May 25

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 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.
• 1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States. George Washington presides.
• 1810 - In the May Revolution, armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy during the Semana de Mayo.
• 1865 - In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
• 1895 - Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "commiting 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 the president.
• 1914 - The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.
• 1925 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
• 1925 - The National Forensics League of the U.S. is founded.
• 1926 - Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People's Republic.
• 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 - Babe Ruth hits his 714th and last home run at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, setting a baseball record that will stand for 39 years.
• 1938 - Spanish Civil War: Bombing of Alicante, 313 deaths.
• 1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.
• 1946 - The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their king.
• 1953 - Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
• 1955 - Kanchenjunga, third highest peak in the world is scaled successfully for the first time.
• 1961 - Apollo program: U.S. president John F. 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.
• 1965 - Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in the first minute of the first round of a boxing match.
• 1967 - Celtic F.C. become the first British team to reach a European Cup final and also to win it, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in normal time.
• 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 (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) opens a limited run in theaters before expanding to become the highest grossing movie to date.
• 1978 - In a performance used for The Kids are Alright, The Who play their last show with Keith Moon
• 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.
• 1979 - Florida executes John Spenkelink, the first non-voluntary execution in the United States in more than 10 years.
• 1979 - The movie Alien opens in theaters.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1986 - Hands Across America took place.
• 1995 - The Bosnian Serb Army kills 72 youngsters in the Bosnian city of 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, at 41 years and 10 months.
• 1999 - The two officers scapegoated after the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Kimmel and Lieutenant General Short were exonerated (posthumously) by the US Senate of all charges of dereliction of duty.
• 2001 - 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
• 2001 - 64-year-old Sherman Bull, of New Canaan, Connecticut, becomes the oldest 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.
• 2003 - Néstor Kirchner becomes President of Argentina after defeating Carlos Menem. He is the first elected President since the December 2001 economic crisis.
• 2004 - The theatrical version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is released on DVD.
• 2004 - Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup.
• 2005 - Liverpool win the UEFA Champions League after beating AC Milan in the final.

Births

• 1048 - Emperor Shenzong of China (d. 1085)
• 1334 - Emperor Suko of Japan (d. 1398)
• 1458 - Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat (d. 1511)
• 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 Great Britain (d. 1792)
• 1725 - Samuel Ward, American politician (d. 1776)
• 1803 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist and playwright (d. 1873)
• 1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)
• 1820 - Anne Brontë, English writer (d. 1849)
• 1845 - Lip Pike, baseball player (d.1883)
• 1860 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (d. 1944)
• 1865 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1955)
• 1865 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
• 1877 - Billy Murray, American singer (d. 1954)
• 1878 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, African American entertainer (d. 1949)
• 1879 - Lord Beaverbrook, English publisher (d. 1964)
• 1880 - Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)
• 1882 - Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
• 1887 - Francesco Forgione, Italian priest (d. 1968)
• 1888 - Miles Malleson, English actor (d. 1969)
• 1889 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian inventor (d. 1972)
• 1907 - U Nu, Burmese politician (d. 1995)
• 1912 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (d. 1989)
• 1913 - Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster (d. 1965)
• 1918 - Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1921 - Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
• 1924 - István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
• 1925 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (d. 1974)
• 1925 - Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1926 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1991)
• 1927 - Robert Ludlum, writer (d. 2001)
• 1929 - Beverly Sills, American soprano
• 1931 - Georgi Grechko, cosmonaut
• 1932 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)
• 1935 - Cookie Gilchrist, American football player
• 1936 - Tom T. Hall, American singer and songwriter
• 1938 - Raymond Carver, American writer (d. 1988)
• 1939 - Dixie Carter, American actress
• 1939 - Ian McKellen, English actor
• 1943 - Jessi Colter, American singer
• 1944 - Frank Oz, English-born puppeteer and director
• 1949 - Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist
• 1953 - Daniel Passarella, Argentine football player
• 1956 - Sugar Minott, Jamaican singer
• 1958 - Paul Weller, British musician
• 1963 - Mike Myers, Canadian actor and comedian
• 1965 - Simon Fowler, English singer (Ocean Colour Scene)
• 1966 - McLoud, Swiss composer, musician, and multimedia artist
• 1967 - Poppy Z. Brite, American author
• 1968 - Kendall Gill, American basketball player
• 1969 - Anne Heche, American actress
• 1970 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor
• 1971 - Sonya Smith, American actress
• 1973 - Demetri Martin, American comedian
• 1974 - Monica Keena, American actress
• 1975 - Lauryn Hill, American singer
• 1976 - Miguel Tejada, Dominican Major League Baseball player
• 1976 - Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
• 1977 - Pat Burrell, baseball player
• 1978 - Brian Urlacher, American football player
• 1979 - Carlos Bocanegra, American soccer player
• 1982 - Adam Boyd, English footballer.
• 1984 - Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, Miss Iceland, crowned Miss World in 2005.

Deaths

• 709 - Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne
• 735 - Bede, English historian and monk
• 967 - Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 926)
• 992 - Mieszko I of Poland
• 1085 - Pope Gregory VII
• 1261 - Pope Alexander IV
• 1452 - John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1555 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (b. 1508)
• 1555 - 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 (d. 1822)
• 1912 - Austin Lane Crothers, American politician (b. 1860)
• 1930 - Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1848)
• 1934 - Gustav Holst, English composer (b. 1874)
• 1935 - Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1868)
• 1940 - Joe De Grasse, American film director (b. 1873)
• 1951 - Paula von Preradovic, Croatian-born writer (b. 1887)
• 1965 - Sonny Boy Williamson, American singer, songwriter, and musician (b. 1899)
• 1977 - Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (b. 1904)
• 1986 - Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)
• 1988 - Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1994 - Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (b. 1940)
• 1996 - Brad Nowell, American singer and guitarist (Sublime) (b. 1968) (drug overdose)
• 2003 - Jeremy Michael Ward, American musician (The Mars Volta) (drug overdose)
• 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 - Graham Kennedy, Australian television personality (b. 1934)
• 2005 - Ruth Laredo, American pianist (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

• Commemoration of the Venerable Bede (Anglican)
• Argentina - Day of May Revolution/National Day (1810)
• Chad, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe - African Freedom/Unity Day
• Jordan - National Day/Arab Renaissance Day (1946)
• Libya, Sudan - Sudan National Day/May Revolution Day (1969)
• United States - Memorial Day/Decoration Day, a legal holiday (1868)
• Virginia - Confederate Memorial Day (1868)
• Lebanon, Liberation Day (1999)
• Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Day of Youth
• Ancient Latvia - Urbanas Diena observed
• Towel Day, in memory of Douglas Adams, is observed

External links

• BBC: On This Day

May 24 - May 26 - April 25 - June 25 – listing of all days