On this day in History - Aug. 25

• 0383 - Gratian dies (b. 359). Roman Emperor.
• 0471 – Gennadius I dies (b. 0458). Patriarch of Constantinople.
• 0608 - Pope Boniface IV is consecrated.
• 1192 - Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1142).
• 1248 – The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, the Archbishop of Utrecht.
• 1258 – Regent George Mouzalon and his brothers are killed during a coup headed by the aristocratic faction under, paving the way for its leader, Michael VIII Palaiologos, to ultimately usurp the throne of the Empire of Nicaea.
• 1270 - King Louis IX of France dies (b. 1214).
• 1282 – Thomas Cantilupe dies (b. c. 1218). English saint.
• 1330 – Sir James Douglas dies (b. 1286). Scottish soldier.
• 1482 – Margaret of Anjou dies (b. 1429). Queen of Henry VI of England.
• 1530 - Ivan IV of Russia ("Ivan the Terrible") was born (d. 1584). Tsar of Russia from 16 January 1547.
• 1537 - The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed.
• 1554 – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk dies (b. 1473). English politician.
• 1561 - Philippe van Lansberge was born (d. 1632). Dutch astronomer.
• 1580 - Battle of Alcantara. Spain defeats Portugal/Batalha de Alcântara, entre D. António Prior do Crato e o Duque de Alba, saindo este vencedor.
• 1594 - San Luis in Argentina is founded.
• 1609 - Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
• 1624 - François de la Chaise was born (d. 1709). French confessor of Louis XIV of France.
• 1632 – Thomas Dekker dies (b. c. 1572). English dramatist.
• 1635 - Sir Henry Morgan was born (d. 1688). Privateer.
• 1648 - José de Calasanz, santo y presbítero católico.
• 1650 – Richard Crashaw dies (b. c. 1613). English poet.
• 1662 - John Leverett the Younger was born (d. 1724). American President of Harvard.
• 1688 - Henry Morgan dies (b. c. 1635). Welsh privateer.
• 1691 - Jan Vermeer dies (b. 1628). Dutch painter.
• 1699 - King Christian V of Denmark dies (b. 1646).
• 1711 - Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey dies. English politician.
• 1718 - Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana; New Orleans, Louisiana is founded.
• 1719 - Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo was born (d. 1795). French painter.
• 1724 - George Stubbs was born (d. 1806). British painter.
• 1741 - Karl Friedrich Bahrdt was born (d. 1792). German theologian.
• 1742 - Carlos Seixas dies (b. 1704). Portuguese composer.
• 1744 - Johann Gottfried Herder was born (d. 1803). German writer.
• 1758 - Seven Years' War: Frederick II of Prussia defeats the Russian army at the Battle of Zorndorf.
• 1767 - Antoine Louis Léon de Richebourg de Saint-Just was born (d. 1794). French revolutionary and writer.
• 1768 - James Cook begins his first voyage.
• 1772 - King William I of the Netherlands was born (d. 1843).
• 1774 - Niccolò Jommelli dies (b. 1714). Italian composer.
• 1776 - David Hume dies (b. 1711). Scottish philosopher.
• 1786 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria was born (d. 1868).
• 1792 – Jacques Cazotte dies (b. 1719). French writer.
• 1794 – Comte de Mercy-Argenteau dies (b. 1727). Belgian-born Austrian diplomat.
• 1796 - James Lick was born (d. 1876). California land baron.
• 1802 - Niels Henrik Abel was born (d. 1829). Norwegian mathematics.
• 1802 - Nikolaus Lenau was born (d. 1850). Austrian poet.
• 1803 - Luís Alves de Lima e Silva was born (d. 1880). the Duque de Caxias, Brazilian military leader / Nasce Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duque de Caxias, oficial e patrono do Exército Brasileiro (m. 1880).
• 1814 - Washington, D.C. is burned and White House is destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812.
• 1819 - Allan Pinkerton was born (d. 1884). American private detective.
• 1822 - William Herschel dies (b. 1738). German-born astronomer.
• 1825 - Uruguay declares its independence from Brazil.
• 1829 - Carlo Acton was born (d. 1909). Italian composer and concert pianist.
• 1830 – The Belgian Revolution begins.
• 1831 - Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was born. Chilean politician and historian.
• 1833 - Guerra Civil em Portugal: Concentração das forças miguelistas em torno de Lisboa.
• 1835 - The New York Sun perpetrates The Great Moon Hoax.
• 1836 - Bret Harte was born (d. 1902). American writer.
