2013

• International Year of Water Cooperation
• International Year of Quinoa

  Events

January

• January 10 - More than 100 people are killed and 270 injured in several bomb blasts in Pakistan.
• January 11 - The French military begins a five-month intervention into the Northern Mali conflict, targeting the militant Islamist Ansar Dine group.
• January 16-20 - Thirty-nine international workers and one security guard die in a hostage crisis at a natural gas facility near In Aménas, Algeria.
• January 27 - An estimated 245 people die in a nightclub fire at the Kiss nightclub in the Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

  February

• February 12 - North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test, prompting widespread condemnation and tightened economic sanctions from the international community.
• February 15 - A meteor explodes over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,489-1,492 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It is the most powerful meteor to strike Earth's atmosphere in over a century. The incident, along with a coincidental flyby of a larger asteroid, prompts international concern regarding the vulnerability of the planet to meteor strikes.
• February 21 - American scientists use a 3D printer to create a living lab-grown ear from collagen and animal ear cell cultures. In the future, it is hoped that similar ears could be grown to order as transplants for human patients suffering from ear trauma or amputation.
• February 28 - Benedict XVI resigns as pope, becoming the first to do so since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294.

  March

• March 13 - Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected the 266th pope, whereupon he takes the name Francis and becomes the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere.
• March 24 - Central African Republic President François Bozizé flees to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after rebel forces capture the nation's capital, Bangui.
• March 25 - The European Union agrees to a €10 billion economic bailout for Cyprus. The bailout loan will be equally split between the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility, and the International Monetary Fund. The deal precipitates a banking crisis in the island nation.

  April

• April 2 - The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons.
• April 15 - Two Chechnya-born Islamist brothers detonate two bombs at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States, killing 3 and injuring 264 others.
• April 24 - The 2013 Savar building collapse, one of the worst industrial disasters in the world, kills 1,134 people in Bangladesh.
• April 30 - Willem-Alexander is inaugurated as King of the Netherlands following the abdication of Beatrix.

  May

• May 6 - Three women, missing for more than nine years, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio. Police arrest Ariel Castro, their abductor, later that day.
• May 14–16 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 takes place in Malmö, Sweden, and is won by Danish entrant Emmelie de Forest with the song "Only Teardrops".
• May 15 - In a study published in the scientific journal Nature, researchers from Oregon Health & Science University in the United States describe the first production of human embryonic stem cells by cloning.
• May 22 – British Army soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is murdered in Woolwich, southeast London by Islamic terrorists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.
• May 31 – The El Reno tornado, near El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, having a record-breaking width 2.6 miles, with maximum wind speeds up to 301 mph, is the widest tornado ever recorded on earth.

  June

• June 6 - Former CIA employee Edward Snowden discloses operations engaged in by a U.S. government mass surveillance program to news publications and flees the country, later being granted temporary asylum in Russia.
• June 25 - Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani abdicates and his son Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani assumes power.
• June 26
• * Kevin Rudd defeats Julia Gillard in an Australian Labor Party leadership ballot and consequently becomes Prime Minister of Australia, three years after Gillard replaced Rudd.
• * United States v. Windsor decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, overturning a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act and hence granting federal recognition to same-sex marriage in the United States.

  July

• July 1 - Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union.
• July 3 - Amid mass protests across Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi is deposed in a military coup d'état, leading to widespread violence.
• July 21 - Philippe is sworn in as King of the Belgians, following the abdication of Albert II.

  August

• August 14 - Following the military coup in Egypt, two anti-coup camps are raided by the security forces, leaving 2,696 dead. The raids were described by Human Rights Watch as "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history".
• August 21 - 1,429 are killed in the Ghouta chemical attack during the Syrian Civil War.
• August 29 - The United Kingdom Parliament votes against UK military attacks on Syria.

  September

• September 7
• * 2013 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Coalition led by Tony Abbott defeats the Labor Government led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Abbott would be sworn in on September 18th.
• * The International Olympic Committee awards Tokyo the right to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
• September 21 - al-Shabaab Islamic militants attack the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 62 civilians and wounding over 170.

