Did you know about Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo's 1940 self-portrait titled The Dream holds the record for the most expensive work by a female artist ever auctioned, at $54.7 million.
Notable Deaths on July 13
July 13 has 101 recorded notable deaths across history, from 574 to 2026. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
1954 — Frida Kahlo
Mexican painter and educator (born 1907)
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
101 source records
574 – 2026
Today in history
Major events on July 13
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1787 The Congress of the Confederation enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery. Source
- 1849 The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion begins in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Source
Did you know about Shannen Doherty
On July 13, 2024, Doherty died from cancer at her home in Malibu, California at age 53.
Did you know about Jean-Paul Marat
During the Revolution he became one of its most prolific, radical and controversial journalists.
Did you know about George Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner was the longest-serving owner in club history, and the Yankees won seven World Series championships and 11 American League pennants under his ownership.
Did you know about Henry Benedict Stuart
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 England, Scotland, and Ireland and instead referred to him as the "Cardinal Duke of York".
More major people who died on July 13
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
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.
1793
Jean-Paul Marat
Swiss-French physician, scientist and theorist (born 1743)
Jean-Paul Marat was a French scientist, physician, political theorist, journalist, and politician. Before the French Revolution, he pursued a career in medicine and science and spent more than ten years abroad. He published works on subjects including optics, electricity, political theory, and criminal law. During the Revolution he became one of its most prolific, radical and controversial journalists. Through his newspaper L'Ami du peuple, Marat responded rapidly to political events but also publicized complaints and grievances brought to him by ordinary citizens, presenting himself as their advocate against officials and others whom he accused of injustice or abuse. Publication reached an extraordinary intensity in 1791, when about 500 issues appeared.
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.
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 England, Scotland, 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 England, Scotland, 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.
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.
716
Rui Zong
Chinese emperor (born 662)
Emperor Ruizong of Tang, personal name Li Dan, also known at times during his life as Li Xulun, Li Lun, Wu Lun, and Wu Dan, was the fifth and ninth emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eighth son of Emperor Gaozong and the fourth son of Emperor Gaozong's second wife Empress Wu. He was wholly a figurehead during his first reign (684–690), when he was controlled by his mother. During his second reign after his mother's death, significant power and influence was exercised by his sister Princess Taiping.
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.
1399
Peter Parler
German architect, designed St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge (born 1330)
Peter Parler was a German-Bohemian architect and sculptor from the Parler family of master builders. Along with his father, Heinrich Parler, he is one of the most prominent and influential craftsmen of the Middle Ages. Born and apprenticed in the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Peter worked at several important late Medieval building sites, including Strasbourg, Cologne, and Nuremberg. After 1356 he lived in Prague, capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and seat of the Holy Roman Empire, where he created his most famous works: St. Vitus Cathedral and the Charles Bridge.
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.
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.
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.
1621
Albert VII
archduke of Austria (born 1559)
Albert VII was the ruling Archduke of Austria for a few months in 1619 and, jointly with his wife, Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621. Prior to this, he had been a cardinal, Archbishop of Toledo, viceroy of Portugal and Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands. He succeeded his brother Matthias as reigning archduke of Lower and Upper Austria, but abdicated in favor of Ferdinand II the same year, making it the shortest reign in Austrian history.
815
Wu Yuanheng
Chinese poet and politician (born 758)
Wu Yuanheng, courtesy name Bocang (伯蒼), formally Duke Zhongmin of Linhuai (臨淮忠湣公), was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. Wu descended from a family of officials related to Empress Wu Zetian of Zhou and rose in the Tang bureaucracy during Emperor Dezong's reign, holding senior positions in the provinces and at court. After Dezong's grandson Xianzong ascended the throne, Wu became a chancellor and later served with distinction as governor of Xichuan Circuit in modern Chengdu, where he was a patron of the eminent poet Xue Tao. He returned to court in 813 to serve as chancellor and director of the examination bureau, and in that capacity supervised the court's campaign against the Henan warlord Wu Yuanji. On 13 July 815, Wu was assassinated in the imperial capital of Chang'an by agents of Wu Yuanji's ally Li Shidao, the military governor of Pinglu Circuit in Shandong.
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.
2017
Liu Xiaobo
Chinese literary critic, human rights activist (born 1955)
Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese literary critic, 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.
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.
1024
Henry II
Holy Roman Emperor (born 973)
Henry II, also known as Saint Henry, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024 and was the last ruler of the Ottonian line. As Duke of Bavaria, appointed in 995, Henry became King of the Romans following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III in 1002, was made King of Italy in 1004, and crowned emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.
1205
Hubert Walter
English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (born 1160)
Hubert Walter was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll, a record of all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the most outstanding government ministers in English history.
1380
Bertrand du Guesclin
French nobleman and knight (born 1320)
Bertrand du Guesclin, nicknamed "The Eagle of Brittany" or "The Black Dog of Brocéliande", was a Breton knight and an important military commander on the French side during the Hundred Years' War. From 1370 to his death, he was Constable of France for King Charles V. Well known for his Fabian strategy of avoiding major battles where possible, he took part in seven pitched battles and won the five in which he held command.