From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
May 25 is the 145th day of the year (146th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 220 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 567 BC – Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
- 240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
- 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors.
- 1420 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
- 1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
- 1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.
- 1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
- 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: The Carnew massacre, Dunlavin massacre and Carlow massacre takes place.
- 1809 – Chuquisaca Revolution: a group of patriots in Chuquisaca (modern day Sucre) revolt against the Spanish Empire, starting the South American Wars of Independence.
- 1810 – May Revolution: citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the May week, starting the Argentine War of Independence.
- 1819 – The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.
- 1833 – The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.
- 1837 – The Rebels of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.
- 1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
- 1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
- 1895 – Playwright, poet, and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
- 1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as its president.
- 1914 – The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.
- 1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
- 1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People's Republic.
- 1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- 1936 – The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins.
- 1938 – Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante takes place, with 313 deaths.
- 1946 – The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their Emir.
- 1951 – Future Hall of Famer Willie Mays was called up by the New York Giants from their farm team Minneapolis Millers. We went 0-5 in his first major league game.
- 1953 – Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conduct their first and only nuclear artillery test.
- 1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
- 1955 – In the United States, a night time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
- 1955 – First ascent of Kangchenjunga (8,586 m.), the third highest mountain in the world, by a British expedition led by Joe Brown and George Band.
- 1961 – Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade.
- 1962 – The Old Bay Line, the last overnight steamboat service in the United States, goes out of business.
- 1963 – In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.
- 1966 – Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
- 1966 – The first prominent dàzìbào during the Cultural Revolution in China is posted at Peking University.
- 1967 – Celtic F.C. from Glasgow, Scotland becomes the first ever Northern European team to win the European Cup; with previous winners being from Spain, Italy and Portugal.
- 1973 – HNS Velos (D-16), while participating in a NATO exercise and in order to protest against the dictatorship in Greece, anchored at Fiumicino, Italy, refusing to return to Greece.
- 1977 – Star Wars (retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981) is released in theaters, inspiring the Jediism religion and Geek Pride Day holiday.
- 1979 – American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.
- 1979 – Six-year-old Etan Patz disappears from the street just two blocks away from his New York City home, prompting an international search for the child, and causing U.S. President Ronald Reagan to designate May 25th as National Missing Children's Day (in 1983).
- 1981 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- 1982 – HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War.
- 1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
- 1997 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
- 1999 – The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People's Republic of China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
- 2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.
- 2001 – 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 2002 – China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.
- 2002 – A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique kills 197 people.
- 2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device. Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests building tensions in the international community.
- 2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her twenty five year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
[edit] Births
- 1048 – Emperor Shenzong of Song China (d. 1085)
- 1334 – Emperor Sukō, Japanese Pretender (d. 1398)
