On this day: May 25

Events on May 25

• 1521 The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw. Wikipedia
• 1644 Ming–Qing transition: Ming general Wu Sangui allowed the invading Manchu to cross the Great Wall of China, enabling them to capture Beijing and establish the Qing dynasty. Wikipedia
• 1738 A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners. Wikipedia
• 1787 The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia with the intention of revising the Articles of Confederation of the United States. Wikipedia
• 1810 The Primera Junta, the first independent government in Argentina, was established in an open cabildo in Buenos Aires, marking the end of the May Revolution. Wikipedia
• 1810 May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the "May Week", starting the Argentine War of Independence. Wikipedia
• 1895 Oscar Wilde was sentenced by Alfred Wills to two years of hard labor for gross indecency. Wikipedia
• 1895 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. Wikipedia
• 1940 Second World War: German troops captured Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, forcing British forces to evacuate via Dunkirk. Wikipedia
• 1940 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. Wikipedia
• 1946 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. Wikipedia
• 1961 In an address to Congress, U.S. president John F. Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo program, with "the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth". Wikipedia
• 1961 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." Wikipedia
• 1963 The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Wikipedia
• 1977 The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1981 In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Wikipedia
• 1985 Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people. Wikipedia
• 1997 A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2001 Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull. Wikipedia
• 2008 NASA's Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life. Wikipedia
• 2009 North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2018 The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union. Wikipedia

Born on May 25

• 1713 John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (died 1792) Wikipedia
• 1803 Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (died 1882) Wikipedia
• 1803 Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (died 1873) Wikipedia
• 1818 Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (died 1897) Wikipedia
• 1865 John Mott, American evangelist and saint, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955) Wikipedia
• 1865 Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1943) Wikipedia
• 1887 Padre Pio, Italian priest and saint (died 1968) Wikipedia
• 1889 Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American aircraft designer, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1899 Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, author, and flute player (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1900 George Lennon, Irish Republican Army leader during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1921 Jack Steinberger, German-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1938 Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1939 Ian McKellen, English actor Wikipedia
• 1939 Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1941 Uta Frith, German developmental psychologist Wikipedia
• 1953 Daniel Passarella, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager Wikipedia
• 1963 Mike Myers, Canadian-American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1965 Yahya Jammeh, Gambian colonel and politician, President of the Gambia Wikipedia
• 1970 Octavia Spencer, American actress and author[a] Wikipedia
• 1976 Cillian Murphy, Irish actor Wikipedia
• 1985 Roman Reigns, American football player and wrestler Wikipedia
• 1999 Ibrahima Konaté, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on May 25

• 986 Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Muslim astronomer (born 903) Wikipedia
• 992 Mieszko I of Poland (born 935) Wikipedia
• 1085 Pope Gregory VII (born 1020) Wikipedia
• 1261 Pope Alexander IV (born 1185) Wikipedia
• 1681 Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish poet and playwright (born 1600) Wikipedia
• 1786 Peter III of Portugal (born 1717) Wikipedia
• 1899 Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (born 1822) Wikipedia
• 1926 Symon Petliura, Ukrainian journalist and politician (born 1879) Wikipedia
• 1934 Gustav Holst, English trombonist, composer, and educator (born 1874) Wikipedia
• 1954 Robert Capa, Hungarian photographer and journalist (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 1983 Idris of Libya (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 2014 Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2020 George Floyd, African American man murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (born 1973) Wikipedia
• 2026 Sonny Rollins, American jazz musician (born 1930) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Africa Day (African Union) Wikipedia
• African Liberation Day (African Union, Rastafari) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Aldhelm Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Bede Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Canius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cristóbal Magallanes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Denis Ssebuggwawo Wasswa Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Dionysius of Milan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Dúnchad mac Cinn Fáelad Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gerard of Lunel Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Madeleine Sophie Barat Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mary Magdalene de Pazzi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Maximus (Mauxe) of Évreux Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Gregory VII Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Zenobius of Florence Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• First National Government / National Day (Argentina) Wikipedia
• Geek Pride Day (geek culture) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Jordan from the United Kingdom in 1946. Wikipedia
• Last bell (Russia, post-Soviet countries) Wikipedia
• Liberation Day (Lebanon) Wikipedia
• International Missing Children's Day and its related observances: National Missing Children's Day (United States), Wikipedia
• National Tap Dance Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Towel Day in honour of the work of the writer Douglas Adams Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 25” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.