| 54661 | May.13 | Event | 1940 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the German invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety. |
| 54662 | May.13 | Event | 1941 – World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting with German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance. |
| 54663 | May.13 | Event | 1943 – World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces. |
| 54664 | May.13 | Event | 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14. |
| 54665 | May.13 | Event | 1950 – The first round of the Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone. |
| 54666 | May.13 | Event | 1951 – The 400th anniversary of the founding of the National University of San Marcos is commemorated by the opening of the first large-capacity stadium in Peru. |
| 54667 | May.13 | Event | 1952 – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting. |
| 54668 | May.13 | Event | 1954 – The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese middle school students in Singapore, take place. |
| 54669 | May.13 | Event | 1954 – The original Broadway production of The Pajama Game opens and runs for another 1,063 performances. Later received three Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreography. |
| 54670 | May.13 | Event | 1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators. |
| 54671 | May.13 | Event | 1958 – The trademark Velcro is registered. |
| 54672 | May.13 | Event | 1958 – May 1958 crisis: A group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria. |
| 54673 | May.13 | Event | 1958 – Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey. |
| 54674 | May.13 | Event | 1960 – Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Thirty-one students are arrested, and the Free Speech Movement is born. |
| 54675 | May.13 | Event | 1963 – The U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland is decided. |
| 54676 | May.13 | Event | 1967 – Dr. Zakir Hussain becomes the third President of India. He is the first Muslim President of the Indian Union. He holds this position until August 24, 1969. |
| 54677 | May.13 | Event | 1969 – Race riots, later known as the 13 May Incident, take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. |
| 54678 | May.13 | Event | 1972 – Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths. |
| 54679 | May.13 | Event | 1972 – The Troubles: A car bombing outside a crowded pub in Belfast sparks a two-day gun battle involving the Provisional IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force and British Army. Seven people are killed and over 66 injured. |
| 54680 | May.13 | Event | 1980 – An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area. |
| 54681 | May.13 | Event | 1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives. |
| 54682 | May.13 | Event | 1985 – Police release a bomb on MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia to end a stand-off, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 250 city residents. |
| 54683 | May.13 | Event | 1989 – Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike. |
| 54684 | May.13 | Event | 1990 – Dinamo Zagreb-Red Star Belgrade riot |
| 54685 | May.13 | Event | 1992 – Li Hongzhi gives the first public lecture on Falun Gong in Changchun, People's Republic of China. |
| 54686 | May.13 | Event | 1994 – Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Show with David Letterman. |
| 54687 | May.13 | Event | 1995 – Alison Hargreaves, a 33-year-old British mother, becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas. |
| 54688 | May.13 | Event | 1996 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people. |
| 54689 | May.13 | Event | 1998 – Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped. |
| 54690 | May.13 | Event | 1998 – India carries out two nuclear tests at Pokhran, following the three conducted on May 11. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India. |