25 August 1466

A Saturday in history

Weekday

Saturday

Season

Summer (N. Hemisphere)

Century

15th century

Records

427

  1. 2012

    The NASA space probe Voyager 1 became the first man-made object to enter interstellar space.

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  2. 2012

    The skeleton of King Richard III of England was discovered under a car park in Leicester.

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  3. 2011

    Mexican drug war: Fifty-two people were killed in an arson attack at a casino in Monterrey, Mexico.

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  4. 2001

    American singer Aaliyah (pictured) and several members of her record company were killed when their overloaded aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport in The Bahamas.

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  5. 1989

    The NASA spacecraft Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Neptune and provided definitive proof of the existence of the planet's rings (pictured).

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  6. 1975

    Bruce Springsteen released his commercial breakthrough album, Born to Run.

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  7. 1942

    World War II: Japanese forces attacked the Australian base at Milne Bay on the eastern tip of New Guinea.

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  8. 1914

    World War I: During the sack of Louvain in Belgium, German troops burned the town's Catholic university, destroying several medieval manuscripts.

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  9. 1875

    Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, doing so in approximately 21 hours 40 minutes.

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  10. 1758

    Seven Years' War: Prussian forces engaged the Russians at the Battle of Zorndorf in present-day Sarbinowo, Poland.

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  11. 1609

    Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (pictured) demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.

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  12. 1537

    The Honourable Artillery Company, now the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, was granted a royal charter by Henry VIII.

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  13. 1270

    Philip III became King of France following the death of his father Louis IX during the Eighth Crusade.

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  14. 1258

    George Mouzalon, the regent of the Empire of Nicaea, was assassinated as part of a conspiracy led by nobles under the future emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.

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Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.