 (2019) and won a British Independent Film Award for his performance in Femme (2023). Read more
• 13 Mar 1992: Ozuna, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and rapper Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado is a Puerto Rican singer and rapper. Five of his studio albums have topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, with Aura (2018) reached number seven on the Billboard 200. His musical style is primarily defined as reggaeton and Latin trap, although he has collaborated with several artists from different genres and his music takes influences from a wide variety of genres, including pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, reggae, bachata, dembow, and electronic, amongst others. Read more
• 13 Mar 1992: L, South Korean actor and singer Kim Myung-soo, known professionally as L (Korean: 엘), is a South Korean singer and actor. He debuted as a vocalist of boy band Infinite in 2010 and its sub-group Infinite F in 2014. Read more
• 13 Mar 1991: Daniel Greig, Australian speed skater Daniel Greig is an Australian speed skater. He was selected for Australia as a speed skater during the 2014 Winter Olympics for the men's 500, 1000 and 1500 m events. During the 2014 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships he won a bronze medal. Read more
• 13 Mar 1991: Tristan Thompson, American basketball player Tristan Trevor James Thompson is a Canadian professional basketball player who has played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Throughout his career, he has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers. He won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016. Thompson played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns before being selected by the Cavaliers as the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He has also represented Canada in international competitions. Read more
• 13 Mar 1990: Anicet Abel, Malagasy footballer Anicet Abel Andrianantenaina is a Malagasy professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Bnei Reineh and captains the Madagascar national team. Read more
• 13 Mar 1990: Marcell Dareus, American football player Marcell Dareus is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he was named defensive MVP of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game. Dareus was selected by the Buffalo Bills third overall in the 2011 NFL draft. He also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Read more
• 13 Mar 1989: Holger Badstuber, German footballer Holger Felix Badstuber is a German former professional footballer who primarily played as a centre-back. Read more
• 13 Mar 1989: Peaches Geldof, English columnist, television personality, and model (died 2014) Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof was an English columnist, television personality, and model. Read more
• 13 Mar 1989: Sandy León, Venezuelan baseball player Sandy David León López is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcherin the Atlanta Braves organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians/Guardians, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, and Atlanta Braves. He has also played for the Colombia national baseball team. Read more
• 13 Mar 1989: Marko Marin, German footballer Marko Marin is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and winger. He was known for his acceleration, dribbling, agility, creativity, versatility, technical skill and playmaking ability. Currently, he is the technical director at Red Star Belgrade. Read more
• 13 Mar 1989: Robert Wickens, Canadian racing driver Robert Tyler Wickens is a Canadian racing driver from Guelph, Ontario, driving in the Sprint Cup of the IMSA SportsCar Championship for DXDT Racing. In 2009 he finished in second place in the FIA Formula Two Championship, and in 2010 he was runner-up in the GP3 Series. In his return to Formula Renault 3.5, where he competed in 2008, he won the 2011 season championship with Carlin Motorsport, with backing of Marussia. Wickens then left the series to race in the DTM for the HWA Team. Read more
• 13 Mar 1988: Furdjel Narsingh, Dutch footballer Furdjel Robby Narsingh is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger. He formerly played for AZ, Volendam, Telstar, PEC Zwolle, SC Cambuur, De Graafschap and Ararat-Armenia. Read more
• 13 Mar 1987: Marco Andretti, American race car driver Marco Michael Andretti is an American retired auto racing driver who competed in the IndyCar Series from 2006 to 2025. He is the grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti and the son of CART champion Michael Andretti. Read more
• 13 Mar 1987: Andreas Beck, German footballer Andreas Beck is a former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Born in the Soviet Union, he represented Germany at youth and senior levels. Read more
• 13 Mar 1986: Neil Wagner, South African-New Zealand cricketer Neil Wagner is a New Zealand former Test cricketer who played for New Zealand and Northern Districts cricket teams. He played for Northerns until 2007/08 and Otago between 2008 and 2018. Wagner was a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship. On 27 February 2024, he announced his retirement from international cricket. Read more
• 13 Mar 1985: Alcides, Brazilian footballer Alcides Eduardo Mendes de Araújo Alves, known simply as Alcides, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as either a right back or a central defender. Read more
• 13 Mar 1985: Emile Hirsch, American actor Emile Davenport Hirsch is an American actor. His portrayal of Chris McCandless in Into the Wild (2007) earned him acclaim and multiple award nominations. Read more
• 13 Mar 1984: Geeta Basra, Indian actress Geeta Basra is an English former actress who has appeared in Bollywood films. Read more
• 13 Mar 1983: Kaitlin Sandeno, American swimmer Kaitlin Sandeno-Hogan is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist, world champion and former world record-holder. Sandeno was a member of the American team that set a new world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was the general manager of DC Trident which is a part of the International Swimming League for 3 seasons. Read more
• 13 Mar 1982: Izi Castro Marques, Brazilian basketball player Iziane "Izi" Castro Marques is a retired Brazilian professional basketball player. Castro Marques played for the Brazil women's national basketball team and played for the Miami Sol, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm, Atlanta Dream, Washington Mystics and the Connecticut Sun of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Castro Marques also played overseas in France, Brazil, Spain, Latvia, Turkey, Poland and Russia. Following her retirement, Castro Marques became the technical director of Sampaio Basquete of the Brazilian Women's Basketball League. Read more
• 13 Mar 1982: Nicole Ohlde, American basketball player Nicole Katherine Ohlde is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury and Tulsa Shock of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Read more
• 13 Mar 1980: Caron Butler, American basketball player James Caron Butler is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He was the 2002 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year while playing for the Connecticut Huskies. During his 14-year NBA career, Butler played for the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, and Sacramento Kings. He is a two-time NBA All-Star. Read more
• 13 Mar 1980: Brad Watts, Australian rugby league player Brad Watts is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who competed in the National Rugby League. He played for the Melbourne Storm from 1999 to 2001, then for the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 2002 to 2005. Watts also played with the Widnes Vikings club in the then Super League in 2005. He usually played fullback, but later moved to halfback. Read more
• 13 Mar 1979: Johan Santana, Venezuelan baseball player Johan Alexander Santana Araque is a Venezuelan former professional baseball starting pitcher. Santana pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 2008 to 2012. A two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Twins, Santana is a four-time All-Star and earned a pitching triple crown in 2006. On June 1, 2012, Santana pitched the first no-hitter in New York Mets history against the St. Louis Cardinals. Read more
• 13 Mar 1979: Cédric Van Branteghem, Belgian sprinter Cédric Marie Carlos Thérèse Van Branteghem is a former Belgian sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. Read more
• 13 Mar 1978: Tom Danielson, American cyclist Thomas Danielson is an American retired professional road racing cyclist who competed professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the Mercury Cycling Team (2002), the Saturn Cycling Team (2003), Fassa Bortolo (2004), Discovery Channel (2005–2007) and Cannondale–Garmin (2008–2015). He had been suspended twice for doping in his career. Read more
• 13 Mar 1976: Troy Hudson, American basketball player and rapper Troy Elderon Hudson is an American former professional basketball point guard. He played 11 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after going undrafted in 1997. He averaged a career-high 14.2 points per game with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2002–03 season. Read more
• 13 Mar 1976: Danny Masterson, American actor and producer Daniel Peter Masterson is an American actor. He portrayed Steven Hyde in That '70s Show (1998–2006), Milo Foster in Men at Work (2012–2014), and Jameson "Rooster" Bennett in The Ranch (2016–2018). Read more
• 13 Mar 1975: Mark Clattenburg, English football referee Mark Clattenburg is an English former professional football referee. Read more
• 13 Mar 1974: James Brinkley, Scottish cricketer James Brinkley is a Scottish former cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He played five One Day Internationals in May 1999. He played List A cricket until 2004 and participated in the 2001 ICC Trophy. Read more