• 1841 - Emil Theodor Kocher was born (d. 1917). Swiss medical researcher who was in 1909 Nobel Prize in Medicine laureate.
• 1845 - King Ludwig II of Bavaria was born (d. 1886).
• 1850 - Charles Robert Richet was born (d. 1935). French scientist who was 1913 Nobel Prize in Medicine laureate.
• 1861 - Portugal: Inauguration of Portuguese Industrial Exhibition in Porto / Inauguração pelo rei D. Pedro V da Exposição Industrial Portuguesa, organizada no Palácio da Bolsa do Porto pela Associação Industrial.
• 1867 - James W. Gerard was born (d. 1951). American jurist and diplomat.
• 1867 - Michael Faraday dies (b. 1791). English scientist.
• 1868 - Nikolaos Levidis was born. Greek shooter.
• 1875 - Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel.
• 1882 - Sean O'Kelly was born (d. 1966). Irish politician who was the second President of Ireland.
• 1889 - O general Legítimo renuncia à Presidência da República do Haiti.
• 1893 - Henry Trendley Dean was born (d. 1962). American dental researcher.
• 1894 - Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the bubonic plague and publishes his findings in The Lancet.
• 1897 - O presidente uruguaio Juan Idiarte Borda é assassinado em frente a Catedral de Montevidéu.
• 1898 – 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are killed by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece.
• 1898 – Arthur Wood was born (d. 1973). England cricketer.
• 1898 - Helmut Hasse was born (d. 1975). German mathematican.
• 1900 - Sir Hans Adolf Krebs was born (d. 1981). German physician and biochemist; Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1900 - Friedrich Nietzsche dies (b. 1844). German philosopher.
• 1900 – Kuroda Kiyotaka dies (b. 1840). Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1902 - Stefan Wolpe was born (d. 1972). German-born composer.
• 1903 - Arpad Elo was born (d. 1992). Hungarian physicist.
• 1904 - Henri Fantin-Latour dies (b. 14 Jan. 1836). French painter.
• 1904 – William Hall dies (b. 1827). Canadian Royal Naval sailor.
• 1905 - Faustina Kowalska was born (d. 1938). Polish mystic.
• 1906 – Jim Smith was born (d. 1979). England cricketer.
• 1909 – Michael Rennie was born (d. 1971). English actor.
• 1909 - Ruby Keeler was born (d. 1993). Canadian singer and actress.
• 1910 - Yellow Cab is founded.
• 1911 – Vo Nguyen Giap (Võ Nguyên Giáp) was born. Vietnamese general and statesman.
• 1912 - The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party is founded.
• 1912 - Erich Honecker was born (d. 1994). Head of state of East Germany.
• 1912 - Narciso Ibañez Menta was born. Spanish actor.
• 1913 - Walt Kelly was born (d. 1973). American cartoonist.
• 1913 - Bob Crosby was born (d. 1993). American bandleader.
• 1913 - Don DeFore was born (d. 1993). American actor.
• 1913 – Walt Kelly was born (d. 1973). American cartoonist.
• 1915 - Walter Trampler was born (d. 1997). American violist.
• 1916 – The United States National Park Service is created.
• 1916 - Frederick Chapman Robbins was born (d. 2003). American pediatrician and virologist; Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1916 – Saburo Sakai was born (d. 2000). Japanese aviator.
• 1916 - Van Johnson was born. American actor.
• 1917 - Mel Ferrer was born. American actor (Longest Day, Eaten Alive, 5th Floor).
• 1918 - Leonard Bernstein was born (d. 1990). American conductor and composer.
• 1918 - Richard Greene was born (d. 1998). English actor.
• 1919 - George Wallace was born (d. 1998). American politician, Governor of Alabama.
• 1920 - Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, started on August 13, now ends. The Red Army is defeated.
• 1921 – The first skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain occur.
• 1921 - Brian Moore was born (d. 1999). Irish-born Canadian writer.
• 1921 - Bryce Mackasey was born (d. 1999). Canadian politician.
• 1921 – Monty Hall was born. Canadian-born game show host.
• 1923 - Fernando Távora was born. Portuguese architect.
• 1923 - Álvaro Mutis was born. Colombian writer.
• 1924 – Mariano Álvarez dies (b. 1818). Filipino general.
• 1925 - Juanita Reina was born. Spanish actress.
• 1925 - Thea Astley was born (d. 2004). Australian writer.
• 1925 - Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf dies. Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army.
• 1927 - Althea Gibson was born (d. 2003). American tennis player.
