August 25

1270 The crusaders, among who was Louis IX of France, landed at Carthage July 17, 1270 for the Eighth Crusade, but disease broke out in the camp. Many died of dysentery, and on August 25, 1270 Louis himself passed away in a camp outside of Tunis. Saint Louis IX is arguably the most popular King in French history, and the nearest to a perfect Christian King over the past millennium. He was canonized in 1297 and his feast day is August 25th.

1530 Ivan IV Vasilyevich, better known as Ivan The Terrible, was born August 25 1530 to Vasili III and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya at Kolomenskoye, a royal estate situated several miles to the southeast of Moscow. At his birth a holy man prophesied Ivan would be an evil son whose nation would fall prey to terror and tears. As a child Ivan took a grim pleasure in throwing live animals to their deaths. He ordered his first murder at 13 and had a man’s tongue cut out at 15 for swearing.

1537 The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, was formed on August 25, 1537. The word "artillery" does not have the current meaning that is generally associated with it, but dates from a time when in the English language that word meant any projectile, including for example arrows shot from a bow, or, to take a modern example from infantry units, mortar bombs.

1609 While in Venice, Galileo Galilei  learned in 1609 of the recent invention of the telescope which had been developed for military applications. After returning to Padua, he developed an improved version, the first one powerful enough to be used for astronomical observation. He went back to Venice and demonstrated his eight-power telescope to Venetian lawmakers on August 25, 1609.

19th cent painting depicting Galileo Galilei displaying his telescope in 1609

1819 The Scottish mechanical engineer James Watt popularized the first steam engines, which had an integral effect on the course of the Industrial Revolution. After his retirement in 1800, Watt traveled to France and Germany with his second wife. He also revisited his hometown of Greenock in 1816. James Watt passed peacefully away at Heathfield Hall on August 25, 1819 at the age of 83. Watt left over £60,000 (£81,000,000 in today's money) in his will to his family.

1822 German-English astronomer William Herschel died at Observatory House, Windsor Road, Slough on August 25, 1822.  He was buried at nearby St Laurence's Church, Upton, Slough. William Herschel is renowned for his significant contributions to astronomy. He is particularly famous for discovering the planet Uranus in 1781 and for his work on cataloging and observing various celestial objects.

1835 In 1835, a wave of typhoid hit the town of New Salem. One of the victims was Abraham Lincoln's first sweetheart, tall, auburn haired Ann Rutledge, who died at the age of 22 on August 25, 1835.  Her death plunged plunged Lincoln into a severe depression and for many years afterwards, he was on the edge of flipping.

Ann Rutledge by George S Stuart

1835 The first Great Moon Hoax article was published in The Sun, a New York newspaper, on August 25, 1835, chronicling the "discovery" of life on the Moon. It was the first of a series of six articles about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon. The discoveries were falsely attributed to Sir John Herschel, one of the best-known contemporary astronomers of that time.

1867 The physicist and chemist Michael Faraday died peacefully in his study at his house at Hampton Court on August 25, 1867, aged 75. As he lay dying, journalists asked about his speculations on death. The devout scientist replied: "I know nothing about speculations, I’m resting on certainties." He then quoted 2 Timothy 1 v12, "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."

1870 In 1862 German composer Richard Wagner parted with his first wife, Minna Planer, after becoming embroiled in an affair with Cosima von Bülow. She was the wife of the conductor Hans von Bülow, one of Wagner's most ardent supporters and the conductor of his Tristan und Isolde premiere. After Cosima was granted a divorce she married the composer in a Lucerne church on August 25, 1870. Wagner's marriage to the unquestionably devoted Cosima lasted to the end of his life. 

1875 Swimming the English Channel was first achieved on August 24 and 25, 1875 by Captain Matthew Webb (1848-83). Having smeared himself with porpoise oil, as Webb swam his daughter gave him brandy, roast beef sandwiches and Bovril from a boat. The English swimmer covered the 21 miles from Dover to Calais Sands in 21 hours 45 minutes using the breast stroke. The feat caused a world-wide sensation.

