History of Today 13 July: Important Events, Births and Deaths

Welcome to History of Today 13 July. On this page, you can read important historical events, famous births, notable deaths and general knowledge facts related to 13 July. This information is useful for UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railway, State PSC and other competitive exams.

Last updated on 13 July 2026, 01:02 AM

Important Events on 13 July in History

• 13 Jul 2024: Former president of the United States Donald Trump is injured in an assassination attempt while speaking at an election campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Read more
• 13 Jul 2020: After a five-day search, the body of American actress and singer Naya Rivera is recovered from Lake Piru in California, where she had drowned. Read more
• 13 Jul 2016: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May. Read more
• 13 Jul 2014: Germany wins the FIFA World Cup, defeating Argentina in the final 1–0 after extra time. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan. Read more
• 13 Jul 2011: Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130. Read more
• 13 Jul 2011: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of United Nations. Read more
• 13 Jul 2011: Noar Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 crashes in Boa Viagem, Recife, killing all 16 people on board. Read more
• 13 Jul 2008: Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001. Read more
• 13 Jul 2003: French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press. Read more
• 13 Jul 1995: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-70 to deploy the TDRS-7 satellite. Read more
• 13 Jul 1990: Lenin Peak disaster: a 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan triggers an avalanche on Lenin Peak, killing 43 climbers in the deadliest mountaineering disaster in history. Read more
• 13 Jul 1985: The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney. Read more
• 13 Jul 1985: Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon. Read more
• 13 Jul 1977: Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War. Read more
• 13 Jul 1977: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil, New York City experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting. Read more
• 13 Jul 1973: Watergate scandal: Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee. Read more
• 13 Jul 1962: In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics. Read more
• 13 Jul 1956: The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence. Read more
• 13 Jul 1951: Vuoristorata, one of the oldest still-operating wooden roller coasters in Europe, is opened at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. Read more
• 13 Jul 1941: World War II: Montenegrins begin the Trinaestojulski ustanak (Thirteenth of July Uprising), a popular revolt against the Axis powers. Read more
• 13 Jul 1930: The inaugural FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay. Read more
• 13 Jul 1919: The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. Read more
• 13 Jul 1913: The 1913 Romanian Army cholera outbreak during the Second Balkan War starts. Read more
• 13 Jul 1878: Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire. Read more
• 13 Jul 1863: American Civil War: The New York City draft riots begin three days of rioting which will later be regarded as the worst in United States history. Read more
• 13 Jul 1854: In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon. Read more
• 13 Jul 1849: The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion began in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Read more
• 13 Jul 1841: Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and Russia conclude the London Straits Convention, which prevents warships to cross the Bosporus and Dardanelles in times of war. Read more
• 13 Jul 1831: Regulamentul Organic, a quasi-constitutional organic law is adopted in Wallachia, one of the two Danubian Principalities that were to become the basis of Romania. Read more
• 13 Jul 1830: The General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali Renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India. Read more
• 13 Jul 1814: The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established. Read more

Famous Births on 13 July

• 13 Jul 2007: Lamine Yamal, Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is regarded as one of the best players in the world. Read more
• 13 Jul 2004: Nihal Sarin, Indian Chess Grandmaster Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess grandmaster and chess prodigy. In 2018, he passed the Elo rating of 2600 at 14 years old, which at the time made him the third youngest player in history to do so. Read more
• 13 Jul 2003: Wyatt Oleff, American actor Wyatt Jess Oleff is an American actor, known for playing Stanley Uris in It and its 2019 sequel, as well as the role of Stanley Barber in I Am Not Okay with This (2020), and a young Peter Quill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) by Marvel Studios. Read more
• 13 Jul 2003: Mason Teague, Australian rugby league player Mason Teague is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock or second-row forward for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League. Read more
• 13 Jul 2002: Deborah Medrado, Brazilian rhythmic gymnast Déborah Medrado Barbosa is a Brazilian former group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2021 and 2022 Pan American group all-around champion and the 2019 Pan American Games 3 hoops + 4 clubs champion. She won three gold medals at the 2018 South American Games and at the 2019 South American Championships. Medrado represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics and at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She announced her retirement in November 2024. Read more
• 13 Jul 2001: Kim Sin-jin, South Korean footballer Kim Sin-jin is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a striker for K League 2 club Seoul E-Land FC on loan from FC Seoul. He made his debut professional appearance in the 2022 K League 1 season. Read more
• 13 Jul 1997: Josh Hines-Allen, American football player Joshua Hines-Allen is an American professional football defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats, winning the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy as a junior. Hines-Allen was selected seventh overall by the Jaguars in the 2019 NFL draft and has received two Pro Bowl selections with the team. Read more
• 13 Jul 1997: Leo Howard, American actor and martial artist Leo Howard is an American actor, director, musician and martial artist. His accolades include a Young Artist Award for playing Laser Short in Shorts (2009). He is known for incorporating his karate skills into his feature film and television roles and he is known for playing young Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and as Jack Brewer on the Disney XD comedy series Kickin' It and was certified as the youngest TV director ever by the Guinness World Records for his work on the episode "Fight at the Museum" in the series’ fourth season at the age of 16. In 2023, he joined the cast of Days of Our Lives as Tate Black. Read more
• 13 Jul 1995: Cody Bellinger, American baseball player Cody James Bellinger is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. He was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft and debuted with them in 2017. Read more
• 13 Jul 1995: Dante Exum, Australian basketball player Danté Exum is an Australian professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He chose to bypass college and was ultimately selected by the Utah Jazz with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. Read more
• 13 Jul 1993: Dan Bentley, English footballer Daniel Ian Bentley is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has played in the English Football League for Southend United, Brentford and Bristol City. Read more
• 13 Jul 1993: Yebin, South Korean singer-songwriter and composer Baek Ye-bin, better known mononymously as Yebin, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and composer. She is best known for being a member of the South Korean girl group DIA, and for finishing second in the survival show The Unit, making her a member of Uni.T. Read more
• 13 Jul 1992: Rich the Kid, American rapper Dimitri Leslie Roger, known professionally as Rich the Kid, is an American rapper. After a number of independent mixtapes, he signed with Interscope Records in 2017 to release his debut studio album, The World Is Yours (2018). Supported by his best known singles "New Freezer" and "Plug Walk", the album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. His second and third studio albums, The World Is Yours 2 (2019) and Boss Man (2020) peaked at numbers four and 24 on the chart, respectively. He has also released the collaborative mixtapes Nobody Safe (2020) with YoungBoy Never Broke Again, and Trust Fund Babies (2021) with Lil Wayne. Furthermore, he founded the record label Rich Forever Music in 2016, through which he has signed rappers Famous Dex and Jay Critch. Read more
• 13 Jul 1992: Elise Matthysen, Belgian swimmer Elise Matthysen is a retired Belgian swimmer who specialised in breaststroke. During the 2008 European Aquatics Championships she came 4th in the final of the 100 m breaststroke in which she broke the national record of Brigitte Becue. With this excellent performance, she managed to qualify herself for the Olympics. At the Olympics, while still only 16 years of age, she qualified for the semi-finals for both the 100 m breaststroke and 200 m breaststroke with a new Belgian record; eventually she finished respectively 13th and 16th overall. Read more
• 13 Jul 1991: Tyler Skaggs, American baseball player (died 2019) Tyler Wayne Skaggs was an American professional baseball player. A starting pitcher, he played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels between 2012 and 2019. Read more
• 13 Jul 1990: Kieran Foran, New Zealand rugby league player Kieran Foran is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League, with whom he also won the 2011 NRL premiership. He primarily played as a five-eighth but also spent time at halfback. At international level, he represented New Zealand, with whom he won the 2014 Four Nations and 2023 Rugby League Pacific Cup, the latter while playing hooker. Read more
• 13 Jul 1990: Eduardo Salvio, Argentinian footballer Eduardo Antonio Salvio is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a winger for Lanús. Read more
• 13 Jul 1989: Leon Bridges, American soul singer, songwriter and record producer Todd Michael "Leon" Bridges is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Debuting as a throwback act with 2015's Coming Home, an album reviving 1960s soul music, he has since branched out to other genres reflecting his musical influences like R&B artist Ginuwine and country artist Townes Van Zandt. His second and third albums, Good Thing (2018), wherein Bridges drew from 1980s quiet storm and 1990s neo soul, and Gold-Diggers Sound (2021), with which Bridges did his own take on 1990s and 2000s R&B, earned Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album; the former peaked at number three on the chart while the latter peaked at number 17 and yielded critical acclaim. His 2018 single, "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand", won the Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Bridges' fourth album, Leon (2024), was a personal album with folk and country influences. Read more
• 13 Jul 1989: Charis Giannopoulos, Greek basketball player Charalampos "Charis" Giannopoulos is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Maroussi of the Greek Basketball League. He is a 2.01 m tall small forward. Read more
• 13 Jul 1988: Marcos Paulo Gelmini Gomes, Brazilian-Italian footballer Marcos Paulo Gelmini Gomes, known as Marcos Paulo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga 3 club Académica de Coimbra. He also holds Italian nationality. Read more
• 13 Jul 1988: Colton Haynes, American actor, model and singer Colton Lee Haynes is an American actor and model. He is known for his starring role as Jackson Whittemore in the MTV supernatural drama series Teen Wolf and as Roy Harper / Arsenal in the CW superhero television series Arrow. Read more
• 13 Jul 1988: DJ LeMahieu, American baseball player David John LeMahieu is an American professional baseball infielder who currently serves as the manager for the Royal Oak Leprechauns of the Northwoods League. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, and New York Yankees from 2011 to 2025. Read more
• 13 Jul 1988: Raúl Spank, German high jumper Raúl Roland Spank is a retired German athlete who specialised in the high jump. Read more
• 13 Jul 1988: Tulisa, English singer-songwriter and actress Tula Paulinea "Tulisa" Contostavlos, known professionally as Tulisa, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and television personality. As a part of the R&B/hip-hop group N-Dubz with her cousin Dappy and friend Fazer, they gained four platinum-certified albums, five MOBO awards, a Brit Award nomination, thirteen top 40 singles, six silver-certified singles, three gold-certified singles, two platinum-certified singles, and three Urban Music Awards. Read more
• 13 Jul 1985: Trell Kimmons, American sprinter David Pretrell "Trell" Kimmons is an American sprinter. Read more
• 13 Jul 1985: Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña, commonly known as Memo Ochoa, is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a full international with the Mexico national team, which he captained, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest Mexican goalkeepers of all time. Read more
