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This day in history

This day in history: 25 May

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day237 · 105

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Key facts

402 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 25 May.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2018: Ireland 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.

Holidays and observances

Africa Day (African Union)

African Liberation Day (African Union, Rastafari)

Christian feast day: Aldhelm

Christian feast day: Bede

Christian feast day: Canius

Christian feast day: Cristóbal Magallanes

Christian feast day: Denis Ssebuggwawo Wasswa

Christian feast day: Dionysius of Milan

Christian feast day: Dúnchad mac Cinn Fáelad

Christian feast day: Gerard of Lunel

Christian feast day: Madeleine Sophie Barat

Christian feast day: Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Events

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.

2018The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.

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.

2012The SpaceX Dragon 1 becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.

2011Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

2009North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.

2008NASA's Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.

2002China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.

2001Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.

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.

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.

1997A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.

1986The Hands Across America event takes place.

1985Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.

1982Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.

1981In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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.

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.

1978The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.

1977Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in US theaters.

1977The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.

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.

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.

1968The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated.

1966Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.

1963The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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 r

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 t

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 dea

1953Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.

1953The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.

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.

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.

1938Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.

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.

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?"

1926Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which is in government-in-exile in Paris.

1925Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee.

1914The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.

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.

Born on this day

2002Cam Ward, American football player

2001Chloé Lukasiak, American actress and dancer

2000Claire Liu, American tennis player

1999Brec Bassinger, American actress

1999Ibrahima Konaté, French footballer

1996David Pastrňák, Czech ice hockey player

1995Kagiso Rabada, South African cricketer

1994Aly Raisman, American gymnast

1994Matt Murray, Canadian ice hockey player

1993James Porter, English cricketer

1993Norman Powell, American basketball player

1990Bo Dallas, American wrestler

1990Nikita Filatov, Russian ice hockey player

1988Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer

1988Dávid Škutka, Slovak footballer

1987Kamil Stoch, Polish ski jumper

1987Moritz Stehling, German footballer

1987Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer

1987Yves De Winter, Belgian footballer

1986Edewin Fanini, Brazilian footballer

1986Geraint Thomas, Welsh cyclist

1986Takahiro Hōjō, Japanese actor and musician

1986Yoan Gouffran, French footballer

1985Demba Ba, Senegalese footballer

1985Gert Kams, Estonian footballer

1985Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress

1985Roman Reigns, American football player and wrestler

1984A. J. Foyt IV, American race car driver

1984Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player

1984Luke Ball, Australian footballer

1984Shawne Merriman, American football player

1982Adam Boyd, English footballer

1982Daniel Braaten, Norwegian footballer

1982Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenyan runner

1982Jason Kubel, American baseball player

1982Justin Hodges, Australian rugby league player

1982Luke Webster, Australian footballer

1982Roger Guerreiro, Polish footballer

1982Ryan Gallant, American skateboarder

1982Stacey Pensgen, American figure skater and meteorologist

Died on this day

2026Sonny Rollins, American jazz musician (born 1930)

2024Albert S. Ruddy, Canadian film producer (born 1930)

2024Grayson Murray, American professional golfer (born 1993)

2024Johnny Wactor, American actor (born 1986)

2024Richard M. Sherman, American songwriter (born 1928)

2023Joy McKean, Australian country music singer-songwriter (born 1930)

2022Morton L. Janklow, American literary agent (born 1930)

2021John Warner, American attorney and politician (born 1927)

2021Lois Ehlert, American author and illustrator (born 1934)

2020George Floyd, African American man murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (born 1973)

2019Claus von Bülow, Danish-British socialite (born 1926)

2018Kaduvetti Guru, Indian politician and Veera Vanniyar caste leader (born 1961)

2015George Braden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of the Northwest Territories (born 1949)

2015Robert Lebel, Canadian bishop (born 1924)

2014David Allen, English cricketer (born 1935)

2014Herb Jeffries, American singer and actor (born 1913)

2014Marcel Côté, Canadian economist and politician (born 1942)

2014Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (born 1954)

2014Toaripi Lauti, Tuvaluan educator and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Tuvalu (born 1928)

2014Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (born 1923)

2013Mahendra Karma, Indian politician (born 1950)

2013Nand Kumar Patel, Indian politician (born 1953)

2012Lou Watson, American basketball player and coach (born 1924)

2012Peter D. Sieruta, American author and critic (born 1958)

2012William Hanley, American author and screenwriter (born 1931)

2011Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer and coach (born 1944)

2010Alan Hickinbotham, Australian footballer and coach (born 1925)

2010Alexander Belostenny, Ukrainian basketball player (born 1959)

2010Gabriel Vargas, Mexican painter and illustrator (born 1915)

2010Jarvis Williams, American football player and coach (born 1965)

Quote of the day

“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”

Epictetus

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From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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