August 13

The Bayreuth Festspielhaus opened with the first complete performance of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle on this day in 1876.

Did you know that:

• Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered the Martian south polar cap on this day in 1642
• William Gray of Hartford patented the coin-operated telephone on this day in 1889
• Sebastian Stan is a Romanian-American actor born on this day in 1982

// Compiled by Zoya Siddiqui