• 13 Mar 1974: Thomas Enqvist, Swedish tennis player and sportscaster Thomas Karl Johan Enqvist is a Swedish tennis coach and a former professional player. He reached the final of the 1999 Australian Open and won a total of 19 singles titles, including three Masters titles. He has a career high ATP world singles ranking of No. 4, achieved on 15 November 1999. Read more
• 13 Mar 1973: Edgar Davids, Surinamese-Dutch footballer and manager Edgar Steven Davids is a Dutch former professional footballer. Davids was nicknamed "The Pitbull" because of his marking ability, aggression, and hard tackling style of play. Read more
• 13 Mar 1973: David Draiman, American singer-songwriter David Michael Draiman is an American heavy metal singer. Noted for his distorted baritone voice and percussive singing style, he has been the lead vocalist of Disturbed since 1996. He has written some of the band's most successful singles, such as "Stupify", "Down with the Sickness", "Indestructible", and "Inside the Fire". In 2006, he was ranked at No. 42 on the Hit Parader list of "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". During Disturbed's hiatus from 2011 to 2015, he worked on an industrial metal project with Geno Lenardo, which was later named Device. They released one self-titled album in 2013. Disturbed returned with the album Immortalized in 2015, Evolution in 2018, and Divisive in 2022. Read more
• 13 Mar 1973: Bobby Jackson, American basketball player and coach Bobby Jackson is an American professional basketball coach and former player, who is an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Western Nebraska Community College and the University of Minnesota. In the NBA, he played for several teams over twelve seasons, from 1997 to 2009. Read more
• 13 Mar 1972: Common, American rapper and actor Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known professionally as Common, is an American rapper, actor and activist. The recipient of three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award, he signed with the independent label Relativity Records at the age of 20. The label released his first three studio albums: Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved mainstream success through his work with the Black music collective Soulquarians. Read more
• 13 Mar 1972: Trent Dilfer, American football player, coach, and analyst Trent Farris Dilfer is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. Dilfer achieved his greatest professional success as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens during their Super Bowl-winning season in 2000. Following his playing career, he served as the head coach for the UAB Blazers from 2023 to 2025. Read more
• 13 Mar 1971: Annabeth Gish, American actress Annabeth Gish is an American actress. She played roles in the films Shag, Hiding Out, Mystic Pizza, SLC Punk!, The Last Supper and Double Jeopardy. On television, she played Special Agent Monica Reyes on The X-Files, Elizabeth Bartlet Westin on The West Wing, Diane Gould on Halt and Catch Fire, Eileen Caffee on Brotherhood, Sarah Gunning on Midnight Mass, Charlotte Millwright on The Bridge and Sheriff Althea Jarry on the seventh and final season of Sons of Anarchy. Read more
• 13 Mar 1971: Allan Nielsen, Danish footballer and manager Allan Nielsen is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. His most notable period of football was four years at English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur with whom he won the 1999 League Cup, scoring the winning goal. Read more
• 13 Mar 1971: Adina Porter, American actress Adina Elizabeth Porter is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lettie Mae Thornton on the HBO fantasy horror series True Blood (2008–2014), Kendra James on the HBO drama series The Newsroom (2012–2014), Indra on the CW science fiction drama series The 100 (2014–2020) and Sheriff Susan Peterkin on the Netflix teen drama series Outer Banks.
  She received further recognition for her roles as Sally Freeman, Lee Harris, Beverly Hope, Dinah Stevens, and Chief Burleson on the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth seasons of the FX anthology series American Horror Story (2011–present). Read more
• 13 Mar 1970: Tim Story, American director and producer Timothy Kevin Story is an American film director, producer, and editor. He is best known for Barbershop (2002), Fantastic Four (2005), and the Ride Along franchise. He has been nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film/Television Movie in 2006 and 2013. Read more
• 13 Mar 1969: Darren Fritz, Australian rugby league player Darren Fritz is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Queensland, and at club level for Canberra Raiders, Wakefield Trinity, Illawarra Steelers, North Sydney and Western Suburbs, as a prop, or second-row. Read more
• 13 Mar 1967: Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (died 1994) Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga was a Colombian professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He played for Atlético Nacional, BSC Young Boys, and the Colombia national team. Nicknamed The Gentleman, he was known for his clean style of play and calmness on the pitch. Read more
• 13 Mar 1967: Pieter Vink, Dutch footballer and referee Pieter Vink is a former Dutch football referee, who also officiated for FIFA and UEFA. He was the first referee to take charge of a match at the "New Wembley Stadium" in 2007. His other occupation was as a police officer, eventually giving this up to become a full-time referee. His main other hobby is golf. Read more
• 13 Mar 1966: Chico Science, Brazilian singer-songwriter (died 1997) Francisco de Assis França, better known as Chico Science, was a Brazilian singer and composer and one of the founders of the manguebeat cultural movement. He died in a car accident in 1997 in Recife, Pernambuco, at the age of 30. Read more
• 13 Mar 1964: Will Clark, American baseball player William Nuschler Clark Jr. is an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 through 2000. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals. Clark was known by the nickname of "Will the Thrill." The nickname has often been truncated to simply, "the Thrill." Read more
• 13 Mar 1964: Craig Dimond, Australian rugby league player Craig Dimond is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played his club football career for the Illawarra Steelers, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Canberra Raiders. He is the son of Peter Dimond, nephew of Bobby Dimond, both Australian former rugby league test players, and father of Australian Idol contestant Amali Dimond. Read more
• 13 Mar 1964: Trevor Gillmeister, Australian rugby league player and coach Trevor Gillmeister is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who is employed as a rugby league analyst at Channel 7 Brisbane. During his playing days, Gillmeister played for the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, Brisbane Broncos, Penrith Panthers and the South Queensland Crushers, as well as representing Queensland and Australia. Read more
• 13 Mar 1963: Mariano Duncan, Dominican baseball player and manager Mariano Duncan Nalasco is a Dominican former second baseman and shortstop who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball during his 12-year career. He was the infield coach and first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers under managers Grady Little and Joe Torre. Duncan was an MLB All-Star in 1994 and won two World Series championships as a player. He is currently manager of the Mumbai Cobras of Baseball United. Read more
• 13 Mar 1963: Vance Johnson, American football player Vance Edward Johnson is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arizona Wildcats. Johnson was selected by the Broncos in the second round of the 1985 NFL draft. Read more
• 13 Mar 1963: Fito Páez, Argentine musician, songwriter and filmmaker Rodolfo "Fito" Páez is an Argentine Latin rock musician and filmmaker. A former member of the Trova Rosarina, he is dubbed the "Troubadour of Argentine rock" and is considered an important figure in the genre and in Latin music. Read more
• 13 Mar 1962: Alfredo Maia, Portuguese politician Manuel Alfredo da Rocha Maia is a Portuguese journalist, politician and member of the Assembly of the Republic, the national legislature of Portugal. A communist, he has represented Porto since September 2023. He had previously been a temporary substitute member of the Assembly from September 2022 to March 2023. Read more
• 13 Mar 1960: Adam Clayton, English-Irish musician and songwriter Adam Charles Clayton is an English-Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. Born in Oxfordshire, England, he lived in County Dublin, Ireland after his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Clayton attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where he met schoolmates with whom he co-founded U2 in 1976. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2. Read more
• 13 Mar 1960: Joe Ranft, American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor (died 2005) Joseph Henry Ranft was an American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation. His younger brother Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar films. Read more
• 13 Mar 1959: Dirk Wellham, Australian cricketer Dirk MacDonald Wellham is a former Australian cricketer who played in six Test matches and 17 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1981 and 1987. He is one of four players to score a century in both his first class and Test debuts. He was the first player to captain three Australian states having captained New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland during his career. As NSW captain, he won the Sheffield Shield in 1984–85 and 1985–86 and the McDonald's Cup in 1984–85.He is the nephew of New South Wales first-class cricketer Walter Wellham. Read more