• 13 Jul 1985: Charlotte Dujardin, English equestrian Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin is a British dressage rider, equestrian, and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. In 2014 she held the complete set of available individual elite dressage titles: the individual Olympic freestyle, World freestyle and Grand Prix Special, World Cup individual dressage and European freestyle, and Grand Prix Special titles. Dujardin was the first rider to hold this complete set of titles at the same time. Read more
• 13 Jul 1985: Abdallah El Said, Egyptian footballer Abdallah Mahmoud Said Bekhit is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek Read more
• 13 Jul 1984: Ida Maria, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen, better known simply as Ida Maria, is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. Read more
• 13 Jul 1984: Faf du Plessis, South African professional cricketer François "Faf" du Plessis is a South African professional cricket right-handed batter who plays for Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 and Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket. Representing the South Africa national team from 2011 to 2021, he scored over 10,000 career runs across all formats in international cricket. He served as the captain of the national team on several occasions. Read more
• 13 Jul 1983: Kristof Beyens, Belgian sprinter Kristof Beyens is a Belgian sprint athlete, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. His personal best time over 200 metres is 20.44 s, achieved in Osaka during the World Championships. Read more
• 13 Jul 1983: Marco Pomante, Italian footballer Marco Pomante is an Italian football trainer who trains for SSD Città di Teramo. Read more
• 13 Jul 1983: Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang is a Chinese former 110 meter hurdler. Liu is an Olympic gold medalist and world champion. His 2004 Olympic gold medal was China's first Olympic gold medal in men's athletics. Read more
• 13 Jul 1982: Shin-Soo Choo, South Korean baseball player Shin-Soo Choo is a South Korean former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers before ending his career in the KBO League with the SSG Landers. Choo left MLB as the record holder for most career home runs (218) hit by an Asian-born player in the league, which was later passed by Shohei Ohtani. Read more
• 13 Jul 1982: Simon Clist, English footballer Simon James Clist is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. He began his career at Tottenham Hotspur and went on to play for Bristol City, Torquay United, Barnet, Hereford United, Oxford United and Forest Green Rovers. Read more
• 13 Jul 1982: Dominic Isaacs, South African footballer Dominic Isaacs is a South African association football player who played as a defender in the Premier Soccer League. He then became a manager. Read more
• 13 Jul 1982: Nick Kenny, Australian rugby league player Nick Kenny is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s for the Brisbane Broncos club in the National Rugby League competition. He primarily played as a prop-forward. Read more
• 13 Jul 1982: Yadier Molina, Puerto Rican baseball player Yadier Benjamín Molina is a Puerto Rican professional baseball manager, adviser, and former catcher who is the manager of Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP) and a special assistant to the president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played his entire 19-year MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2004 to 2022. Widely considered one of the greatest defensive catchers of all time for his blocking ability and caught-stealing percentage, Molina won nine Rawlings Gold Gloves and six Fielding Bible Awards. A two-time World Series champion, he played for Cardinals teams that made 12 playoff appearances and won four National League pennants. Molina also played for the Puerto Rican national team in four World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournaments, winning two silver medals. Read more
• 13 Jul 1981: Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian swimmer Ágnes Kovács is a Hungarian swimmer who competed at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. In 2000, she won the 200 m breaststroke and set the Hungary records in the 100 m and 200 m breaststrokes events. As of 2014, these records still stand. She won a bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1996 Olympics and placed fifth in 2004; in 2004 she also finished fourth in the 200 m individual medley event. Read more
• 13 Jul 1981: Masyita Crystallin, Indonesian economist Masyita Crystallin is an Indonesian economist who served as the director general of financial sector stability and development at the Ministry of Finance until 2026 when she was appointed to her current role as Head of Economic and ESG Strategic Positioning in Indonesia's largest sovereign wealth fund Danantara. Throughout her professional career, Masyita held roles both nationally and globally, including serving as special advisor to the finance minister for fiscal and macroeconomic policy and climate change. Read more
• 13 Jul 1981: Mirco Lorenzetto, Italian cyclist Mirco Lorenzetto is an Italian former racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 2004 and 2011. During his career, Lorenzetto took victories in the 2007 Tour Méditerranéen, the 2009 Giro di Sardegna, and the 2009 Giro del Friuli. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team Vega–Vitalcare–Dynatek. Read more
• 13 Jul 1979: Craig Bellamy, Welsh footballer Craig Douglas Bellamy is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the current head coach of Wales. Read more
• 13 Jul 1979: Daniel Díaz, Argentinian footballer Daniel Alberto "Cata" Díaz is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a central defender. Read more
• 13 Jul 1979: Libuše Průšová, Czech tennis player Libuše Průšová is a former professional Czech tennis player. Read more
• 13 Jul 1979: Lucinda Ruh, Swiss figure skater and coach Lucinda Martha Ruh is a Swiss former competitive figure skater. She is the 1996 Swiss national champion and the 1993 junior level national champion. Read more
• 13 Jul 1978: Ryan Ludwick, American baseball player Ryan Andrew Ludwick is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds. His brother Eric also played four MLB seasons as a pitcher. Read more
• 13 Jul 1978: Prodromos Nikolaidis, Greek basketball player Prodromos "Makis" Nikolaidis is a former Greek-Cypriot professional basketball player. At a height of 2.01 m tall, and 102 kg (225 lb) in weight, he could play both the shooting guard and small forward positions. During his playing career, Nikolaidis possessed great shooting ability. In 2008, he won the 3-point shootout competition of the Greek League All-Star Game. Read more
• 13 Jul 1977: Chris Horn, American football player Chris Horn is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rocky Mountain Battlin' Bears. Read more
• 13 Jul 1976: Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player Sheldon Souray is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and Anaheim Ducks. He was best known for his heavy slapshot, once setting a previous unofficial NHL record for the hardest recorded shot at the Oilers' 2009 Skills Competition. Read more
• 13 Jul 1975: Diego Spotorno, Ecuadorian actor Diego Spotorno Parra is an actor and TV host from Ecuador, known for his character Juan Carlos Martinez Cucalón in the comic series Solteros Sin Compromiso. Read more
• 13 Jul 1975: Mariada Pieridi, Cypriot singer-songwriter Mariada Pieridi is a Cypriot pop singer. Read more
• 13 Jul 1974: Deborah Cox, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress Deborah Cox is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before becoming a professional backing vocalist for Celine Dion. In 1994, Cox relocated to the United States and was signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, releasing her self-titled debut album the following year. Her second studio album, One Wish (1998), was certified platinum in the United States. It was marked by the commercial success of the pop crossover single "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", which would become her most successful entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number two and remaining there for eight consecutive weeks. Cox signed with J Records for her third studio album The Morning After (2002), which saw moderate commercial success. Read more
• 13 Jul 1974: Jarno Trulli, Italian race car driver Jarno Trulli is an Italian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011. Trulli won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix with Renault. Read more
• 13 Jul 1972: Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler Sean Michael Waltman is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac; World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Syxx; and NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) as Syxx-Pac and under his real name. Read more
• 13 Jul 1971: MF Doom, English-American rapper (died 2020) Daniel Dumile, also known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom, was a British and American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and "supervillain" stage persona, he became a major figure of underground hip hop and alternative hip hop in the 2000s, and has been widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential lyricists in underground rap. Read more
• 13 Jul 1971: Mark Neeld, Australian footballer and coach Mark Neeld is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. He was senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club from 2012 to 2013. Read more
• 13 Jul 1970: Andrei Tivontchik, German pole vaulter and trainer Andrei Tivontchik is a former German pole vaulter. He was Olympic bronze medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Read more
• 13 Jul 1969: José Andrés, Chef, Restaurateur, and Entrepreneur José Ramón Andrés Puerta is a Spanish and American chef and restaurateur. Born in Spain, he moved to the United States in the early 1990s and since then, he has opened restaurants in several American cities. He has won a number of awards, both for his cooking, and his humanitarian work. He is a professor as well as the founder of the Global Food Institute at George Washington University. Read more
• 13 Jul 1969: Brad Godden, Australian rugby league player Bradley Godden is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s. He played for the Newcastle Knights, Hunter Mariners, and the Leeds Rhinos as a fullback, wing or centre. Read more
• 13 Jul 1969: Ken Jeong, American actor, comedian, and physician Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in The Hangover film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015). He created, wrote and produced the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken (2015–2017), in which he portrays the titular character, and he has appeared in the films Knocked Up (2007), Role Models (2008), Furry Vengeance (2010), The Duff (2015), Ride Along 2 (2016), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Scoob! (2020), Tom & Jerry (2021), and KPop Demon Hunters (2025). Read more
• 13 Jul 1969: Oleg Serebrian, Moldovan political scientist and politician Oleg Serebrian is a Moldovan politician, writer, diplomat and political scientist, President of the Latin Union between 2010 and 2012. He served as Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of Moldova from 2022 to 2025 and is currently the Moldovan Ambassador to Turkey. Read more
• 13 Jul 1967: Richard Marles, Australian lawyer and politician, 50th Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Richard Donald Marles is an Australian politician and lawyer who has served as the 19th deputy prime minister of Australia and the minister for defence since 2022. He has been the deputy leader of the Labor Party since 2019 and the member of parliament (MP) for the Victorian division of Corio since 2007. Read more
• 13 Jul 1967: Mark McGowan, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Western Australia Mark McGowan is an Australian former politician and naval officer who served as the 30th premier of Western Australia from 2017 until his retirement in 2023. He was the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 to 2023 and a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Rockingham from 1996 to 2023. Read more
• 13 Jul 1966: Gerald Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (died 2006) Gerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and producer. The son of singer Eddie Levert, he formed the R&B vocal group LeVert alongside his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon. He was also a member of the supergroup LSG, along with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. Levert is often credited with the discovery of R&B groups The Rude Boys, Men at Large, and 1 of the Girls. He released nine solo albums, and posthumously won a Grammy Award. In 2013, he was a part of the inaugural National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame inductees. Read more
• 13 Jul 1966: Natalia Luis-Bassa, Venezuelan-English conductor and educator Natalia Luis-Bassa is a Venezuelan conductor who lives and works in the UK, where she is Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music and Principal Guest Conductor of Oxford University Orchestra and Jersey Symphony Orchestra Read more
• 13 Jul 1965: Eileen Ivers, American fiddler Eileen Ivers is an American fiddler. Read more
