On This Day in History

March 25

Historical Events

31 The first Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus.

1436 Florence Cathedral, Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, consecrated by Pope Eugene IV, the largest dome in the world (then) by Filippo Brunelleschi with support from Cosimo de' Medici (begun 1296).

'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' emblem used by some abolitionists determined to end the slave trade in the British Empire

1807 British Parliament abolishes the slave trade throughout the British Empire; penalty of £120 per slave introduced for ship captains.

1895 Italian troops invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

1960 First guided missile launched from a nuclear powered submarine (USS Halibut)

More Historical Events

Famous Birthdays

Aretha Franklin 1942 - 2018 Gloria Steinem 90th Birthday

Elton John 77th Birthday Sarah Jessica Parker 59th Birthday

Also Arturo Toscanini, A. J. P. Taylor and David Lean.

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

Ida B. Wells 1862 - 1931 Faisal of Saudi Arabia 1906 - 1975

More Famous Deaths

Rebel With a Cause: The Life of Shameless Shelley

A born rebel, the celebrated poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled on this day from the University of Oxford. He would go on to lead a short and tragic life.

The Life of Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley