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, 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.
   * 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 on 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.
   * 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.
   * 1997 - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest serving member in the history
     of the United States Senate (41 years and 10 months).
   * 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.

Births

   * 1261 - Pope Alexander IV (+ 1254)
   * 1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, philosopher (+ 1882)
   * 1803 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, novelist and playwright (+ 1873)
   * 1860 - James McKeen Cattell, first professor of psychology in U.S. (+
     1944)
   * 1865 - Pieter Zeeman, Nobel Prize winner (+ 1943)
   * 1879 - Lord Beaverbrook, publisher ((+ 1964)
   * 1880 - Jean Alexandre BarrŽ, neurologist (+ 1967)
   * 1888 - Miles Malleson, actor (+ 1969)
   * 1889 - Igor Sikorsky developer of a working helicopter (+ 1972)
   * 1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, politician (+ 1984)
   * 1926 - Max von der Grźn, author
   * 1927 - Robert Ludlum, science fiction writer (+ 2001)
   * 1929 - Beverly Skills, soprano
   * 1932 - Jeanne Crain, actress
   * 1939 - Ian McKellen, actor
   * 1944 - Frank Oz, puppeteer, director
   * 1963 - Mike Myers, actor, comedian
   * 1966 - Sugar Minott, singer
   * 1967 - Poppy Z. Brite, author
   * 1971 - Sonya Smith, actress

Deaths

   * 709 - Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne
   * 735 - Bede, English Historian and monk
   * 992 - Mieszko I
   * 1085 - Pope Gregory VII
   * 1555 - Henry II of Navarre
   * 1681 - Pedro Calder—n de la Barca
   * 1789 - Anders Dahl, botanist for whom the dahlia is named
   * 1805 - William Paley, philosopher
   * 1912 - Austin Lane Crothers, politician
   * 1934 - Gustav Holst, composer
   * 1940 - Joe De Grasse, pioneer Hollywood film director
   * 1965 - Sonny Boy Williamson
   * 1986 - Chester Bowles, politician
   * 1988 - Ernst Ruska, Nobel Prize in Physicist

Holidays and observances

   * Commemoration of the Venerable Bede (Anglican)
   * Argentina - Day of May Revolution/National Day (1810)
   * Chad, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Zambia - African Freedom/Unity Day
   * Jordan - Independence 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)
   * Yugoslavia - Day of Youth
   * Ancient Latvia - Urbanas Diena observed

How to - Physics - History - Companies - Internet - Video Games - List of Phobias - September 11, 2001
Radio - Timelines - Chemistry - Genealogy - Family - Film - SARS - Cancer - Medicine - DVD - Calendar
Countries - Disease - Health Science - Dentistry - Economics - AIDS - Law - Autism - Statistics - Bible
Recipes - Architecture - Computers - History of the Internet - Personal computer - Apple Macintosh
War - Presidents of the United States - United States Constitution - Universe - Philosophy - Animals
Biology - United States Constitution - Marketing Topics - Sports - Television - History of Computing

Debt Help - Free Credit Report - Mortgages - Loans - Cheap Flights