• 1928 - Darrell Johnson was born (d. 2004). American baseball player.
• 1928 – Herbert Kroemer was born. German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1928 – John "Kayo" Dottley was born. American football player.
• 1929 - Dominique Fernandez was born. French novelist.
• 1929 - Gordon Sherwood was born in Illinois. American composer.
• 1930 – Bruce Allpress was born. New Zealand actor.
• 1930 – Graham Jarvis was born (d. 2003). Canadian actor.
• 1930 - Sean Connery was born. Scottish actor.
• 1930 - Maria Alberta Meneres was born in Vila Nova de Gaia. Portuguese writer.
• 1930 – Frankie Campbell dies (b. 1904). American boxer.
• 1931 - Hal Fishman was born (d. 2007). Los Angeles based local news anchor.
• 1931 – Regis Philbin was born. American television host.
• 1933 – The Diexi earthquake strikes Mao County, Sichuan, China and kills 9,000 people.
• 1933 - Tom Skerritt was born. American actor.
• 1933 – Wayne Shorter was born. American jazz musician.
• 1934 – Eddie Ilarde was born. Filipino disk jockey, television host, and Senator.
• 1934 - Lise Bacon was born. French Canadian politician.
• 1935 - Charles Wright was born. American poet.
• 1938 – Aleksandr Kuprin dies (b. 1870). Russian writer.
• 1938 - David Canary was born. American actor.
• 1938 - Frederick Forsyth was born. English author.
• 1939 – Babe Siebert dies (b. 1904). Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1939 - John Badham was born. American film director.
• 1940 - José Van Dam was born. Belgian baritone.
• 1940 – Jean d'Orleans, duc de Guise dies (b. 4 Sep. 1874). Orleanist pretender to the French throne.
• 1941 - Marshall Brickman was born. Screenwriter.
• 1942 - World War II: Battle of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.
• 1942 - World War II: Second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. A Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned-back by Allied air attack, losing one destroyer and one transport sunk, and one light cruiser heavily damaged.
• 1942 - George Edward Alexander Windsor dies (b. 1902). Duke of Kent.
• 1944 - World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.
• 1944 - Anthony Heald was born. American actor.
• 1944 - Conrad Black was born. Newspaper magnate.
• 1944 - Jacques Demers was born. Canadian hockey coach.
• 1945 – Ten days after World War II ended with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Communist Party of China killed Baptist missionary John Birch, regarded by a portion of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.
• 1945 - John Birch dies (b. 1918). Intelligence officer & missionary, namesake of the John Birch Society.
• 1946 - Ben Hogan wins PGA Championship.
• 1946 – Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) was born. American poet and Children's Author.
• 1946 - Charlie Sanders was born. American football player.
• 1946 – Rollie Fingers was born. American baseball player.
• 1947 - Golpe de Estado no Equador: O presidente Velasco Ibarra renuncia ao cargo em favor do coronel Mancheño.
• 1948 – The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
• 1948 - Tony Ramos was born. Brazilian actor, ator brasileiro.
• 1949 – Fariborz Lachini was born. Canadian-Iranian composer.
• 1949 – Gene Simmons was born. Israeli-born musician (Kiss).
• 1949 – John Savage was born. American actor.
• 1949 - Martin Amis was born. English novelist.
• 1950 - President Harry Truman ordered the US Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.
• 1950 – Earl Caddock dies (b. 1888). Professional wrestler.
• 1951 – Bill Handel was born. American radio personality.
• 1951 - Rob Halford was born. English singer (Judas Priest).
• 1952 – Duleep Mendis was born. Sri Lankan cricketer.
• 1952 - Geoff Downes was born. English keyboardist (Buggles, Yes, Asia).
• 1952 - Peter Wolf was born. Singer and composer.
• 1954 - Elvis Costello was born. English musician.
• 1955 – Vijayakanth was born. Tamil actor and politician.
• 1956 - Henri Toivonen was born (d. 1986). Finnish rally driver.
• 1956 - Paulo Autuori was born. Brazilian football coach.
• 1956 - Alfred Kinsey dies (b. 1894). American biologist and human sexuality research scientist.
• 1957 – Sikander Bakht was born. Pakistani cricketer.
• 1958 – Christian LeBlanc was born. American actor.
• 1958 - Tim Burton was born. American film director, producer, and screenwriter.
• 1960 - Games of the XVII Olympiad open in Rome.
• 1960 - Ashley Crow was born. American actress.
• 1961 - Billy Ray Cyrus was born. American singer and actor.