  October

• October 10 - Delegates from some 140 countries and territories sign the Minamata Treaty, a UNEP treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
• October 17 - Microsoft released Windows 8.1.
• October 18 - Saudi Arabia rejects a seat on the United Nations Security Council, making it the first country to reject a seat on the Security Council. Jordan takes the seat on December 6.

  November

• November 5 - The unmanned Mars Orbiter Mission is launched by India from its launchpad in Sriharikota.
• November 8 - Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, hits the Philippines and Vietnam, causing devastation with at least 6,241 dead.
• November 12 - Three Studies of Lucian Freud, a series of portraits of Lucian Freud by the British painter Francis Bacon, sells for US$142.4 million in a New York City auction, setting a world record for an auctioned work of art.
• November 17 - Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia.
• November 21 - Euromaidan pro-EU demonstrations begin in Ukraine after President Viktor Yanukovych rejects an economic association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine in favor of closer ties to Russia.
• November 24 - Iran agrees to limit their nuclear development program in exchange for sanctions relief.

  December

• December 7 - Ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization delegates sign the Bali Package agreement aimed at loosening global trade barriers.
• December 14 - Chinese unmanned spacecraft Chang'e 3, carrying the Yutu rover, becomes the first spacecraft to "soft"-land on the Moon since 1976 and the third ever robotic rover to do so.
• December 15 - Fighting between ethnic Dinka and Nuer members of the presidential guard break out in Juba, South Sudan, plunging the country into civil war.
• December 25 - 38 people are killed in the Christmas Day bombings in Iraq.

  Births

• July 22 - Prince George of Cambridge

  Deaths

January

• January 1 – Patti Page, American singer
• January 2 – Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, Uruguayan footballer
• January 3 – Sergiu Nicolaescu, Romanian film director, actor, and politician
• January 4 – Tony Lip, American actor
• January 7
• * David R. Ellis, American film director
• * Jiřina Jirásková, Czech actress
• January 9
• * James M. Buchanan, American Nobel economist
• * Sakine Cansız, Kurdish activist
• January 11
• * Mariangela Melato, Italian actress
• * Nguyễn Khánh, Vietnamese general and politician
• * Aaron Swartz, American programmer
• January 12 – Flor María Chalbaud, former First Lady of Venezuela
• January 14 – Conrad Bain, Canadian-American actor
• January 15 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese film director
• January 19 – Stan Musial, American baseball player
• January 21 – Michael Winner, British film director and producer
• January 22 – Said Ali al-Shihri, Saudi Arabian deputy leader
• January 23 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal
• January 30 - Patty Andrews, American singer
• January 31 – Hassan Habibi, 1st Vice President of Iran

  February

• February 1 - Ed Koch, American lawyer and politician
• February 2 - Chris Kyle, United States Navy sniper
• February 4
• * Donald Byrd, American trumpet player
• * Reg Presley, British singer, songwriter and musician
• February 14
• * Ronald Dworkin, American philosopher and lawyer
• * Reeva Steenkamp, South African model
• February 17
• * Mindy McCready, American country singer
• * Tony Sheridan, British singer, songwriter, and musician
• February 18
• * Kevin Ayers, British singer, songwriter, and musician
• * Chieko Honda, Japanese voice actress
• * Otfried Preußler, German children author
• February 19
• * Armen Alchian, American economist
• * Robert Coleman Richardson, American Nobel physicist
• February 22 - Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist
• February 23 - Julien Ries, Belgian cardinal
• February 25 - Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress
• February 26 - Stéphane Hessel, French diplomat and writer
• February 27
• * Van Cliburn, American pianist
• * Dale Robertson, American actor
• February 28 - Donald A. Glaser, American Nobel physicist