- 1458 – Sultan Mahmud Begada of Gujarat (d. 1511)
- 1572 – Maurice of Hesse-Kassel German music patron and composer (d. 1632)
- 1606 – Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)
- 1661 – Claude Buffier, French philosopher and historian (d. 1737)
- 1713 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
- 1725 – Samuel Ward, American politician (d. 1776)
- 1749 – Gregorio Funes, Argentine clergyman, politician and Junta Grande figure (d. 1829)
- 1783 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American politician and Supreme Court justice (d. 1841)
- 1803 – Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist and playwright (d. 1873)
- 1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)
- 1818 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian (d. 1897)
- 1845 – Lip Pike, American baseball player (d. 1893)
- 1846 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria (d. 1923)
- 1846 – Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and writer (d. 1900)
- 1848 – Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, editor and publisher (d. 1924)
- 1852 – William Muldoon, American Greco-Roman wrestler (d. 1933)
- 1856 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (d. 1942)
- 1860 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (d. 1944)
- 1865 – John Mott, American evangelical; Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- 1865 – Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1877 – Billy Murray, American singer (d. 1954)
- 1878 – Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, American tap dancer and actor (d. 1949)
- 1879 – Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian-born British publisher (d. 1964)
- 1880 – Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)
- 1882 – Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Philip Murray, Scottish-born American labor leader (d. 1952)
- 1886 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian revolutionary (d. 1945)
- 1887 – Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Italian Catholic priest (d. 1968)
- 1888 – Miles Malleson, English actor (d. 1969)
- 1889 – Igor Sikorsky, Russian-born American aviation designer (d. 1972)
- 1897 – Gene Tunney, American boxer(d. 1978)
- 1898 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher and TV personality (d. 1971)
- 1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet and musician (d. 1976)
- 1900 – Alain Grandbois, French Canadian poet (d. 1975)
- 1903 – Binnie Barnes, British actress (d. 1998)
- 1907 – U Nu, Burmese politician (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (d. 1963)
- 1909 – Alfred Kubel, German politician (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Marie Menken, American filmmaker and socialite (d. 1970)
- 1912 – Princess Deokhye of Korea (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Dean Rockwell, American wrestling and football coach (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Heinz "Pritzl" Bär, German fighter pilot (d. 1957)
- 1913 – Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster (d. 1965)
- 1917 – Theodore Hesburgh, American educator and theologian
- 1917 – Steve Cochran, American actor (d. 1965)
- 1918 – Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1921 – Hal David, American lyricist and songwriter
- 1921 – Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1922 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian P.C.I. politician (d. 1984)
- 1922 – Kitty Kallen, American big band singer
- 1924 – István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (d. 1974)
- 1925 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (d. 2000)
- 1927 – Robert Ludlum, American writer (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Beverly Sills, American soprano (d. 2007)
- 1929 – Warren Frost, American actor
- 1931 – Georgy Grechko, Russian cosmonaut
- 1931 – Aili Jõgi, Estonian anti-Soviet occupation figure
- 1931 – Irwin Winkler, American film producer and director
- 1932 – John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)
- 1932 – K. C. Jones, American professional basketball player and coach
- 1932 – W. P. Kinsella, Canadian writer
- 1933 – Basdeo Panday, Trinidadian statesman
- 1933 – Ray Spencer, English footballer
- 1935 – Cookie Gilchrist, American football player
- 1935 – Victoria Shaw, Australian-born American actress (d. 1988)
- 1936 – Tom T. Hall, American singer and songwriter
- 1938 – Raymond Carver, American writer (d. 1988)
- 1939 – Dixie Carter, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Ian McKellen, English actor
- 1941 – Vladimir Voronin, Moldovan statesman
- 1943 – Jessi Colter, American country singer
- 1943 – John Palmer, British musician (Family)
- 1944 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1944 – John Bunnell, American law enforcement official and TV personality
- 1944 – Robert MacPherson, American mathematician
- 1944 – Frank Oz, British-born American puppeteer and director
- 1946 – Bill Adam, Scottish-born Canadian racing driver
- 1946 – David A. Hargrave, American writer and role-playing games designer (d. 1988)
- 1947 – Karen Valentine, American actress
- 1948 – Klaus Meine, German singer (Scorpions)
- 1949 – Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist
- 1951 – Bob Gale, American screenwriter
- 1952 – Jeffrey Bewkes, American media executive
- 1952 – Al Sarrantonio, American writer
- 1952 – Gordon Smith, American politician
- 1953 – Eve Ensler, American playwright
- 1953 – Stan Sakai, Japanese-American cartoonist (Usagi Yojimbo)
- 1953 – Daniel Passarella, Argentine footballer
- 1955 – Alistair Burt, British politician
- 1956 – Stavros Arnaoutakis, Greek politician
- 1956 – Tatsutoshi Goto, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1956 – Sugar Minott, Jamaican reggae singer
- 1956 – David P. Sartor, American composer
- 1957 – Edward Lee, American writer
- 1957 – Robert Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1957 – Hillary B. Smith, American actress
- 1958 – Aikaterini Batzeli, Greek politician
- 1958 – Carrie Newcomer, American folksinger
- 1958 – Paul Weller, English musician
- 1959 – Julian Clary, British television personality
- 1959 – Manolis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician
- 1959 – Rick Wamsley, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Amy Klobuchar, American politician
- 1960 – Anthea Turner, British television personality
- 1962 – Rick Nattress, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Mike Myers, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1963 – Eha Rünne, Estonian shot putter and discus thrower
- 1964 – Ivan Bella, Slovak cosmonaut
- 1964 – David Shaw, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964 – Ray Stevenson, British actor
- 1965 – George Hickenlooper, American documentary film-maker
- 1966 – Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands
- 1967 – Poppy Z. Brite, American author
- 1968 – Kendall Gill, American basketball player
- 1969 – Glen Drover, Canadian guitarist (Megadeth)
- 1969 – Anne Heche, American actress
- 1969 – Stacy London, American fashion consultant
- 1970 – Jamie Kennedy, American actor
- 1970 – Joey Eischen, American baseball player
- 1970 – Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, American actresses
- 1970 – Octavia Spencer, American actress
- 1970 – Satsuki Yukino, Japanese voice actress
- 1971 – Marco Cappato, Italian politician
- 1971 – Justin Henry, American actor
- 1972 – Karan Johar, Indian director, producer, writer, actor
- 1973 – Daz Dillinger, American rapper
- 1973 – Demetri Martin, American comedian
- 1973 – Molly Sims, American model and actress
- 1974 – Frank Klepacki, American musician
- 1974 – Miguel Tejada, Dominican baseball player
- 1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer
- 1975 – Blaise Nkufo, Swiss footballer
- 1976 – Tarik Glenn, American football player
- 1976 – Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
- 1976 – Sandra Nasic, German singer (Guano Apes)
- 1976 – Marcelo Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Ethan Suplee, American actor
- 1976 – Clifton Williams, American Designer of TripIt
- 1977 – Karthik Sivakumar, Indian actor
- 1977 – Alberto Del Rio, Mexican wrestler
- 1978 – Brian Urlacher, American football player
- 1979 – Carlos Bocanegra, American footballer
- 1979 – Caroline Ouellette, French Canadian ice-hockey player
- 1979 – Sam Sodje, Nigerian footballer
- 1979 – Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
- 1980 – Jae Hee, South Korean actor
- 1980 – Joe King, American musician (The Fray)
- 1980 – David Navarro, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Michalis Pelekanos, Greek basketball player
- 1982 – Adam Boyd, English footballer
- 1982 – Daniel Braaten, Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Ryan Gallant, American skateboarder
- 1982 – Jason Kubel, American baseball player
- 1982 – Luke Webster, Australian rules footballer
- 1983 – Kunal Khemu, Indian actor
- 1983 – Tiaguinho Brazilian footballer
- 1984 – Luke Ball, Australian rules footballer
- 1984 – Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – A. J. Foyt IV, American race car driver
- 1984 – Shawne Merriman, American football player
- 1984 – Kostas Martakis, Greek singer
- 1984 – Marion Raven, Norwegian singer-songwriter (M2M)
- 1984 – Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, Icelandic beauty pageant constestant (Miss World 2005)
- 1985 – Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
- 1985 – Demba Ba, Senegalese footballer
- 1986 – Lauren Crace, English actress
- 1986 – Edewin Fanini, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Yoan Gouffran, French footballer
- 1986 – Geraint Thomas, Welsh cyclist
- 1986 – Juri Ueno, Japanese actress
- 1987 – Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Yves De Winter, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer
- 1990 – Nikita Filatov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1991 – Jillian Wheeler, American musician
