October 25
285 (or 286) Execution of
Saints Crispin and Crispinian during the reign of Diocletian, now the patron saints of leather workers, curriers, and shoemakers.
1415 Hundred Years' War:
Henry V of England and his lightly armoured infantry and archers defeat the heavily armoured French cavalry in the
Battle of Agincourt on
Saint Crispin's Day.
1828
St Katharine Docks open in London.
1854 The
Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War
(Charge of the Light Brigade).
Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1920 After 74 days on hunger strike in Brixton Prison, England, the Sinn Fιin Lord Mayor of Cork,
Terence MacSwiney dies.
1938 The Archbishop of Dubuque,
Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces swing music as "a degenerated musical system ... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell". His warning is widely ignored.
1940
Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. is named the first African American general in the United States Army.
1944 The
USS Tang under
Richard O'Kane (the top American submarine captain of World War II) is sunk by the ship's own malfunctioning torpedo.
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis: Adlai Stevenson shows photos at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council proving that Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba.
1964 -
The Rolling Stones appeared for the first time on
The Ed Sullivan Show from New York, performing
Around And Around and
Time Is On My Side. A riot broke out in the studio, prompting Sullivans infamous quote,
I promise you theyll never be back on our show again. The Rolling Stones went on to make a
further five appearances on Sullivans show between 1965 and 1969.
1966 - Aged 7 months old,
Jeff Healey had his right eye surgical removed (and subsequently his left eye, 4 months later), and replaced with artificial ones, necessitated by a form of cancer of the eyes called
retinoblastoma. Three years later Healey was given his first guitar by his father. At the age of 13, the Canadian guitarist formed his first band, Blue Direction.
1977
Digital Equipment Corporation releases
OpenVMS V1.0.
1983 Operation Urgent Fury: The United States and its Caribbean allies invade
Grenada, six days after Prime Minister
Maurice Bishop and several of his supporters are executed in a coup d'ιtat.
1995 A commuter
train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.
Births
1838 Georges Bizet

; 1864 John Francis Dodge (yeah,
that Dodge); 1881 Pablo Picasso

; 1886 Leo G. Carroll; 1888 Richard E. Byrd; 1912 Minnie Pearl ("HOOOW
DEE!! I'm jist s'proud to be h'yere!"); 1913 Klaus Barbie; 1924 Billy Barty; 1928 Jeanne Cooper ('Katherine Chancellor' on
The Young and the Restless); 1928 Tony Franciosa; 1928 Marion Ross ('Mrs. Cunningham' on
Happy Days); 1940 Bobby Knight; 1941 Helen Reddy♪ ♫; 1944 Jon Anderson♪ ♫(Yes); 1944 James Carville (played 'Gollum' in
The Lord of The Rings); 1947 Glenn Tipton

(Judas Priest); 1955 Matthias Jabs

(Scorpions); 1957 Nancy Cartwright (voice of
Bart Simpson); 1959 Chrissy Amphlett♪ ♫(Divinyls); 1961 Ward Burton

; 1961 Chad Smith

(The Red Hot Chili Peppers); 1964 Michael Boatman (
Spin City, China Beach); 1970 Adam Goldberg; 1970 Ed Robertson♪ ♫(Barenaked Ladies); 1970 Chely Wright♪ ♫; 1984 Katy Perry♪ ♫; 1985 Ciara♪ ♫
Deaths
1400 Geoffrey Chaucer; 1806 Henry Knox (namesake of Fort Knox & Knox County, KY); 1920 Terence MacSwiney; 1921 Bat Masterson; 1957 Albert Anastasia (mob boss); 1986 Forrest Tucker; 1991 Bill Graham♪ ♫(concert promoter); 1992 Roger Miller♪ ♫; 1993 Vincent Price; 1995 Bobby Riggs

; 1999 Payne Stewart; 2002 Richard Harris (left his cake out in the rain); 2004 John Peel; 2008 Gerard Damiano (wrote & directed
Deep Throat, directed
The Devil in Miss Jones); 2013 Hal Needham; 2013 Marcia Wallace (voice of 'Edna Krabappel' on The Simpsons); 2014 Jack Bruce

(Cream)