• 1961 - Brasil : O presidente Jânio Quadros renuncia ao cargo sete meses após assumir. João Goulart, seu vice, assume o cargo.
• 1961 – Billy Ray Cyrus was born. American singer and actor.
• 1961 – Joanne Whalley was born. British actress.
• 1962 – David Packer was born. American actor.
• 1962 – Shahid Mahboob was born. Pakistani cricketer.
• 1962 – Vivian Campbell was born. Irish musician (Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Dio).
• 1964 – Blair Underwood was born. American actor.
• 1964 – Marti Noxon was born. American television writer and producer.
• 1964 - Maxim Kontsevich was born. Russian mathematician.
• 1964 - Vassilios Kotronias was born. Greek chess grandmaster.
• 1965 - Mia Zapata was born (d. 1994). American singer (The Gits).
• 1965 – Moonlight Graham dies (b. 10 Nov. 1879). American baseball player.
• 1966 - Albert Belle was born. American Major League Baseball player.
• 1966 - Derek Sherinian was born. American keyboardist.
• 1966 – Robert Maschio was born. American actor.
• 1967 - Jeff Tweedy was born. American singer (Wilco).
• 1967 - George Lincoln Rockwell (b. 1918), leader of the American Nazi Party, is shot dead.
• 1967 – Paul Muni dies (b. 1895). Polish actor.
• 1967 - Stanley Bruce dies (b. 1883). Eighth Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1968 – Rachael Ray was born. American chef and television personality.
• 1968 - Rafet El Roman was born. Turkish singer, composer.
• 1968 – Spider One was born. American musician (Powerman 5000).
• 1968 - Stuart Murdoch was born. Scottish musician (Belle & Sebastian).
• 1968 – Takeshi Ueda was born. Japanese singer and composer.
• 1969 - Cameron Mathison was born. Canadian actor (All My Children).
• 1969 – Vivek Razdan was born. Indian cricketer.
• 1970 - Claudia Schiffer was born. German model.
• 1970 – Jo Dee Messina was born. American country music singer.
• 1970 - Robert Horry was born. American basketball player.
• 1970 – Tachū Naitō dies (b. 1886). Japanese architect.
• 1971 - Mike Lockwood was born (d. 2003). Professional wrestler.
• 1971 – Thalia Sodi was born. Mexican actress and singer.
• 1971 - Ted Lewis dies (b. 1890). Jazz musician and entertainer.
• 1972 - Marvin Harrison was born. American football player.
• 1972 - Catarina Furtado was born. Portuguese TV presenter and actress.
• 1973 – Fatih Akin was born. Turkish-German film director.
• 1973 - Jennifer Wilbanks was born. American causes celebre, "runaway bride".
• 1974 – Dave Luza was born. Dutch comedian.
• 1974 - Eric Millegan was born. American actor.
• 1974 - Pablo Ozuna was born. Dominican baseball player.
• 1975 - Bruce Springsteen releases Born to Run, the classic album that would launch him to superstardom.
• 1976 - Alexander Skarsgård was born. Swedish actor.
• 1976 – Damon Jones was born. American basketball player.
• 1976 – Javed Qadeer was born. Pakistani cricketer.
• 1976 - Eyvind Johnson dies (b. 1900). Swedish writer.
• 1977 – Andy McDonald was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1977 – Diego Corrales was born (d. 2007). American boxer.
• 1977 – Jonathan Togo was born. American actor.
• 1977 - Sophie Cadieux was born. Quebec actress.
• 1978 - Kel Mitchell was born. American actor.
• 1979 – Deanna Nolan was born. American basketball player.
• 1979 - Marlon Harewood was born. English footballer.
• 1979 - Ray Eberle dies. Jazz musician and band leader.
• 1979 – Stan Kenton dies (b. 1911). American musician and bandleader.
• 1980 - Gower Champion dies (b. 1919). American dancer, actor and choreographer.
• 1980 - José Medina dies (b. 1894). Brazilian actor and director.
• 1980 - Microsoft announces their version of UNIX, Xenix.
• 1980 – Zimbabwe joins the United Nations.
• 1980 - The Broadway musical 42nd Street opened; the show's director, Gower Champion, died earlier that day.
• 1980 – Neal Musser was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.
• 1981 – Clare Oliver was born (d. 2007). Australian cancer activist.
• 1981 - Rachel Bilson was born. American actress.
• 1983 - Guatemala: President Efraín Ríos Montt is deposed after a coup.
• 1983 - James Rossiter was born. British racing driver.
• 1983 – Janet Chow was born. Canadian/Chinese beauty pageant contestant.
