On This Day in History — November 25

Highlights of November 25

• 2013 — English-Irish boy band One Direction released their third studio album Midnight Memories which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became the best-selling album of 2013. Read more
• 1984 — Band Aid, a supergroup consisting of more than 30 leading British and Irish pop musicians, recorded the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Read more
• 1981 — A group of Conservative members of Parliament wrote a letter outlining their opposition to the economic policy of Margaret Thatcher, leading to speculation over a split from the party. Read more
• 1975 — Upon Suriname's independence from the Netherlands, Johan Ferrier (pictured) became its first president. Read more
• 1970 — After failing to instigate a military coup to restore the powers of the Emperor of Japan, author Yukio Mishima and a member of his militia committed ritual suicide. Read more
• 1960 — Three of the four Mirabal sisters, who opposed the dictatorship of military strongman Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, were beaten and strangled to death. Read more
• 1952 — Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ended as American and South Korean units abandoned their attempt to capture the "Iron Triangle". Read more
• 1951 — The left-wing Japanese novelist Wataru Kaji disappeared, leading to a government inquiry in which CIA involvement was investigated; Kaji stated he was kidnapped and held against his will by intelligence officers, which the United States denied. Read more
• 1947 — McCarthyism: Executives from movie studios agreed to blacklist ten screenwriters and directors who were jailed for refusing to give testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Read more
• 1940 — The de Havilland Mosquito, one of the most successful military aircraft in the Second World War, made its first flight. Read more
• 1936 — Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing that, if the Soviet Union attacked one of them, they would consult each other on what measures to take to "safeguard their common interests". Read more
• 1917 — World War I: German troops invaded Portuguese East Africa in an attempt to escape superior British forces to the north and resupply from captured Portuguese materiel. Read more
• 1901 — Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4 premiered in Munich. Read more
• 1885 — Banff National Park (pictured), the oldest national park in Canada, was established as the Banff Hot Springs Reserve. Read more
• 1863 — American Civil War: Confederate forces were defeated at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, opening the door to the Union's invasion of the Deep South. Read more
• 1795 — Stanisław II Augustus (pictured), the last king of Poland, was forced to abdicate after the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Read more
• 1759 — The second of two strong earthquakes struck the Levant and destroyed all the villages in the Beqaa Valley. Read more
• 1678 — Trunajaya rebellion: After a series of difficult marches, allied Mataram and Dutch troops successfully assaulted the rebel stronghold of Kediri in eastern Java. Read more
• 1510 — Adil Shahi–Portuguese conflicts: Afonso de Albuquerque, the governor of Portuguese India, led an armada to conquer Goa. Read more
• 1491 — Reconquista: The Granada War was effectively brought to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Granada between Castile-Aragon and the Emirate of Granada. Read more
• 1034 — After Malcolm II of Scotland died at Glamis, Duncan, the son of his second daughter, rather than Macbeth, the son of his eldest daughter, inherited the throne to become the King of Scots. Read more

