By: HISTORY.com Editors

1975

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia assassinated

Published: February 09, 2010Last Updated: May 27, 2025

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Faisal is shot to death by his nephew, Prince Faisal.

King Faisal, son of King Ibn Saud, fought in the military campaigns in the 1920s and ’30s that helped forge modern Saudi Arabia. He later served as Saudi ambassador to the United Nations and in 1953 was made premier upon the ascension of his older brother, Saud. In 1964, King Saud was pressured to abdicate, and Faisal became the absolute ruler of Saudi Arabia. As king, he sought to modernize his nation, and lent financial and moral support to anti-Israeli efforts in the Middle East. In 1975, Faisal was assassinated for reasons that remain obscure, and his brother, Crown Prince Khalid, ascended to the throne.

How FDR Charmed a Saudi King and Won U.S. Access to Oil

After this first meeting between a U.S. president and a Saudi king, FDR would leave behind a unique gift.

By: Lesley Kennedy

Timeline

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Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on March 25th

1634

The settlement of Maryland

The first colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement’s Island on Maryland’s western shore and found the settlement of St. Mary’s. In 1632, King Charles I of England granted a charter to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, yielding him proprietary rights to a region east of the Potomac River in exchange for a share […]

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1911

Triangle Shirtwaist fire kills 146 in New York City

The Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City burns down, killing 146 workers. The tragedy led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of factory workers.

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1941

Naval warfare gets new weapon

Italy attacks the British fleet at Souda Bay, Crete, using detachable warheads to sink a British cruiser. This was the first time manned torpedoes had been employed in naval warfare, adding a new weapon to the world’s navies’ arsenals. The manned torpedo, also known as the “Chariot,” was unique. Primarily used to attack enemy ships […]

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1941

Yugoslavia joins the Axis Powers

Yugoslavia, despite an early declaration of neutrality, signs the Tripartite Pact, forming an alliance with Axis powers Germany, Italy and Japan. A unified nation of Yugoslavia, an uneasy federation of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, was a response to the collapse of the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires at the close of World War I, both of […]

1957

U.S. Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”

The U.S. Customs Department confiscates 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg’s book Howl, which had been printed in England. Officials alleged that the book was obscene. City Lights, a publishing company and bookstore in San Francisco owned by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, proceeded to publish the book in the fall of 1956. The publication led to Ferlinghetti’s […]

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1957

Europe’s Common Market founded in major step toward economic unity

On March 25, 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg sign a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market. The EEC, which came into operation in January 1958, was a major step in Europe’s movement toward economic and political union. By 1950, it was […]

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1958

Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Carmen Basilio for middleweight title

On March 25, 1958, Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Carmen Basilio to regain the middleweight championship. It was the fifth and final title of his career. Robinson is considered by many to be the greatest prizefighter in history. No less an authority than heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali has said, “My idol will always be Sugar Ray […]

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1967

Martin Luther King Jr. leads march against the Vietnam War

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., leads a march of 5,000 antiwar demonstrators in Chicago. In an address to the demonstrators, King declared that the Vietnam War was “a blasphemy against all that America stands for.” King first began speaking out against American involvement in Vietnam in the summer of 1965. In addition to his […]

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1969

John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first “bed-in” for peace

The first of many public anti-war campaigns staged by the Beatle and his second wife, it became a landmark of celebrity activism.

1987

Torture chamber uncovered in Philadelphia

Responding to a 911 call, police raid the Philadelphia home of Gary Heidnik and find an appalling crime scene. In the basement of Heidnik’s dilapidated house is a veritable torture chamber where three naked women were found chained to a sewer pipe. A fourth woman, Josefina Rivera, had escaped and called police. Gary Heidnik was […]

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2001

Icelandic pop singer Björk makes splash at the Oscars

In one of the most memorable moments of red carpet fashion risk-taking, Icelandic pop singer Björk appears at the 73rd annual Academy Awards on March 25, 200 infamous “swan dress.” Born and raised in Rekjavik, Björk won a radio contest at age 11 and received a contract to record her first album, released in 1977. She first […]

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