• 1984 - Truman Capote dies (b. 1924). American author.
• 1984 - Viktor Chukarin dies (b. 1921). Soviet gymnast.
• 1984 - Waite Hoyt dies (b. 1899). American baseball player.
• 1985 - Samantha Smith dies. American social activist and actress.
• 1987 - Blake Lively was born. American actress.
• 1987 - James Wesolowski was born. Australian footballer.
• 1987 – Justin Upton was born. American baseball player.
• 1987 - Liu Yifei was born. Chinese actress and singer.
• 1987 – Stacey Farber was born. Canadian actress.
• 1988 - The historical center of Lisbon is destroyed by a fire / Incêndio do Chiado, em Lisboa: Entre as 4h e 30m e as 4h e 45m da manhã, na secção de perfumaria e «lingerie» dos Grandes Armazéns Grandela, começava o incêndio. O alarme só foi dado às 5h e 19m, devido à falha dos telefones e do alarme de incêndio. Só às 15h foi anunciado que o fogo se encontrava dominado, quando já tinham ardido quatro quarteirões.
• 1988 – Alexandra Burke was born. English singer and X-Factor winner.
• 1988 – Angela Park was born. Brazilian/American golfer.
• 1988 - Raymond Quinn was born. English singer.
• 1989 - Tadeusz Mazowiecki chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe.
• 1989 - Voyager 2 spacecraft flies by Neptune, the last major planet it could visit before leaving the Solar System.
• 1989 - Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary.
• 1989 - Norberto Lopes dies. Portuguese journalist.
• 1990 - UN security council authorizes military action against Iraq.
• 1990 - Morley Callaghan dies (b. 1903). Canadian writer.
• 1991 – The Battle of Vukovar has begun. An 87-day siege of an Croatian city by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various Serbian paramilitary forces, between August-November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence.
• 1991 - Linus Torvalds first says in a post to the comp.os.minix newsgroup that he is working on a new free computer operating system.
• 1991 - Belarus declares independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1991 - Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds.
• 1992 - Miyabi Natsuyaki was born. Japanese singer.
• 1994 - Alexandr Solzhenitsin ganha o Prémio Leon Tolstói pela sua contribuição para a literatura russa.
• 1994 – Josh Flitter was born. American actor.
• 1996 - Russian swimmer Alexander Popov is stabbed in the stomach after arguing with watermelon vendors in Moscow.
• 1997 - Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, was convicted of a shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy.
• 1997 - Holly Gibbs was born. English child actress.
• 1998 - China Anne McClain was born. American actress.
• 1999 - Rob Fisher dies (b. 1903). English musician.
• 2000 - Carl Barks dies. American cartoonist (Donald Duck).
• 2000 - Ivan Stambolic dies in Fruška Gora, Yugoslavia (b. 5 Nov. 1936). Serbian President.
• 2000 - Jack Nitzsche dies (b. 1937). American record producer.
• 2001 - Aaliyah dies (plane crash) (b. 1979). American singer and actress.
• 2001 - Carl Brewer dies (b. 1938). Canadian ice hockey player.
• 2001 – Ken Tyrrell dies (b. 3 May 1924). British race driver.
• 2001 - Philippe Léotard dies (b. 1940). French actor and singer.
• 2002 - Dorothy Hewett dies (b. 1923). Australian writer.
• 2003 - The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo, Northwest Territories.
• 2003 - 52 killed in two Islamic terrorist bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.
• 2005 - Peter Glotz dies (b. 1939). German politician.
• 2006 – Noor Mohamed Hassanali dies (b. 1918). 2nd president of Trinidad & Tobago.
• 2007 - Ray Jones dies (b. 1988). English footballer.
• 2007 - Eduardo Prado Coelho dies (b. 29 Mar 1944). Portuguese writer, professor and essayst.
• 2008 – Kevin Duckworth dies (b. 1964). American basketball player.
• 2008 – Pavle Kozjek dies (b. 1959). Slovenian mountaineer.
• 2009 - Aníbal Beça dies (b. 1946). Brazilian poet, translator, journalist and composer.
• 2009 - Edward M. Kennedy dies (b. 1932). United States Senator from Massachusetts, brother of John F. Kennedy.
• Uruguay - National Day (independence from Brazil in 1825).
• Roman Empire - Opiconsivia held in honor of Ops.
• Roman Catholic Saints - Genesius of Arles, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joseph Calasanz.
• Brasil: Dia do soldado (nascimento de Duque de Caxias).