March 25 in History

Significant events that happened on this day.

Historical Events

1996

The European Union's Schengen Agreement came into effect, eliminating border controls

Seven European countries removed passport checks at their mutual borders, allowing free movement across national boundaries. You could now drive from...

1965

Civil rights marchers completed their journey from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama

Major

After two previous attempts that were violently blocked, 25,000 people successfully reached the Alabama State Capitol to demand voting rights. Martin...

1958

Sugar Ray Robinson knocked out Carmen Basilio to win the middleweight title for the fifth time

At 37 years old, Robinson became the first boxer ever to win a divisional world championship five times. The fight was so brutal that both men's faces...

1957

The Treaty of Rome was signed, establishing the European Economic Community

Major

Six European nations—Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany—signed the treaty that created the EEC, the predecessor to...

1954

RCA manufactured the first color television sets for consumer sale

The CT-100 model went on sale for $1,000 (about $11,000 today), bringing color broadcasting into American homes for the first time. The TVs were tempe...

1942

Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee

The future 'Queen of Soul' was born to a Baptist minister and gospel singer. She would go on to win 18 Grammy Awards and become the first woman induct...

1924

Greece became a republic after abolishing its monarchy

Following a military coup and national referendum, Greece officially ended its monarchy and declared itself a republic. King George II went into exile...

1894

Jacob Coxey led an army of unemployed workers to march on Washington D.C.

During an economic depression, Coxey organized the first significant popular protest march on the nation's capital, with 500 unemployed men demanding...

1821

Greece declared independence from the Ottoman Empire, starting an eight-year war

Greek revolutionaries raised the flag of independence at the Monastery of Agia Lavra, beginning a brutal conflict that would last until 1829. European...

1807

The British Parliament abolished the slave trade throughout the British Empire

Major

The Slave Trade Act received royal assent, making it illegal to engage in the slave trade in any part of the British Empire. While this didn't immedia...

1655

Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, Saturn's largest moon

Using a refracting telescope he designed himself, Huygens became the first person to identify a moon of Saturn. Titan remains one of the most fascinat...

1634

English colonists and Native Americans sat down to negotiate a peace treaty, and someone brought a football

Lord Baltimore founded the colony of Maryland on this date with a relatively unusual approach for the time—peaceful land purchase agreements with loca...