Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 storm
The hurricane caused catastrophic flooding in Houston, dropping more than 60 inches of rain in some areas and causing an estimated $125 billion in dam...
August 25 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2017
2012
Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space
MajorAfter traveling for 35 years and covering more than 11 billion miles, the spacecraft crossed the heliopause and left our solar system. It continues to...
1991
Linus Torvalds announced he was working on a free operating system as a hobby
MajorThe 21-year-old Finnish student posted to a Usenet newsgroup that he was creating a free operating system 'just for fun.' This hobby project became Li...
1981
Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn
The probe came within 63,000 miles of Saturn's cloud tops, sending back stunning images of the planet's rings and discovering new moons. Voyager 2's p...
1967
George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, was assassinated by a disgruntled former member
Rockwell was shot while leaving a laundromat in Arlington, Virginia by John Patler, a former party member he had expelled. Despite his extreme views,...
1948
The House Un-American Activities Committee held its first televised congressional hearing
The hearing featured testimony about alleged Communist infiltration in Hollywood, marking the beginning of the Red Scare's impact on the entertainment...
1944
Paris was liberated from Nazi occupation after four years
MajorFrench and Allied forces freed Paris from German control, ending the city's occupation that began in June 1940. General Charles de Gaulle led a triump...
1930
Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland
The future James Bond actor was born Thomas Sean Connery in a working-class neighborhood. Before becoming an actor, he worked as a milkman, truck driv...
1916
The National Park Service was created in the United States
President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act establishing the National Park Service to manage America's growing number of national parks and monume...
1875
Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel without artificial aids
MajorWebb swam from Dover, England to Calais, France in 21 hours and 45 minutes, covering about 39 miles due to tides. He consumed brandy, coffee, and beef...
1835
The New York Sun published the first of the 'Great Moon Hoax' articles claiming life was discovered on the moon
The newspaper ran a series of articles falsely attributed to astronomer John Herschel, claiming his telescope had discovered bat-winged humanoids, uni...
1768
James Cook embarked on his first voyage aboard the HMS Endeavour
The British explorer set sail from Plymouth on a secret mission to observe the transit of Venus and search for the mysterious 'Terra Australis' (south...
1609
Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers
MajorGalileo presented his revolutionary spyglass to the Doge of Venice from the top of St. Mark's Campanile, allowing them to see ships two hours before t...