• 13 Mar 1958: Mágico González, Salvadoran footballer Jorge Alberto González Barillas, popularly known as El Mágico, is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played mainly as a forward. Read more
• 13 Mar 1958: Rick Lazio, American lawyer and politician Enrico Anthony Lazio is an American attorney and former four-term U.S. representative from the State of New York. A Long Island native, Lazio became well-known during his bid for U.S. Senate in New York's 2000 Senate election; he was defeated by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Lazio also ran unsuccessfully for the 2010 New York State Republican Party gubernatorial nomination. Read more
• 13 Mar 1958: Caryl Phillips, Caribbean-English author and playwright Caryl Phillips is a Kittitian-British novelist, playwright and essayist. Best known for his novels, Phillips is often described as a Black Atlantic writer, since much of his fictional output is defined by its interest in, and searching exploration of, the experiences of peoples of the African diaspora in England, the Caribbean and the United States. As well as writing, Phillips has worked as an academic at numerous institutions including Amherst College, Barnard College, and Yale University, where he has held the position of Professor of English since 2005. Read more
• 13 Mar 1957: John Hoeven, American banker and politician, 31st Governor of North Dakota John Henry Hoeven III is an American politician and banker serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of North Dakota from 2000 to 2010. Read more
• 13 Mar 1957: Moses Hogan, American composer and conductor (died 2003) Moses George Hogan was an American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his settings of spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor, and arranger of international renown. His works are celebrated and performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs today. Over his lifetime, he published 88 arrangements for voice, eight of which were solo pieces. Read more
• 13 Mar 1956: Dana Delany, American actress and producer Dana Delany is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama China Beach (1988–1991), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1989 and 1992. She received further recognition for her appearances in the films Light Sleeper (1992), Tombstone (1993), Exit to Eden (1994), The Margaret Sanger Story (1995), Fly Away Home (1996), True Women (1997), and Wide Awake (1998). Delany also provided the voice of Lois Lane in Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Delany has the longest tenure of playing Lois Lane, having portrayed the character intermittently over a span of 17 years. Read more
• 13 Mar 1956: Jamie Dimon, North-American businessman and banker James Dimon is an American businessman who has been the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase since 2006. Read more
• 13 Mar 1955: Bruno Conti, Italian footballer and manager Bruno Conti is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently head of AS Roma's youth sector. Read more
• 13 Mar 1955: Glenne Headly, American actress (died 2017) Glenne Aimee Headly was an American actress. She was widely known for her roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dick Tracy, and Mr. Holland's Opus. Headly received a Theatre World Award and four Joseph Jefferson Awards and was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Read more
• 13 Mar 1955: Olga Rukavishnikova, Russian pentathlete Olga Aleksandrovna Rukavishnikova is a Soviet athlete who competed in the women's pentathlon event during her career. Read more
• 13 Mar 1954: Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, Guyanese-English politician and diplomat Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos is a British Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Before her appointment to the UN, she served as British High Commissioner to Australia. She was created a life peer in 1997, serving as Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council from 2003 to 2007. Read more
• 13 Mar 1954: Robin Duke, Canadian actress and screenwriter Robin Duke is a Canadian actress, comedian, and voice actress. Duke may be best known for her work on the television comedy series SCTV and, later, Saturday Night Live. She co-founded Women Fully Clothed, a sketch comedy troupe which toured Canada. She teaches writing as a faculty member at Humber College in Toronto and had a recurring role playing Wendy Kurtz in the sitcom Schitt's Creek. Read more
• 13 Mar 1953: Andy Bean, American golfer (died 2023) Thomas Andrew Bean was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Read more
• 13 Mar 1953: Michael Curry, American bishop, 27th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Bruce Curry is an American retired bishop who was the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. Elected in 2015, he was the first African American elected to the role, having previously served as Bishop of North Carolina from 2000 to 2015. His tenure as presiding bishop ended on November 1, 2024, and he was succeeded by Sean Rowe. Read more
• 13 Mar 1953: Deborah Raffin, American actress (died 2012) Deborah Iona Raffin was an American actress, model and audiobook publisher. Read more
• 13 Mar 1952: Wolfgang Rihm, German composer and educator Wolfgang Michael Rihm was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent musical voices" there, composing over 500 works including several operas. Read more
• 13 Mar 1952: Tim Sebastian, English journalist and author Tim Sebastian is an English television journalist and novelist. He is the moderator of Conflict Zone and New Arab Debates on Deutsche Welle. He previously worked for the BBC, where he hosted Doha Debates and was the first presenter of HARDtalk. Sebastian also presented Bloomberg TV's The Outsider, an India-focused debating programme. Read more
• 13 Mar 1950: Joe Bugner, Hungarian-British boxer and actor (died 2025) József Kreul Bugner was a Hungarian-born British–Australian professional boxer, who competed in the heavyweight division, and actor. He held triple nationality, originally being a citizen of Hungary and becoming a naturalised citizen of both the United Kingdom and Australia. Read more
• 13 Mar 1950: Bernard Julien, Trinidadian cricketer Bernard Denis Julien was a Trinidad and Tobago cricketer who played as an allrounder. As a right-handed batsman who bowled both left-arm pace and spin, Julien played in 24 Tests and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies; he was a noteworthy member of the 1975 World Cup winning squad. He played domestic cricket for Trinidad and Tobago and the English side Kent. Read more
• 13 Mar 1950: Charles Krauthammer, American physician, journalist, and author (died 2018) Charles Krauthammer was an American political columnist. A moderate liberal who turned independent conservative as a political pundit, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his columns in The Washington Post in 1987. His weekly column was syndicated to more than 400 publications worldwide. While in his first year studying medicine at Harvard Medical School, Krauthammer became permanently paralyzed from the waist down after a diving board accident that severed his spinal cord at cervical spinal nerve 5. After spending 14 months recovering in a hospital, he returned to medical school, graduating to become a psychiatrist involved in the creation of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III in 1980. He joined the Carter administration in 1978 as a director of psychiatric research, eventually becoming the speechwriter to Vice President Walter Mondale in 1980. Read more
• 13 Mar 1950: William H. Macy, American actor, director, and screenwriter William Hall Macy Jr. is an American actor and filmmaker. He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Drama Critics' Circle Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Read more
• 13 Mar 1949: Ze'ev Bielski, Israeli politician Ze'ev Bielski is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima between 2009 and 2013. He previously chaired the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization and worked as a Jewish Agency emissary in South Africa. He also served as the mayor of Ra'anana. Bielski is a founder of The Israel Forum, whose purpose is to maintain a direct relationship between young Jews from the Diaspora and Israel in the areas of education and economy. He also played in the Israeli national basketball league. Read more
• 13 Mar 1949: Sian Elias, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 12th Chief Justice of New Zealand Dame Sian Seerpoohi Elias is a former New Zealand judge who served as the 12th chief justice of New Zealand, and was therefore the most senior member of the country's judiciary. She was the inaugural presiding judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and on several occasions acted as administrator of the Government. Read more
• 13 Mar 1949: Trevor Sorbie, Scottish hairdresser (died 2024) Trevor John Sorbie was a Scottish celebrity hairdresser and businessman. He is credited as the creator of the wedge haircut and was a four-time winner of British Hairdresser of the Year. Read more
• 13 Mar 1947: Lesley Collier, English ballerina and educator Lesley Faye Collier is an English ballerina and teacher of dance. In 1972 she became a principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. In 1995 she left the company and began to teach at the Royal Ballet School. She is a rèpetiteur at the Royal Ballet. Read more
• 13 Mar 1947: Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician and cellist (died 2018) Beat Richner was a Swiss pediatrician, cellist and founder of children's hospitals in Cambodia. He created the Kantha Bopha Foundation in Zürich in 1992 and became its head. Along with another expatriate, he oversaw and ran the predominantly Cambodian-staffed hospitals. As both a cellist and a medical doctor, Richner was known by patients, audiences, and donors as "Beatocello". Read more