• 13 Jul 1965: Akina Nakamori, Japanese singer and actress Akina Nakamori is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She is one of the most popular and best-selling music artists in Japan. Akina achieved national recognition after winning the 1981 season of the talent show Star Tanjō!. Her debut single "Slow Motion" was released to moderate success, peaking at number thirty on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. Nakamori's popularity increased with the release of her follow-up single, "Shōjo A", which peaked at number five on the Oricon charts and sold over 390,000 copies. Her second album Variation became her first number-one on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, staying in that position for three weeks. Read more
• 13 Jul 1965: Colin van der Voort, Australian rugby league player Colin van der Voort is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played in the New South Wales Rugby League's Winfield Cup Premiership with the Penrith Panthers from 1986 to 1994 and was a member of the club's grand final-winning team in the 1991 season. Read more
• 13 Jul 1964: Charlie Hides, American drag queen and comedian Charlie Hides is a British-American drag queen, impersonator, actor, and comedian. Hides is known for his YouTube channel, and his participation in the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Following live performances in London clubs, Hides started a YouTube channel in March 2011. He has produced hundreds of videos satirizing popular culture, and impersonating celebrities such as Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Lana Del Rey. Read more
• 13 Jul 1964: Paul Thorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Thorn is an American Southern rock, country, Americana, and blues singer-songwriter, whose style is a mix of blues, country, and rock. Read more
• 13 Jul 1963: Parker Bohn III, American bowler Parker Morse Bohn III is an American left-handed professional ten-pin bowler. He has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 1984, and is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame. Bohn is one of only eight players in PBA history to accumulate at least 30 career PBA Tour titles, currently ranking fifth all-time with 35. He has 11 more titles on the PBA50 Tour. He is a two-time PBA Player of the Year and has won a PBA50 Player of the Year award (2022). Bohn has also earned 2 PBA60 Tour title, 22 PBA Regional Tour titles, 17 PBA50 Regional titles, and two European Bowling Tour (EBT) titles. Read more
• 13 Jul 1963: Neal Foulds, English snooker player and sportscaster Neal Foulds is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Black in 1992. He was runner-up at the 1986 UK Championship and the 1987 British Open, and reached the semi-finals of three Masters tournaments and the 1987 World Championship. After his retirement, Foulds became a commentator for the BBC and is currently part of the presenting team for ITV and Eurosport. Read more
• 13 Jul 1963: Kenny Johnson, American actor, producer, and model Kenny Johnson is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Detective Curtis Lemansky in The Shield, Butch "Burner" Barnes in Pensacola: Wings of Gold, Detective Ham Dewey in Saving Grace, Herman Kozik in Sons of Anarchy, Matt Webb in Prime Suspect, Caleb Calhoun in Bates Motel, Dominique Luca in the CBS drama series S.W.A.T., and Tommy Welch on Chicago Fire (2014–2015). Read more
• 13 Jul 1962: Tom Kenny, American voice actor and screenwriter Thomas James Kenny is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing the titular character in SpongeBob SquarePants and associated media since its debut in 1999. His other voice roles include the Ice King in Adventure Time and its spinoff Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Spyro in the Spyro video game series, Heffer Wolfe in Rocko's Modern Life, the Narrator and Mayor in The Powerpuff Girls, Dog in CatDog, Carl Chryniszzswics in Johnny Bravo, Starscream in Transformers: Animated, The Penguin in various animated media based on DC Comics, and Raimundo Pedrosa in Xiaolin Showdown. Kenny's live-action work includes the sketch comedy series The Edge and Mr. Show with Bob and David. Kenny's accolades include two Daytime Emmy Awards and two Annie Awards for his voice work. He is married to Jill Talley, with whom he has two children. Read more
• 13 Jul 1962: Rhonda Vincent, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player Rhonda Lea Vincent is an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Read more
• 13 Jul 1961: Tahira Asif, Pakistani politician (died 2014) Tahira Asif was a Pakistani politician who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2013 until her assassination. Read more
• 13 Jul 1961: Anders Jarryd, Swedish tennis player Anders Per Järryd is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. During his career he won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, reached the world No. 1 doubles ranking, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5. Read more
• 13 Jul 1961: Khalid Mahmood, Pakistani-English engineer and politician Khalid Mahmood is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 2001 until 2024 when he lost his seat. Read more
• 13 Jul 1961: Stelios Manolas, Greek footballer and manager Stelios Manolas is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for AEK Athens and a current manager. Widely regarded as the best Greek defender of his era, he is one of the few Greek footballers to have played his entire professional career for a single club. In 2021, the IFFHS chose him in Greece's best XI of all time. Read more
• 13 Jul 1961: Tim Watson, Australian footballer, coach, and journalist Timothy Michael Watson is a former AFL player for Essendon & West Coast, former senior coach for St Kilda and current broadcaster for more than 30 years, with the Seven Network from 1992 – 2024 & 1116 SEN radio. Read more
• 13 Jul 1960: Robert Abraham, American football player Robert Eugene Abraham is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker who played college football for North Carolina State. He was selected by the Houston Oilers in the third round of the 1982 NFL draft with the 77th overall pick. He played there until 1988, mostly as a starter. His best season came in 1984 when he started 16 games and had 106 solo tackles and 92 assists. He missed most of his final season with the team due to injuries. He was waived by the Oilers in March 1988 but signed with the New York Giants shortly later. However, he was waived by the Giants in August the same year prior to the start of the season. Read more
• 13 Jul 1960: Ian Hislop, Welsh-English journalist and screenwriter Ian David Hislop is a British journalist, satirist and television personality. He is the editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye, a position he has held since 1986. He has appeared on many radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC satirical quiz show Have I Got News for You since its inception in 1990 and remains the only person to appear in all of its episodes as the other team captain Paul Merton didn't appear in 7 of the 8 episodes of series 11 (1996). Hislop has frequently been involved in legal battles, as Private Eye has often been sued for libel over the years. Read more
• 13 Jul 1960: Curtis Rouse, American football player (died 2013) Curtis Lamar Rouse was an American professional football offensive lineman who played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Minnesota Vikings and the San Diego Chargers. Read more
• 13 Jul 1959: Richard Leman, English field hockey player Richard Alexander Leman is a former field hockey player who was a member of the gold medal-winning Great Britain squad in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Read more
• 13 Jul 1959: Fuziah Salleh, Malaysian politician Fuziah binti Salleh is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Ministers Salahuddin Ayub and Armizan Mohd Ali as well as Senator since December 2022. She served as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of religious affairs in the PH administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and former Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kuantan from March 2008 to November 2022. She is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the PH coalition. She has also served as the Secretary-General of PKR since September 2024. She also served as the State Chairperson of PKR of Pahang from May 2024 to September 2024, Women Chief of PKR from July 2020 to July 2022 and Vice President of PKR from November 2010 to August 2014 as well as the State Chairperson of PH of Pahang from March 2019 to September 2022. Read more
• 13 Jul 1957: Thierry Boutsen, Belgian race car driver and businessman Thierry Marc Alain Boutsen is a Belgian former racing driver, businessman and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1983 to 1993. Boutsen won three Formula One Grands Prix across 11 seasons. Read more
• 13 Jul 1957: Cameron Crowe, American director, producer, and screenwriter Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American filmmaker and journalist. He has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Grammy Award, and a Tony Award nomination. Crowe started his career in 1973 as a contributing editor and writer at Rolling Stone magazine, where he covered many rock bands on tour. Read more
• 13 Jul 1956: Mark Mendoza, American bass player and songwriter Mark "The Animal" Mendoza is an American bassist and a former member of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He joined the band in 1978 after leaving the Dictators. He briefly played in Blackfoot in 1988 and with Leslie West projects. He is also a co-founder of Area 22 Productions where he hosts his weekly podcast 22 NOW. Read more
• 13 Jul 1956: Michael Spinks, American boxer Michael Spinks is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal heavyweight title from 1985 to 1988. As an amateur he won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 13 Jul 1954: Ray Bright, Australian cricketer Raymond James Bright is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer from Victoria. He was a left arm spin bowler and right handed lower order batsman who captained Victoria for a number of seasons. He was also an Australian vice-captain. Read more
• 13 Jul 1954: Louise Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress Thelma Louise Mandrell is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of fellow country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of musician Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country music from the 1970s, with a string of hits during the 1980s. Read more
• 13 Jul 1953: Gil Birmingham, American actor Gilbert "Gil" Birmingham is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater on the Paramount Network series Yellowstone (2018–2024) and the CBS series Marshals (2026-present), George Hunter on Banshee (2014), Virgil White on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2017), and Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series (2008–2012). Read more
• 13 Jul 1953: Mila Mulroney, Chancellor of St. Francis Xavier University, wife of former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney Milica "Mila" Mulroney is the widow of the 18th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney. She was notable for taking on a greater role during her husband's tenure than previous spouses of Canadian prime ministers and for her work for children's charities; she was also criticized for her lavish spending habits. She is the chancellor of St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, where her late husband attended. Read more
• 13 Jul 1953: David Thompson, American basketball player David O'Neil Thompson, commonly known by the nickname "Skywalker", is an American former professional basketball player. He played with the Denver Nuggets of both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA before drug problems cut short his career. He was previously a star in college for North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack to its first NCAA championship in 1974. Thompson is one of the eleven players to score 70 or more points in an NBA game. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. Read more
• 13 Jul 1951: Rob Bishop, American educator and politician Robert William Bishop is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 1st congressional district from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he became the dean of Utah's congressional delegation after the retirement of Orrin Hatch from the U.S. Senate in 2019. Read more
• 13 Jul 1951: Didi Conn, American actress and singer Edith "Didi" Conn is an American actress. She is best known for her work as Frenchy in Grease, Denise Stevens Downey in Benson and Stacy Jones in Shining Time Station. Read more
• 13 Jul 1950: George Nelson, American astronomer and astronaut George Driver "Pinky" Nelson is an American physicist, astronomer, science educator, and retired NASA astronaut. Read more
• 13 Jul 1950: Ma Ying-jeou, Hong Kong-Taiwanese commander and politician, 12th President of the Republic of China Ma Ying-jeou is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT), he was previously the mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006 and the chairman of the Kuomintang for two terms. Read more
• 13 Jul 1950: Jurelang Zedkaia, Marshallese politician, 5th President of the Marshall Islands (died 2015) Iroijlaplap Jurelang Zedkaia was a Marshallese politician and Iroijlaplap. He served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. He was elected as the country's 5th head of state on October 26, 2009, following the ouster of his predecessor, Litokwa Tomeing, in the country's first successful vote of no confidence. Read more
