August 13
900 – Count Reginar I of Hainault rises against Zwentibold of Lotharingia and slays him near present-day Susteren.
1521 – After an extended siege, forces led by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés capture Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc and conquer the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
1624 – The French king Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu as prime minister.
1792 – King Louis XVI of France is formally arrested by the National Tribunal, and declared an enemy of the people.
1918 – Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) established as a public company in Germany.
1961 – Cold War: East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants' attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started.
Births
1899 – Alfred Hitchcock, English-American director and producer (d. 1980)
1926 – Fidel Castro, Cuban lawyer and politician, 15th President of Cuba (d. 2016)
1952 – Herb Ritts, American photographer and director (d. 2002)
International Lefthanders Day (International)