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. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1999 — A five-year-old Cuban boy, Elián González, is rescued by fishermen while floating in an inner tube off the Florida coast. Read more
• 1992 — The Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with effect from January 1, 1993. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1986 — The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf. Read more
• 1985 — A Soviet Air Force Antonov An-12 is shot down near Menongue in Angola's Cuando Cubango Province, killing 21. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1981 — Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Read more
• 1980 — Sangoulé Lamizana, president of Upper Volta, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Colonel Saye Zerbo. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1975 — Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1970 — In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic seppuku after an unsuccessful coup attempt. Read more
• 1968 — The Old Student House in Helsinki, Finland is occupied by a large group of University of Helsinki students. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1960 — The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated. Read more
• 1958 — French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1952 — Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ends in a Chinese victory. American and South Korean units abandon their attempt to capture the "Iron Triangle". Read more
• 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). Read more
• 1947 — Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios. Read more
• 1947 — New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1941 — World War II: HMS Barham is sunk by a German torpedo. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1931 — Wilhelm Schäfer leaves the Nazi Party and hands over the Boxheim Documents to the Frankfurt police. Read more
• 1926 — The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history kills 76 people and injures more than 400. Read more
• 1918 — Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria-Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia. Read more
• 1917 — World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1,200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania. Read more
• 1915 — Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Read more
• 1912 — Românul de la Pind, the longest-running newspaper by and about Aromanians prior to World War II, ceases its publications. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1905 — Prince Carl of Denmark arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1874 — The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1839 — A cyclone slams into south-eastern India. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted from the disaster. Read more
• 1833 — A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7 and 9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast. Read more
• 1826 — The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplion to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy. Read more
• 1795 — Partitions of Poland: Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled to Russia. Read more
• 1783 — American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City, three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Read more
• 1759 — An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000–40,000. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1678 — Trunajaya rebellion: After a long and logistically challenging march, the allied Mataram and Dutch troops successfully assault the rebel stronghold of Kediri. Read more
• 1667 — A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people. Read more
• 1596 — The Cudgel War begins in Finland (at the time part of Sweden), when peasants rebel against the imposition of taxes by the nobility. Read more
• 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. Read more
• 1491 — The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, ends with the Treaty of Granada. Read more
• 1487 — Elizabeth of York is crowned Queen Consort of England. Read more
• 1400 — King Minkhaung I becomes king of Ava. Read more
• 1343 — A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places. Read more
• 1177 — Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Châtillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. Read more
• 1120 — The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I of England. Read more
• 1034 — Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, dies. His grandson, Donnchad, son of Bethóc and Crínán of Dunkeld, inherits the throne. Read more

Born on November 25

• 2002 — Pedri, Spanish footballer Read more
• 2000 — Talen Horton-Tucker, American basketball player Read more
• 2000 — Kaja Juvan, Slovenian tennis player Read more
• 1997 — Dennis Smith Jr., American basketball player Read more
• 1993 — Danny Kent, English motorcycle racer Read more
• 1992 — Ana Bogdan, Romanian tennis player Read more
• 1991 — Philipp Grubauer, German ice hockey player Read more
• 1990 — Stephanie Hsu, American actress Read more
• 1988 — Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (died 2010) Read more
• 1988 — Jay Spearing, English footballer Read more
• 1987 — Trevor Booker, American basketball player Read more
• 1986 — Katie Cassidy, American actress Read more
• 1985 — Remona Fransen, Dutch pentathlete Read more
• 1984 — Peter Siddle, Australian cricketer Read more
• 1984 — Gaspard Ulliel, French actor (died 2022) Read more
• 1983 — Jhulan Goswami, Indian cricketer Read more
• 1982 — Michael Garnett, Canadian ice hockey player Read more
• 1981 — Xabi Alonso, Spanish footballer Read more
• 1981 — Lee Bum-ho, South Korean baseball player Read more
• 1981 — Barbara Pierce Bush, American activist Read more
• 1981 — Jenna Bush Hager, American journalist Read more
• 1981 — Jared Jeffries, American basketball player Read more
• 1980 — John-Michael Liles, American ice hockey player Read more
• 1980 — Aaron Mokoena, South African footballer Read more
• 1980 — Alviro Petersen, South African cricketer Read more
• 1980 — Nick Swisher, American baseball player Read more
• 1980 — Steffen Thier, German rugby player Read more
• 1979 — Jerry Ferrara, American actor Read more
• 1979 — Joel Kinnaman, Swedish actor Read more
• 1978 — Ringo Sheena, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer Read more
• 1977 — Guillermo Cañas, Argentinian tennis player Read more
• 1977 — Jill Flint, American actress Read more
• 1977 — Marcus Marshall, Australian racing driver Read more
• 1976 — Clint Mathis, American soccer player and coach Read more
• 1976 — Donovan McNabb, American football player and sportscaster Read more
• 1976 — Olena Vitrychenko, Ukrainian gymnast and coach Read more
• 1975 — Kristian Nairn, Northern Irish actor and DJ Read more
• 1974 — Kenneth Mitchell, Canadian actor (died 2024) Read more
• 1973 — Steven de Jongh, Dutch cyclist Read more
• 1973 — Octavio Dotel, Dominican baseball player Read more

