Did you know
Pioneer 10 was launched on March 2, 1972, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket.
April 25 in History
1983 — Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit
April 25 spans 52 recorded events across recorded history, from 404 BC to 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Historical Events
52 events
404 BC – 2026
Today in history
More major events on April 25
The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.
- 2005 Bulgaria and Romania sign the Treaty of Accession 2005 to join the European Union. Source
- 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA. Source
- 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco. Source
Did you know
The spacecraft was designed and built by TRW Inc, an American aerospace company.
Did you know
NASA Ames Research Center in California managed the Pioneer 10 mission.
Did you know
Pioneer 10 flew by Jupiter on December 3, 1973, at a distance of approximately 130,000 kilometers.
Did you know
The spacecraft's escape velocity from the Solar System was achieved on June 13, 1983, making it the first human-made object to do so.
-404
Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
Spartan military and political leader (died 395 BC)
775
The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate.
Muslim control over the South Caucasus is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
799
After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, Pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
State of having one's appearance injured or changed
1464
A Yorkist army under the Baron Montagu defeats a Lancastrian army under the Duke of Somerset in the battle of Hedgeley Moor during the Wars of the Roses.
Cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet
1607
Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
c. 1566/1568–1648 war in Habsburg Netherlands
1644
Transition from Ming to Qing: The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
Period of Chinese history (1618–1683)
1707
A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
Battle in the War of the Spanish Succession
1792
1792
"La Marseillaise" (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
National anthem of France
1808
Dano-Swedish War of 1808–1809: The Battle of Trangen takes place at Trangen in Flisa, Hedemarkens Amt, between Swedish and Norwegian troops.
Napoleonic War
1829
Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the British Empire.
Royal Navy Admiral (1800–1869)
1846
Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
Part of the Mexican–American War in 1846
1849
The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
Federal representative of the Canadian monarch
1859
British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
Artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt
1862
American Civil War: Forces under U.S.
Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1864
American Civil War: In the Battle of Marks' Mills, a force of 8,000 Confederate soldiers attacks 1,800 Union soldiers and a large number of wagon teamsters, killing or wounding 1,500 Union combatants.
1864 battle of the American Civil War
1882
French and Vietnamese troops clash in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seizes the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
Government of France from 1870 to 1940
1892
Véry bombing during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).
1892 anarchist bombing in Paris
1898
Spanish–American War: The United States Congress declares that a state of war between the U.S.
and Spain has existed since April 21, when an American naval blockade of the Spanish colony of Cuba began.
1901
1915
World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
1916
Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
National day of remembrance
1920
At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
1920 meeting on post-WWI Ottoman territories
1933
Nazi Germany issues the Law Against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities limiting the number of Jewish students able to attend public schools and universities.
German state from 1933 to 1945
1938
U.S.
Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
1944
1945
World War II: United States and Soviet reconnaissance troops meet in Torgau and Strehla along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two.
This would be later known as Elbe Day.
1945
World War II: Liberation Day (Italy): The National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy calls for a general uprising against the German occupation and the Italian Social Republic.
National holiday in Italy on 25 April commemorating the liberation from Nazifascism
1945
United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco.
1945 founding meeting in San Francisco
1945
World War II: The last German troops retreat from Finnish soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War.
Military actions of the Second World War end in Finland.
1951
Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong.
1950–1953 conflict on the Korean Peninsula
1953
Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA.
English physicist and biologist (1916–2004)
1954
The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Device used to produce electricity from light
1959
The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
System of waterways in Canada and the US
1960
The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
US Navy radar picket submarine
1961
Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
American physicist and entrepreneur (1927–1990)
1972
Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia
1974
Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime.
1974 revolution in Portugal and its colonies
1980
One hundred forty-six people are killed when Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes near Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands.
1980 aviation accident
1981
More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
Nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
1982
Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
Country in West Asia
1983
Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between US and USSR
1990
Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
President of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1997
2004
The March for Women's Lives brings over one million protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C.
to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion.
2005
The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
4th-century phonolite stele in Axum, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
2005
A seven-car commuter train derails and crashes into an apartment building near Amagasaki Station in Japan, killing 107, including the driver.
2005 rail accident in Amagasaki, Japan
2005
Bulgaria and Romania sign the Treaty of Accession 2005 to join the European Union.
Country in Southeastern Europe
2007
Boris Yeltsin's funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
2007 funeral of the 1st Russian president
2014
The Flint water crisis begins when officials at Flint, Michigan switch the city's water supply to the Flint River, leading to lead and bacteria contamination.
Public health crisis in Flint, Michigan
2015
At least 8,962 are killed in Nepal after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.
Magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal
2026
Shots are fired outside of the White House Correspondents' Dinner in the Washington Hilton where U.S.
President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet are attending. One injury is reported and a suspect is taken into custody.