On This Day — 25 January

2019

A mining company's dam collapses in Brumadinho, Brazil, a south-eastern city, killing 270 people.

Brumadinho dam disaster

2018

An Ariane 5 rocket is launched carrying SES-14, Al Yah 3, and NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, but the satellites end up in the wrong orbit.

Ariane 5

2015

A clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in the Philippines kills 44 members of Special Action Force (SAF), at least 18 from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Mamasapano clash

2013

At least 50 people are killed and 120 people are injured in a prison riot in Barquisimeto, Venezuela.

2013 Uribana prison riot

2011

The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes.

Timeline of the Egyptian revolution of 2011

2010

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Na'ameh, Lebanon, killing 90.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409

2006

Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza is arrested in connection with the serial killing of at least ten elderly women.

Lucha libre

2005

A stampede at the Mandhradevi temple in Maharashtra, India kills at least 258.

Mandher Devi temple stampede

2003

Invasion of Iraq: A group of people leave London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields, intending to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.

2003 invasion of Iraq

1999

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.

Moment magnitude scale

1998

During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands political reforms and the release of political prisoners while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.

Pope John Paul II

1998

A suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth kills eight and injures 25 others.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

1996

Billy Bailey becomes the last person to be hanged in the United States.

Billy Bailey

1995

The Norwegian rocket incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.

Norwegian rocket incident

1994

The spacecraft Clementine by BMDO and NASA is launched.

Clementine (spacecraft)

1993

Five people are shot outside the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Two are killed and three wounded.

1993 CIA headquarters shooting

1990

Avianca Flight 052 crashes in Cove Neck, New York, killing 73.

Avianca Flight 052

1986

The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.

National Resistance Movement

1980

Mother Teresa is honored with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Mother Teresa

1979

Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

Pope John Paul II

1971

Charles Manson and four "Family" members (three of them female) are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.

Charles Manson

1971

Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president.

Idi Amin

1969

Brazilian Army captain Carlos Lamarca deserts in order to fight against the military dictatorship, taking with him ten machine guns and 63 rifles.

Brazilian Army

1967

South Vietnamese junta leader and Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky fires rival, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Nguyen Huu Co, while the latter is overseas on a diplomatic visit.

South Vietnam

1964

Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes.

Nike, Inc.

1961

In Washington, D.C., US President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.

John F. Kennedy

1961

Walt Disney Productions released the animated feature One Hundred and One Dalmatians, based on Dodie Smith's 1956 children's novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Walt Disney Pictures

1960

The National Association of Broadcasters in the United States reacts to the "payola" scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records.

National Association of Broadcasters

1949

The first Emmy Awards are presented in the United States; the venue is the Hollywood Athletic Club.

Emmy Awards

1947

Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device", the first ever electronic game.

Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr.

1946

The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.

United Mine Workers of America

1946

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1 relating to Military Staff Committee is adopted.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1

1945

World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.

Battle of the Bulge

1942

World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.

World War II

1941

Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

Pope Pius XII

1937

The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until September 18, 2009.

Guiding Light

1932

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army begins the defense of Harbin.

Second Sino-Japanese War

1932

Alt Llobregat insurrection suppressed in Central Catalonia, Spain.

Alt Llobregat insurrection

1924

The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.

1924 Winter Olympics

1918

The Ukrainian People's Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia.

Ukrainian People's Republic

1918

The Finnish Defence Forces (The White Guards) are established as the official army of independent Finland, and Baron C. G. E. Mannerheim is appointed its Commander-in-Chief.

Finnish Defence Forces

1917

Sinking of the SS Laurentic after hitting two German mines off the coast of northwest Ireland.

SS Laurentic (1908)

1915

Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.

Alexander Graham Bell

1909

Richard Strauss's opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.

Richard Strauss

1890

Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.

Nellie Bly

1881

Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.

Thomas Edison

1879

The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.

Bulgarian National Bank

1858

The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia, and becomes a popular wedding processional.

Wedding March (Mendelssohn)

1819

University of Virginia chartered by Commonwealth of Virginia, with Thomas Jefferson one of its founders.

University of Virginia

1792

The London Corresponding Society is founded.

London Corresponding Society

1791

The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

Parliament of Great Britain

1787

Shays' Rebellion: The rebellion's largest confrontation, outside the Springfield Armory, results in the killing of four rebels and the wounding of twenty.

Shays's Rebellion

1704

The Apalachee massacre: A combined British and Muscogee force from the Province of Carolina destroys the main fortified mission of Ayubale, breaking Spain's hold on Spanish Florida.

Apalachee massacre

1650

As part of the purges following the Great Potosí Mint Fraud of 1649 Francisco Gómez de la Rocha, a rich former corregidor of Potosí, is executed.

Great Potosí Mint Fraud of 1649

1585

Walter Raleigh is knighted, shortly after renaming North America region "Virginia", in honor of Elizabeth I, Queen of England, sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".

Walter Raleigh

1575

Luanda, the capital of Angola, is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.

Luanda

1573

Battle of Mikatagahara: In Japan, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Battle of Mikatagahara

1554

São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests.

São Paulo

1533

Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.

Henry VIII

1515

Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne.

Coronation of the French monarch

1494

Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.

Alfonso II of Naples

1479

The Treaty of Constantinople ends the 16-year-long First Ottoman–Venetian War.

Treaty of Constantinople (1479)

1348

A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.

1348 Eastern Alps earthquake

1327

Fourteen-year-old Edward III ascends the throne of England after his father the king is forced to abdicate by Queen Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer.

Edward III

750

In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty.

Battle of the Zab

41

After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.

AD 41