• 13 Jul 1949: Bryan Murray, Irish actor Bryan Murray is an Irish actor. He is known for his extensive television work which includes Fitz in Strumpet City, Flurry Knox in The Irish R.M., Shifty in Bread, Harry Cassidy in Perfect Scoundrels, Trevor Jordache in Brookside and Bob Charles in Fair City. Read more
• 13 Jul 1948: Catherine Breillat, French director and screenwriter Catherine Breillat is a French filmmaker, novelist, and professor of cinema at the European Graduate School. Read more
• 13 Jul 1948: Tony Kornheiser, American television sports talk show host and former sportswriter Anthony Irwin Kornheiser is an American television sports talk show host, podcaster, and former sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for The Washington Post from 1979 to 2008, as a co-host of ESPN's Emmy Award-winning sports debate show Pardon the Interruption since 2001, and as the host of The Tony Kornheiser Show, a radio show and podcast. Longtime ESPN executive John Walsh once declared that "in the history of sports media, [Kornheiser] is the most multitalented person ever." Read more
• 13 Jul 1946: Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (died 2015) Robert Kauffman was an American professional basketball player and coach. Kauffman was a three-time NBA All-Star. Read more
• 13 Jul 1946: Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin is an American comedian and actor. He gained recognition as part of the comedy act Cheech & Chong during the 1970s and early 1980s with Tommy Chong, and as Don Johnson's partner, Insp. Joe Dominguez, on Nash Bridges. Marin has also voiced characters in several Disney films, including Oliver & Company, The Lion King, The Lion King 1½, the Cars franchise, Coco, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Read more
• 13 Jul 1945: Ashley Mallett, Australian cricketer and author (died 2021) Ashley Alexander Mallett was an Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980. Until Nathan Lyon, he was Australia's most successful off spin bowler since World War II. He extracted a lot of bounce from his high arm action, coupled with his height. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup. Read more
• 13 Jul 1944: Eric Freeman, Australian cricketer (died 2020) Eric Walter "Fritzy" Freeman was an Australian cricketer who played in 11 Test matches from 1968 to 1970. He was also a leading Australian rules footballer with Port Adelaide Football Club, playing 116 games between 1964 and 1972, kicking 390 goals, and playing in their 1965 premiership team. Read more
• 13 Jul 1944: Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (died 1991) Cyril Barry Knowles was a footballer who played left-back for Tottenham Hotspur and England. He was the son of the rugby league footballer Cyril Knowles, and the older brother of fellow professional footballer Peter Knowles. Read more
• 13 Jul 1944: Ernő Rubik, Hungarian game designer, architect, and educator, invented the Rubik's Cube Ernő Rubik is a Hungarian architect and inventor widely known for creating the Rubik's Cube (1974), Rubik's Magic, and Rubik's Snake. Read more
• 13 Jul 1943: Chris Serle, English journalist and actor (died 2024) Christopher Richard Serle was a British television presenter, reporter, and actor, best known for being a presenter on That's Life! Read more
• 13 Jul 1942: Harrison Ford, American actor and producer Harrison Ford is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, Ford's accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, an Emmy Award, five Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He is the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, Cecil B. DeMille Award, Honorary César, Honorary Palme d'Or and SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award. Read more
• 13 Jul 1942: Roger McGuinn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist James Roger McGuinn is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. As a solo artist, he has released 10 albums and collaborated with many other artists, among them Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Chris Hillman. The Rickenbacker 12-string guitar is his signature instrument. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 along with The Byrds. Read more
• 13 Jul 1941: Grahame Corling, Australian cricketer Grahame Edward Corling is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Test matches in 1964. He took 12 wickets, including that of Geoffrey Boycott in his debut innings. Read more
• 13 Jul 1941: Robert Forster, American actor and producer (died 2019) Robert Wallace Foster Jr., known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), followed by a starring role as news reporter John Cassellis in the landmark New Hollywood film Medium Cool (1969). For his portrayal of bail bondsman Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Read more
• 13 Jul 1941: Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter and translator (died 2005) Ehud Manor was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, having written or translated over 1,000 songs. In 1998, he was awarded the Israel Prize for his exceptional contributions to Israeli music. Read more
• 13 Jul 1941: Jacques Perrin, French actor, director, and producer (died 2022) Jacques Perrin was a French actor and film producer. He was occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Read more
• 13 Jul 1940: Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (died 2013) Thomas Lichtenberg was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach also at Morehead State University (1979–1980), the University of Maine (1989), and Ohio University (1990–1994), compiling a career college football coaching record of 26–59–3. He was also an assistant coach at Ohio State University and the University of Notre Dame. Read more
• 13 Jul 1940: Paul Prudhomme, American chef and author (died 2015) Paul Prudhomme, also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had formerly owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote 11 cookbooks. Read more
• 13 Jul 1940: Patrick Stewart, English actor, director, and producer Sir Patrick Stewart is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of stage and screen, he has received various accolades, including two Olivier Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama in 2010. Read more
• 13 Jul 1939: Lambert Jackson Woodburne, South African admiral (died 2013) Vice Admiral Lambert Jackson Woodburne was Chief of the South African Navy from 1 July 1990 to 31 August 1992. He is one of only two people to have been awarded the Van Riebeeck Decoration, which he received for Special Forces operations in Tanzania. He was more commonly known by his nickname "Woody". Read more
• 13 Jul 1937: Ghillean Prance, English botanist and ecologist Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance is a prominent British botanist and ecologist who has published extensively on the taxonomy of families such as Chrysobalanaceae and Lecythidaceae, but drew particular attention in documenting the pollination ecology of Victoria amazonica. Prance is a former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Read more
• 13 Jul 1936: Albert Ayler, American saxophonist and composer (died 1970) Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Read more
• 13 Jul 1935: Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (died 2009) Jack French Kemp was an American politician, professional football player, and U.S. Army veteran who served as the ninth U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1989. He was the party's vice presidential nominee in the 1996 U.S. presidential election, running alongside with presidential nominee Bob Dole; they lost to Democratic incumbents Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Kemp had previously contended for the presidential nomination in the 1988 Republican primaries. Read more
• 13 Jul 1935: Earl Lovelace, Trinidadian journalist, author, and playwright Earl Wilbert Lovelace is a Trinidad and Tobago novelist, journalist, playwright, and short story writer. He is particularly recognized for his descriptive, dramatic fiction on Trinidadian culture: "Using Trinidadian dialect patterns and standard English, he probes the paradoxes often inherent in social change as well as the clash between rural and urban cultures." As Bernardine Evaristo notes, "Lovelace is unusual among celebrated Caribbean writers in that he has always lived in Trinidad. Most writers leave to find support for their literary endeavours elsewhere and this, arguably, shapes the literature, especially after long periods of exile. But Lovelace's fiction is deeply embedded in Trinidadian society and is written from the perspective of one whose ties to his homeland have never been broken." Read more
• 13 Jul 1935: Kurt Westergaard, Danish cartoonist (died 2021) Kurt Westergaard was a Danish cartoonist. In 2005 he drew a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, wearing a bomb in his turban as a part of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, which triggered several assassinations and murders committed by Muslim extremists around the world, diplomatic conflicts, and state-organized riots and attacks on Western embassies with several dead in Muslim countries. After the drawing of the cartoon, Westergaard received numerous death threats and was a target of assassination attempts. As a result, he was under constant police protection. Read more
• 13 Jul 1934: Peter Gzowski, Canadian journalist and academic (died 2002) Peter John Gzowski, known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada", was a Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio shows This Country in the Morning and Morningside. His first biographer argued that Gzowski's contribution to Canadian media must be considered in the context of efforts by a generation of Canadian nationalists to understand and express Canada's cultural identity. Gzowski wrote books, hosted television shows, and worked at a number of newspapers and at Maclean's magazine. Gzowski was known for a friendly, warm, interviewing style. Read more
• 13 Jul 1934: Gordon Lee, English footballer and manager (died 2022) Gordon Francis Lee was an English football player and manager. He played 144 league and cup matches in a 12-year career in the Football League, before going on to greater success as a manager, as he would take charge of 777 matches in a 23-year managerial career. Read more
• 13 Jul 1934: Wole Soyinka, Nigerian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, playwright, and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty-five plays and five memoirs. He has also written two translated works and many articles and short stories for newspapers and periodicals. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence". Read more
• 13 Jul 1934: Aleksei Yeliseyev, Russian engineer and astronaut Aleksei Stanislavovich Yeliseyev is a retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 5, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10. He made the world's eighth spacewalk during Soyuz 5 in 1969. Read more
• 13 Jul 1933: David Storey, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2017) David Malcolm Storey was an English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist and a professional rugby league player. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel Saville. He also won the MacMillan Fiction Award for This Sporting Life in 1960. Read more
• 13 Jul 1933: Piero Manzoni, Italian artist (died 1963) Piero Manzoni di Chiosca e Poggiolo was an Italian artist best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his own work anticipated, and directly influenced, the work of a generation of younger Italian artists brought together by the critic Germano Celant in the first Arte Povera exhibition held in Genoa, 1967. Manzoni is most famous for a series of artworks that call into question the nature of the art object, directly prefiguring Conceptual Art. His work eschews normal artist's materials, instead using everything from rabbit fur to human excrement in order to "tap mythological sources and to realize authentic and universal values". Read more
• 13 Jul 1932: Hubert Reeves, Canadian-French astrophysicist and author (died 2023) Hubert Reeves was a French-Canadian astrophysicist and popularizer of science. Read more
• 13 Jul 1932: Per Nørgård, Danish composer and music theorist (died 2025) Per Nørgård was a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style varied considerably throughout his career, his music often included repeatedly evolving melodies, in the vein of Jean Sibelius, and a perspicuous focus on lyricism. He based music on "infinity series" and other mathematical models. He composed large-scale works, eight symphonies including the choral Third, concertos and operas such as Gilgamesh. His chamber music includes ten string quartets and music for guitar. Some later works were inspired by the art of Adolf Wölfli. Read more
• 13 Jul 1931: Frank Ramsey, American basketball player and coach (died 2018) Frank Vernon Ramsey Jr. was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6-3 swingman, he played his entire nine-year (1954–1964) National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Boston Celtics and played a major role in the early part of their dynasty, winning seven championships as part of the team. Ramsey was also a head coach for the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA) during the 1970–71 season. Ramsey was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Read more