  March

• March 1 - Bonnie Franklin, American actress
• March 3 – Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer
• March 5
• * Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela
• * Paul Bearer, American professional wrestling manager
• March 6
• * Stompin' Tom Connors, Canadian country-folk singer
• * Alvin Lee, British guitarist
• March 7
• * Peter Banks, British guitarist
• * Damiano Damiani, Italian film director and screenwriter
• March 8 - Hartmut Briesenick, German athlete
• March 10 – Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland
• March 12 - Clive Burr, British drummer
• March 13 - Malachi Throne, American actor
• March 14 - Ieng Sary, Vietnamese-born Cambodian politician
• March 16
• * José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentine executive and policy maker
• * Jason Molina, American singer-songwriter
• March 19 - Harry Reems, American pornographic actor
• March 20 - Zillur Rahman, 18th President of Bangladesh
• March 21
• *Chinua Achebe, Nigerian writer
• *Pietro Mennea, Italian athlete
• March 22 - Bebo Valdés, Cuban pianist, bandleader, and composer
• March 23
• * Boris Berezovsky, Russian businessman
• * Joe Weider, Canadian-born American bodybuilder and publisher
• March 27 - Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian skater
• March 28 - Richard Griffiths, English actor

  April

• April 1 - Moses Blah, 23rd President of Liberia
• April 2 - Jesús Franco, Spanish film director and screenwriter
• April 3 - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German-born British novelist and screenwriter
• April 4 - Roger Ebert, American film critic and writer
• April 6
• * Bigas Luna, Spanish film director
• * Don Shirley, American classical and jazz pianist and composer
• April 8
• * Annette Funicello, American actress and singer
• * Sara Montiel, Spanish singer and actress
• * Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• April 9 - Paolo Soleri, Italian-born American architect
• April 10 - Robert Edwards, British Nobel physiologist
• April 11
• * Maria Tallchief, American prima ballerina
• * Jonathan Winters, American comedian and actor
• * Hilary Koprowski, Polish virologist and immunologist
• April 13 - Chi Cheng, American musician
• April 14
• * Colin Davis, British conductor
• * Armando Villanueva, 121st Prime Minister of Peru
• April 17
• * Deanna Durbin, Canadian-born singer and actress
• * Carlos Graça, 6th Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe
• April 18 - Storm Thorgerson, British graphic designer
• April 19
• * Allan Arbus, American actor and photographer
• * François Jacob, French Nobel biologist
• * Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Russian-American terrorist
• April 21 - Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer
• April 22 - Richie Havens, American folk singer
• April 26 - George Jones, American country music singer
• April 28 - János Starker, Hungarian-born American cellist

  May

• May 2
• * Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist
• * Ivan Turina, Croatian footballer
• May 4 – Christian de Duve, Belgian Nobel biochemist
• May 5 – Sarah Kirsch, German poet
• May 6 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy
• May 7 – Ray Harryhausen, American filmmaker and creator of visual effects
• May 8
• * Jeanne Cooper, American actress
• * Bryan Forbes, English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist
• May 13 – Kenneth Waltz, American political scientist
• May 15 – Henrique Rosa, President of Guinea-Bissau
• May 16 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss Nobel physicist
• May 17 – Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian politician, 42nd President of Argentina
• May 18
• * Steve Forrest, American actor
• * Nam Duck-woo, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea
• May 20 – Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist
• May 22 – Henri Dutilleux, French composer
• May 23 – Georges Moustaki, French singer and songwriter
• May 26 – Jack Vance, American novelist
• May 31 – Jean Stapleton, American actress

