12 History Lessons + 4 Births & 6 Deaths for May 28, 2025
Today’s History:
- 585 BCE – A solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher Thales, halting a battle between the Lydians and Medes.
- 1533 – Archbishop Thomas Cranmer declares the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn valid.
- 1871 – The Paris Commune is crushed by the French Army; thousands are killed in the “Bloody Week.”
- 1937 – Volkswagen is founded in Germany as the “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH.”
- 1952 – The women of Greece vote for the first time in a national election.
- 1961 – Amnesty International is founded in London by lawyer Peter Benenson.
- 1972 – White House “plumbers” break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex (precursor incident).
- 1987 – Mathias Rust, a West German teenager, illegally flies a small plane into Moscow’s Red Square, undetected.
- 1998 – Pakistan conducts its first publicly announced nuclear tests in response to India’s tests earlier that month.
- 2002 – NATO-Russia Council is established at a summit in Rome to improve post–Cold War relations.
- 2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal abolishes the monarchy and declares the country a republic.
- 2016 – Harambe, a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, is shot after a child falls into his enclosure, sparking international controversy.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1944 – Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City (81)
- 1945 – Patch Adams, American physician and social activist, inspiration for the film Patch Adams (80)
- 1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian singer and actress (Can’t Get You Out of My Head) (57)
- 1985 – Carey Mulligan, British actress (An Education, Promising Young Woman) (40)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1843 – Noah Webster, American lexicographer and author of An American Dictionary of the English Language (Age 84)
- 1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, twice Prime Minister of the UK (Age 85)
- 1972 – Edward VIII, former King of the United Kingdom, later Duke of Windsor (Age 77)
- 1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian-American actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live) (Age 49)
- 2014 – Maya Angelou, American poet, author, and civil rights activist (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) (Age 86)
- 2021 – B.J. Thomas, American singer (Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head) (Age 78)
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