July 13th in History

An advertisement featuring the British airship R34, which completed the first round-trip transatlantic flight on July 13, 1919

Today in History

  • The New York City draft riots, considered the worst in US history, begin (1863)
  • The British R34 airship completes the first airship return journey across the Atlantic (1919)
  • The Hollywood sign is dedicated (1923)
  • Frank Sinatra cuts his first record (1939)
  • Watergate scandal: Nixon aide Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the White House tapes to the US Senate (1973 — see “July 13th in Watergate History“)

Birthdays

  • Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (100 BCE — see “The Ides of March in Roman History“)
  • Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate general and first Grand Wizard of the KKK (1821)
  • Dave Garroway, television personality (1913)
  • Kaoru Ishikawa, management guru (1915)
  • Bob Crane, actor (1928)
  • Paul Prudhomme, chef (1940)
  • Patrick Stewart, actor (1940)
  • Harrison Ford, actor (1942)
  • Roger McGuinn, member of The Byrds (1942)
  • Erno Rubik, puzzle designer (1944)
  • Cheech Marin, actor and comedian with Cheech & Chong (1946)
  • Michael Spinks, boxer (1956)

Deaths

  • Jean-Paul Marat, assassinated by Charlotte Corday during the French Revolution (1793)
  • Alfred Stieglitz, photographer (1946)
  • Leslie Groves, general and engineer, led the Manhattan Project (1970)
  • Red Buttons, actor (2006)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Cheese Pizza Day (US)
  • Inventor’s Day (Hungary)
  • Statehood Day (Montenegro)
  • Trooping the Color (Queen’s Official Birthday) (United Kingdom)

July 13 is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years). There are 171 days remaining until the end of the year.