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Today in History, May 13th

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter's Square. Plus the U.S. declares war on Mexico and Churchill's blood-and-toil speech.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 2 min read Sources checked

Published May 13, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

May 13 is best known for 1981, when Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square. The date also saw the U.S. Congress declare war on Mexico in 1846 and Winston Churchill offer “blood, toil, tears and sweat” in his first speech as prime minister in 1940.

The big story: Pope John Paul II is shot (1981)

The pope was riding through St. Peter’s Square in an open car at the start of his weekly general audience on May 13, 1981, when a 23-year-old Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Agca fired four shots at him. Agca was already an escaped convict, found guilty in Turkey of murdering a newspaper editor. The bullets struck John Paul II in the abdomen and left hand, and two women in the crowd were also hurt. Bystanders knocked the pistol away, and police took Agca into custody. Surgeons at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital operated on the pope for more than five hours. Four days later he said from his hospital bed that he forgave his attacker, and after three weeks he went home. Agca got a life sentence. Who, if anyone, put him up to it is still debated: a 1985 trial of Bulgarians and Turks accused of a plot ended in acquittals. In 1983 the pope visited Agca in his prison cell.

More events on May 13

Year	What happened
1568	Mary, Queen of Scots, was defeated by Scottish Protestant forces at the Battle of Langside (Old Style).
1846	The U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico.
1919	Germany’s foreign minister protested the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
1920	The Socialist Party nominated Eugene V. Debs for president while he was imprisoned in Atlanta.
1940	In his first speech to the House of Commons as prime minister, Winston Churchill said he had nothing to offer but “blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
1958	An angry crowd attacked Vice President Richard Nixon’s car in Caracas, Venezuela, during a goodwill tour of Latin America.
1973	Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court met in a winner-take-all tennis match, the first “Battle of the Sexes.”
1985	Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on the headquarters of the group MOVE, killing 11 people and destroying a city block.
2019	Doris Day, the singer and actress known for 1950s movie musicals, died in Carmel Valley, California.

Born on May 13

1717: Maria Theresa, archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia, born in Vienna.
1941: Ritchie Valens, American rock and roll singer of “La Bamba,” born in Pacoima, California.
1950: Stevie Wonder, American singer, songwriter and musician, born in Saginaw, Michigan.