141 things happened on 25 January, from AD 41 to 2018. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1533 · 493 years ago
Anne Boleyn secretly married King Henry VIII, becoming the second of his six wives. Their daughter, born later that year, grew up to be Queen Elizabeth I. Henry's marriage to Anne was at the centre of the political and religious changes that began the English…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Fourteen-year-old Edward III became King of England after his father, Edward II, was forced to give up the throne. The plot against Edward II was led by his wife, Queen Isabella, and the nobleman Roger Mortimer. Edward III went on to reign for 50 years, one of the longest reigns in English history. Under him, England became one of the strongest military powers in Europe.
UK story
Anne Boleyn secretly married King Henry VIII, becoming the second of his six wives. Their daughter, born later that year, grew up to be Queen Elizabeth I. Henry's marriage to Anne was at the centre of the political and religious changes that began the English Reformation. During the Reformation, the Church in England broke away from the authority of the Pope.
UK story
Walter Raleigh was knighted, becoming Sir Walter Raleigh. Shortly before, he had named a region of North America 'Virginia' in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, who was known as the 'Virgin Queen'. Raleigh was an explorer, soldier and writer who played a leading part in English attempts to settle North America. He also helped to defend England against the Spanish Armada.
UK story
Felix Mendelssohn's Wedding March was played at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter, also called Victoria, to Prince Friedrich of Prussia. After this royal wedding, the tune became a popular piece to play at weddings. Mendelssohn wrote it in 1842 as part of his music for Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is often played on a church pipe organ.
UK story
Port Egmont, the first British colony in the Falkland Islands, was founded.
UK story
The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
UK story
Thomas Hardy founded the London Corresponding Society to seek a "radical reform of parliament", later influencing the reform movements of early-19th-century England.
UK story
World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.
American journalist Nellie Bly arrived back in New York after travelling around the world by land and sea in just over 72 days. This was a record at the time. She wanted to turn Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days into real life. Remarkably, she travelled alone for almost the entire journey.
Alexander Graham Bell opened the first telephone service right across the United States. Speaking from New York, he talked to his former assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, over a wire about 3,400 miles long. The two men had worked together on inventing the telephone in 1876. Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is credited with patenting the first practical telephone.
The first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix, in the French Alps. The competitions ran until 5 February. At the time the event was called 'International Winter Sports Week', not the Winter Olympics. In 1926 the International Olympic Committee decided it should count as the first Winter Olympic Games.
Thomas Goldsmith Jr. filed a patent for a 'cathode-ray tube amusement device', the earliest known electronic game. A patent is a legal document that protects an inventor's idea. The game used a cathode-ray tube, the kind of screen used in old televisions. Goldsmith, one of the game's two inventors, was an American physics professor and television pioneer.
Walt Disney Productions released its animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It was based on The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a 1956 children's novel by the English author Dodie Smith. The story follows Pongo and Perdita, two Dalmatian dogs who live in London, and their litter of fifteen puppies.
NASA's rover Opportunity landed on Mars and rolled into a small crater called Eagle crater, on a plain called Meridiani Planum. It arrived three weeks after its twin rover, Spirit, which landed on the other side of the planet. Opportunity was planned to work for 90 Martian days, but it kept exploring until 2018. Its nickname was Oppy.
After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty.
A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.
The Treaty of Constantinople ends the 16-year-long First Ottoman–Venetian War.
Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
Francis I, a great-great-grandson of Charles V, was crowned king of France in the Reims Cathedral.
São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests.
Battle of Mikatagahara: In Japan, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Luanda, the capital of Angola, is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.
Privateer Amaro Pargo was declared a hidalgo, a member of the Spanish nobility.
University of Virginia chartered by Commonwealth of Virginia, with Thomas Jefferson one of its founders.
The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.
Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
Richard Strauss's opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
The Ukrainian People's Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia.
The Finnish Defence Forces (The White Guards) are established as the official army of independent Finland, and Baron C. G. E. Mannerheim is appointed its Commander-in-Chief.
Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army begins the defense of Harbin.
The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until September 18, 2009.
Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
Representatives of the Chetnik movement began a four-day congress to organise political opposition to the Allied support of the communist-led Yugoslav Partisans in Yugoslavia.
World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1 relating to Military Staff Committee is adopted.
The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
The first Emmy Awards are presented in the United States; the venue is the Hollywood Athletic Club.
In Washington, D.C., US President John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes.
South Vietnamese junta leader Nguyễn Cao Kỳ fired his rival Nguyễn Hữu Có while the latter was overseas on a diplomatic visit.
Brazilian Army captain Carlos Lamarca deserts in order to fight against the military dictatorship, taking with him ten machine guns and 63 rifles.
Idi Amin seized power from Ugandan president Milton Obote in a coup d'état, beginning eight years of military rule.
Pope John Paul II starts his first official papal visits outside Italy to The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
Mother Teresa is honored with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.
The spacecraft Clementine by BMDO and NASA is launched.
A team of Norwegian and American scientists launched a Black Brant XII sounding rocket, which was mistaken by Russian forces for a Trident missile.
Three independent observing campaigns announced the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, a super-Earth 21,500 ± 3,300 light-years away from Earth near the center of the Milky Way.
Avatar, a science-fiction film directed by James Cameron, became the highest-grossing film of all time.
Arab Spring: The Egyptian revolution began with protests on the "Day of Anger", eventually leading to the removal of President Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years of rule.
An Ariane 5 rocket is launched carrying SES-14, Al Yah 3, and NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, but the satellites end up in the wrong orbit.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Anne Boleyn secretly marries Henry VIII”?
C: 1533. 1533 — that’s 493 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Fourteen-year-old Edward III becomes King of England”?
C: 1327. 1327 — that’s 699 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
A: Fourteen-year-old Edward III becomes King of England. 1327: Fourteen-year-old Edward III becomes King of England · 1533: Anne Boleyn secretly marries Henry VIII · 1585: Walter Raleigh is knighted after naming Virginia Find it on the page
“Walter Raleigh is knighted after naming Virginia” happened in 1585. How many years ago was that?
B: 441 years. 2026 − 1585 = 441. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 25 January.
UK story
Robert Burns, often called Rabbie Burns, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire. He is regarded as Scotland's national poet and is the best-known poet to have written in the Scots language. His poems and songs include 'To a Mouse', 'Tam o' Shanter' and 'Auld Lang Syne', which is often sung at Hogmanay. In 2009 he was voted the greatest Scot in a public vote.
Well-known people who died on 25 January.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 25 January somewhere in the world.
UK story
On Burns Night, people in Scotland and around the world celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns on his birthday. Many hold a Burns supper, where guests may be greeted by a bagpiper. Everyone stands as the haggis is brought in, and Burns's poems are recited, including his 'Address to a Haggis'. The meal often includes haggis with neeps and tatties, which are turnips and potatoes.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “January 25” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.