• 13 Mar 1947: Lyn St. James, American race car driver Lyn St. James is an American former race car driver. She competed in the IndyCar series, with eleven CART and five Indy Racing League starts to her name. St. James is one of nine women who have qualified for the Indianapolis 500, and became the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award. She also has two class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and won the GTO class, partnering with Calvin Fish and Robby Gordon, at the 1990 12 Hours of Sebring. Additionally she has competed in endurance racing in Europe, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, at which her AMC Spirit AMX team placed first and second in class in 1979. Read more
• 13 Mar 1946: Yonatan Netanyahu, American-Israeli colonel (died 1976) Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. The raid was launched in response to the 1976 hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight from Israel to France by Palestinian and German militants, who took control of the aircraft during a stopover in Greece and diverted it to Libya and then to Uganda, where they received support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Though Israel's counter-terrorist operation was a success, with 102 of the 106 hostages being rescued, Netanyahu was killed in action – the only Israeli soldier killed during the crisis. Read more
• 13 Mar 1945: Anatoly Fomenko, Russian mathematician and academic Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko is a Soviet and Russian professor of Mathematics at Moscow State University. He is well-known as a topologist and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a painter and illustrator of original artworks inspired by topological objects and structures. Read more
• 13 Mar 1944: Terence Burns, Baron Burns, English economist and academic Terence Burns, Baron Burns, sometimes known as Terry Burns, is a British economist. He made a life peer in 1998 for his services as former Chief Economic Advisor and Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury. He served as Chairman of Ofcom from 2018 to 2020, and is currently a senior adviser to Santander UK, a non-executive Chairman of Glas Cymru, and a non-executive director of Pearson Group plc. He is also a former President of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, President of the Society of Business Economists, ex Chairman of the Governing Body of the Royal Academy of Music, and ex Chairman of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra. On 5 November 2009 he was announced chairman Designate of Channel Four Television Corporation, succeeding Luke Johnson, who retired on 27 January 2010 following six years in the post. Read more
• 13 Mar 1942: Dave Cutler, American computer scientist and engineer David Neil Cutler Sr. is an American software engineer. He developed several computer operating systems, namely Microsoft Windows NT, and Digital Equipment Corporation's RSX-11M, VAXELN, VMS, and MICA. Read more
• 13 Mar 1942: Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author (died 2008) Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as Palestine's national poet. Read more
• 13 Mar 1942: Scatman John, American singer-songwriter (died 1999) John Paul Larkin, known professionally under the alias Scatman John, was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence in 1994 through his fusion of scat singing and dance music. He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2001. Read more
• 13 Mar 1942: George Negus, Australian journalist and television host (died 2024) George Edward Negus AM was an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian broadcast journalism, first appearing on the ABC's This Day Tonight and later on 60 Minutes. Negus was known for making complex international and political issues accessible to a broad audience through his down-to-earth, colloquial presentation style. His very direct interviewing technique occasionally caused confrontation, famously with Margaret Thatcher, but also led to some interviewees giving more information than they had given in other interviews. Recognition of his unique skills led to him hosting a new ABC show, Foreign Correspondent, and Dateline on SBS. He often reported from the frontline of dangerous conflicts and described himself as an "anti-war correspondent" who wanted people to understand the reasons behind why wars were senseless. He was awarded a Walkley Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. He presented 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten. He remained a director of his own media consulting company, Negus Media International, until his death in 2024. Read more
• 13 Mar 1941: Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (died 2001) Donella Hager "Dana" Meadows was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer. She is best known as lead author of the books The Limits to Growth and Thinking In Systems: A Primer. Read more
• 13 Mar 1941: Lee Moses, American R&B Soul Singer and Guitarist (died 1998) Vincent Lee Moses, known as Lee Moses, was an American R&B and soul singer and guitarist. His recordings in the late 1960s as well as his 1971 LP Time and Place, are highly regarded within the deep soul genre. Read more
• 13 Mar 1939: Neil Sedaka, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2026) Neil Sedaka was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Beginning his music career in 1957, he sold millions of records worldwide and wrote or co-wrote over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. Read more
• 13 Mar 1938: Robert Gammage, American captain and politician (died 2012) Robert Alton Gammage was an American politician, having served as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas State Senate, and the United States House of Representatives. Read more
• 13 Mar 1935: David Nobbs, English author and screenwriter (died 2015) David Gordon Nobbs was an English comedy writer, best known for writing the 1970s television series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, adapted from his own novels. Read more
• 13 Mar 1933: Diane Dillon, American illustrator Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon were American illustrators of children's books and adult paperback book and magazine covers. One obituary of Leo called the work of the husband-and-wife team "a seamless amalgam of both their hands". In more than 50 years, they created more than 100 speculative fiction book and magazine covers together as well as much interior artwork. Essentially all of their work in that field was joint. Read more
• 13 Mar 1933: Mahdi Elmandjra, Moroccan economist and sociologist (died 2014) Mahdi Elmandjra was a Moroccan futurologist, economist and sociologist. He is one of the founders of the International Federation for Future Studies (Futuribles). He predicted a number of events, the most important of which was the clash of civilisations in his book "The first civilisation war" in 1992, that is, before Samuel Huntington, who used the same concept in his book "The clash of civilisations" issued in 1996. Mahdi Elmandjra also predicted the occurrence of the "Arab Spring", which he referred to in his writings under the name of "Intifada". Read more
• 13 Mar 1933: Gero von Wilpert, German author and academic (died 2009) Gero von Wilpert was a German author, a senior lecturer in German at the University of New South Wales and, from 1980, Professor of German at the University of Sydney. Read more
• 13 Mar 1930: Walter Jacob, American Reform rabbi (died 2024) Walter Jacob was an American Reform rabbi. He was rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1997. He served as chairman of organizations such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis and World Union for Progressive Judaism. Jacob wrote a book, Christianity Through Jewish Eyes in 1974, leading to interfaith dialogue. He founded the Solomon B. Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah in 1991, an international forum for Jewish law. In Germany, he co-founded the Abraham Geiger College, the first rabbinic seminary in Central Europe since the Holocaust, in 1999. Read more
• 13 Mar 1929: Zbigniew Messner, Polish economist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (died 2014) Zbigniew Stefan Messner was a Polish communist politician and economist. His ancestors were of German Polish descent who had assimilated into Polish society. In 1972, he became Professor of Karol Adamiecki University of Economics in Katowice. In the 1980s, Messner held numerous high ranking posts within communist party apparatus. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) from 1981 to 1990, when PZPR was dissolved, member of the PZPR Politburo from 1981 to 1988, Deputy Prime Minister from 1983 to 1985, member of Sejm from 1985 to 1989, Prime Minister of Polish People's Republic from 1985 to 1988 and member of the State Council of the Polish People's Republic from 1988 to 1989. Additionally in the 1960s Messner was the chairman of Piast Gliwice football club. Read more
• 13 Mar 1926: Carlos Roberto Reina, Honduran lawyer and politician, President of Honduras (died 2003) Carlos Roberto Reina Idiáquez was a Honduran politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the President of Honduras from 1994 to 1998. He was a member of the Honduran Liberal Party. Read more
• 13 Mar 1925: Roy Haynes, American drummer and composer (died 2024) Roy Owen Haynes was an American jazz drummer. In the 1950s, he was given the nickname "Snap Crackle" for his distinctive snare drum sound and musical vocabulary. He is among the most recorded drummers in jazz. In a career spanning more than eight decades, he played swing, bebop, jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz. He is considered to be a pioneer of jazz drumming. Read more
