25 May
May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). There are 220 days remaining.
Events
- 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.
- 1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States (George Washington is presiding).
- 1810 - Armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy from Spain and establish a provincial government for Argentina.
- 1865 - Mobile magazine explosion: 300 are killed in Mobile, Alabama when an ordnance depot explodes.
- 1895 - Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "sodomy and gross indecency" and sentenced to serve two years in a London prison.
- 1895 - The Republic of Taiwan forms, with Tang Ching-sung as the president.
- 1914 - The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.
- 1925 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- 1925 - The National Forensics League is founded.
- 1935 - In a span of 45 minutes at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jesse Owens sets or ties four track and field world records.
- 1935 - At Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Babe Ruth hits his 714th and last home run setting a baseball record that will stand for 39 years.
- 1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.
- 1946 - The parliament of Transjordan makes emir Abdullah their king.
- 1953 - Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
- 1961 - Apollo program: President Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the moon" before the end of the decade.
- 1963 - In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.
- 1966 - Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
- 1968 - In St. Louis, Missouri, US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey and US Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall dedicate the Gateway Arch as part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
- 1973 - Mike Oldfield releases Tubular Bells.
- 1977 - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope opens in theaters and becomes the highest grossing movie to date.
- 1979 - American Airlines flight 191: In Chicago, Illinois, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.
- 1981 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- 1982 - HMS Coventry (D118) was sunk during the Falklands War.
- 1983 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi opens in theaters
- 1985 - Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge which kills approximately 10,000 people.
- 1995 - Bosnian Serb Army killed 72 youngsters in Bosnian city Tuzla.
- 1997 - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
- 1997 - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest serving member in the history of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months).
- 2000 - Lebanon celebrates the liberation of south after 22 years of Israeli occupation.
- 2001 - Mountain climbing: 32-year old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 2001 - Mountain climbing: 64-year old Sherman Bull, of New Canaan, Connecticut, becomes the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 2002 - A China Airlines Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225.
- 2003 - Néstor Kirchner becomes President of Argentina after defeating Carlos Menem. He was the first elected President since the December 2001 economic crisis.
Births
- 1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, philosopher (d. 1882)
- 1803 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, novelist and playwright (d. 1873)
- 1845 - Lip Pike, baseball player
- 1860 - James McKeen Cattell, first professor of psychology in U.S. (d. 1944)
- 1865 - Pieter Zeeman, Nobel Prize winner (d. 1943)
- 1879 - Lord Beaverbrook, publisher (d. 1964)
- 1880 - Jean Alexandre Barré, neurologist (d. 1967)
- 1888 - Miles Malleson, actor (d. 1969)
- 1889 - Igor Sikorsky developer of a working helicopter (d. 1972)
- 1913 - Richard Dimbleby, journalist and broadcaster
- 1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, politician (d. 1984)
- 1926 - Max von der Grün, author
- 1927 - Robert Ludlum, science fiction writer (d. 2001)
- 1929 - Beverly Sills, soprano
- 1931 - Georgi Grechko, cosmonaut
- 1932 - Jeanne Crain, actress
- 1936 - Vladimir (Walter,Wally) Fekula, raconteur
- 1939 - Ian McKellen, actor
- 1939 - Dixie Carter, actress
- 1943 - Jessi Colter, country singer
- 1944 - Frank Oz, puppeteer, director
- 1963 - Mike Myers, actor, comedian
- 1966 - Sugar Minott, singer
- 1967 - Poppy Z. Brite, author
- 1969 - Anne Heche, actress
- 1970 - Jamie Kennedy, actor
- 1971 - Sonya Smith, actress
- 1975 - Lauryn Hill, singer
- 1976 - Miguel Tejada, Major League Baseball All-Star
Deaths
- 709 - Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne (b. c. 639)
- 735 - Bede, English Historian and monk (b. c. 672)
- 992 - Mieszko I (b. c. 935)
- 1085 - Pope Gregory VII
- 1261 - Pope Alexander IV (b. c. 1199)
- 1555 - Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
- 1681 - Pedro Calderón de la Barca (b. 1600)
- 1693 - Madame De Lafayette , French writer (b. 1634)
- 1786 - King Pedro III of Portugal (b. 1717)
- 1789 - Anders Dahl, botanist after whom the dahlia was named (b. 1751)
- 1805 - William Paley, philosopher (b. 1743)
- 1912 - Austin Lane Crothers, politician (b. 1860)
- 1934 - Gustav Holst, composer (b. 1874)
- 1935 - Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1868)
- 1940 - Joe De Grasse, pioneer Hollywood film director (b. 1873)
- 1951 - Paula von Preradovic, Croatian - Austrian writer (b. 1887)
- 1965 - Sonny Boy Williamson
- 1986 - Chester Bowles, politician (b. 1901)
- 1988 - Ernst Ruska, Nobel Prize in Physicist (b. 1906)
Holidays and observances
May 24 - May 26 - April 25 - June 25 - listing of all days