• 13 Jul 1930: Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (died 2014) Samuel Eldred Greenlee, Jr. was an American writer of fiction and poetry. He is best known for his novel The Spook Who Sat by the Door, first published in March 1969 in London by the recently founded small imprint Allison & Busby, having been rejected by dozens of mainstream publishers, and received much critical attention, including extracts being printed in The Observer newspaper. The novel was subsequently made into the 1973 movie of the same name, directed by Ivan Dixon and co-produced and written by Greenlee, that is now considered a cult classic. Read more
• 13 Jul 1930: Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (died 2004) Naomi Shemer was an Israeli songwriter, composer, and performer, widely described as the "first lady of Israeli song". She became one of the most influential figures in modern Hebrew music, writing numerous songs that became cultural touchstones, most notably "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav", which gained prominence after the Six-Day War and is often regarded as a second national anthem. Over a career spanning several decades, Shemer created music for adults and children, contributed to major festivals and cultural events, and became widely recognized for shaping the Israeli songbook. Read more
• 13 Jul 1929: Sofia Muratova, Russian gymnast (died 2006) Sofia Ivanovna Muratova was a Soviet gymnast. She competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won eight medals. Read more
• 13 Jul 1929: Svein Ellingsen, Norwegian visual artist and hymnist (died 2020) Svein Ørnulf Ellingsen was a Norwegian visual artist and hymnist. Read more
• 13 Jul 1928: Bob Crane, American actor (died 1978) Robert Edward Crane was an American actor, drummer, radio personality and disc jockey known for starring in the CBS sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Read more
• 13 Jul 1928: Sven Davidson, Swedish-American tennis player (died 2008) Sven Viktor Davidson was a Swedish tennis player who became the first Swede to win a Grand Slam title when he won the French Championships in 1957, beating Ashley Cooper and Herbert Flam. Read more
• 13 Jul 1928: Johnny Gilbert, American game show host and announcer John Lewis Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s. He is known primarily for his work as the announcer and audience host for the syndicated version of the quiz show Jeopardy! since its revival in 1984. Read more
• 13 Jul 1928: Al Rex, American musician (died 2020) Albert Floyd Piccirilli, also known by his stage name Al Rex, was an American bass player for Bill Haley & His Comets and its predecessor Bill Haley and the Saddlemen. Read more
• 13 Jul 1927: Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician, President of the European Parliament (died 2017) Simone Veil was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor, and politician. Deported as a teenager to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later Bergen-Belsen, she became a prominent advocate for human dignity and European reconciliation. As minister of health, she championed women's rights and is best remembered for the landmark 1975 law legalising abortion, known as the Veil Act. Read more
• 13 Jul 1927: Ian Reed, Australian discus thrower (died 2020) Ian Manley Reed was a discus thrower, who represented Australia at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He won the gold medal at the 1950 Commonwealth Games in the men's discus throw event. Read more
• 13 Jul 1926: Robert H. Justman, American director, producer, and production manager (died 2008) Robert Harris Justman was an American television producer, director, and production manager. He worked on many American TV series including Lassie, The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Search, and Then Came Bronson. Read more
• 13 Jul 1926: T. Loren Christianson, American politician (died 2019) Theodore Loren Christianson was an American politician in the state of South Dakota. He was a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1977 to 1994. Christianson, a Korean War veteran, was a farmer and insurance agent. He also served on the Astoria School Board, as Deuel County Commissioner, as Chairman of the Deuel County Republican Party, as Director of Brookings-Deuel Rural Water System, Director of South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems, and as Director of Deuel County Farm Mutual Insurance Company. He died in 2019. Read more
• 13 Jul 1926: Thomas Clark, American politician (died 2020) Thomas Joseph Clark Jr. was an American politician. He served as mayor of Long Beach, California from 1975 to 1980 and from 1982 to 1984, as elected by the Long Beach City Council. Read more
• 13 Jul 1925: Suzanne Zimmerman, American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist (died 2021) Suzanne Winona Zimmerman, also known by her married name Suzanne Edwards, was an American competition swimmer for the Multnomah Athletic Club under Hall of Fame Coach Jack Cody, and a 1948 Olympic silver medalist in the 100 meter backstroke. Read more
• 13 Jul 1925: Huang Zongying, Chinese actress and writer (died 2020) Huang Zongying was a Chinese actress and writer. She starred in many black-and-white films such as Rhapsody of Happiness (1947), Crows and Sparrows (1949), Women Side by Side (1949), and The Life of Wu Xun (1950), all co-starring her third husband Zhao Dan. Read more
• 13 Jul 1923: Ashley Bryan, American children's book author and illustrator (died 2022) Ashley Frederick Bryan was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Most of his subjects are from the African-American experience. He was a U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006 and he won the Children's Literature Legacy Award for his contribution to American children's literature in 2009. His picture book Freedom Over Me was short-listed for the 2016 Kirkus Prize and received a Newbery Honor. Read more
• 13 Jul 1923: Colonel James H. Harvey, US Army Air Force (later US Air Force) fighter pilot and Tuskegee Airman. James Henry Harvey III is a retired African American United States Army Air Corps/United States Air Force (USAF) officer and former fighter pilot. He served with the 99th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group—best known as the Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails" or, among enemy German pilots, Schwarze Vogelmenschen. He is one of the 1,007 documented Tuskegee Airmen pilots. Read more
• 13 Jul 1922: Leslie Brooks, American actress (died 2011) Leslie Brooks was an American film actress, model and dancer. Read more
• 13 Jul 1922: Anker Jørgensen, Danish trade union leader and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Denmark (died 2016) Anker Henrik Jørgensen was a Danish politician who served at various times as prime minister and foreign minister of Denmark. Between 1972 and 1982 he led five cabinets as prime minister. Jørgensen was president of the Nordic Council in 1986 and 1991. Read more
• 13 Jul 1922: Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar, Egyptian military commander (died 2011) General Dr. Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar was a highly decorated Egyptian military commander. Read more
• 13 Jul 1922: Ken Mosdell, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2006) Kenneth "Kenny" Mosdell was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. Mosdell played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1941 to 1942, and 1944 to 1959, with the Brooklyn Americans, Montreal Canadiens, and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the last active NHL player to have played for the Brooklyn Americans, and also the last player until 1967 to play for an NHL team that was not part of the Original Six. Mosdell won four Stanley Cups with the Canadiens in 1946, 1953, 1956, and 1959. Read more
• 13 Jul 1921: Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer and conductor (died 1999) Ernst Sigmund Goldner, known professionally as Ernest Gold, was an Austrian-American composer of film and television scores. He won an Academy Award and two Grammy Awards for his work on the film Exodus (1960), and a Golden Globe for On the Beach (1959). He received an additional three Oscar nominations throughout his career, and was the first composer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Read more
• 13 Jul 1919: Hau Pei-tsun, 13th Premier of the Republic of China (died 2020) Hau Pei-tsun was a Chinese general and politician who served as the premier of the Republic of China from 1990 to 1993. He was previously the chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China Armed Forces from 1981 to 1989. Read more
• 13 Jul 1919: William F. Quinn, American lawyer (died 2006) William Francis Quinn OESSH was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 12th and last governor of the Territory of Hawaii from 1957 to 1959 and the first governor of the State of Hawaii from 1959 to 1962. Originally appointed to the office by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Quinn was the last executive appointed by an American president, after American rule of the Hawaiian Islands began after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. He was also the last Republican to serve as governor until Linda Lingle in 2002. Quinn appeared as a guest on the television program What's My Line. He was the recipient of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a papal knighthood conferred by Pope John Paul II. He was the state's first Republican governor. Read more
• 13 Jul 1918: Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (died 1955) Alberto Ascari was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1955. Ascari won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in 1952 and 1953 with Ferrari, and won 13 Grands Prix across six seasons. In endurance racing, Ascari won the Mille Miglia in 1954 with Lancia. Read more
• 13 Jul 1918: Ronald Bladen, American painter and sculptor (died 1988) Ronald Bladen was a Canadian-born American painter and sculptor. He is particularly known for his large-scale sculptures. His artistic stance, was influenced by European Constructivism, American Hard-Edge Painting, and sculptors such as Isamu Noguchi and David Smith. Bladen in turn had stimulating effect on a circle of younger artists including Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt and others, who repeatedly referred to him as one of the 'father figures' of Minimal Art. Read more
• 13 Jul 1918: Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (died 2015) Marcia Joan Brown was an American writer and illustrator of more than 30 children's books. She won three annual Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association, six Caldecott Medal honors as an illustrator, recognizing the year's best U.S. picture book illustration, and the ALA's Children's Literature Legacy Award in 1992 for her career contribution to children's literature. This total of nine books with awards and honors is more than any other Caldecott-nominated illustrator. Many of her titles have been published in translation, including Afrikaans, German, Japanese, Spanish, and Xhosa-Bantu editions. Brown is known as one of the most honored illustrators in children's literature. Read more
• 13 Jul 1915: Kaoru Ishikawa, Japanese author and educator (died 1989) Kaoru Ishikawa was a Japanese organizational theorist and a professor in the engineering faculty at the University of Tokyo who was noted for his quality management innovations. He is considered a key figure in the development of quality initiatives in Japan, particularly the quality circle. He is best known outside Japan for the Ishikawa or cause and effect diagram, often used in the analysis of industrial processes. Read more
• 13 Jul 1913: Dave Garroway, American journalist and television personality (died 1982) David Cunningham Garroway was an American radio and television host on NBC. He was the host of Garroway at Large from 1949 to 1951, the founding host and anchor of Today from 1952 to 1961, and the host of The Dave Garroway Show from 1953 to 1954. His radio work included host of The Dave Garroway Show from 1947 to 1955 and Monitor from 1955 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway was honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood. Read more
• 13 Jul 1913: Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (died 2012) Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller was a Danish shipping magnate. He was a longtime figure at A.P. Moller–Maersk Group, which was founded by his father. Read more
• 13 Jul 1911: Bob Steele, American radio personality (died 2002) Robert Lee Steele was an American radio personality. He was a radio host with WTIC Radio in Hartford, Connecticut for more than 66 years, and hosted the morning radio show in Southern New England for most of the time. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Read more
• 13 Jul 1910: Lien Gisolf, Dutch high jumper (died 1993) Carolina Anna "Lien" Gisolf was a Dutch high jumper. She won a silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics and finished fourth in 1932. Read more
• 13 Jul 1910: Loren Pope, American journalist and author (died 2008) Loren Brooks Pope was an American writer and educational consultant, best known for his book, Colleges That Change Lives. He was also the education editor of The New York Times. Read more
