Did you know
As the candidate of the Broad Front, he won the 2009 presidential election and took office as president on 1 March 2010.
Notable Deaths on May 13
2025 — José Mujica
Uruguayan politician, 40th President of Uruguay (born 1935)
May 13 has 102 recorded notable deaths across history, from 189 to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
102 source records
189 – 2025
Today in history
Major events on May 13
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1888 With the passage of the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), the Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery. Source
- 1948 Arab–Israeli War: The Kfar Etzion massacre occurs, a day prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Source
- 1862 Southern slave Robert Smalls steals the steamboat Planter, spirits it through Confederate lines and hands it to the United States Navy, who quickly commission it as the gunboat USS Planter and appoint Smalls as captain, thus making him the first black man to command a United States ship. Source
- 1858 Montenegrin forces under Grand Duke Mirko Petrović-Njegoš defeat an Ottoman army under Hussein Pasha in the battle of Grahovac. The battle is a significant step towards formal independence and quickly becomes a part of national folklore. Source
Did you know
Jason Miller later became artistic director of the Scranton Public Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where That Championship Season was set.
Did you know
Donald "Duck" Dunn was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter.
Did you know
Apolinario Mabini is regarded as the "utak ng himagsikan" or "brain of the revolution" and is also considered as a national hero in the Philippines.
Did you know
Cyril Harrison Wecht was an American forensic pathologist.
More major people who died on May 13
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2001
Jason Miller
American actor and playwright (born 1939)
John Anthony Miller Jr., better known by his stage name Jason Miller, was an American playwright and actor.
2012
Donald "Duck" Dunn
American bass player, songwriter, and producer (born 1941)
Donald "Duck" Dunn was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Records.
1903
Apolinario Mabini
Filipino lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (born 1864)
Apolinario Mabini y Maranán was a Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer, and statesman who served first as a legal and constitutional adviser to the Revolutionary Government, and then as the first Prime…
2024
Cyril Wecht
American forensic pathologist (born 1931)
Cyril Harrison Wecht was an American forensic pathologist. He was president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board of trustees of the American…
1947
Sukanta Bhattacharya
Indian poet and playwright (born 1926)
Sukanta Bhattacharya was a Bengali poet and revolutionary. He was known as "Young Nazrul" and "Kishore Bidrohi Kobi", for his rebellious stance and opposition against the British Raj, Empire of Japan, other Axis powers,…
1962
Franz Kline
American painter and academic (born 1910)
Franz Kline was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s.
2000
Jumbo Tsuruta
Japanese wrestler (born 1951)
Tomomi "Tommy" Tsuruta , better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first…
2019
Unita Blackwell
American civil rights activist and politician (born 1933)
Unita Zelma Blackwell was an American civil rights activist who was the first African-American woman to be elected mayor in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
2011
Stephen De Staebler
American sculptor and educator (born 1933)
Stephen De Staebler was an American sculptor, printmaker, and educator, he was best recognized for his work in clay and bronze.
1994
Duncan Hamilton
Irish-English race car driver (born 1920)
James Duncan Hamilton was a British racing driver. He was known for his colourful and extroverted personality. After fighting in the Second World War, he took up motorsport.
1612
Sasaki Kojirō
Japanese master swordsman (born 1575)
Sasaki Kojirō was a Japanese swordsman who may have lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods and is known primarily for the story of his duel with Miyamoto Musashi in 1612, where Sasaki was killed.
1985
Richard Ellmann
American literary critic and biographer (born 1918)
Richard David Ellmann, FBA, was an American literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats. He won the U.S.
1176
Matthias I
Duke of Lorraine (born 1119)
Matthias I was the duke of Lorraine from 1138 to his death as the eldest son and successor of Simon I and Adelaide.
1573
Takeda Shingen
Japanese daimyō (born 1521)
Takeda Shingen was a Japanese samurai and daimyō of the Sengoku period. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō of the late Sengoku period and was credited with exceptional military prestige.
1975
Marguerite Perey
French physicist (born 1909)
Marguerite Catherine Perey was a French physicist and a student of Marie Curie. In 1939, Perey discovered the element francium by purifying samples of lanthanum that contained actinium.
2019
Doris Day
American singer and actress (born 1922)
Doris Day was an American actress and singer. With an entertainment career that spanned 75 years, Day was one of the most popular and acclaimed female singers of the 1940s and 1950s, with a parallel career as a leading…
2025
Kit Bond
American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of Missouri (born 1939)
Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond was an American attorney and politician from Missouri. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S.
2002
Valeriy Lobanovskyi
Ukrainian footballer and manager (born 1939)
Valeriy Vasylyovych Lobanovskyi was а Soviet and Ukrainian football player and manager.
2015
Earl Averill
Jr., American baseball player (born 1931)
Earl Douglas Averill was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and outfielder in the Major Leagues in 1956 and from 1958 to 1963 for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los…