Birthdays in History on December 13

  • 1521 Sixtus V, [Felice Peretti/"Montalto"], bishop of Fermo/Pope (1585-90)
  • 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 (d. 1649)
  • 1640 Robert Plot, English naturalist (d. 1696)
  • 1662 Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (d. 1729)
  • 1678 Yongzheng Emperor of China (d. 1735)
  • 1720 Carlo Gozzi, Italian dramatist (d. 1804)
  • 1724 Aepinus, [Franz UT Hoch], German physician/physicist
  • 1784 Archduke Louis of Austria (d. 1864)
  • 1804 Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (d. 1873)
  • 1810 Clark Mills, American sculptor (Freedom, Armed Liberty)
  • 1816 Clement Claiborne Clay, MC (Confederacy), (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 (d. 1904)

  • 1856 Svetozar Boroević, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (d. 1920)
  • 1863 Johannes Weiss, German New Testament scholar
  • 1864 Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee (d. 1947)
  • 1867 Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian explorer and scientist (d. 1917)
  • 1871 Herman T Colenbrander, Dutch historian
  • 1871 Russell W Porter, Vermont, explorer (Alaska)
  • 1871 Emily Carr, Canadian artist (d. 1945)
  • 1874 Ludwig Curtius, German archaeologist (Die antike Kunst)
  • 1883 Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer and archivist (d. 1950)
  • 1886 Lambertus J van Apeldoorn, lawyer (martial law)
  • 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 Polya, Hungarian-born mathematician (d. 1985)
  • 1890 Marc Connelly, McKeesport Pa, playwright (One Minute Please)
  • 1892 Brand Dirck Ochse, filmer/co-founder (Polygoon)
  • 1899 Harold Guinzburg, publisher (founder of Literary Guild)
  • 1901 John Wijga, painter/illustrator
  • 1902 Talcott Parsons, US sociologist
  • 1903 Jewgeni Petrow, writer
  • 1903 John Piper, British writer (US Churches in WWI)/official war painter
  • 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

Person of interestKenneth Patchen

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

Poet/Novelist Kenneth Patchen
Poet/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
  • 1914 Alan L Bullock, British historian

  • 1915 Balthazar Johannes Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa (1966-77)
  • 1915 Ross MacDonald, detective novelist (Goodbye Look)
  • 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 George P. Schultz, economist and US Secretary of State (1982-89), born in NYC, New York
  • 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)
  • 1923 Antoni Tapies, 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)
  • 1925 Henry Charles Gordon, engineer and astronaut (Dynasoar), born in Valparaiso, Indiana
  • 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 Bonno Spieker, Dutch 2nd Chamber member (PvdA)
  • 1935 Thomas Wakefield, writer
  • 1936 Karim Aga Khan, leader of the Nizari Ismailis, prince and billionaire
  • 1939 Clive Brain, educationalist
  • 1942 Anna Eshoo, American politician
  • 1943 Arturo Ripstein, director (El Lugar Sin Limites, Foxtrot)
  • 1948 Brian Wilson, Scottish politician
  • 1949 R[oberta] A[nn] MacAvoy, American sci-fi author (Damiano's Lute, Raphael)
  • 1953 Tom Sanders, Jackson Wyoming, aerial cameraman (Living Daylights)

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
  • 1957 Jean-Marie Messier, French businessman
  • 1965 Marko Mäetamm, Estonian artist
  • 1966 Ross Burden, New Zealand celebrity chef
  • 1971 Miguel Angel Martinez Soto, mariachi
  • 1974 Sara Cox, English TV and radio presenter
  • 1978 BJ Penn, American mixed martial artist
  • 2005 Prince Aymeric of Belgium
  • 2005 Prince Nicolas of Belgium