• 13 Jul 1909: Souphanouvong, 1st President of Laos (died 1995) Prince Souphanouvong, nicknamed the Red Prince, was, alongside his half-brother Prince Souvanna Phouma and Prince Boun Oum of Champasak, one of the "Three Princes" who represented respectively the communist (pro-Vietnam), neutralist, and royalist political factions in Laos. He served as the President of Laos from December 1975 to October 1986. Read more
• 13 Jul 1908: Dorothy Round, English tennis player (died 1982) Dorothy Edith Round was a British tennis player who was active from the late 1920s until 1950. She achieved her major successes in the 1930s. She won the singles title at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1937, and the singles at the Australian Championships in 1935. She also had success as a mixed doubles player at Wimbledon, winning a total of three titles. After her wedding in 1937, she played under her married name, Mrs D.L. Little. During the Second World War, she played in North America and became a professional coach in Canada and the United States. Post-war, she played in British regional tournaments, coached, and wrote on tennis for newspapers. Read more
• 13 Jul 1908: Tim Spencer, American country & western singer-songwriter and actor (died 1974) Vernon Harold "Tim" Spencer was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. Spencer is best known for founding the popular American Cowboy singing group the Sons of the Pioneers in 1933 along with Bob Nolan and Roy Rogers. Read more
• 13 Jul 1907: George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (died 2002) George Anthony Weller was an American novelist, playwright, and journalist for The New York Times and Chicago Daily News. He won a 1943 Pulitzer Prize as a Daily News war correspondent. Read more
• 13 Jul 1905: Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (died 1990) Alfredo Manapat Santos was Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1962 to 1965, making him the first four-star general of the Philippines' armed forces. Read more
• 13 Jul 1905: Eugenio Pagnini, Italian modern pentathlete (died 1993) Eugenio Pagnini was an Italian modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. Read more
• 13 Jul 1905: Magda Foy, American child actress (died 2000) Magda Foy, also known and often credited as "The Solax Kid", was a child actor in the silent film era who worked for Solax Studio, the largest pre-Hollywood studio in the United States from 1910 to 1913. Read more
• 13 Jul 1903: Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (died 1983) Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissance art, most of all that of Leonardo da Vinci. After running two art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television, presenting a succession of programmes on the arts from the 1950s to the 1970s, the largest and best known being the Civilisation series in 1969. Read more
• 13 Jul 1901: Eric Portman, English actor (died 1969) Eric Harrison Portman was an English stage and screen actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Powell and Pressburger during the 1940s. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Separate Tables. Read more
• 13 Jul 1900: George Lewis, American clarinet player and songwriter (died 1969) George Lewis was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his highest profile in the later decades of his life. Read more
• 13 Jul 1898: Julius Schreck, German commander (died 1936) Julius Schreck was a German Nazi official and close confidant of Adolf Hitler. Born in Munich, Schreck served in World War I and shortly afterwards joined right-wing paramilitary units. He joined the Nazi Party in 1920 and was a founding member of the Sturmabteilung. Later in 1925, he became the first leader of the Schutzstaffel. He then served for a time as a chauffeur for Hitler. Schreck developed meningitis in 1936 and died on 16 May of that year. Hitler gave him a state funeral. Read more
• 13 Jul 1898: Ivan Triesault, Estonian-born American actor (died 1980) Ivan Triesault was an Estonian-American character actor and dancer, who appeared in some 130 film and television productions between 1943 and 1969. Read more
• 13 Jul 1896: Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter and educator (died 1992) Mordecai Ardon was an Israeli painter. Read more
• 13 Jul 1895: Sidney Blackmer, American actor (died 1973) Sidney Alderman Blackmer was an American Broadway and film actor active between 1914 and 1971, usually in major supporting roles. Read more
• 13 Jul 1894: Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (died 1940) Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian and Soviet writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry and Odessa Stories, and has been acclaimed as "the greatest prose writer of Russian Jewry". Babel was arrested by the NKVD on 15 May 1939 on fabricated charges of terrorism and espionage, and executed on 27 January 1940. Read more
• 13 Jul 1892: Léo-Pol Morin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (died 1941) Léo-Pol Morin was a Canadian pianist, music critic, composer, and music educator. He composed under the name James Callihou, with his most well known works being Suite canadienne (1945) and Three Eskimos for piano. He also composed works based on Canadian and Inuit folklore/folk music and harmonized a number of French-Canadian folksongs. Victor Brault notably transcribed his Inuit folklore inspired Chants de sacrifice for choir and 2 pianos. Read more
• 13 Jul 1892: Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American discus and javelin thrower (died 1955) Joonas "Jonni" Myyrä was a Finnish athlete who competed at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Olympics. In 1912, he finished eighth in the javelin throw. At the 1920 Olympics, his left arm was fractured in a warm-up accident – the spear thrown by James Lincoln struck Myyrä while he was resting on the grass. Nevertheless, Myyrä won the javelin event with an Olympic record of 65.78 meters. He also finished 12th in the discus throw but could not complete his pentathlon events. Myyrä successfully defended his javelin title at the 1924 Summer Olympics and then fled to the United States due to his financial problems in Finland. He never returned to his home country and died in San Francisco in 1955. Read more
• 13 Jul 1889: Emma Asson, Estonian educator and politician (died 1965) Emma Asson was an Estonian politician. She was the first woman to be elected to the Estonian parliament. Asson participated in the creation of the first constitution of independent Estonia, particularly regarding education and gender equality. She also wrote one of the first history textbooks in Estonian in 1912. Read more
• 13 Jul 1889: Stan Coveleski, American baseball player (died 1984) Stanley Anthony Coveleski was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four American League (AL) teams between 1912 and 1928, primarily the Cleveland Indians. The star of the Indians pitching staff, he won over 20 games each year from the war-shortened 1918 season through 1921, leading the AL in shutouts twice and in strikeouts and earned run average (ERA) once each during his nine years with the club. The star of the 1920 World Series, he led the Indians to their first title with three complete-game victories, including a 3–0 shutout in the Game 7 finale. Traded to the Washington Senators after the 1924 season, he helped that club to its second AL pennant in a row with 20 victories against only 5 losses, including a 13-game winning streak, while again leading the league in ERA. Read more
• 13 Jul 1886: Father Edward J. Flanagan, founder of Boys Town (died 1948) Edward Joseph Flanagan was an Irish-born priest of the Catholic Church in the United States who served for decades in Nebraska. After serving as a parish priest in the Diocese of Omaha, he founded the orphanage and educational complex known as Boys Town, located west of the city in what is now Boys Town, Douglas County, Nebraska. In the 21st century, the complex also serves as a center for troubled youth. Read more
• 13 Jul 1884: Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (died 1951) Yrjö Erik Mikael Saarela was a Finnish wrestler who won Olympic gold and a world championship. Read more
• 13 Jul 1877: Robert Henry Mathews, Australian linguist and missionary (died 1970) Robert Henry Mathews (1877–1970) was an Australian missionary and Sinologist, best known for his 1931 A Chinese-English Dictionary: Compiled for the China Inland Mission by R. H. Mathews, which was subsequently revised by Harvard University Press in 1943. He served with the China Inland Mission from 1906, before retiring to Australia in 1945. Read more
• 13 Jul 1864: John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel and businessman (died 1912) John Jacob Astor IV was an American business magnate, real estate developer, and investor who was a member of the Astor family and also the Livingston family. A writer, as well as a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, he was among the most prominent American passengers aboard RMS Titanic and perished along with 1,495 others when the ship sank on her maiden voyage. Astor was the richest passenger aboard the RMS Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time, with a net worth of roughly $87 million when he died. Read more
• 13 Jul 1863: Margaret Murray, British archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist (died 1963) Margaret Alice Murray was a British Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom, she worked at University College London (UCL) from 1898 to 1935. She was president of the Folklore Society from 1953 to 1955, and published widely. Read more
• 13 Jul 1859: Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (died 1947) Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like George Bernard Shaw, three months after its inception. Along with his wife Beatrice Webb and with Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, Edward R. Pease, Hubert Bland and Sydney Olivier, Shaw and Webb turned the Fabian Society into the pre-eminent politico-intellectual society in Edwardian England. He wrote the original, pro-nationalisation Clause IV for the British Labour Party. Read more
• 13 Jul 1858: Stewart Culin, American ethnographer and author (died 1929) Robert Stewart Culin was an American ethnographer and author interested in games, art and dress. Culin played a major role in the development of ethnography, first concentrating his efforts on studying the Asian-Americans workers in Philadelphia. His first published works were "The Practice of Medicine by the Chinese in America" and "China in America: A study in the social life of the Chinese in the eastern cities of the United States", both dated 1887. He believed that similarity in gaming demonstrated similarity and contact among cultures across the world. Read more
• 13 Jul 1851: Marie Andrieu, French anarchist, cartomancer and spiritualist (died 1911) 1841 (MDCCCXLI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1841st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 841st year of the 2nd millennium, the 41st year of the 19th century, and the 2nd year of the 1840s decade. As of the start of 1841, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. Read more
• 13 Jul 1841: Otto Wagner, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Postal Savings Bank and Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station (died 1918) Otto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau movement. Many of his works are found in his native city of Vienna, and illustrate the rapid evolution of architecture during the period. His early works were inspired by classical architecture. By mid-1890s, he had already designed several buildings in what became known as the Vienna Secession style. Beginning in 1898, with his designs of Vienna Metro stations, his style became floral and Art Nouveau, with decoration by Koloman Moser. His later works, 1906 until his death in 1918, had geometric forms and minimal ornament, more clearly expressing their modern structure and materials. Although they are considered predecessors to modern architecture they remain within the larger classical tradition of the Schinkel School in Germany and Central Europe. Read more
• 13 Jul 1831: Arthur Böttcher, German pathologist and anatomist (died 1889) Jakob Ernst Arthur Böttcher was a Baltic German pathologist and anatomist who was a native of Bauska, in what was then the Courland Governorate. He worked primarily within the Russian Empire. Read more
• 13 Jul 1821: Nathan Bedford Forrest, American general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (died 1877) Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general, noted for his aggressive cavalry tactics and rapid rise from private to general during the American Civil War. After the war, Forrest was inaugurated as the first Grand Wizard of the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan. Read more

Notable Deaths on 13 July

• 13 Jul 2025: Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian general and politician, 7th & 15th President of Nigeria (born 1942) Muhammadu Buhari was a Nigerian general and politician who ruled as military dictator of Nigeria from 1983 to 1985, and later served as the democratically elected civilian president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. Read more
• 13 Jul 2024: Shannen Doherty, American actress (born 1971) Shannen Maria Doherty was an American actress. During her career in film and television, Doherty played Jenny Wilder in Little House on the Prairie (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985); Kris Witherspoon in Our House (1986–1988); Heather Duke in Heathers (1989); Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–1994), 90210 (2008–2009), and BH90210 (2019); Rene Mosier in Mallrats (1995); and Prue Halliwell in Charmed (1998–2001). On July 13, 2024, Doherty died from cancer at her home in Malibu, California at age 53. Read more
