By: HISTORY.com Editors

1945

John Birch, inspiration to conservatives, killed by Chinese communists

Published: November 05, 2009Last Updated: January 31, 2025

On August 25, 1945, John Birch, an American missionary to China before the war and a captain in the Army during the war, is killed by Chinese communists days after the surrender of Japan, for no apparent reason. His death would inspire a small but vocal group of conservative anticommunists.

After America had entered the war, Birch, a Baptist missionary already in China, was made a liaison between American and Chinese forces fighting the Japanese. But on August 25, Birch, commanding an American Special Services team, was ordered to halt by Chinese communist troops. A scuffle ensued, and according to his commanding officer, Gustave Krause, Birch argued violently with the communist officer trying to disarm him. The Chinese shot Birch and bayoneted him repeatedly. “Birch made the communist lieutenant lose face before his own men," said Krause. "Militarily, John Birch brought about his own death.”

In the 1950s, Robert Welch would create a right-wing, anticommunist organization called the John Birch Society. For Welch, Birch was “the first casualty in the Third World War between communists and the ever-shrinking Free World.”

How Nixon’s 1972 Visit to China Changed the Balance of Cold War Power

The historic visit by President Richard Nixon to the People's Republic of China warmed relations between the two nations and substantially altered the balance of power between the U.S., China and the Soviet Union.

By: Dave Roos

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

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

1835

“The Great Moon Hoax” is published in the “New York Sun”

The first in a series of six articles announcing the supposed discovery of life on the moon appears in the New York Sun newspaper. The fictional stories became known as "The Great Moon Hoax."

2:26m read

1875

Englishman swims the Channel

Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old merchant navy captain, becomes the first known person to successfully swim the English Channel. Captain Webb accomplished the grueling 21-mile crossing, which really entailed 39 miles of swimming because of tidal currents, in 21 hours and 45 minutes. Webb set out to much fanfare the day before, on August 24. During […]

5:30m read

1896

Outlaw Bill Doolin is killed

The outlaw Bill Doolin is killed by a posse at Lawson, Oklahoma on the night of August 25, 1896. Born in Arkansas in 1858, William Doolin was never as hardened a criminal as some of his companions. He went west in 1881, finding work in Oklahoma at the big ranch of Oscar D. Halsell. Halsell took a […]

1:30m read

1914

Germans burn Belgian town of Louvain

Over the course of five days, beginning August 25, 1914, German troops stationed in the Belgian village of Louvain during the opening month of World War I burn and loot much of the town, executing hundreds of civilians. Located between Liege, the fortress town that saw heavy fighting during the first weeks of the German […]

1931

Yangtze River peaks in Gaoyou, China, killing more than 10,000

On August 25, 1931, after months of torrential flooding, levees around the city of Gaoyou, China, break and the Yangtze River overflows, killing between 10,000 and 15,000 in a single night. The disastrous breach was part of a catastrophic flood that killed an estimated 3.7 million people directly and indirectly over the next several months, […]

1:34m read

1939

“The Wizard of Oz” opens in U.S. theaters

On August 25, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, which will become one of the best-loved movies in history, opens in theaters around the United States. Based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), the film starred Judy Garland as the young Kansas farm girl Dorothy, who, after […]

1:58m read

1944

Paris is liberated after four years of Nazi occupation

On August 25, 1944, after more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the […]

4:12m read

1950

Truman orders army to seize control of railroads

On August 25, 1950, in anticipation of a crippling strike by railroad workers, President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order putting America’s railroads under the control of the U.S. Army, as of August 27, at 4:00 pm. Truman had already intervened in another railway dispute when union employees of the Chicago, North Shore and […]

1:28m read

1958

Momofuku Ando creates the first mass-market instant ramen

To help address the food shortage crisis in Japan after World War II, inventor and businessman Momofuku Ando develops Chicken Ramen, the first-ever instant noodles, on August 25, 1958. The shelf-stable noodles are readily available, take two minutes to cook and fill hungry bellies. Today, instant noodles are a ubiquitous global fast food—and not just […]

2:00m read

1962

Little Eva earns a No. 1 hit with “Loco-Motion”

On August 25, 1962, a diminutive, 17-year-old singer named Eva Narcissus Boyd scored her first and only No. 1 pop hit with “The Loco-Motion.”

1:54m read

1979

Hurricane David forms

On August 25, 1979, the storm that will become Hurricane David forms in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It goes on to devastate Dominica then the Dominican Republic, killing at least 2,000 people.

1:52m read

1982

U.S. Marines deployed to Lebanon

During the Lebanese Civil War, a multinational force including 800 U.S. Marines lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon. It was the beginning of a problem-plagued mission that would stretch into 17 months and leave 262 U.S. servicemen dead. In 1975, a bloody civil war erupted in Lebanon, with Palestinian and leftist […]

1:06m read

1984

Truman Capote, author of “In Cold Blood,” dies

Truman Capote, the author of the pioneering true-crime novel In Cold Blood, dies at age 59 in Los Angeles. In Cold Blood told the story of the 1959 murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, two parolees from the Kansas State Penitentiary, decided to rob Herbert Clutter, a successful farmer, […]

1:48m read

1985

Samantha Smith dies in plane crash

Samantha Smith, the 13-year-old “ambassador” to the Soviet Union, dies in a plane crash. Smith was best known for writing to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov in 1982 and visiting the Soviet Union as Andropov’s guest in 1983. In late 1982, Smith, a fifth-grader at Manchester Elementary School in Manchester, Maine, wrote a plaintive letter to […]

1:58m read

2001

Aaliyah dies in plane crash

R&B superstar and actor Aaliyah was only 22 years old when she unexpectedly died on August 25, 2001.

2009

Ted Kennedy, “liberal lion of the Senate,” dies at 77

On August 25, 2009, Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and a U.S. senator from Massachusetts from 1962 to 2009, dies of brain cancer at age 77 at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Kennedy, one of the longest-serving senators in American history, was a leader of the Democratic Party […]

3:50m read

World War II

214 videos

World War II

These Photos Depict the 'Miracle of Dunkirk' That Saved 338,000 Lives

These photos show the chaos and courage of the 1940 evacuation, when hundreds of thousands of Allied troops escaped German forces by sea.

World War II

10 Photos From V-J Day Celebrations Around the World

Victory over Japan Day ushered in peace after the devastation of World War II.

World War II

The Deadliest Ship Disaster in History Wasn’t the Titanic

The torpedoing of the German ocean liner *Wilhelm Gustloff* in 1945 led to the deaths of some 9,000 men, women and children.

About the author

HISTORY.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Christian Zapata, Cristiana Lombardo and Adrienne Donica.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.