- 1994 – Alexandra Raisman, American gymnast
- 1995 – Gabby Soleil, American actress
[edit] Deaths
- 615 – Pope Boniface IV (b. c. 550)
- 709 – Aldhelm, English Christian saint, Latin poet and Anglo-Saxon literature scholar (b. c. 639)
- 967 – Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 926)
- 992 – Mieszko I first lord and knight of Poland, duke of Poland (b. c. 935)
- 1085 – Pope Gregory VII (b. c. 1020)
- 1261 – Pope Alexander IV
- 1452 – John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1555 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (b. 1508)
- 1555 – King Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
- 1595 – Valens Acidalius, German critic and poet (b. 1567)
- 1632 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)
- 1667 – Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman (b. 1620)
- 1681 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright (b. 1600)
- 1693 – Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer (b. 1634)
- 1741 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (b. 1660)
- 1786 – Peter III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal (b. 1717)
- 1789 – Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist (b. 1751)
- 1797 – John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (b. 1719)
- 1805 – William Paley, English philosopher (b. 1743)
- 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (b. 1797)
- 1849 – Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator (b. 1777)
- 1899 – Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (b. 1822)
- 1912 – Austin Lane Crothers, American politician (b. 1860)
- 1917 – Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet (b. 1891)
- 1919 – Madam C. J. Walker, American philanthropist and tycoon (b. 1867)
- 1924 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (b. 1889)
- 1926 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian politician and statesman (b. 1879)
- 1927 – Payne Whitney, American businessman (b. 1876)
- 1930 – Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1848)
- 1934 – Gustav Holst, English composer (b. 1874)
- 1939 – Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer (b. 1868)
- 1940 – Joe De Grasse, American film director (b. 1873)
- 1942 – Emanuel Feuermann, Austrian-American cellist (b. 1902)
- 1943 – Nils von Dardel, Swedish post-impressionist painter (b. 1888)
- 1951 – Paula von Preradović, Croatian-born writer (b. 1887)
- 1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian-born photojournalist (b. 1913)
- 1965 – Aleck "Rice" Miller, American blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player, known as Sonny Boy Williamson (II) (b. 1908)
- 1968 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (b. 1881)
- 1970 – Tom Patey, Scottish mountaineer (b. 1932)
- 1977 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (b. 1904)
- 1979 – John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (b. 1949)
- 1981 – Fredric Warburg, British publisher and author (b. 1898)
- 1983 – King Idris I, of Libya (b. 1889)
- 1983 – Jean Rougeau, French Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1925)
- 1983 – Black Jack Stewart, Canadian NHL hockey player (b. 1917)
- 1986 – Chester Bowles, American Democratic politician (b. 1901)
- 1988 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (b. 1940)
- 1995 – Dany Robin, French actress (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian (b. 1929)
- 1996 – Bradley Nowell, American singer and guitarist (Sublime) (b. 1968)
- 2000 – Nicholas Clay, British actor (b. 1946)
- 2002 – Pat Coombs, English actress (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Jeremy Michael Ward, American sound technician and vocal operator (The Mars Volta) (b. 1976)
- 2004 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder (b. 1938)
- 2005 – Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (b. 1965)
- 2005 – Graham Kennedy, Australian television personality (b. 1934)
- 2006 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican ska musician (b. 1941)
- 2007 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor and TV host (b. 1931)
- 2008 – J. R. Simplot, American potato farmer (b. 1909)
- 2008 – Camu Tao, American rapper and producer (b. 1977)
- 2009 – Haakon Lie, Norwegian Labour politician (b. 1905)
- 2010 – Alexander Belostenny, Ukrainian basketball player (b. 1959)
- 2010 – Michael H. Jordan, American businessman and Chief Executive Officer (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Alan Hickinbotham, Australian businessman, football player & football coach (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Silvius Magnago, Italian politician (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Siphiwo Ntshebe, South African opera singer (b. 1975)
- 2010 – Gabriel Vargas, Mexican cartoonist (b. 1915)
- 2011 – Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer (b. 1944)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
