Did you know
George Floyd's dying words became a rallying slogan: "I can't breathe".
Notable Deaths on May 25
2020 — George Floyd
African American man murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (born 1973)
May 25 has 105 recorded notable deaths across history, from 675 to 2026. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
105 source records
675 – 2026
Today in history
Major events on May 25
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1971 Joetha Collier, a recent high school graduate, is killed in a shooting in Drew, Mississippi, attracting extensive attention from the media and civil rights activists. Source
- 1955 First ascent of Mount Kangchenjunga: On the British Kangchenjunga expedition led by Charles Evans, Joe Brown and George Band reach the summit of the third-highest mountain in the world (8,586 meters); Norman Hardie and Tony Streather join them the following day. Source
- 1738 A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners. Source
- 1807 Outbreak of the Kabakçı Mustafa rebellion in response to intentions of sultan Selim III to reform the Ottoman army. Source
Did you know
Regarded as one of the most successful and finest actors in the history of Indian cinema, Dutt was known for his unique style and delivering impactful messages through his films.
Did you know
John William Warner III was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Virginia from 1979 to 2009.
Did you know
Gustav Holst's distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss being most crucial early in his development.
Did you know
Wojciech Jaruzelski was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party between 1981 and 1989, making him the last leader of the Polish People's Republic.
More major people who died on May 25
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2005
Sunil Dutt
Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (born 1929)
Balraj Raghunath Dutt, publicly known as Sunil Dutt, was an Indian actor, film producer, director, and politician known for his work in Hindi cinema.
2021
John Warner
American attorney and politician (born 1927)
John William Warner III was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Virginia from 1979 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S.
1934
Gustav Holst
English trombonist, composer, and educator (born 1874)
Gustav Holst was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed many other works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success.
2014
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (born 1923)
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski was a Polish military general, politician and de facto leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989, serving as a military dictator from 13 December 1981 until 22 July 1983.
2005
Ismail Merchant
Indian-born film producer and director (born 1936)
Ismail Merchant was an Indian film producer. He worked for many years in collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included film director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
2013
Mahendra Karma
Indian politician (born 1950)
Mahendra Karma was an Indian political leader belonging to Indian National Congress from Chhattisgarh. He was the leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha from 2004 to 2008.
1797
John Griffin
4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (born 1719)
Field Marshal John Griffin Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, 1st Baron Braybrooke, KB, was a British Army officer, politician and peer.
1895
Ahmed Cevdet Pasha
Ottoman sociologist, historian, and jurist (born 1822)
Ahmed Cevdet Pasha was an Ottoman scholar, intellectual, bureaucrat, administrator, and historian who was a prominent figure in the Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire.
1981
Fredric Warburg
English author and publisher (born 1898)
Fredric John Warburg was a British publisher, who in 1935 founded the company Secker & Warburg. He is best known for his association with the author George Orwell.
1996
Renzo De Felice
Italian historian and author (born 1929)
Renzo De Felice was an Italian historian who specialized in the Fascist era. Among other works, he authored a 6000-page biography of Mussolini.
1983
Jack Stewart
Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1917)
John Sherratt Stewart was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was a defenceman for 12 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks.
1969
Elisabeth Geleerd
Dutch-American psychoanalyst (born 1909)
Elisabeth Rozetta Geleerd Loewenstein was a Dutch-American psychoanalyst. Born to an upper-middle-class family in Rotterdam, Geleerd studied psychoanalysis in Vienna, then London, under Anna Freud.
2009
Haakon Lie
Norwegian politician (born 1905)
Haakon Steen Lie was a Norwegian politician who served as party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party from 1945 to 1969.
2007
Charles Nelson Reilly
American actor, comedian, and director (born 1931)
Charles Nelson Reilly was an American actor, comedian, director and drama teacher.
1990
Vic Tayback
American actor (born 1930)
Victor Tayback was an American actor. He was best known for his role as diner owner Mel Sharples in both the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and on the television sitcom Alice (1976–1985) that was based on…
709
Aldhelm
English-Latin bishop, poet, and scholar (born 639)
Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century.
1899
Rosa Bonheur
French painter and sculptor (born 1822)
Rosa Bonheur was a French painter, sculptor and animalier. Her paintings include Ploughing in the Nivernais, first exhibited at the Salon of 1849, and now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and The Horse Fair, which was…
1919
Eliza Pollock
American archer (born 1840)
Lida Peyton "Eliza" Pollock was an American archer who competed in the early twentieth century.
2005
Zoran Mušič
Slovene painter and illustrator (born 1909)
Zoran Mušič, baptised as Anton Zoran Musič, was a Slovene painter, printmaker, and draughtsman.