  June

• June 3
• * Frank Lautenberg, American politician
• * Jiah Khan, British-Indian actress and singer
• June 6
• * Jerome Karle, American Nobel Prize-winning chemist
• * Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress
• June 7
• * Pierre Mauroy, Prime Minister of France
• * Richard Ramirez, American serial killer
• June 8
• * Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli writer
• * Taufiq Kiemas, 5th First Gentleman of Indonesia
• June 9 - Iain Banks, British novelist
• June 11 - Robert Fogel, American Nobel Prize-winning economic historian
• June 15
• * Heinz Flohe, German footballer
• * Stan Lopata, American baseball player
• * Kenneth G. Wilson, American Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• June 16
• * Josip Kuže, Croatian footballer and coach
• * Ottmar Walter, German footballer
• June 19
• * James Gandolfini, American actor
• * Gyula Horn, Prime Minister of Hungary
• June 23
• * Bobby Bland, American singer and songwriter
• * Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter
• June 24 - Emilio Colombo, 40th Prime Minister of Italy
• June 26 - Marc Rich, Belgian-born American commodities trader and criminal
• June 27 - Alain Mimoun, French track and field athlete
• June 29
• * Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist
• * Jim Kelly, American martial artist and actor

  July

• July 2
• * Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt, Queen consort of Iran
• * Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist and inventor
• July 3 - Radu Vasile, Romanian politician, 57th Prime Minister of Romania
• July 12 - Amar Bose, American engineer and entrepreneur
• July 13 - Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and musician
• July 19
• * Mel Smith, British comedian and actor
• * Bert Trautmann, German-born British footballer
• July 20 - Helen Thomas, American journalist
• July 22 - Dennis Farina, American actor
• July 23
• * Emile Griffith, American welterweight boxer
• * Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer
• July 25
• * Walter De Maria, American sculptor and composer
• * Bernadette Lafont, French actress
• July 26 - JJ Cale, American singer and songwriter
• July 28 - Eileen Brennan, American actress and singer
• July 29 - Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer
• July 30 - Antoni Ramallets, Spanish footballer
• July 31 - Michael Ansara, American actor

  August

• August 5 – George Duke, American keyboardist
• August 8 – Karen Black, American actress
• August 10
• * László Csatáry, Hungarian war criminal
• * Eydie Gormé, American singer
• August 12 – Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau
• August 14
• * Gia Allemand, American actress
• * Allen Lanier, American musician
• August 15
• * Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman and entrepreneur
• * Sławomir Mrożek, Polish dramatist, writer and cartoonist
• * August Schellenberg, Canadian-American actor
• * Marich Man Singh Shrestha, 28th Prime Minister of Nepal
• * Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress
• August 18 – Dezső Gyarmati, Hungarian water polo player
• August 19
• * Abdul Rahim Hatif, Acting President of Afghanistan
• * Cedar Walton, American pianist
• * Lee Thompson Young, American actor
• August 20
• * Elmore Leonard, American novelist
• * Marian McPartland, British-born pianist
• August 21 – C. Gordon Fullerton, American astronaut
• August 22 – Jetty Paerl, Dutch singer
• August 24 – Julie Harris, American actress
• August 25 – Gylmar dos Santos Neves, Brazilian footballer
• August 27 – Anatoly Onoprienko, Soviet-Ukrainian mass murderer
• August 30 – Seamus Heaney, Irish Nobel poet
• August 31 – David Frost, British journalist and broadcaster

  September

• September 1
• * Pál Csernai, Hungarian footballer and manager
• * Tommy Morrison, American boxer
• September 2
• * Ronald Coase, British Nobel economist
• * Frederik Pohl, American writer
• September 5
• * Sushmita Banerjee, Indian writer
• * Rochus Misch, German bodyguard of Adolf Hitler
• September 12
• * Ray Dolby, American engineer and inventor
• * Otto Sander, German actor
• September 17 - Eiji Toyoda, Japanese industrialist
• September 18
• * Ken Norton, American boxer
• * Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic
• September 19
• * Hiroshi Yamauchi, Japanese businessman
• * Saye Zerbo, 3rd President and 4th Prime Minister of Burkina Faso
• September 22 - David H. Hubel, Canadian-born American Nobel neuroscientist

