October 25 encyclopedia topics

Events

1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a four-month siege.
1147 - Seljuk Turks defeat German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum.
1315 - Adam Banastre, Henry de Lea and William Bradshaw, led an attack on Liverpool Castle.
1415 - The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
1616 - Dutch sea-captain Dirk Hartog makes second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at the later-named Dirk Hartog Island off the Western Australian coast.
1747 - British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeats the French at the second battle of Cape Finisterre.
1760 - George III becomes King of Great Britain.
1813 - War of 1812: Canadians and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of Chateauguay.
1828 - The St Katharine Docks opened in London.
1854 - The Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War (Charge of the Light Brigade).
1861 - The Toronto Stock Exchange was created.
1875 - The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given in Boston, Massachusetts with Hans von Bülow as soloist.
1900 - The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
1912 - Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne auf Naxos receives its debut performance at the Vienna State Opera.
1917 - Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution, involving the capture of the Winter Palace, Petrograd, Russia.
1924 - The forged Zinoviev Letter is published in the Daily Mail, wrecking the British Labour Party's hopes of re-election.
1935 - Hurricane floods Haiti, killing over 2,000 people.
1936 - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini create the Rome-Berlin Axis.
1938 - The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces Swing music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell".
1944 - Heinrich Himmler orders a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates, a loosely organized youth culture in Nazi Germany that had assisted army deserters and others to hide from the Third Reich.
1944 - The USS Tang (SS-306) under Richard O'Kane (the top submarine captain of World War II) is sunk by the ship's own torpedo.
1944 - The Romanian Army liberates Carei, the last Romanian city under Axis Powers' occupation.
1944 - Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history, takes place in and around the Philippines between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the U.S. Third and U.S. Seventh Fleets.
1945 - The Republic of China takes over administration of Taiwan following Japan's surrender to the Allies.
1962 - Cuban missile crisis: Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba
1970 - The wreck of Confederate submarine Hunley was found off Charleston, South Carolina, by pioneer underwater archaeologist, Dr. E. Lee Spence, then just 22 years old. Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship in warfare.
1971 - The United Nations seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China (see political status of Taiwan and China and the United Nations)
1972 - The Washington Post reports that White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman was the fifth person to control a secret cash fund designed to finance illegal political sabotage and espionage during the 1972 presidential election campaign (see also Watergate scandal).
1977 - Digital Equipment Corporation releases OpenVMS V1.0.
1980 - Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague.
1983 - Operation Urgent Fury: The United States and its Caribbean allies invade Grenada, six days after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and several of his supporters were executed in a coup d'état.
1991 - History of Slovenia: Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia.
1992 - Lithuania holds a referendum on its first post-Soviet constitution.
1993 - Jean Chrétien becomes Prime Minister of Canada with a massive majority for his Liberal Party in a general election in which the governing Progressive Conservatives, led by Kim Campbell, lost 149 of 151 seats in the parliament.
1995 - A commuter train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.
1997 - After a brief civil war which has driven President Pascal Lissouba out of Brazzaville, Denis Sassou-Nguesso proclaims himself the President of the Republic of the Congo.
2001 - Windows XP first became available.
2004 - Fidel Castro, Cuba's President, announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned by November 8.
2007 - The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ 380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