• 13 Mar 1923: Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (died 2010) Dimitrios Ioannidis, also known as Dimitris Ioannidis and as The Invisible Dictator, was a Greek military officer and one of the leading figures in the junta that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. Ioannidis was considered a "purist and a moralist, a type of Greek Gaddafi". Read more
• 13 Mar 1921: Al Jaffee, American cartoonist (died 2023) Allan Jaffee was an American cartoonist. He was known for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. Jaffee was a regular contributor to the magazine for 65 years and is its longest-running contributor. In a 2010 interview, Jaffee said, "Serious people my age are dead." Read more
• 13 Mar 1920: Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (died 2015) Ralph Joel Roberts was an American businessman who was the founder of Comcast, serving as its CEO for 46 years and as its chairman emeritus until his death in 2015. Read more
• 13 Mar 1916: Lindy Boggs, American educator and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the Holy See (died 2013) Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs was a politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as United States Ambassador to the Holy See. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. She was also a permanent chairwoman of the 1976 Democratic National Convention, which met in New York City to nominate the Carter-Mondale ticket. She was the first woman to preside over a major party convention. Read more
• 13 Mar 1916: Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (died 2017) Jacque Fresco was an American futurist and self-described social engineer. Self-taught, he worked in a variety of positions related to industrial design. Read more
• 13 Mar 1914: W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (died 1998) William Ormond Mitchell, was a Canadian writer and broadcaster. His "best-loved" novel is Who Has Seen the Wind (1947), which portrays life on the Canadian Prairies from the point of view of a small boy and sold almost a million copies in Canada. As a broadcaster, he is known for his radio series Jake and the Kid, which aired on CBC Radio between 1950 and 1956 and was also about life on the Prairies. Read more
• 13 Mar 1914: Edward O'Hare, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1943) Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of the war when he single-handedly attacked a formation of nine medium bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. Although he had a limited amount of ammunition, O'Hare was credited with shooting down five enemy bombers and became the first naval aviator recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II. Read more
• 13 Mar 1913: William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (died 1987) William Joseph Casey was an American lawyer who was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community and personally directed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) throughout much of the Reagan administration. Read more
• 13 Mar 1913: Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and playwright (died 2009) Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov was a Russian author of children's books and satirical fables. He wrote the lyrics for the Soviet and Russian national anthems. Read more
• 13 Mar 1911: José Ardévol, Cuban composer and conductor (died 1981)
  José Ardévol was a Cuban composer and conductor of Spanish derivation. Read more
• 13 Mar 1911: L. Ron Hubbard, American author, founder of Scientology (died 1986) Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscientific book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and established organizations to promote and practice Dianetics techniques. Hubbard created Scientology in 1952 after losing the intellectual rights to his literature on Dianetics in bankruptcy. He would lead the Church of Scientology – variously described as a cult, a new religious movement, or a business – until his death in 1986. Read more
• 13 Mar 1910: Sammy Kaye, American saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader (died 1987) Sammy Kaye was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs from his first hit single in 1937, "Swing and Sway". He was the first to record and release the standard "Blueberry Hill" in 1940. During World War II, he co-wrote and recorded the anthemic "Remember Pearl Harbor". He was the first to record and release the no. 1 song "Daddy" in 1941. His final number one hit was "Harbor Lights in 1950. Read more
• 13 Mar 1910: Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (died 1973) Kemal Tahir was a prominent Turkish novelist and intellectual. Tahir spent 13 years of his life imprisoned for political reasons and wrote some of his best known novels during this time. Read more
• 13 Mar 1908: Walter Annenberg, American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (died 2002) Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of The Philadelphia Inquirer, TV Guide, the Daily Racing Form and Seventeen magazine. He was appointed by President Richard Nixon as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he served from 1969 to 1974. Read more
• 13 Mar 1908: Myrtle Bachelder, American chemist and Women's Army Corps officer (died 1997) Myrtle Claire Bachelder was an American chemist and Women's Army Corps officer, who is noted for her secret work on the Manhattan Project atomic bomb program, and for the development of techniques in the chemistry of metals. Read more
• 13 Mar 1907: Dorothy Tangney, Australian politician (died 1985) Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1943 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to the Senate and one of the first two women elected to federal parliament, along with Enid Lyons. Read more
• 13 Mar 1904: Clifford Roach, Trinidadian cricketer and footballer (died 1988) Clifford Archibald Roach was a Trinidadian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match in 1928. Two years later, he scored the West Indies' first century in Test matches, followed two matches later by the team's first double century. Roach played for Trinidad, but before having any great success at first-class level, he was chosen to tour England with a West Indies team in 1928 and scored over 1,000 runs. When England played in the West Indies in 1930, he recorded his ground-breaking centuries but had intermittent success at Test level afterwards. He toured Australia in 1930–31 and returned to England in 1933, when he once more passed 1,000 runs, but was dropped from the team in 1935. Within three years, he lost his place in the Trinidad team. Roach was generally inconsistent, but batted in an attacking and attractive style. Outside of cricket, he worked as a solicitor. Later in his life, he suffered from diabetes which necessitated the amputation of both his legs. Read more
• 13 Mar 1902: Hans Bellmer, German-French painter and sculptor (died 1975) Hans Bellmer was a German artist, best known for his drawings, etchings that illustrates the 1940 edition of Histoire de l’œil, and the life-sized female dolls he produced in the mid-1930s. Historians of art and photography also consider him a Surrealist photographer. Read more
• 13 Mar 1900: Andrée Bosquet, Belgian painter (died 1980) Andrée Bosquet (1900–1980) was a Belgian painter. Read more
• 13 Mar 1900: Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1971) Giorgos or George Seferis, the pen name of Georgios Seferiadis, was a Greek poet and diplomat. He was one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century, and a Nobel laureate. Read more
• 13 Mar 1899: John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1980) John Hasbrouck Van Vleck was an American physicist and mathematician. He was co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977, for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electronic magnetism in solids. Read more
• 13 Mar 1899: Pancho Vladigerov, Bulgarian pianist and composer (died 1978) Pancho Haralanov Vladigerov was a Bulgarian composer, pedagogue, and pianist. Read more
• 13 Mar 1898: Henry Hathaway, American director and producer (died 1985) Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer, whose career spanned from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was best known as a director of Western, adventure, and noir films, especially starring John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, and Gregory Peck. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), starring Cooper. Read more
• 13 Mar 1897: Yeghishe Charents, Armenian poet and activist (died 1937) Yeghishe Charents was an Armenian poet, writer, and public activist. Charents's literary subject matter ranged from his experiences in the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and frequently Armenia and Armenians. He is recognized as "the main poet of the 20th century" in Armenia. Read more
• 13 Mar 1892: Janet Flanner, American journalist and author (died 1978) Janet Flanner was an American writer and pioneering narrative journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of The New Yorker magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975. She wrote under the pen name "Genêt". She also published a single novel, The Cubical City, set in New York City. Read more
• 13 Mar 1890: Fritz Busch, German conductor and director (died 1951) Fritz Busch was a German conductor. Read more
• 13 Mar 1888: Paul Morand, French author and diplomat (died 1976) Paul Morand was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was much admired by the upper echelons of society and the artistic avant-garde who made him a cult favorite. He has been categorized as an early Modernist and Imagist. Read more
• 13 Mar 1886: Home Run Baker, American baseball player and manager (died 1963) John Franklin "Home Run" Baker, also known as Frank Baker, was an American professional baseball player. A third baseman, Baker played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922 for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees. Although he never hit more than 12 home runs in a season and hit only 96 in his major league career, Baker has been called the "original home run king of the majors". Read more
