25 March History
- 708 - Constantine begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
- 1634 - Lord Baltimore founds the Catholic colony of Maryland.
- 1655 - Puritans jail Governor Stone after a military victory over Catholic forces in the colony of Maryland.
- 1668 - The first horse race in America takes place.
- 1776 - The Continental Congress authorizes a medal for General George Washington.
- 1807 - British Parliament abolishes the slave trade.
- 1813 - The frigate USS Essex flies the first U.S. flag in battle in the Pacific.
- 1865 - Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman, during the siege of Petersburg, Va.
- 1879 - Japan invades the kingdom of Liuqiu (Ryukyu) Islands, formerly a vassal of China.
- 1905 - Rebel battle flags that were captured during the American Civil War are returned to the South.
- 1911 - A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, a sweatshop in New York City, claims the lives of 146 workers.
- 1915 - The first submarine disaster occurs when a U.S. F-4 sinks off the Hawaiian coast.
- 1919 - The Paris Peace Commission adopts a plan to protect nations from the influx of foreign labor.
- 1931 - Fifty people are killed in riots that break out in India. Mahatma Gandhi was one of many people assaulted.
- 1940 - The United States agrees to give Britain and France access to all American warplanes.
- 1941 - Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers.
- 1953 - The USS Missouri fires on targets at Kojo, North Korea, the last time her guns fire until the Persian Gulf War of 1992.
- 1954 - RCA manufactures its first color TV set and begins mass production.
- 1957 - The European Common Market Treaty is signed in Rome. The goal is to create a common market for all products–especially coal and steel.
- 1965 - Martin Luther King Jr. leads a group of 25,000 to the state capital in Montgomery, Ala.
- 1969 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono stage a bed-in for peace in Amsterdam.
- 1970 - The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight.
- 1975 - Hue is lost and Da Nang is endangered by North Vietnamese forces. The United States orders a refugee airlift to remove those in danger.
- 1981 - The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador is damaged when gunmen attack, firing rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.
- 1986 - President Ronald Reagan orders emergency aid for the Honduran army. U.S. helicopters take Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border.
25 March Birthdays
- 1133 - Henry II, King of England (1154-1189).
- 1767 - Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother in law who became king of Naples in 1808.
- 1797 - John Winebrenner, U.S. clergyman who founded the Church of God.
- 1839 - William Bell Wait, educator of the blind.
- 1867 - Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore.
- 1868 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor.
- 1906 - Alan John Percivale Taylor, English historian.
- 1908 - David Lean, British film director (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia).
- 1925 - (Mary) Flannery O'Connor, novelist and short story writer.
- 1934 - Gloria Steinem, political activist, editor.
- 1942 - Aretha Franklin, American singer, the "Queen of Soul."