• 13 Jul 2024: Ruth Hesse, German opera singer (born 1936) Ruth Hesse was a German opera singer. A dramatic mezzo-soprano, she was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1995, where she took part in the world premiere of Henze's Der junge Lord. She was first invited to the Bayreuth Festival in 1960, where she performed until 1979. Read more
• 13 Jul 2024: Richard Simmons, American fitness personality and public figure (born 1948) Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons was an American fitness instructor and television personality. He was a promoter of weight-loss programs, most prominently through his television show, The Richard Simmons Show and later the Sweatin' to the Oldies line of aerobics videos. Read more
• 13 Jul 2024: Chino Trinidad, Filipino sports journalist and executive (born 1967) Manolo "Chino" Lacsamana Trinidad was a Filipino sports journalist and executive who formerly served as a play-by-play commentator in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) coverage by Vintage Television. Read more
• 13 Jul 2024: Thomas Matthew Crooks, American student, known for attempting to assassinate former US President Donald Trump (born 2003) Thomas Matthew Crooks was an American man who attempted to assassinate then-former U.S. president Donald Trump, who at the time was the presumptive Republican Party nominee for the 2024 presidential election. Read more
• 13 Jul 2024: Naomi Pomeroy, American chef and restaurateur (born 1974) Naomi Pomeroy was an American chef and restaurateur. Pomeroy in 2009 was listed by Food & Wine magazine as one of America's Top 10 Best New Chefs and in 2014 won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Northwest. Read more
• 13 Jul 2020: Grant Imahara, American electrical engineer, roboticist, and television host (born 1970) Grant Masaru Imahara was an American electrical engineer, roboticist, television host and actor. He was best known for his work on the television series MythBusters, on which he designed, built, and operated numerous robots and machines to test myths over the course of the show. Read more
• 13 Jul 2020: Zindzi Mandela, South African politician, diplomat, and third daughter of Nelson Mandela (born 1960) Zindziswa "Zindzi" Mandela, also known as Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane, was a South African diplomat and poet, and the daughter of anti-apartheid activists and politicians Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Zindzi was the youngest and third of Nelson Mandela's three daughters, including sister Zenani Mandela. Read more
• 13 Jul 2017: Liu Xiaobo, Chinese literary critic, human rights activist (born 1955) Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Chinese Communist Party one-party rule in China. He was arrested numerous times, and was described as China's most prominent dissident and the country's most famous political prisoner. On 26 June 2017, he was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with liver cancer; he died a few weeks later on 13 July 2017. Read more
• 13 Jul 2015: Philipp Mißfelder, German historian and politician (born 1979) Philipp Mißfelder was a German politician and a member of the German Bundestag. From January through March 2014, he served in the German government as the Coordinator for Transatlantic Cooperation in the Field of Intersocietal Relations, Cultural and Information Policy. Read more
• 13 Jul 2015: Martin Litchfield West, English scholar, author, and academic (born 1927) Martin Litchfield West, was a British philologist and classical scholar. In recognition of his contribution to scholarship, he was appointed to the Order of Merit in 2014. Read more
• 13 Jul 2014: Thomas Berger, American author and playwright (born 1924) Thomas Louis Berger was an American novelist. Probably best known for his picaresque novel Little Big Man and the subsequent film by Arthur Penn, Berger explored and manipulated many genres of fiction throughout his career, including the crime novel, the hard-boiled detective story, science fiction, the utopian novel, plus re-workings of classical mythology, Arthurian legend, and the survival adventure. Read more
• 13 Jul 2014: Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist, author, and academic (born 1919) Alfred de Grazia, born in Chicago, Illinois, was a political scientist and author. He developed techniques of computer-based social network analysis in the 1950s, developed new ideas about personal digital archives in the 1970s, and defended the catastrophism thesis of Immanuel Velikovsky. Read more
• 13 Jul 2014: Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, short story writer, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1923) Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognised as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has … been of very great benefit to humanity". Read more
• 13 Jul 2014: Jeff Leiding, American football player (born 1961) Jeffrey James Leiding was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL). Read more
• 13 Jul 2014: Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1930) Lorin Varencove Maazel was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in the concert halls of Europe by 1960 but his career in the U.S. progressed far more slowly. He served as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Münchner Philharmoniker and the New York Philharmonic, among other posts. Maazel was well regarded in baton technique and had a photographic memory for scores. Described as mercurial and forbidding in rehearsal, he mellowed in old age. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Leonard Garment, American lawyer and public servant, 14th White House Counsel (born 1924) Leonard Garment was an American attorney, public servant, and arts advocate. He served U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the White House in various positions from 1969 to 1976, including Counselor to the President, acting Special Counsel to Nixon for the last two years of his presidency, and U.S. Ambassador to the Third Committee at the United Nations. He played a key role in the Ford pardon of Nixon. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Henri Julien, French race car driver (born 1927) Henri Julien was a French racing car driver and motor sports team founder. He founded and managed the Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (AGS) racing team, which participated in the European Formula Two Championship and Formula 1 in the 1970s and 1980s. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (born 1982) Cory Allan Michael Monteith was a Canadian actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the television series Stargate Atlantis (2004), and had other roles in shows including Smallville (2005), and Supernatural (2005). During his career, he starred in over eighteen dramas and seventeen films, with Monte Carlo (2011), Final Destination 3 (2006), and Sisters & Brothers (2011), all becoming commercially successful. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Ottavio Quattrocchi, Italian businessman (born 1938) Ottavio Quattrocchi was an Italian businessman who was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal. Quattrocchi's role in this scandal, and his proximity to Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi through his wife Sonia Gandhi, is thought to have contributed to the defeat of the Congress Party in the 1989 elections. In 1999, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named Quattrocchi in a chargesheet as the conduit for the Bofors bribe. The case against him was strengthened in June 2003, when Interpol revealed two bank accounts, 5A5151516M and 5A5151516L, held by Quattrocchi and his wife Maria with the BSI AG bank, London, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million, a "curiously large savings for a salaried executive". In January 2006, these frozen bank accounts were unexpectedly released by India's law ministry, apparently without the consent of the CBI which had asked for them to be frozen. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Vernon B. Romney, American lawyer and politician, 14th Attorney General of Utah (born 1924) Vernon Bradford Romney was an American lawyer who served as the attorney general of Utah from 1969 to 1977, and the Republican candidate for Governor of Utah in 1976. He was a member of the Romney family and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read more
• 13 Jul 2013: Marc Simont, French-American author and illustrator (born 1915) Marc Simont was a Paris-born American artist, political cartoonist, and illustrator of more than a hundred children's books. Inspired by his father, Spanish painter Joseph Simont, he began drawing at an early age. Simont settled in New York City in 1935 after encouragement from his father, attended the National Academy of Design with Robert McCloskey, and served three years in the military. Read more
• 13 Jul 2012: Warren Jabali, American basketball player (born 1946) Warren Jabali was an American basketball player. He played professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1975. Read more
• 13 Jul 2012: Jerzy Kulej, Polish boxer and politician (born 1940) Jerzy Zdzisław Kulej was a Polish boxer, politician and sports commentator. He was a two-time Olympic and two-time European Champion. Read more
• 13 Jul 2012: Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (born 1934) Richard Darryl Zanuck was an American film producer. His 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He was also instrumental in launching the careers of directors Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg, the latter who described Zanuck as a "director's producer" and "one of the most honorable and loyal men of our profession." Read more
• 13 Jul 2011: Allan Jeans, Australian footballer and coach (born 1933) Allan Lindsay Jeans was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame at its inception in 1996. Jeans was known for his oratory and motivation skills as a coach and led St Kilda and Hawthorn to a total of four premierships. Read more
• 13 Jul 2010: Manohari Singh, Indian saxophonist and composer (born 1931) Manohari Singh was an Indian music director, saxophonist and was the main arranger of seminal film composer R. D. Burman. He worked with Basudeb Chakraborty as a music composer, the duo also popularly known as Basu-Manohari. Read more
• 13 Jul 2010: George Steinbrenner, American businessman (born 1930) George Michael Steinbrenner III, nicknamed "the Boss", was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving owner in club history, and the Yankees won seven World Series championships and 11 American League pennants under his ownership. His outspokenness and role in driving up player salaries made him one of the sport's most controversial figures. Steinbrenner was also involved in the Great Lakes and Gulf Coast shipping industry. Read more
• 13 Jul 2008: Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (born 1932) Bronisław Geremek was a Polish social historian and politician. He was an opposition activist in the Polish People's Republic and participated in the Polish Round Table Agreement. Read more
• 13 Jul 2007: Michael Reardon, American mountaineer (born 1965) Michael Reardon was an American professional free solo climber, filmmaker, motivational speaker and writer. Reardon died at age 42, after being swept to sea by a rogue wave, shortly after climbing a sea cliff at Dohilla in County Kerry, Ireland. Read more
• 13 Jul 2006: Red Buttons, American actor (born 1919) Red Buttons was an American actor and comedian. He won an Oscar, a Golden Globe Award, and a Laurel Award for his performance as United States Air Force crew chief Joe Kelly in the film Sayonara. During his career he was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Saturn Award, and two Photoplay Awards. In 1960, Buttons received a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star. Read more
• 13 Jul 2005: Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (born 1922) Robert Edward Ogren was an American zoologist. Read more
• 13 Jul 2003: Compay Segundo, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1907) Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles, known professionally as "Compay Segundo", was a Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer. Read more
• 13 Jul 2000: Jan Karski, Polish-American activist and academic (born 1914) Jan Karski was a Polish soldier, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II. He is known for having acted as a courier in 1940–1943 to the Polish government-in-exile and to Poland's Western Allies about the situation in German-occupied Poland. He reported about the state of Poland, its many competing resistance factions, and also about Germany's destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto and its operation of extermination camps on Polish soil that were murdering Jews, Poles, and others. Read more
• 13 Jul 1999: Konstantinos Kollias, Greek general and politician, 168th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1901) Konstantinos Kollias was a Greek politician and jurist, who became the Attorney General of the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court and who later was proclaimed Prime Minister by the far right-wing military junta, which ruled the country from 1967 until 1974. Read more