• 13 Mar 1886: Albert William Stevens, American captain and photographer (died 1949) Albert William Stevens was an officer of the United States Army Air Corps, balloonist, and aerial photographer. Read more
• 13 Mar 1884: Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-English author and educator (died 1941) Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among those who encouraged him were the authors Henry James and Arnold Bennett. His skill at scene-setting and vivid plots, as well as his high profile as a lecturer, brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s but has been largely neglected since his death. Read more
• 13 Mar 1883: Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer (died 1926) Enrico Toselli, Count of Montignoso, was an Italian pianist and composer. Born in Florence, he studied piano with Giovanni Sgambati and composition with Giuseppe Martucci and Reginaldo Grazzini. He embarked on a career as a concert pianist, playing in Italy, European capital cities, Alexandria and North America. Read more
• 13 Mar 1880: Josef Gočár, Czech architect (died 1945) Josef Gočár was a Czech architect. He was one of the founders of modern architecture in the Czech Republic. Read more
• 13 Mar 1874: Ellery Harding Clark, American jumper, coach, and lawyer (died 1949) Ellery Harding Clark was an American track and field athlete and a writer. He was the first modern Olympic champion in high jump and long jump. Read more
• 13 Mar 1870: William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (died 1938) William James Glackens was an American realist painter and one of the founders of the Ashcan School, which rejected the formal boundaries of artistic beauty laid down by the conservative National Academy of Design. He is also known for his work in helping Albert C. Barnes to acquire the European paintings that form the nucleus of the famed Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. His dark-hued, vibrantly painted street scenes and depictions of daily life in pre-WW I New York and Paris first established his reputation as a major artist. His later work was brighter in tone and showed the strong influence of Renoir. During much of his career as a painter, Glackens also worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines in Philadelphia and New York City. Read more
• 13 Mar 1864: Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (died 1941) Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky, surname also spelt as Yavlensky, was a Russian expressionist painter active in Germany. He was a key member of the New Munich Artist's Association, Der Blaue Reiter group, and later Die Blaue Vier. Read more
• 13 Mar 1862: Paul Prosper Henrys, French general (died 1943) Paul Prosper Henrys was a French general. Read more
• 13 Mar 1860: Hugo Wolf, Slovene-Austrian composer (died 1903) Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf was an Austrian composer, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but diverging greatly in technique. Read more
• 13 Mar 1857: B. H. Roberts, English-American historian and politician (died 1933) Brigham Henry Roberts was a historian, politician, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He edited the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and independently wrote the six-volume Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Roberts also wrote Studies of the Book of Mormon—published posthumously—which discussed the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record. Roberts was denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of his practice of polygamy. Read more
• 13 Mar 1855: Percival Lowell, American astronomer and mathematician (died 1916) Percival Lowell was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System. He founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death. Read more
• 13 Mar 1825: Hans Gude, Norwegian-German painter and academic (died 1903) Hans Fredrik Gude was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Romanticism. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting and is best known for landscapes of Norway’s mountains, fjords, and coast. Read more
• 13 Mar 1815: James Curtis Hepburn, American physician, linguist, and missionary (died 1911) James Curtis Hepburn was an American physician, educator, translator and lay Christian missionary. He is known for the Hepburn romanization system for transliteration of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet, which he popularized in his Japanese–English dictionary. Read more
• 13 Mar 1800: Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, 212th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (died 1858) Mustafa Reşid Pasha was an Ottoman Turkish statesman and diplomat, known best as the chief architect behind the imperial Ottoman government reforms known as Tanzimat. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 13 March in World History

• 13 Mar 2025: John Feinstein, American sportswriter and commentator (born 1956) John Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator. A long-time sports reporter at the Washington Post, he also wrote numerous books and was particularly known for A Season on the Brink, published in 1986, which chronicled a season with Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. Read more
• 13 Mar 2025: Raúl Grijalva, United States representative from Arizona (born 1948) Raúl Manuel Grijalva was an American politician and activist who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 2003 until his death in 2025. As member of the Democratic Party, Grijalva represented Arizona's 7th congressional district from 2003 to 2013, Arizona's 3rd congressional district from 2013 to 2023, and the 7th district again from 2023 to 2025. The two districts included the western third of Tucson, part of Yuma and Nogales, and some peripheral parts of metropolitan Phoenix. Read more
• 13 Mar 2025: Sofia Gubaidulina, Russian-German pianist and composer (born 1931) Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina was a Soviet and Russian composer of modernist sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous chamber, orchestral and choral works. Her output has been described as exploring the tensions between Western and Eastern music, and has been characterised by "innovative use of microtonality and chromaticism, rhythm over form and use of contrasting tonalities. Read more
• 13 Mar 2024: Philippe de Gaulle, French admiral (born 1921) Philippe Henri Xavier Antoine de Gaulle was a French admiral and senator. He was the eldest and last surviving child of General Charles de Gaulle, the first president of the French Fifth Republic, and of his wife, Yvonne. Read more
• 13 Mar 2022: William Hurt, American actor (born 1950) William McChord Hurt was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, in addition to nominations for five Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Read more
• 13 Mar 2021: Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American professional boxer (born 1954) Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1987. He reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the 20th century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "The Marv" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as "Marvelous", Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982. Read more
• 13 Mar 2021: Murray Walker, English motorsport commentator and journalist (born 1923) Graeme Murray Walker was an English motorsport commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV between 1997 and 2001. Read more
• 13 Mar 2018: Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women's rights activist. (born 1931) Emily Daoud Nasrallah was a Lebanese writer and women's rights activist. Read more
• 13 Mar 2017: Amy Krouse Rosenthal, American author (born 1965) Amy Krouse Rosenthal was an American author of both adult and children's books, a short film maker, and radio show host. She is best known for her memoir Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, her children's picture books, and the film project The Beckoning of Lovely. She was a prolific writer, publishing more than 30 children's books between 2005 and her death in 2017. She is the only author to have three children's books make the Best Children's Books for Family Literacy list in the same year. She was a contributor to Chicago's NPR affiliate WBEZ, and to the TED conference. Read more
• 13 Mar 2016: Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist (born 1926) Hilary Whitehall Putnam was an American philosopher, mathematician, computer scientist, and figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. He contributed to the studies of philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science. Outside philosophy, Putnam contributed to mathematics and computer science. Together with Martin Davis he developed the Davis–Putnam algorithm for the Boolean satisfiability problem and he helped demonstrate the unsolvability of Hilbert's tenth problem. Read more
• 13 Mar 2015: Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (born 1924) Albert Leonard Rosen, nicknamed "Flip" and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and executive. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Cleveland Indians from 1947 to 1956. Read more
• 13 Mar 2014: Reubin Askew, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of Florida (born 1928) Reubin O'Donovan Askew was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of Florida from 1971 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 7th U.S. trade representative from 1979 to 1980 under President Jimmy Carter. He led on tax reform, civil rights, and financial transparency for public officials, maintaining an outstanding reputation for personal integrity. Read more
