Birthdays in History on December 13

  • 1521 Pope Sixtus V [Felice Piergentile], Pope of the Catholic Church (1585-90), born in Grottammare, Papal States (d. 1590)
  • 1533 Erik XIV, King of Sweden (1560-69), born in Stockholm (d. 1577)

Person of interestHenry IV of France

1553 Henry IV, 1st Bourbon King of Navarra (1572-1610) and France (1589-1610), born in Pau, Navarre (d. 1610)

King Henry IV of France
King
Henry IV of France
  • 1585 William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet, born in Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, Scotland (d. 1649)
  • 1640 Robert Plot, English naturalist, born in Borden, Kent (d. 1696)
  • 1662 Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist, born in Verona, Italy (d. 1729)
  • 1678 Yongzheng, 4th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, born in Yonghe Palace, Forbidden City, China (d. 1735)
  • 1720 Carlo Gozzi, Italian dramatist, born in Venice (d. 1804)
  • 1724 Franz Aepinus, German physician and physicist, born in Rostock, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1802)
  • 1784 Archduke Louis of Austria, 14th child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Feldmarschal-Leutnant of Austrian Imperial Army, born in Florence, Italy (d. 1864)
  • 1804 Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (3rd Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia (d. 1873)
  • 1810 Clark Mills, American sculptor (Freedom, Armed Liberty)
  • 1816 Clement Claiborne Clay, American politician (U.S. Senator from Alabama), born in Huntsville, Alabama (d. 1882)

Person of interestWerner von Siemens

1816 [Ernst] Werner von Siemens, German inventor and industrialist (siemens electrical conductance unit and Siemens corporation), born in Lenthe, German Confederation

Industrialist and Inventor Werner von Siemens
Industrialist and Inventor
Werner von Siemens

Person of interestMary Todd Lincoln

1818 Mary Todd Lincoln, American wife of Abraham Lincoln and US First Lady (1861-65), born in Lexington, Kentucky (d. 1882)

First Lady of the United States Mary Todd Lincoln
First Lady of the United States
Mary Todd Lincoln
  • 1836 Franz von Lenbach, German painter, born in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria (d. 1904)

  • 1856 Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal, born in Umetić, Croatian Military Frontier, Austrian Empire (d. 1920)
  • 1863 Johannes Weiss, German New Testament scholar, born in Kiel, Germany (d. 1914)
  • 1864 Emil Seidel, German-American politician (36th Mayor of Milwaukee), born in Ashland, Pennsylvania (d. 1947)
  • 1867 Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian explorer and scientist (nominated 7 times for Nobel Prize), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1917)
  • 1871 Herman Theodoor Colenbrander, Dutch historian, born in Drachten, Netherlands (d. 1945)
  • 1871 Russell W. Porter, American artist and explorer (Alaska), born in Springfield, Vermont (d. 1949)
  • 1871 Emily Carr, Canadian painter, born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (d. 1945)
  • 1874 Ludwig Curtius, German archaeologist (Die antike Kunst), born in Augsburg, Germany (d. 1954)
  • 1883 Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1950)
  • 1886 Lambertus Johannes van Apeldoorn, Dutch lawyer (martial law), born in IJlst, Netherlands (d. 1979)
  • 1887 Alvin York, American World War I soldier who led a famed attack on a German machine gun nest (Medal of Honor), born in Pall Mall, Tennessee (d. 1964)
  • 1887 George Pólya, Hungarian mathematician, born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (d. 1985)
  • 1890 Marc Connelly, American playwright (One Minute Please), born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania (d. 1980)
  • 1899 Harold Guinzburg, publisher (founder of Literary Guild) (d. 1961)
  • 1902 Talcott Parsons, American sociologist, born in Colorado Springs, Colorado (d. 1979)
  • 1903 Yevgeny Petrov [Yevgeny Petrovich Kataev], Soviet writer, born in Odessa, Ukraine (d. 1942)
  • 1903 John Piper, British writer (US Churches in WWI) and official war painter, born in Epsom, Surrey, England (d. 1992)
  • 1906 Laurens Jan van der Post, South African-born writer, soldier, explorer and conservationist, born in Philippolis (d. 1996)
  • 1910 Charles Alfred Coulson, British chemist (theoretical), born in Dudley, England (d. 1974)