Births

1102 - William Clito, Count of Flanders (d. 1128)
1330 - Louis II of Flanders (d. 1384)
1510 - Renée of France, french princess (d. 1574)
1683 - Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, British politician (d. 1757)
1759 - Maria Fyodorovna of Russia, wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia (d. 1828)
1759 - William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, British politician (d. 1834)
1767 - Benjamin Constant, Swiss writer (d. 1830)
1772 - Geraud Duroc, French general (d. 1813)
1782 - Levi Lincoln, Jr., 13th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1868)
1802 - Joseph Montferrand, Canadian logger and strong man (d. 1864)
1806 - Max Stirner, German philosopher (d. 1856)
1811 - Évariste Galois, French mathematician (d. 1832)
1825 - Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer (d. 1899)
1838 - Georges Bizet, French composer (d. 1875)
1856 - Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger, Croatian paleontologist (d. 1936)
1864 - Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (d. 1956)
1864 - John Francis Dodge, American automobile pioneer (d. 1920)
1867 - Józef Dowbór-Muśnicki, Polish general (d.1937)
1881 - Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1973)
1888 - Richard E. Byrd, American explorer (d. 1957)
1888 - Nils von Dardel, Swedish painter (d. 1943)
1889 - Abel Gance, French film director (d. 1981)
1889 - Smoky Joe Wood, American baseball pitcher (d. 1985)
1891 - Father Coughlin, Roman Catholic priest and pro-Fascist radio broadcaster (d. 1979)
1892 - Leo G. Carroll, English actor (d. 1972)
1895 - Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1969)
1902 - Eddie Lang, American jazz guitarist (d. 1933)
1903 - Katharine Byron, U.S. Congresswoman (d. 1976)
1903 - Harry Shoulberg, American painter (d. 1995)
1908 - Edmond Pidoux, Swiss writer (d. 2004)
1910 - William Higinbotham, American physicist (d. 1994)
1912 - Minnie Pearl, American comedian and singer (d. 1996)
1913 - Klaus Barbie, Nazi war criminal (d. 1991)
1914 - John Berryman, American poet (d. 1972)
1915 - Ivan M. Niven, Canadian mathematician (d. 1999)
1917 - Lee MacPhail, American baseball manager and league executive
1921 - King Michael I of Romania
1923 - Jean Duceppe, Quebec actor (d. 1990)
1924 - Billy Barty, American actor (d. 2000)
1926 - Ismail Gulgee, Pakistani painter
1926 - Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano
1927 - Barbara Cook, American singer and actress
1927 - Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, President of Uruguay
1928 - Marion Ross, American actress
1928 - Anthony Franciosa, American actor (d. 2006)
1931 - Jimmy McIlroy, Irish footballer and football manager
1931 - Annie Girardot, French actress
1932 - Harry Gregg, Irish footballer and football manager
1933 - Eugene "Porky" Lee, American child actor (d. 2005)
1935 - Russell Schweickart, astronaut
1936 - Sir Martin Gilbert, British historian
1939 - Robin Spry, Canadian filmmaker and producer (d. 2005)
1940 - Bobby Knight, American basketball coach
1941 - Helen Reddy, Australian singer
1941 - Anne Tyler, American novelist
1944 - Jon Anderson, English singer (Yes)
1944 - James Carville, American political stategist and commentator
1947 - Glenn Tipton, English guitarist (Judas Priest)
1948 - Dave Cowens, American basketball player and coach
1948 - Daniel Mark Epstein, American poet and biographer
1948 - Dan Gable, American wrestler and coach
1948 - Dan Issel, American basketball player
1949 - Réjean Houle, Canadian ice hockey player
1950 - Chris Norman, English singer
1951 - Richard Lloyd, American guitarist (Television)
1952 - Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (d. 2004)
1954 - Mike Eruzione, American hockey player
1955 - Robin Eubanks, American jazz trombonist
1955 - Glynis Barber, English actress
1955 - Matthias Jabs, German guitarist (Scorpions)
1957 - Nancy Cartwright, American actress
1958 - Kornelia Ender, East German swimmer
1961 - Ward Burton, American auto racer
1962 - Nick Hancock, British television presenter
1962 - Chad Smith, American drummer (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
1962 - Darlene Vogel, American actress
1963 - Tracy Nelson, American actress
1964 - Michael Boatman, American actor
1964 - Nicole, German singer
1964 - Kevin Michael Richardson, American actor
1965 - Þorsteinn Bachmann, Icelandic actor
1965 - 2 Cold Scorpio, American professional wrestler
1966 - Wendel Clark, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 - Perry Satullo, American professional wrestler
1969 - Josef Beranek, Czech hockey player
1969 - Oleg Salenko, Russian former footballer
1970 - J.A. Adande, American sports columnist
1970 - Peter Aerts, Dutch kickboxer and martial artist
1970 - Adam Goldberg, American actor
1970 - Adam Pascal, American actor
1970 - Ed Robertson, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies)
1971 - Simon Charlton, English footballer
1971 - Athena Chu, Hong Kong actress and singer
1971 - Midori Goto, Japanese violinist
1971 - Pedro Martínez, Dominican baseball player
1971 - Neil Fallon, Lead singer of Clutch (band)
1972 - Jonathan Torrens, Canadian actor
1974 - Lee Byung-Kyu, Korean baseball player
1975 - Ryan Clement, former XFL quarterback
1975 - Eirik Glambek Bøe, Norwegian musician
1976 - Steve Jones, Irish footballer
1977 - Birgit Prinz, German footballer
1978 - Russell Anderson, Scottish footballer
1979 - Milena Roucka, Canadian former model current professional wrestler of Czech and Costa Rican descent.
1979 - Rob Hulse, English footballer
1979 - Sarah Thompson, American actress
1979 - Tony Torcato, American baseball player
1980 - Mehcad Brooks, American actor and former model
1981 - Shaun Wright-Phillips, English footballer
1981 - Jerome Isaac Jones, American singer
1981 - Austin Winkler, American lead vocalist (Hinder)
1982 - Jerome Carter, American football player
1982 - Eman Lam, Hong Kong singer
1983 - Han Yeo-reum, South Korean actress
1984 - Danny .S., English record producer
1984 - Sara Helena Lumholdt, Swedish musician (A-Teens)
1984 - Katy Perry, American singer
1985 - Ciara Harris, American singer
1986 - DJ Webstar, American disc jockey
1986 - Eddie Gaven, American footballer
1987 - Darron Gibson, Irish football player
1987 - Fabian Hambüchen, German gymnast and Olympic medallist
1995 - Conchita Campbell, Canadian actress
2001 - Princess Elisabeth of Belgium