25 May
Notable Births
Cam Ward (American football)
b. 2002
American football player (born 2002)
Chloé Lukasiak
b. 2001
American actress and dancer (born 2001)
Claire Liu
b. 2000
American tennis player (born 2000)
Brec Bassinger
b. 1999
American actress (born 1999)
Ibrahima Konaté
b. 1999
French footballer (born 1999)
David Pastrňák
b. 1996
Czech ice hockey player (born 1996)
Kagiso Rabada
b. 1995
South African cricketer (born 1995)
Matt Murray (ice hockey, born 1994)
b. 1994
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1994)
Kyle Brodziak
b. 1984
Canadian ice hockey player (born 1984)
Shawne Merriman
b. 1984
American football player (born 1984)
Ezekiel Kemboi
b. 1982
Kenyan steeplechase runner (born 1982)
George Hickenlooper
b. 1963
American film director (1963–2010)
Mike Myers
b. 1963
Canadian-American actor, comedian, filmmaker, musician, and singer (born 1963)
Paul Weller
b. 1958
English singer-songwriter and musician (born 1958)
Enrico Berlinguer
b. 1922
Italian politician (1922–1984)
Alan Kippax
b. 1897
Australian cricketer
Igor Sikorsky
b. 1889
Russian-American aviation pioneer (1889–1972)
John Mott
b. 1865
American ecumenical Christian awarded Nobel Peace Prize (1865–1955)
Johann Baptist Singenberger
b. 1848
Ralph Waldo Emerson
b. 1803
American philosopher (1803–1882)
Notable Deaths
Albert S. Ruddy
d. 2024
American film producer and screenwriter (1930–2024)
Richard M. Sherman
d. 2024
American songwriter (1928–2024)
Johnny Wactor
d. 2024
American actor (1986–2024)
John Warner
d. 2021
American lawyer and politician (1927–2021)
George Floyd
d. 2020
American police murder victim (1973–2020)
Claus von Bülow
d. 2019
Danish-British socialite (1926–2019)
Kaduvetti Guru
d. 2018
Former Politician from Tamil Nadu, India
David Allen (cricketer)
d. 2014
English cricketer (1935–2014)
Wojciech Jaruzelski
d. 2014
Leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989
Herb Jeffries
d. 2014
American singer and actor (1913–2014)
Toaripi Lauti
d. 2014
Head of government of Tuvalu from 1975 to 1981
Matthew Saad Muhammad
d. 2014
American boxer (1954–2014)
Mahendra Karma
d. 2013
Indian politician
Terry Jenner
d. 2011
Australian cricketer (1944–2011)
Alexander Belostenny
d. 2010
Ukrainian basketball player (1959–2010)
Gabriel Vargas (cartoonist)
d. 2010
Mexican cartoonist (1915–2010)
Haakon Lie
d. 2009
Norwegian politician (1905–2009)
J. R. Simplot
d. 2008
American businessman
Sloan Wilson
d. 2003
American writer (1920–2003)
Chester B. Bowles
d. 1986
American politician (1901–1986)
On This Day in History
All 60 ›
2018
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.
General Data Protection Regulation
2018
Ireland votes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of their constitution that prohibits abortion in all but a few cases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.
Republic of Ireland
2013
Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians in Chhattisgarh, India.
Naxalism
2012
The SpaceX Dragon 1 becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.
SpaceX Dragon 1
2011
Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Oprah Winfrey
2009
North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.
North Korea
2008
NASA's Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.
NASA
2002
China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.
China Airlines Flight 611
2001
Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.
Erik Weihenmayer
2000
Liberation Day of Lebanon: Israel withdraws its army from Lebanese territory (with the exception of the disputed Shebaa farms zone) 18 years after the invasion of 1982.
Resistance and Liberation Day (Lebanon)
1999
The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details China's nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
United States House of Representatives
1997
A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.
Coup d'état
1986
The Hands Across America event takes place.
Hands Across America
1985
Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
Bangladesh
1982
Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.
Falklands War
1981
In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Riyadh
1979
John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.
John Spenkelink
1979
American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.
American Airlines Flight 191
1978
The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.
Ted Kaczynski
1977
Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in US theaters.
Star Wars (film)