January 25

Historic Events

2019

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

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. ›

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. ›

2013

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

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. ›

2010

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

2006

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

2005

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

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. ›

1999

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

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. ›

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. ›

1996

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

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. ›

1994

The spacecraft Clementine by BMDO and NASA is launched. ›

1993

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

1986

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

1980

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

1979

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

1971

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

1971

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

1969

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

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. ›

1964

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

1961

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

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. ›

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. ›

1949

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

1947

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

1946

The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor. ›

1946

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

1945

World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends. ›

1942

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

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. ›

1937

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

1932

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

1932

Alt Llobregat insurrection suppressed in Central Catalonia, Spain. ›

1924

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

1918

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

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. ›

1917

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

1915

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

1909

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

1890

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

1881

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

1879

The Bulgarian National Bank is founded. ›

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. ›

1819

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

1792

The London Corresponding Society is founded. ›

1791

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

1787

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

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. ›

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. ›

1585

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

1575

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

1573

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

1554

São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests. ›

1533

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

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. ›

1494

Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. ›

1479

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

1348

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

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. ›

750

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

41

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