• 13 Mar 2014: Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, Irish businessman and politician (born 1944) Edward Enda Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, OBE, FRCVS, was an Irish-British entrepreneur and politician. Read more
• 13 Mar 2014: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (born 1932) Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992. Read more
• 13 Mar 2014: Icchokas Meras, Lithuanian-Israeli author and screenwriter (born 1934) Icchokas Meras was a Lithuanian writer. Read more
• 13 Mar 2013: Clive Burr, English drummer and songwriter (born 1957) Clive Ronald Burr was an English musician. He was the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Together with fellow Iron Maiden member Dennis Stratton, he joined Praying Mantis for the recording of their 1996 live album Captured Alive in Tokyo City. Read more
• 13 Mar 2011: Rick Martin, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1951) Richard Lionel Martin was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1982. He featured in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals with the Sabres. He was most famous for playing on the Sabres' French Connection line with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert. Read more
• 13 Mar 2010: Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter (born 1930) Jean Ferrat was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He specialized in singing poetry, particularly that of Louis Aragon. Read more
• 13 Mar 2009: Betsy Blair, American actress (born 1923) Betsy Blair was an American actress of film and stage, long based in London. Read more
• 13 Mar 2009: Alan W. Livingston, American businessman (born 1917) Alan Wendell Livingston was an American businessman best known for his tenures at Capitol Records, first as a writer/producer who created Bozo the Clown for a series of record-album and illustrative read-along children's book sets starting in the late 40s, and later as suggesting the circular shape of the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. As vice-president in charge of programming at NBC, in 1959 he oversaw the development and launch of the network's most successful television series, Bonanza. On his return to Capitol Records in 1960, he was involved in the label’s move to rock music, which included releasing music recordings by the Beatles after Capitol had rejected the band’s first singles. Read more
• 13 Mar 2007: Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (born 1925) Arnold Skaaland was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Read more
• 13 Mar 2006: Robert C. Baker, American businessman, invented the chicken nugget (born 1921) Robert C. Baker was an American food science professor. He invented the chicken nugget as well as many other poultry-related inventions. For his contributions to poultry sciences, he was inducted into the American Poultry Hall of Fame. Read more
• 13 Mar 2006: Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (born 1944) James Connolly Johnstone was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years and was one of the Lisbon Lions, the team that won the 1967 European Cup Final. Johnstone also won nine consecutive Scottish championships. He scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances and was voted the club's greatest-ever player by fans in 2002. Read more
• 13 Mar 2006: Maureen Stapleton, American actress (born 1925) Lois Maureen Stapleton was an American actress. She received numerous accolades, becoming one of the few actors to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Tony Awards. She also received a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award. Read more
• 13 Mar 2006: Peter Tomarken, American television personality, game show host (born 1942) Peter David Tomarken was an American television personality primarily known as the host of the game show Press Your Luck. Read more
• 13 Mar 2004: Franz König, Austrian cardinal (born 1905) Franz König was an Austrian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Vienna from 1956 to 1985, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. The last surviving cardinal elevated by Pope John XXIII, he was the longest-serving and second-oldest cardinal worldwide at the time of his death. Read more
• 13 Mar 2002: Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (born 1900) Hans-Georg Gadamer was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 magnum opus on hermeneutics Truth and Method. Read more
• 13 Mar 2001: John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (born 1934) John A. Alonzo, ASC was an American cinematographer, television director, and actor. Read more
• 13 Mar 2001: Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (born 1895) Encarnación Amoranto Alzona was a pioneering Filipino historian, educator and suffragist. The first Filipino woman to obtain a Ph.D., she was conferred in 1985 the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines. Read more
• 13 Mar 1999: Lee Falk, American cartoonist, director, and producer (born 1911) Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross, was an American writer, playwright, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the comic strips Mandrake the Magician and The Phantom. At the height of their popularity, these strips attracted over 100 million readers every day. Falk also wrote short stories, and he contributed to a series of paperback novels about The Phantom. Read more
• 13 Mar 1999: Garson Kanin, American director and screenwriter (born 1912) Garson Kanin was an American writer, director, actor and musician. He wrote and directed a number of plays and films and was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Tony Awards for his work. Read more
• 13 Mar 1998: Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (born 1945) Alexander Minto Hughes, better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and the BBC has banned more of his songs from radio and television than those of any other recording artist, because of his frequent use of sexual innuendo and double entendres. Following his death, Rolling Stone reported, "He sold several million albums throughout his 25-plus year career and was second only to Bob Marley in U.K. reggae sales during the 1970s". Read more
• 13 Mar 1998: Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (born 1911) Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain was a German physicist, engineer, and the designer of the first aircraft to use a turbojet engine.
  Together with Frank Whittle and Anselm Franz, he has been described as the co-inventor of the turbojet engine. Additionally, prior to building his engine and filing his own patent in 1935, von Ohain had read and critiqued Whittle's patents. Von Ohain stated in his biography that "My interest in jet propulsion began in the fall of 1933 when I was in my seventh semester at Göttingen University. I didn't know that many people before me had the same thought." Unlike Whittle, von Ohain had the significant advantage of being supported by an aircraft manufacturer, Heinkel, who funded his work. Read more
• 13 Mar 1996: Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (born 1941) Krzysztof Kieślowski was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for Dekalog (1989), The Double Life of Veronique (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy (1993–1994). Read more
• 13 Mar 1995: Odette Hallowes, French nurse and spy (born 1912) Odette Marie Léonie Céline Hallowes,, also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Sansom, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. She was the first woman to be awarded the George Cross by the United Kingdom and was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France. The following information relating to her war service uses 'Sansom' as this was her surname during this period. Read more
• 13 Mar 1990: Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psychologist and author (born 1903) Bruno Bettelheim was an Austrian-born American psychologist, scholar, public intellectual and writer who spent most of his academic and clinical career in the United States. An early writer on autism, Bettelheim's work focused on the education of emotionally disturbed children, as well as Freudian psychology more generally. In the U.S., he later gained a position as professor at the University of Chicago and director of the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School for Disturbed Children, and after 1973 taught at Stanford University. Read more
• 13 Mar 1983: Paul Citroen, German-Dutch illustrator and educator (born 1896) Roelof Paul Citroen was a German-born Dutch artist, art educator and co-founder of the New Art Academy in Amsterdam. Among his best-known works are the photo-montage Metropolis and the 1949 Dutch postage stamps. Read more
• 13 Mar 1976: Ole Haugsrud, American sports executive (born 1900) Oluf Roy Haugsrud was an American sports executive. Haugsrud was born in Superior, Wisconsin. Read more
• 13 Mar 1975: Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav novelist, poet, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892) Ivo Andrić was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. His writings dealt mainly with life in his native Bosnia under Ottoman rule. Read more
• 13 Mar 1972: Tony Ray-Jones, English photographer (born 1941) Tony Ray-Jones was an English photographer. Read more
• 13 Mar 1971: Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (born 1882) Rockwell Kent was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Read more
• 13 Mar 1965: Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (born 1891) Vittorio Jano was an Italian automobile designer of Hungarian descent, active in European racing car engine design from the 1920s through 1960s. Read more