  October

• October 1
• * Peter Broadbent, English footballer
• * Tom Clancy, American writer
• * Giuliano Gemma, Italian actor
• October 3 - Sergei Belov, Russian basketball player
• October 4 - Võ Nguyên Giáp, Vietnamese General
• October 5 - Carlo Lizzani, Italian film director
• October 7
• * Patrice Chéreau, French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer
• * Ovadia Yosef, Israeli religious leader
• October 9 - Wilfried Martens, Belgian politician, 44th Prime Minister of Belgium
• October 10 - Scott Carpenter, American astronaut
• October 11
• * María de Villota, Spanish racing driver
• * Erich Priebke, German SS captain and convicted war criminal
• October 12
• * George Herbig, American astronomer
• * Oscar Hijuelos, American novelist
• October 14 - Bruno Metsu, French football coach
• October 16 - Ed Lauter, American actor
• October 17 - Lou Scheimer, American producer
• October 20
• * Jovanka Broz, First Lady of Yugoslavia
• * Lawrence Klein, American Nobel economist
• October 23 - Anthony Caro, British sculptor
• October 24 - Manolo Escobar, Spanish singer
• October 25
• * Hal Needham, American stuntman, film director, actor and writer
• * Bill Sharman, American basketball player and coach
• * Marcia Wallace, American actress and comedian
• October 27 - Lou Reed, American singer, songwriter, and musician
• October 28 - Tadeusz Mazowiecki, 1st Prime Minister of Poland

  November

• November 1 - Hakimullah Mehsud, Emir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
• November 2 - Walt Bellamy, American basketball player
• November 7 - Amparo Rivelles, Spanish actress
• November 12
• * Al Ruscio, American actor
• * John Tavener, British composer
• November 15 - Glafcos Clerides, 4th President of Cyprus
• November 17 - Doris Lessing, British Nobel writer
• November 19 - Frederick Sanger, British Nobel biochemist
• November 20 - Joseph Paul Franklin, American murderer
• November 25
• * Bill Foulkes, British footballer
• * Chico Hamilton, American drummer and bandleader
• November 26
• * Arik Einstein, Israeli singer, songwriter, and actor
• * Tony Musante, American actor
• November 27 - Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer
• November 28 - Mitja Ribičič, Slovene politician, 25th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
• November 30
• * Paul Walker, American actor
• * Yury Yakovlev, Soviet and Russian film actor

  December

• December 1 – Heinrich Boere, Dutch-German Nazi war criminal
• December 2
• * Pedro Rocha, Uruguayan footballer
• * Vernon Shaw, 5th President of Dominica
• December 5
• * Nelson Mandela, 1st President of South Africa and Nobel laureate
• * Colin Wilson, English writer, philosopher and novelist
• December 7 – Édouard Molinaro, French film director and screenwriter
• December 8 – John Cornforth, Australian–British Nobel chemist
• December 9 – Eleanor Parker, American actress
• December 10
• * Jim Hall, American guitarist and composer
• * Rossana Podestà, Libyan-born Italian actress
• December 11 – Nadir Afonso, Portuguese painter
• December 12
• * Jang Song-thaek, North Korean politician
• * Tom Laughlin, American actor, director, screenwriter, author, educator and activist
• * Audrey Totter, American actress
• December 14 – Peter O'Toole, British-Irish actor
• December 15
• * Harold Camping, American evangelist
• * Joan Fontaine, Japanese-born British American actress
• December 16 - Ray Price, American singer and songwriter
• December 18 - Ronnie Biggs, British criminal
• December 21 - Peter Geach, British philosopher
• December 23
• * Mikhail Kalashnikov, Russian inventor
• * Yusef Lateef, American jazz musician and composer
• December 26 - Marta Eggerth, Hungarian-American singer and actress
• December 28 - Joseph Ruskin, American actor
• December 29
• * Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer
• * Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish Olympic cross-country skier
• December 31 - James Avery, American actor

  Nobel Prizes

• Chemistry - Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt, and Arieh Warshel
• Economics - Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert J. Shiller
• Literature - Alice Munro
• Peace - Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
• Physics - François Englert and Peter Higgs
• Physiology or Medicine - James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Südhof

  New English words

• bingeable