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Today May 25th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
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.
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 of England.
1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
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, citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy during the Semana de Mayo.
1837 – The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.
1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan s H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
1895 – Playwright, 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.
1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president.
1914 – The United Kingdom s House of Commons passes the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.
1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Charles Darwin s theory of evolution.
1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People s Republic.
1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks five world records and ties a sixth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1936 – The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins.
1938 – Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante takes place, with 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.
1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
1955 – In the United States, a night time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
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.
1961 – King Hussein of Jordan marries Princess Muna al-Hussein (Antoinette Gardiner).
1963 – In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.
1966 – Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
1966 – The first prominent DaZiBao during the Cultural Revolution in China is posted at Peking University.
1967 – The Celtic Football Club becomes the first British, Scottish and Northern European football club to win the European Cup
1977 – Star Wars is released. It rapidly becomes a cult classic and is the start of a six-movie franchise.
1979 – American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a McDonnell Douglas 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 is sunk during the Falklands War.
1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
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.
1999 – The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People s Republic of China s nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.
2001 – 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind 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 economic crisis.
2007 – The Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire for the second time.
Births
1048 – Emperor Shenzong of China (d. 1085)
1334 – Emperor Suko (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 the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
1725 – Samuel Ward, American politician (d. 1776)
1783 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, Virginia politician and U.S. Supreme Court justice (d. 1841)
1803 – Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist and playwright (d. 1873)
1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)
1818 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian (d. 1897)
1845 – Lip Pike, American baseball player (d. 1883)
1846 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria (d. 1923)
1846 – Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and writer(d. 1900)
1848 – Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, music teacher, editor and publisher (d. 1924)
1852 – William Muldoon, wrestler (d. 1933)
1856 – Louis Franchet d Espèrey, French general (d. 1942)
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, American entertainer (d. 1949)
1879 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born publisher (d. 1964)
1880 – Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)
1882 – Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
1886 – Philip Murray, U.S. (Scottish-born) labor leader (d. 1952)
1886 – Rash Behari Bose, leader against the British Raj in India (d. 1945)
1887 – Pio of Pietrelcina, Catholic saint (d. 1968)
1888 – Miles Malleson, English actor (d. 1969)
1889 – Igor Sikorsky, Russian inventor (d. 1972)
1892 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav resistance leader and later president (d. 1980)
1897 – Gene Tunney, American heavyweight champion (d. 1978)
1898 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher, TV personality (d. 1971)
1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, musician, revolutionary and philosopher (d. 1976)
1900 – Alain Grandbois, French Canadian poet (d. 1975)
1903 – Binnie Barnes, British actress (d. 1998)
1907 – U Nu, Burmese politician (d. 1995)
1908 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (d. 1963)
1909 – Alfred Kubel, German politician (d. 1999)
1909 – Marie Menken, American experimental filmmaker and socialite (d. 1970)
1912 – Princess Dukhye of Korea (d. 1989)
1913 – Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster (d. 1965)
1917 – Theodore Hesburgh, American educator and theologian
1917 – Steve Cochran, American actor (d. 1965)
1918 – Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
1921 – Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1921 – Hal David, American lyricist and songwriter
1922 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
1922 – Kitty Kallen, American big band singer
1924 – István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
1925 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (d. 1974)
1925 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
1925 – Don Liddle, baseball player (d. 2000)
1927 – Robert Ludlum, American writer (d. 2001)
1929 – Beverly Sills, American soprano (d. 2007)
1929 – Warren Frost, American actor
1931 – Georgi Grechko, Russian cosmonaut
1931 – Aili Jõgi, Estonian freedom fighter
1931 – Irwin Winkler, American film producer and director
1932 – John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)
1932 – W. P. Kinsella, Canadian writer
1933 – Ray Spencer, English footballer
1933 – Basdeo Panday, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago
1935 – Cookie Gilchrist, American football player
1935 – Victoria Shaw, Australian-born American actress (d. 1988)
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
1943 – John Poli Palmer, British rock musician (Family)
1944 – Frank Oz, English-born puppeteer and director
1944 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
1944 – John Bunnell, former Sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon and TV personality
1944 – Robert MacPherson, American mathematician
1946 – David A. Hargrave, RPG designer
1948 – Sgt. Slaughter, American professional wrestler
