November 25 - Events

Events

• 1034 – Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies. Donnchad, the son of his daughter Bethóc andCrínán of Dunkeld, inherits the throne.
• 1120 – The White Ship sinks in the English Channel, drowning William Adelin, son of Henry I of England.
• 1177 – Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard.
• 1343 – A tsunami, caused by the earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples (Italy) and theMaritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.
• 1491 – The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins.
• 1667 – A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.
• 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
• 1755 – King Ferdinand VI of Spain grants royal protection to the Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus, now known as the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary.
• 1758 – French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Fort Pitt is built nearby and it grows into modern Pittsburgh.
• 1759 – An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.
• 1783 – American Revolutionary War: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
• 1795 – Partitions of Poland: Stanislaus August Poniatowski, the last king of independent Poland, is forced to abdicate and is exiled toRussia.
• 1826 – The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplion to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy.
• 1833 – A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7-9.2 rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.
• 1839 – A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40 foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge – At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
• 1864 – American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
• 1874 – The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
• 1876 – Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.
• 1905 – The Danish Prins Carl arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway.
• 1917 – German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania.
• 1918 – Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria–Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia.
• 1926 – The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history strikes on Thanksgiving day. 27 twisters of great strength are reported in the Midwest, including the strongest November tornado, an estimated F4, that devastates Heber Springs, Arkansas. There are 51 deaths in Arkansas alone, 76 deaths and over 400 injuries in all.
• 1936 – In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing to consult on measures "to safeguard their common interests" in the case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation. The pact is renewed on the same day five years later with additional signatories.
• 1940 – World War II: First flight of the deHavilland Mosquito and Martin B-26 Marauder.
• 1943 – World War II: Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina is re-established at the State Anti-Fascist Council for the People's Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1947 – Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios.
• 1947 – New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom.
• 1952 – Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London later becoming the longest continuously-running play in history.
• 1958 – French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.
• 1960 – The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated.
• 1963 – President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
• 1970 – In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic suicide after an unsuccessful coup attempt.
• 1973 – George Papadopoulos, head of the military Regime of the Colonels in Greece, is ousted in a hardliners' coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis.
• 1975 – Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.
• 1977 – Former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad.
• 1982 – The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire destroys an entire city block, including the Northwestern National Bank building and the recently closed Donaldson's Department Store.
• 1984 – 36 top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas in order to raise money forfamine relief in Ethiopia.
• 1986 – Iran Contra Affair: US Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
• 1986 – The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf.
• 1987 – Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of 165 mph and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm.
• 1988 – German politician Rita Süssmuth becomes president of the Bundestag.
• 1992 – The Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia from January 1, 1993.
• 1996 – An ice storm strikes the central U.S. killing 26 people. A powerful windstorm affects Florida and winds gust over 90 mph, toppling trees and flipping trailers.
• 1999 – The United Nations establishes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to commemorate the murder of three Mirabal Sisters for resistance against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in Dominican Republic.
• 2008 – A car bomb in St. Petersburg, Russia, kills three people and injures one.