Person of interestKenneth Patchen

1911 Kenneth Patchen, American poet and novelist (Cloth of the Tempest), born in Niles, Ohio (d. 1972)

Poet and Novelist Kenneth Patchen
Poet and Novelist
Kenneth Patchen
  • 1911 Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and 1989 Nobel laureate for his contributions to econometrics, born in Skedsmo, Norway (d. 1999)
  • 1913 John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy, English art historian and director of British Museum (1974-76), born in London (d. 1994)
  • 1914 Alan Bullock, British historian and author (Hitler: A Study in Tyranny), born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England (d. 2004)
  • 1915 Balthazar Johannes Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa (1966-77), born in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, South Africa (d. 1983)
  • 1915 Ross MacDonald [Kenneth Millar], American-Canadian detective novelist (Goodbye Look), born in Los Gatos, California (d. 1983)

  • 1915 Yitzhak Zuckerman [Itzhak Zuckerman], Vilnius, Lithuania, Jewish resistance hero in World War II and one of the few survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
  • 1919 Hans-Joachim Marseille, German flying ace of World War II (d. 1942)
  • 1920 Kaysone Phomvihane, President of Laos (Pathet Lao) (1991-92), born in Na Seng village, Khanthabouli district (d. 1992)
  • 1920 George P. Shultz, American economist, businessman and 60th Secretary of State (1982-89), born in NYC, New York
  • 1922 José Sarria, American political activist, drag queen and 1st openly gay candidate for public office in the US (1961), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2013)
  • 1923 Fred van der Spek, Dutch 2nd chamber member (PSP), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 2017)
  • 1923 Antoni Tapies, Spanish painter, sculptor and theorist (Dau al Set), born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 2012)
  • 1923 Frankie Fraser, English gangster who spent 42 years in jail, born in London, England (d. 2012)
  • 1928 W Gordon Smith, Scottish playwright, born in Edinburgh (d. 1996)
  • 1928 Jack Tramiel, American Businessman (Amiga, Commodore 64), born in Łódź, Poland (d. 2012)
  • 1935 Tom Wakefield, British writer, born in Staffordshire, England (d. 1996)
  • 1936 Karim Aga Khan, Imam of Nizari-Ismaili Shia Islam, born in Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1942 Anna Eshoo, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in New Britain, Connecticut
  • 1944 Dick Dees, Dutch politician, born in Oostburg, Netherlands
  • 1948 Brian Wilson, British Labour politician, born in Dunoon, Scotland
  • 1949 R. A. MacAvoy, American sci-fi author (Damiano's Lute, Raphael), born in Cleveland, Ohio
  • 1953 Thomas E. Sanders, American aerial cameraman (Living Daylights), born in San Pedro, California (d. 2017)

Person of interestBen Bernanke

1953 Ben Bernanke, American economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2006-14), born in Augusta, Georgia

Economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke
Economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Ben Bernanke
  • 1954 Tamora Pierce, American author of fantasy fiction (The Song of the Lioness), born in South Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
  • 1957 Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman, born in Grenoble, France
  • 1965 Marko Mäetamm, Estonian artist, born in Viljandi, Estonia
  • 1966 Ross Burden, New Zealand celebrity chef, born in Napier, New Zealand (d. 2014)
  • 1971 Miguel Angel Martinez Soto, mariachi
  • 1974 Sara Cox, English TV and radio presenter (The Radio 1 Breakfast Show), born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
  • 1978 B.J. Penn, American mixed martial artist, born in Kailua, Hawaii
  • 2005 Prince Aymeric of Belgium, twin and third child of Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium, born in St-Luc University Hospital, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
  • 2005 Prince Nicolas of Belgium, twin and second child of Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium, born in St-Luc University Hospital, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium

December in History