• 13 Jul 1997: Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (born 1968) Miguel Ángel Blanco Garrido was a Spanish economist and municipal politician and a member of the People's Party, in Ermua, the Basque Country. He was kidnapped and murdered by the Basque separatist group ETA. Read more
• 13 Jul 1996: Pandro S. Berman, American director, producer, and production manager (born 1905) Pandro Samuel Berman, also known as Pan Berman, was an American film producer. Read more
• 13 Jul 1995: Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (born 1920) Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was a Danish businessman who was the managing director of the Lego Group from 1957 to 1973. He was the third son of company founder Ole Kirk Christiansen and took over as managing director in 1957, eventually becoming the sole owner. Godtfred is credited with playing a pivotal role in the development of the Lego brick design and patented it in 1958. He also created the Lego System in Play, the cornerstone of the Lego construction toy. Godtfred stepped down as Leader of the company in 1973. His son Kjeld Kirk Christiansen became president in 1979. Read more
• 13 Jul 1993: Davey Allison, American race car driver (born 1961) David Carl Allison was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the oldest of four children born to Bobby and Judy Allison. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama, and along with Bobby Allison's brother, Donnie, Red Farmer and Neil Bonnett, became known as the Alabama Gang. Read more
• 13 Jul 1983: Gabrielle Roy, Canadian engineer and author (born 1909) Gabrielle Roy was a Canadian author from St. Boniface, Manitoba. She became one of the major voices in French-language literature in Canada, known for her portrayals of working-class life in Manitoba and Quebec and for her clear, straightforward prose. Her first novel, Bonheur d’occasion, brought her national and international recognition, including major literary awards in both Canada and France. She went on to publish fiction, memoir, and children’s literature, and her work remains central to the development of modern Canadian writing in French. She was designated a National Historic Person by the Government of Canada in 2009. Read more
• 13 Jul 1981: Martin Hurson, Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (born 1956) Edward Martin Hurson was an Irish Republican hunger striker and a Volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was the sixth to die during the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. Read more
• 13 Jul 1980: Seretse Khama, Botswana lawyer and politician, 1st President of Botswana (born 1921) Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE was a Motswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980. Read more
• 13 Jul 1979: Ludwig Merwart, Austrian painter and illustrator (born 1913) Ludwig Merwart was an influential Austrian painter and graphic artist. He is an important representative of Tachism and was a major force in graphic arts and prints, especially after World War II. His work belongs to the most significant and interesting contributions to graphic arts in Austria to this day. Read more
• 13 Jul 1976: Frederick Hawksworth, English engineer (born 1884) Frederick William Hawksworth, was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR). Read more
• 13 Jul 1974: Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897) Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett of Chelsea, was a British experimental physicist and life peer who received the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1925, he was the first person to prove that radioactivity could cause the nuclear transmutation of one chemical element to another. He also made major contributions to the Allied war effort in World War II, advising on military strategy and developing operational research. Read more
• 13 Jul 1973: Willy Fritsch, German actor and screenwriter (born 1901) Willy Fritsch was a German theatre and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Read more
• 13 Jul 1970: Leslie Groves, American general and engineer, head of the Manhattan Project (born 1896) Leslie Richard Groves Jr. was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project, the top secret research program that developed the atomic bomb during World War II, leading to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Read more
• 13 Jul 1970: Sheng Shicai, Chinese warlord (born 1895) Sheng Shicai was a Chinese warlord who ruled the province of Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944. Read more
• 13 Jul 1967: Tom Simpson, English cyclist (born 1937) Thomas Simpson was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager before taking up track cycling, specialising in pursuit races. He won a bronze medal for track cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Read more
• 13 Jul 1965: Photis Kontoglou, Greek painter, illustrator and writer (born 1895) Photis Kontoglou was a Greek writer, painter and icon painter. Read more
• 13 Jul 1960: Joy Davidman, American-English poet and author (born 1915) Helen Joy Davidman was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. For her book of poems, Letter to a Comrade, she won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition in 1938 and the Russell Loines Award for Poetry in 1939. She was the author of several books, including two novels. Read more
• 13 Jul 1954: Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (born 1907) Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society. Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist. She is also known for painting about her experience of chronic pain. Her 1940 self-portrait titled The Dream holds the record for the most expensive work by a female artist ever auctioned, at $54.7 million. Read more
• 13 Jul 1951: Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-American composer and painter (born 1874) Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg was an Austrian and American modernist composer, music theorist, and teacher associated with developing variation, the emancipation of the dissonance, and twelve-tone composition. He taught composition in Vienna and at the Prussian Academy of Arts (1925–1933), resigning in anticipation of Nazi Germany's civil–service restrictions. He defiantly reaffirmed his Judaism before immigrating to the United States, where he taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (1936–1944). Read more
• 13 Jul 1949: Walt Kuhn, American painter and academic (born 1877) Walter Francis Kuhn was an American painter and an organizer of the famous Armory Show of 1913, which was America's first large-scale introduction to European Modernism. Read more
• 13 Jul 1946: Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and curator (born 1864) Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was known for the New York art galleries that he ran in the early part of the 20th century, where he introduced many avant-garde European artists to the U.S. He was married to painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Read more
• 13 Jul 1945: Alla Nazimova, Russian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (born 1879) Alla Aleksandrovna Nazimova was a Russian-born American actress. Hailed by modern scholars as the "founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood", Nazimova was a celebrated nonconformist artist who appeared in more than 20 films. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures of early 20th-century theater and silent cinema. Read more
• 13 Jul 1941: Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (born 1913) Ilmar Raud was an Estonian chess master. Read more
• 13 Jul 1936: Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and politician (born 1887) Kojo Tovalou Houénou was a prominent African critic of the French colonial empire in Africa. Born in Porto-Novo to a wealthy father and a mother who belonged to the royal family of the Kingdom of Dahomey, he was sent to France for education at the age of 13. There he received a law degree, medical training, and served in the French armed forces as an army doctor during World War I. Following the war, Houénou became a minor celebrity in Paris; dating actresses, writing books as a public intellectual, and making connections with many of the elite of French society. Read more
• 13 Jul 1934: Mary E. Byrd, American astronomer and academic (born 1849) Mary Emma Byrd was an American astronomer and educator. She is considered a pioneer astronomy teacher at college level. She was also an astronomer in her own right, determining cometary positions by photography. Read more
• 13 Jul 1927: Mimar Kemaleddin Bey, Turkish architect and academic, designed the Tayyare Apartments (born 1870) Ahmed Kemaleddin, widely known as Mimar Kemaleddin was a Turkish architect, and one of the leading figures of the First National architectural movement, alongside Vedat Tek. Read more
• 13 Jul 1922: Martin Dies Sr., American journalist and politician (born 1870) Martin Dies was a Texas politician and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. His son Martin Dies Jr. was also a member of the United States House of Representatives. His grandson, also known as Martin Dies Jr., was a Texas state senator, secretary of state, and jurist. Read more
• 13 Jul 1921: Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1845) Jonas Ferdinand Gabriel Lippmann was a French applied physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1908 for his invention of the Lippmann plate, a method of photographically reproducing colours based on the interference phenomenon. Read more
• 13 Jul 1911: Allan McLean, Scottish-Australian politician, 19th Premier of Victoria (born 1840) Allan McLean was an Australian politician who served as the 19th Premier of Victoria, in office from 1899 to 1900. He was later elected to federal parliament, where he served as a government minister under George Reid. Read more
• 13 Jul 1907: Henrik Sillem, Dutch target shooter and jurist (born 1866) Hendrik "Henrik" Sillem was a Dutch jurist, mountaineer and sport shooter. Read more
• 13 Jul 1896: August Kekulé, German chemist and academic (born 1829) Friedrich August Kekulé, later Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz, was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekulé was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially in the field of theoretical chemistry. He was the principal founder of the theory of chemical structure and in particular the Kekulé structure of benzene. Read more
• 13 Jul 1893: They Even Fear His Horses, American tribal chief (born 1836) Tasunka Kokipapi was an Oglala Lakota leader known for his participation in Red Cloud's War, as a negotiator for the Sioux Nation after the Wounded Knee Massacre, and for serving on delegations to Washington, D.C.. A proper translation of his name is They Fear Even His Horses or His Horse Is Feared, meaning that the bearer of the name was so feared in battle that even the sight of his horse would inspire fear. During and after his lifetime, American sources and written records mistranslated his name as Young Man Afraid of His Horses or uncommonly as His Horses Are Afraid. Read more
• 13 Jul 1890: John C. Frémont, American general and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (born 1813) Major-General John Charles Frémont was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the U.S. and founder of the California Republican Party upon being nominated. Frémont lost the 1856 United States presidential election to Democrat James Buchanan. Read more
• 13 Jul 1890: Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (born 1819) Johann Voldemar Jannsen was an Estonian journalist. He was one of the earliest figures of the Estonian national awakening, which he promoted through his newspaper, the Eesti Postimees, and two Estonian Song Festivals. He wrote the nationalist song "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm", which became the national anthem of Estonia after its independence. Jannsen was the father of poet Lydia Koidula. Read more
• 13 Jul 1889: Robert Hamerling, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (born 1830) Robert Hamerling was an Austrian poet. Read more
• 13 Jul 1881: John C. Pemberton, American general (born 1814) John Clifford Pemberton was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Seminole Wars and the Mexican–American War. He resigned his commission and served as a lieutenant-general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He led the Army of Mississippi from December 1862 to July 1863 and was the commanding officer during the Confederate surrender at the Siege of Vicksburg. Read more
• 13 Jul 1807: Henry Benedict Stuart, Italian cardinal, pretender to the British throne and last member of the House of Stuart (born 1725) Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York, also known as the Cardinal of York, was a cardinal, and was the third and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, as the younger grandson of King James VII and II. One of the longest-serving cardinals in history, Henry spent his whole life in the Papal States and became the dean of the College of Cardinals and cardinal-bishop of Ostia and Velletri. Unlike his father James Francis Edward Stuart and elder brother Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the thrones. After Charles's death in 1788, Henry became known by Jacobites as Henry IX and I, but the Papacy did not recognise Henry as the lawful ruler of Great Britain and Ireland and instead referred to him as the "Cardinal Duke of York". He was most widely known as the Duke of York, a title in the Jacobite peerage granted to him by his father. Read more

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