Died on November 25

• 2025 — Bernardo Álvarez Afonso, Spanish Roman Catholic bishop (born 1949) Read more
• 2024 — Earl Holliman, American actor (born 1928) Read more
• 2024 — Hal Lindsey, American evangelist and Christian writer (born 1929) Read more
• 2023 — Terry Venables, English football player and manager (born1943) Read more
• 2020 — Diego Maradona, Argentinian football player (born 1960) Read more
• 2016 — Fidel Castro, Communist leader of Cuba, and revolutionary (born 1926) Read more
• 2016 — Ron Glass, American actor (born 1945) Read more
• 2015 — O'Neil Bell, Jamaican boxer (born 1974) Read more
• 2015 — Jeremy Black, English admiral (born 1932) Read more
• 2015 — Svein Christiansen, Norwegian drummer and composer (born 1941) Read more
• 2015 — Lennart Hellsing, Swedish author and translator (born 1919) Read more
• 2015 — Elmo Williams, American director, producer, and editor (born 1913) Read more
• 2014 — Irvin J. Borowsky, American publisher and philanthropist (born 1924) Read more
• 2014 — Sitara Devi, Indian dancer, and choreographer (born 1920) Read more
• 2014 — Petr Hapka, Czech composer and conductor (born 1944) Read more
• 2014 — Denham Harman, American biogerontologist and academic (born 1916) Read more
• 2013 — Lou Brissie, American baseball player (born 1924) Read more
• 2013 — Ricardo Fort, Argentinian businessman (born 1968) Read more
• 2013 — Bill Foulkes, English footballer and manager (born 1932) Read more
• 2013 — Chico Hamilton, American drummer and bandleader (born 1921) Read more
• 2013 — Egon Lánský, Czech journalist and politician (born 1934) Read more
• 2013 — Al Plastino, American author and illustrator (born 1921) Read more
• 2012 — Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and educator (born 1931) Read more
• 2012 — Dave Sexton, English footballer and manager (born 1930) Read more
• 2012 — Dinah Sheridan, English actress (born 1920) Read more
• 2012 — Jim Temp, American football player and businessman (born 1933) Read more
• 2011 — Vasily Alekseyev, Russian weightlifter and coach (born 1942) Read more
• 2011 — Coco Robicheaux, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1947) Read more
• 2011 — Jawayd Anwar, Pakistani poet and writer (born 1959) Read more
• 2010 — Alfred Balk, American journalist and author (born 1930) Read more
• 2010 — Peter Christopherson, English keyboard player, songwriter, and director (born 1955) Read more
• 2010 — C. Scott Littleton, American anthropologist and academic (born 1933) Read more
• 2010 — Bernard Matthews, English businessman, founded Bernard Matthews Farms (born 1930) Read more
• 2008 — Leonard Goodwin, British protozoologist (born 1915) Read more
• 2007 — Peter Lipton, American philosopher and academic (born 1954) Read more
• 2006 — Luciano Bottaro, Italian author and illustrator (born 1931) Read more
• 2006 — Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer-songwriter (born 1979) Read more
• 2006 — Phyllis Fraser, American actress and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (born 1916) Read more
• 2006 — Kenneth M. Taylor, American lieutenant and pilot (born 1919) Read more
• 2005 — George Best, Northern Irish footballer (born 1946) Read more

Holidays & observances

Christian feast day: Catherine of Alexandria and its related observances; Christian feast day: Elizabeth of Reute; Christian feast day: Isaac Watts (Lutheran Church and Church of England); Christian feast day: James Otis Sargent Huntington (Episcopal Church); Christian feast day: November 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; Roses Revolution Day, against obstetric violence

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