On This Day — 25 March

2018

Syrian civil war: Following the completion of the Afrin offensive, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) initiate an insurgency against the Turkish occupation of the Afrin District.

Syrian civil war

2006

Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Capitol Hill massacre

2006

Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged 2006 Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.

Belarus

1996

The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

European Union

1995

WikiWikiWeb, the world's first wiki, and part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham.

WikiWikiWeb

1988

The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

Candle demonstration in Bratislava

1979

The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

Space Shuttle

1975

Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by his nephew.

Faisal of Saudi Arabia

1971

The Army of the Republic of Vietnam abandon an attempt to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.

Army of the Republic of Vietnam

1965

Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully complete their four-day 50-mile (80 km) march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

Civil rights movement

1959

Chain Island is sold by the State of California to Russell Gallaway III, a Sacramento businessman who plans to use it as a "hunting and fishing retreat", for $5,258.20 ($58,072 in 2025).

Chain Island

1957

United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" on obscenity grounds.

United States Customs and Border Protection

1957

The European Economic Community is established with West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg as the first members.

European Economic Community

1949

More than 92,000 kulaks are suddenly deported from the Baltic states to Siberia.

Kulak

1948

The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

Tornado warning

1947

An explosion in a coal mine in Centralia, Illinois kills 111.

1947 Centralia mine disaster

1941

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

1932

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is unveiled in Athens.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Athens)

1931

The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.

Scottsboro Boys

1924

On the anniversary of Greek Independence, Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the Second Hellenic Republic.

Greek War of Independence

1919

The Tetiev pogrom occurs in Ukraine, becoming the prototype of mass murder during the Holocaust.

Antisemitism in Ukraine

1918

The Belarusian People's Republic is established.

Belarusian People's Republic

1917

The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.

Georgian Orthodox Church

1914

The Greek multi-sport club Aris Thessaloniki is founded in Thessaloniki.

Aris Thessaloniki

1911

In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

1911

Andrey Yushchinsky is murdered in Kiev, leading to the Beilis affair.

Kyiv

1905

The Greek football club P.A.E. G.S. Diagoras is founded in the city of Rhodes.

Diagoras Rodos F.C.

1894

Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, departs Massillon, Ohio for Washington, D.C.

Coxey's Army

1878

Last issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers.

Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne

1865

American Civil War: In Virginia during the Siege of Petersburg, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from the Union before being repulsed.

American Civil War

1845

New Zealand Legislative Council pass the first Militia Act constituting the New Zealand Army.

New Zealand Army

1821

Greek War of Independence: Traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence. The war had actually begun on 23 February 1821 (Julian calendar).

Greek War of Independence

1811

Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

1807

The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger-carrying railway in the world.

Swansea and Mumbles Railway

1802

The Treaty of Amiens is signed as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace" between France and the United Kingdom.

Treaty of Amiens

1776

American Revolutionary War: American Patriots conduct a Raid on Tybee Island, primarily seeking to capture runaway slaves who sought refuge with British forces stationed there.

American Revolutionary War

1770

Daskalogiannis leads the people of Sfakia in the first Greek uprising against the Ottoman rule

Daskalogiannis

1725

Bach's chorale cantata "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1", is first performed on the Feast of the Annunciation, coinciding with Palm Sunday.

Chorale cantata (Bach)

1708

A French fleet anchors nears Fife Ness as part of the planned French invasion of Britain.

Fife Ness

1655

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens.

Saturn

1584

Sir Walter Raleigh is granted a patent to colonize Virginia.

Walter Raleigh

1576

Jerome Savage takes out a sub-lease to start the Newington Butts Theatre outside London.

Newington Butts Theatre

1519

Hernán Cortés, entering province of Tabasco, defeats Tabascan Indians.

Hernán Cortés

1410

The Yongle Emperor of Ming China launches the first of his military campaigns against the Mongols, resulting in the fall of the Mongol khan Bunyashiri.

Yongle Emperor

1409

The Council of Pisa convenes, in an attempt to heal the Western Schism.

Council of Pisa

1306

Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scots (Scotland).

Robert the Bruce

1221

Coronation of Robert of Courtenay as Emperor of the Latin Empire.

Robert I, Latin Emperor

1065

The Great German Pilgrimage is attacked on Good Friday by Beduin bandits, suffering heavy losses.

Great German Pilgrimage of 1064–65

1000

Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah assassinates the eunuch chief minister Barjawan and assumes control of the government.

AD 1000

919

Romanos Lekapenos seizes the Boukoleon Palace in Constantinople and becomes regent of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII.

Romanos I Lekapenos

717

Theodosius III resigns the throne to the Byzantine Empire to enter a monastery, allowing Leo III to take the throne and begin the Isaurian dynasty.

Theodosius III

708

Election of Pope Constantine following the death of Pope Sisinnius. He would be the last pope to visit Constantinople until 1967.

Pope Constantine

421

Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.

Venice

410

The Southern Yan capital of Guanggu falls to the Jin dynasty general Liu Yu, ending the Southern Yan dynasty.

Southern Yan