May 25

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Star Wars opens, 1977
American Revolution
Constitutional Convention convenes in Philadelphia, 1787
Automotive
Pennsylvania man buried with his beloved Corvette, 1994
Civil War
Confederates score a victory at First Battle of Winchester, 1862
Cold War
Chinese government removes ban on Shakespeare, 1977
Crime
President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War, 1861
Oscar Wilde is sent to prison for indecency, 1895
Disaster
DC-10 crashes, killing all aboard, 1979
General Interest
The English Restoration, 1660
Constitutional Convention begins, 1787
Catholic priest ordained in America, 1793
Worst air crash in U.S. history, 1979
Hollywood
Star Wars released, 1977
Literary
Thomas Mann visits the Lido in Venice, 1911
International best-selling thriller writer Robert Ludlum is born, 1927
Music
HMS Pinafore premieres in London, 1878
Old West
Grizzly bear is classified as a "threatened" species, 1975
Presidential
JFK asks Congress to support the space program, 1961
Sports
Babe Ruth hits last home run, 1935
Vietnam War
Communist launch new offensive, 1968
National Democratic Front formed in Saigon, 1969
World War I
Large-scale deportations of Armenians begin in Turkey, 1915
World War II
Operation Knight's Move is launched, 1944

General Interest

May 25, 1979:

Worst air crash in U.S. history

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On Friday afternoon, Memorial Day weekend, American Airlines Flight 191, a Los Angeles-bound DC-10, takes off at 3:03 p.m. from Chicago-O'Hare International airport with 271 aboard. As Flight 191 raised its nose during the initial stage of the takeoff, an engine under the left wing broke off with its pylon assembly and fell to the runway. The aircraft climbed to about 350 feet above the ground and then began to spin to the left, continuing its leftward roll until the wings were past the vertical position, with the nose pitched down below the horizon. Moments later, the aircraft crashed into an open field about a half-mile from its takeoff point, killing all 271 people aboard and two others in a nearby trailer park. It was the worst domestic air crash in U.S. history.

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This Week in History, May 25 - May 31

May 25, 1660
The English Restoration
May 25, 1787
Constitutional Convention begins
May 25, 1793
Catholic priest ordained in America
May 25, 1979
Worst air crash in U.S. history
May 26, 1637
Pequot massacres begin
May 26, 1864
Montana Territory created
May 26, 1868
President Johnson acquitted
May 26, 1896
Czar Nicholas II crowned
May 27, 1703
St. Petersburg founded by Peter the Great
May 27, 1905
The Battle of Tsushima Strait
May 27, 1937
Golden Gate Bridge opens
May 27, 1994
Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia
May 28, 1754
First blood of the French and Indian War
May 28, 1991
Ethiopian capital falls to rebels
May 29, 1848
Wisconsin enters the Union
May 29, 1914
The sinking of the Empress of Ireland
May 29, 1932
Bonus Marchers arrive in Washington
May 30, 1806
Andrew Jackson wins duel
May 30, 1868
Civil War dead honored on Decoration Day
May 30, 1967
Republic of Biafra proclaimed
May 30, 1971
Mariner 9 departs for Mars
May 31, 1889
The Johnstown Flood
May 31, 1902
The Boer War ends
May 31, 1962
Architect of the Holocaust hanged in Israel
May 31, 1996
Netanyahu elected prime minister of Israel

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