Cabinet member found guilty in Teapot Dome scandal

On October 25, 1764, future President John Adams marries Abigail Smith. This devoted couple’s prolific correspondence during their married life has provided entertainment and a glimpse of early American life for generations of history buffs. Future first lady Abigail Adams was the daughter of a parson. She was home-taught and read everything from the classics […]

In an event alternately described as one of the most heroic or disastrous episodes in British military history, Lord James Cardigan leads a charge of the Light Brigade cavalry against well-defended Russian artillery during the Crimean War. The British were winning the Battle of Balaklava when Cardigan received his order to attack the Russians. His […]

On October 25, 1920, Greece’s King Alexander dies from wounds he received after a monkey attacked him earlier in the month. He was 27 years old. The incident leading to King Alexander’s death occurred while he was walking on the grounds of the castle outside of Athens. A Barbary macaque that belonged to a resident […]

President Eisenhower pledges support to South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem’s government and military forces in a letter on October 25, 1954. Eisenhower made it clear to Diem that U.S. aid to his government during Vietnam’s “hour of trial” was contingent upon his assurances of the “standards of performance [he] would be able to maintain […]

On October 25, 1964, after recovering a fumble against the 49ers in San Francisco, Minnesota Vikings star defensive end Jim Marshall runs 66 yards the wrong way into his own end zone. The four-year veteran believes he has scored a touchdown, so he throws the ball out of bounds in celebration, resulting in a safety […]

On October 25, 1980, AC/DC earn their first pop Top 40 hit with “You Shook Me All Night Long”—clocking in at number 39. Back when they were releasing albums like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1977), AC/DC would have seemed an unlikely candidate to become one of the top-selling pop-music acts of all time. But […]

Susan Smith reports that she was carjacked in South Carolina by a Black man who took her two small children in the backseat of her car. Although authorities immediately began searching for three-year-old Michael and one-year-old Alex, they could find no trace of them or of Smith’s car. After nine days of intense national media […]