November 25

Historic Events

2009

Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away and 122 people perish in the torrents, with 350 others missing. ›

2008

Cyclone Nisha strikes northern Sri Lanka, killing 15 people and displacing 90,000 others while dealing the region the highest rainfall in nine decades. ›

2000

The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0 kills 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, being the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years. ›

1999

A five-year-old Cuban boy, Elián González, is rescued by fishermen while floating in an inner tube off the Florida coast. ›

1992

The Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with effect from January 1, 1993. ›

1987

Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 265 km/h (165 mph) and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm. ›

1986

Iran–Contra affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. ›

1986

The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf. ›

1985

A Soviet Air Force Antonov An-12 is shot down near Menongue in Angola's Cuando Cubango Province, killing 21. ›

1984

Thirty-six top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. ›

1981

Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. ›

1980

Sangoulé Lamizana, president of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Colonel Saye Zerbo. ›

1977

Former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad. He is later assassinated in 1983. ›

1975

Coup of 25 November 1975, a failed military coup d'état by Portuguese far-left activists seeking to hijack the Portuguese transition to democracy to establish a communist regime. ›

1975

Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands. ›

1973

Georgios Papadopoulos, head of the military Regime of the Colonels in Greece, is ousted in a hardliners' coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis. ›

1970

In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic seppuku after an unsuccessful coup attempt. ›

1968

The Old Student House in Helsinki, Finland is occupied by a large group of University of Helsinki students. ›

1963

State funeral of John F. Kennedy; after lying in state at the United States Capitol, a Requiem Mass takes place at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and the President is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. ›

1960

The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated. ›

1958

French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community. ›

1952

Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End after a premiere in Nottingham, UK. It will become the longest continuously running play in history. ›

1950

The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing US$66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars). ›

1947

Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios. ›

1947

New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom. ›

1943

World War II: Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina is re-established at the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ›

1941

World War II: HMS Barham is sunk by a German torpedo. ›

1936

In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing to consult on measures "to safeguard their common interests" in the case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation. ›

1931

Wilhelm Schäfer leaves the Nazi Party and hands over the Boxheim Documents to the Frankfurt police. ›

1926

The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history kills 76 people and injures more than 400. ›

1918

Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria-Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia. ›

1917

World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1,200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania. ›

1915

Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. ›

1912

Românul de la Pind, the longest-running newspaper by and about Aromanians prior to World War II, ceases its publications. ›

1908

A fire breaks out on SS Sardinia as it leaves Malta's Grand Harbour, resulting in the ship's grounding and the deaths of at least 118 people. ›

1905

Prince Carl of Denmark arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway. ›

1876

American Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack the sleeping village of Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife at the headwaters of the Powder River. ›

1874

The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873. ›

1864

American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City. ›

1863

American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge: Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg at Missionary Ridge in Tennessee. ›

1839

A cyclone slams into south-eastern India. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted from the disaster. ›

1833

A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7 and 9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast. ›

1826

The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplion to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy. ›

1795

Partitions of Poland: Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia. ›

1783

American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City, three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris. ›

1759

An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000–40,000. ›

1758

French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Later, Fort Pitt will be built nearby and grow into modern Pittsburgh. ›

1755

King Ferdinand VI of Spain grants royal protection to the Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus, now known as the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary. ›

1678

Trunajaya rebellion: After a long and logistically challenging march, the allied Mataram and Dutch troops successfully assault the rebel stronghold of Kediri. ›

1667

A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people. ›

1596

The Cudgel War begins in Finland (at the time part of Sweden), when peasants rebel against the imposition of taxes by the nobility. ›

1510

Portuguese conquest of Goa: Portuguese naval forces under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, and local mercenaries working for privateer Timoji, seize Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate, resulting in 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule. ›

1491

The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, ends with the Treaty of Granada. ›

1487

Elizabeth of York is crowned Queen Consort of England. ›

1400

King Minkhaung I becomes king of Ava. ›

1343

A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places. ›

1177

Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Châtillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. ›

1120

The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I of England. ›

1034

Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, dies. His grandson, Donnchad, son of Bethóc and Crínán of Dunkeld, inherits the throne. ›

571 BC

Servius Tullius, king of Rome, celebrates the first of his three triumphs for his victory over the Etruscans. ›