• 13 Mar 1965: Fan Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Albania (born 1882) Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli, was an Albanian-American writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, bishop, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America who served as Prime Minister and regent of Albania in 1924 during the June Revolution. Read more
• 13 Mar 1962: Anne Acheson, Irish sculptor (born 1882) Anne Crawford Acheson was a British-Irish sculptor. She and Elinor Hallé invented plaster casts for soldier's broken limbs. Acheson exhibited at the Royal Academy and internationally. She was awarded the CBE in 1919. During the First World War she worked for the Surgical Requisites Association at Mulberry Walk in Chelsea, London. Acheson received the Gleichen Memorial Award in 1938. She divided her time between London and Glenavy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Read more
• 13 Mar 1961: Lise Lindbæk, Norwegian journalist and war correspondent (born 1905) Lise Lindbæk was a Norwegian freelance journalist and foreign correspondent, and writer of several books. She is commonly regarded as Norway's first female war correspondent. Read more
• 13 Mar 1953: Johan Laidoner, Estonian general and statesman (born 1884) Johan Laidoner was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Estonian politics between the world wars. Read more
• 13 Mar 1951: Ants "the Terrible" Kaljurand, Estonian anti-communist, freedom fighter and forest brother (born 1917) Ants Kaljurand popularly known as Terrifying Ants,, was an Estonian Nazi collaborator, anti-communist, and forest brother during and after World War II. Read more
• 13 Mar 1946: Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (born 1878) Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg was a German field marshal and politician who served as the first Minister of War in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1938. Blomberg had served as Chief of the Truppenamt, equivalent to the German General Staff, during the Weimar Republic from 1927 to 1929. Read more
• 13 Mar 1943: Stephen Vincent Benét, American poet, short story writer, and novelist (born 1898) Stephen Vincent Benét was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body, published in 1928, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and for the short stories "The Devil and Daniel Webster", published in 1936, and "By the Waters of Babylon", published in 1937. Read more
• 13 Mar 1938: Clarence Darrow, American lawyer and author (born 1857) Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and politician who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes "monkey" trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a prominent advocate for Georgist economic reform. Darrow was also a well-known public speaker, debater, and writer. Read more
• 13 Mar 1936: Francis Bell, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1851) Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell was a New Zealand lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of New Zealand from 14 to 30 May 1925. He was the first New Zealand-born prime minister, holding office in a caretaker capacity following the death of William Massey. Read more
• 13 Mar 1923: Josephine Leary, American real estate entrepreneur (born 1856) Josephine Napoleon Leary (1856–1923) was an American businesswoman and real estate entrepreneur from Edenton, North Carolina. The J. N. Leary building, a large commercial property in Edenton built in 1894, features her name on the pediment. Read more
• 13 Mar 1921: Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (born 1835) Jane Elizabeth Kempton was an American contralto opera solo singer who had an active career spanning over fifty years starting in 1850. She sang in hundreds of performances across the United States and Europe during her long career. Read more
• 13 Mar 1912: Eugène-Étienne Taché, Canadian engineer and architect, designed the Parliament Building (born 1836) Eugène-Étienne Taché, ISO was a French Canadian surveyor, civil engineer, illustrator and architect. He devised Quebec's provincial coat-of-arms and motto Je me souviens. Read more
• 13 Mar 1906: Susan B. Anthony, American activist (born 1820) Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. Read more
• 13 Mar 1901: Benjamin Harrison, American general and politician, 23rd President of the United States (born 1833) Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, a Founding Father. A Union army veteran and a Republican, he defeated incumbent Grover Cleveland to win the presidency in 1888. Read more
• 13 Mar 1885: Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (born 1795) Giorgio Mitrovich was a Maltese patriot and politician known for his role in the struggle for freedom of the press in Malta. He was one of the founders of the Comitato Generale Maltese, and he co-authored a petition in 1832 which led to a new constitution in 1835. He traveled to London multiple times to increase awareness of Maltese grievances, and his 1835 visit resulted in a Royal Commission recommending the abolition of press censorship, which was implemented in 1839. He was briefly elected to the Council of Government in the 1850s. Read more
• 13 Mar 1884: Leland Stanford Jr., American son of Leland Stanford (born 1868) Leland Stanford Jr. was the only child of American industrialist and politician Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane. Following his death from typhoid at age 15, Stanford became the namesake of Stanford University, which is officially called Leland Stanford Junior University. Read more
• 13 Mar 1881: Alexander II of Russia (born 1818) Alexander II was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 2 March 1855 until his assassination on 13 March 1881. He is also known as Alexander the Liberator because of his historic Edict of Emancipation, which officially abolished Russian serfdom in 1861. Crowned on 7 September 1856, he succeeded his father Nicholas I and was succeeded by his son Alexander III. Read more
• 13 Mar 1879: Adolf Anderssen, German mathematician and chess player (born 1818) Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He won the great international tournaments of 1851 and 1862, but lost matches to Paul Morphy in 1858, and to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866. Accordingly, he is generally regarded as having been the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, and leading active player from 1862 to 1866, although the title of World Chess Champion did not yet exist. Read more
• 13 Mar 1873: David Swinson Maynard, American physician, lawyer, and businessman (born 1808) David Swinson "Doc" Maynard was an American doctor and businessman. He was one of Seattle's primary founders. Maynard was Seattle's first doctor, merchant prince, second lawyer, Sub-Indian Agent, Justice of the Peace, and architect of the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. Read more
• 13 Mar 1854: Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (born 1773) Jean-Baptiste Guillaume Joseph Marie Anne Séraphin, 1st Count of Villèle, better known simply as Joseph de Villèle, was a French statesman who served as the Prime Minister of France from 1821 to 1828. He was a leader of the Ultra-royalist faction during the Bourbon Restoration. Read more
• 13 Mar 1842: Henry Shrapnel, English general (born 1761) Lieutenant-General Henry Scrope Shrapnel was a British Army officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He invented the shrapnel shell, which was named after him. Read more
• 13 Mar 1833: William Bradley, English lieutenant and cartographer (born 1757) William Bradley was a British naval officer and cartographer who was one of the officers who participated in the First Fleet to Australia. During this expedition, Bradley undertook extensive surveys and became one of the first of the settlers to establish relations with the aborigines, with whom he struck up a dialogue and whose customs and nature he studied extensively. He later however fell out with his aboriginal contacts and instead undertook a mission to gather food which ended with an eleven-month stay on Norfolk Island after a shipwreck. Read more
• 13 Mar 1823: John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (born 1735) Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent was a Royal Navy officer and politician. Jervis served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into the 19th, and was an active commander during the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is best known for his victory at the 1797 Battle of Cape St. Vincent, from which he earned his titles, and as a patron of Horatio Nelson. Read more
• 13 Mar 1808: Christian VII of Denmark (born 1749) Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. He was affected by mental illness and was only nominally king for most of his reign. His royal advisers changed depending on the outcome of power struggles. From 1770 to 1772, his court physician Johann Friedrich Struensee was the de facto ruler of the country and introduced progressive reforms signed into law by the king. Struensee was deposed by a coup in 1772, after which the country was ruled by Christian's stepmother, Queen Dowager Juliane Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, his half-brother Hereditary Prince Frederick, and the Danish politician Ove Høegh-Guldberg. From 1784 until Christian VII's death in 1808, Christian's son, later Frederick VI, acted as unofficial prince regent. Read more
• 13 Mar 1800: Nana Fadnavis, Indian minister and politician (born 1742) Nana Fadnavis, born Balaji Janardan Bhanu, was a Maratha minister and statesman during the Peshwa administration in Pune, India. James Grant Duff states that he was called "the Maratha Machiavelli" by the Europeans. Read more

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Why is 13 March Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 13 March, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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