May 25 has produced turning points in politics, science, culture, war, law, and technology. This timeline collects notable events recorded for this calendar day.
The list below is generated from public historical datasets and refreshed automatically by date.
Timeline for May 25
2018General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.
2018Republic of Ireland
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.
2013Naxalism
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.
2012SpaceX Dragon 1
The SpaceX Dragon 1 becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.
2011Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
2009North Korea
North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.
2008NASA
NASA's Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.
2002China Airlines Flight 611
China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.
2001Erik Weihenmayer
Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.
2000Resistance and Liberation Day (Lebanon)
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.
1999United States House of Representatives
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.
1997Coup d'état
A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.
1986Hands Across America
The Hands Across America event takes place.
1985Bangladesh
Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
1982Falklands War
Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.
1981Riyadh
In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
1979John Spenkelink
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.
1979American Airlines Flight 191
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.
1978Ted Kaczynski
The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.
1977Star Wars (film)
Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in US theaters.
1977William Shakespeare
The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.
1973Greek junta
In protest against the dictatorship in Greece, the captain and crew on Greek naval destroyer Velos mutiny and refuse to return to Greece, instead anchoring at Fiumicino, Italy.
1971Killing of Joetha Collier
Joetha Collier, a recent high school graduate, is killed in a shooting in Drew, Mississippi, attracting extensive attention from the media and civil rights activists.
1968Gateway Arch
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated.
1966Explorers Program
Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
1963Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
1961Apollo program
Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, that the United States "should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
1955Fujita scale
In the United States, a night-time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas as part of a larger outbreak across the Great Plains, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado ever to occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
1955Kangchenjunga
First ascent of Mount Kangchenjunga: On the British Kangchenjunga expedition led by Charles Evans, Joe Brown and George Band reach the summit of the third-highest mountain in the world (8,586 meters); Norman Hardie and Tony Streather join them the following day.
1953Nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
1953Public broadcasting
The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
1946Emirate of Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan becomes independent from the United Kingdom as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan after ratifying the Treaty of London and making their Amir, Abdullah I, their King.
1940World War II
World War II: The German 2nd Panzer Division captures the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer; the surrender of the last French and British troops marks the end of the Battle of Boulogne.
1938Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.
1935Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1933The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company cartoon Three Little Pigs premieres at Radio City Music Hall, featuring the hit song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
1926Sholem Schwarzbard
Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which is in government-in-exile in Paris.
1925Scopes trial
Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee.
1914House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.
1895Oscar Wilde
Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
1895Republic of Formosa
The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Jingsong as its president.
1878Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
1865Mobile, Alabama
In Mobile, Alabama, around 300 people are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
1833Chilean Constitution of 1833
The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.
1819Argentine Constitution of 1819
The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.
1810May Revolution
May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the "May Week", starting the Argentine War of Independence.
1809Chuquisaca Revolution
Chuquisaca Revolution: Patriot revolt in Chuquisaca (modern-day Sucre) against the Spanish Empire, sparking the Latin American wars of independence.
1807Kabakçı Mustafa
Outbreak of the Kabakçı Mustafa rebellion in response to intentions of sultan Selim III to reform the Ottoman army.
1798Irish Rebellion of 1798
United Irishmen Rebellion: Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.
1787Constitutional Convention (United States)
After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum of seven states is secured.
1763Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler
First issue of Norske Intelligenz-Seddeler, the first regular Norwegian newspaper (1763–1920).
1738Pennsylvania
A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
1660Charles II of England
Charles II lands at Dover at the invitation of the Convention Parliament, which marks the end of the Cromwell-proclaimed Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and begins the Restoration of the British monarchy.
1659Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.
1644Ming dynasty
Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
1521Diet of Worms
The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
1420Prince Henry the Navigator
Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
1085Alfonso VI of León and Castile
Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain, back from the Moors.
567 BCServius Tullius
Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
240 BCApsis
First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