1948 – Klaus Meine, German musician (Scorpions)
1949 – Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist
1951 – Bob Gale, American screenwriter
1952 – Al Sarrantonio, American writer
1952 – Gordon Smith, American politician, junior senator from Oregon
1952 – Jeffrey Bewkes, American media executive
1953 – Eve Ensler, American playwright
1953 – Daniel Passarella, Argentine footballer
1953 – Stan Sakai, Japanese-American cartoonist (Usagi Yojimbo)
1955 – Alistair Burt, British politician
1956 – Sugar Minott, Jamaican singer
1956 – David P. Sartor, American music composer
1956 – Tatsutoshi Goto, Japanese professional wrestler
1957 – Edward Lee, American writer
1957 – Robert Picard, French Canadian ice hockey player
1958 – Paul Weller, British musician
1959 – Manolis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician
1959 – Rick Wamsley, Canadian ice hockey player
1959 – Julian Clary, British television personality
1960 – Amy Klobuchar, American politician, junior senator from Minnesota
1960 – Anthea Turner, British television personality
1962 – Rick Nattress, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Mike Myers, Canadian actor and comedian
1964 – Ivan Bella, Slovak cosmonaut
1964 – David Shaw, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – George Hickenlooper, American documentary film-maker
1966 – Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands
1967 – Poppy Z. Brite, American author
1968 – Kendall Gill, American basketball player
1969 – Anne Heche, American actress
1969 – Stacy London, American fashion consultant
1969 – Glen Drover, Canadian guitar player (Megadeth)
1970 – Joey Eischen, American baseball player
1970 – Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, American actresses
1970 – Jamie Kennedy, American actor
1970 – Satsuki Yukino, Seiyuu
1971 – Marco Cappato, Italian politician
1971 – Justin Henry, American actor
1972 – Octavia Spencer, American actress
1973 – Demetri Martin, American comedian
1973 – Molly Sims, American model and actress
1973 – Daz Dillinger, American hip-hop performer
1974 – Frank Klepacki, American musician
1974 – Miguel Tejada, Dominican baseball player
1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer
1976 – Tarik Glenn, American football player
1976 – Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
1976 – Ethan Suplee, American actor
1976 – Sandra Nasic, German singer (Guano Apes)
1977 – Giel Beelen, Dutch radio DJ
1978 – Brian Urlacher, American football player
1979 – Carlos Bocanegra, American footballer
1979 – Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
1979 – Caroline Ouellette, French Canadian ice-hockey player
1979 – Sam Sodje, Nigerian footballer
1980 – Jae Hee, South Korean actor
1980 – David Navarro, Spanish footballer
1982 – Luke Webster, Australian rules footballer
1982 – Adam Boyd, English footballer
1982 – Daniel Braaten, Norwegian footballer
1982 – Ryan Gallant, American skateboarder
1983 – Kunal Khemu, Indian actor
1984 – Marion Raven, Norwegian singer-songwriter (M2M)
1984 – Luke Ball, Australian rules footballer
1984 – Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, 2005 Miss World
1984 – Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Shawne Merriman, American football player
1984 – Kostas Martakis, Greek singer
1985 – Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
1986 – Yoan Gouffran, French footballer
1986 – Geraint Thomas, Welsh cyclist
1986 – Juri Ueno, Japanese actress
1987 – Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer
1987 – Yves De Winter, Belgian goalkeeper
1990 – Nikita Filatov, Russian ice hockey player
1993 – Dilley sextuplets, American sextuplets
Deaths
709 – Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne (b. c. 639)
735 – Bede, English historian and monk
967 – Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 926)
992 – Mieszko I first lord and knight of Poland, duke of Polans (b. c. 935)
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)
1917 – Maksim Bahdanovic, Belarusian poet (b. 1891)
1919 – Madame C. J. Walker, African American philanthropist and tycoon (b. 1867)
1924 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (b. 1889)
1926 – Symon Petlura, Ukrainian politician and statesman (b. 1879)
1927 – Payne Whitney, American businessman (b. 1876)
1930 – Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1848)
1934 – Gustav Holst, English composer (b. 1874)
1935 – Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer (b. 1868)
1940 – Joe De Grasse, American film director (b. 1873)
1942 – Emanuel Feuermann, Austrian-American Cellist (b. 1902)
1943 – Nils von Dardel, Swedish post-impressionist painter (b. 1888)
1951 – Paula von Preradovic, Croatian-born writer (b. 1887)
1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian-born photojournalist (b. 1913)
1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson, (Alec Rice Miller) American Blues singer, songwriter, and musician (b. 1899)
1968 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (b. 1881)
1977 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (b. 1904)
1979 – John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (b. 1949)
1981 – Fredric Warburg, British publisher and author (b. 1898)
1983 – Jean Rougeau, French Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1925)
1983 – Black Jack Stewart, Canadian NHL hockey player (b. 1917)
1986 – Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)
1988 – Ernst Ruska, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (b. 1940)
1995 – Dany Robin, French actress (b. 1927)
1996 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian (b. 1929)
1996 – Bradley Nowell, American singer and guitarist (Sublime) (b. 1968)
2000 – Nicholas Clay, British actor (b. 1946)
2002 – Pat Coombs, English actress (b. 1926)
2003 – Jeremy Michael Ward, American musician (The Mars Volta) (b. 1976)
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)
2005 – Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (b. 1965)
2006 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican ska musician (b. 1941)
2007 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor and host (b. 1931)
2008 – J. R. Simplot, American potato farmer (b. 1909)
Holidays and observances
Argentina – Day of May Revolution/National Day (1810)
Africa Day commemorating the 1963 fouding of he AU s precursor, OAU
Chad, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – African Liberation Day
Lebanon, Liberation Day (2000)
The former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Day of Youth
Ancient Latvia – Urbanas Diena observed
Saint Urban s Day (d. 240)
Saint Bede the Venerable (d. 735)
Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Saint Pope Gregory VII (d. 1085)
Towel Day
Nerd Pride Day
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