May 25Birthdays & History

On this day: May 25 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 567 BCServius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.Europe
2. 240 BCFirst recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.World
3. 1085Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain, back from the Moors after a siege.Europe
4. 1420Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.Europe
5. 1521The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.Europe
6. 1644Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.Asia
7. 1659Richard 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.Europe
8. 1660Charles II lands at Dover at the invitation of the Convention Parliament, which marks the end of the Cromwell-proclaimed Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and begins the Restoration of the British monarchy.Europe
9. 1738A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.North America
10. 1763First issue of Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler, the first regular Norwegian newspaper (1763–1920).Europe
11. 1787After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum of seven states is secured.North America
12. 1798United Irishmen Rebellion: Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.Europe
13. 1807Outbreak of the Kabakçı Mustafa rebellion in response to intentions of sultan Selim III to reform the Ottoman army.Middle East
14. 1809Chuquisaca Revolution: Patriot revolt in Chuquisaca (modern-day Sucre) against the Spanish Empire, sparking the Latin American wars of independence.EuropeLatin AmericaNorth America
15. 1810May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the "May Week", starting the Argentine War of Independence.Latin America
16. 1819The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.Latin America
17. 1833The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.Latin America
18. 1865In Mobile, Alabama, around 300 people are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.North America
19. 1878Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.Europe
20. 1895Playwright, 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.Europe
21. 1895The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Jingsong as its president.Asia
22. 1914The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.Europe
23. 1925Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee.North America
24. 1926Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which is in government-in-exile in Paris.Europe
25. 1933The Walt Disney Company cartoon Three Little Pigs premieres at Radio City Music Hall, featuring the hit song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"North America
26. 1935Jesse 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.North America
27. 1938Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.Europe
28. 1940World War II: The German 2nd Panzer Division captures the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer; the surrender of the last French and British troops marks the end of the Battle of Boulogne.Europe
29. 1946The Emirate of Transjordan becomes independent from the United Kingdom as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan after ratifying the Treaty of London and making their Amir, Abdullah I, their King.Europe
30. 1953The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.North America
31. 1953Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.North America
32. 1955First ascent of Mount Kangchenjunga: On the British Kangchenjunga expedition led by Charles Evans, Joe Brown and George Band reach the summit of the third-highest mountain in the world (8,586 meters); Norman Hardie and Tony Streather join them the following day.Europe
33. 1955In the United States, a night-time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas as part of a larger outbreak across the Great Plains, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado ever to occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.North America
34. 1961Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, that the United States "should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."North America
35. 1963The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Africa
36. 1966Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.World
37. 1968The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated.North America
38. 1971Joetha Collier, a recent high school graduate, is killed in a shooting in Drew, Mississippi, attracting extensive attention from the media and civil rights activists.North America
39. 1973In protest against the dictatorship in Greece, the captain and crew on Greek naval destroyer Velos mutiny and refuse to return to Greece, instead anchoring at Fiumicino, Italy.Europe
40. 1977The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.Asia
41. 1977Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in US theaters.North America
42. 1978The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.North America
43. 1979John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.North America
44. 1979American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.North America
45. 1981In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Middle East
46. 1982Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.Latin America
47. 1985Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.Asia
48. 1986The Hands Across America event takes place.North America
49. 1997A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.Africa
50. 1999The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.North AmericaAsia
51. 2000Liberation Day of Lebanon: Israel withdraws its army from Lebanese territory (with the exception of the disputed Shebaa farms zone) 18 years after the invasion of 1982.Middle East
52. 2001Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.Asia
53. 2002China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.Asia
54. 2008NASA's Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.North America
55. 2009North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.Asia
56. 2011Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.North America
57. 2012The SpaceX Dragon 1 becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.World
58. 2013Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians in Chhattisgarh, India.AsiaNorth America
59. 2018Ireland votes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of their constitution that prohibits abortion in all but a few cases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.Europe
60. 2018The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "May 25" / CC BY-SA 4.0