1900 A high level cricketer, Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle was the captain of Portsmouth Cricket Club. He took one first class wicket - the prestigious one of WG Grace, whom he bowled out for 110 on August 25, 1900. He was a member of JM Barrie's amateur cricket team the Allahakbarries. Among the other luminaries who played for the Allahakbarries throughout the years were H.G. Wells, Jerome K. Jerome, G.K. Chesterton and A.A. Milne.

1900 In 1889, aged 44, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suffered a complete loss of his mental faculties. Nietzsche suffered at least two strokes in the late 1890s. They partially paralyzed him, leaving him unable to speak or walk. After contracting pneumonia in mid-August 1900, he then had another stroke and died at about midday on August 25, 1900. His sister Elisabeth had her brother buried beside his father at the church in Röcken bei Lützen. 

1916 President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service on August 25, 1916. It was established to manage all the national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties around the United States.

1918 Leonard Bernstein, the highly influential American composer, conductor, and pianist, was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His compositions spanned various genres, including classical music, Broadway musicals, and film scores. Bernstein is particularly known for his work as a conductor with the New York Philharmonic and for composing the music for the iconic musical West Side Story.

1930 The actor Sean Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland on August 25, 1930. At the age of nine, Connery supported his impoverished family with a milk run in his hometown of Edinburgh. On his round the Scottish youngster delivered to Fettes School, which according to Ian Fleming, was the same school, which James Bond attended following his expulsion from Eton. Sean Connery made his Bond debut in 1962 in Dr No.

1944 On August 25, 1944, Parisians celebrated as Allied troops, primarily composed of Free French Forces and soldiers from the United States, marched down the iconic Champs-Élysées avenue. The event marked the liberation of Paris from German occupation during World War II. The liberation was a significant moment, symbolizing the turning tide of the war and the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

1960 The 1960 Summer Olympic Games was held from August 25 to September 11, 1960, in Rome. The Italian city had been awarded the organization of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but after the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, was forced to decline and pass the honors to London.

1967 George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, was shot and killed in Arlington, Virginia on August 25, 1967. Hearing of his son's death, Rockwell's father said: "I am not surprised at all. I've expected it for quite some time."

1984 American writer Truman Capote died at the Bel Air, Los Angeles, home of his old friend Joanne Carson on August 25, 1984. She was the former wife of late-night TV host Johnny Carson, on whose program Capote had been a frequent guest. According to the coroner's report, the cause of death was "liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication."

1989 Neptune has a faint and fragmented ring system, which was first detected in 1968 by a team led by Edward Guinan. On August 25, 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune and provided definitive proof of the existence of the planet's rings.

1991 Michael Schumacher made his Formula One debut on August 25, 1991 in the Belgian Grand Prix. He impressed many fans as he qualified 7th, but at the start he burnt the clutch and was forced to retire. As well as being a record seven-time Formula One champion (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), Schumacher also holds the records for fastest laps (77), and most wins in a single season (13)  (with Sebastian Vettel) ,amongst others.

2006 The current tallest of 3 trillion trees on Earth is the Hyperion, measuring 379.3 ft (115.61), almost twice the size of the Statue of Liberty. The Sequoia tree was discovered in Redwood National Park on August 25, 2006 by Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, and is thought to be the world's tallest living organism.

2010 A crocodile escaped out of a duffel bag onboard an internal flight in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on August 25, 2010. This caused the frightened passengers to move to the front of the plane, resulting in the aircraft crashing on approach to Bandundu Airport, killing 20 people.

2012 After a spaceflight of nearly 35 years, NASA's robotic space probe Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause and entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012, the first spacecraft to do so. It is the most distant man-made object from Earth.

2012 The astronaut Neil Armstrong died in a Cincinnati, Ohio, hospital on August 25, 2012, following bypass surgery to relieve blocked coronary arteries. The widow of Neil Armstrong, Carol, found a bag full of equipment used by her husband during the moon landing in a closet after her husband's death. The mementos from the Apollo 11 mission, included a camera that filmed him walking on the moon.