Unix Timestamp: 1224892800
Saturday, October 25. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Turkish earthquake:

Turkey accepts an offer of assistance from Israel. //www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=243154 ("Jerusalem Post")

The death toll of eastern Turkey's recent earthquake reaches 366, as emergency services continue to search the rubble of Van for survivors. //www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/25/turkey-earthquake-rescue-baby-girl?newsfeed=true ("The Guardian")

Indonesia

An earthquake and consequent tsunami off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, kills over 400 people and leaves hundreds missing.ref name=BBC News Major earthquake

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes near the Mentawai Islands, but tsunami warnings for western Sumatra proved unwarranted. //www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11621977 (BBC News), //www.news.com.au/national/aussie-swims-for-his-life-as-3m-tsunami-hits-mentawai-islands-after-indonesian-earthquake/story-e6frfkvr-1225943524571?referrer=emailsource=eDM_newspulseemcmp=Newspulseemchn=Newsletteremlist=Member (News Limited) //english.sina.com/world/2010/1025/345030.html (Sina)

The United States imposes economic sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for its support of terrorism. //news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1290106,00.html (Sky News)

Conflict in the Niger Delta: Villagers in Nigeria storm and seize three Royal Dutch Shell oil platforms in the Niger Delta, forcing oil production to be shut down at each one. //www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061025/API/610251320 (AP via Daily Comet)

Carl Scully resigns as Police Minister of New South Wales for misleading the New South Wales Legislative Assembly twice in two weeks over a report on the 2005 Cronulla riots. //www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20644487-5007132,00.html (Daily Telegraph)

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

World Series: Baseball: The Florida Marlins defeat the New York Yankees, four games to two, to win the 2003 World Series. //sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/boxscores/2003/10/25/6088_boxscore.html

Daylight saving time: Many countries in the Northern Hemisphere will end daylight saving time in the night from October 25 to October 26. In the Southern Hemisphere daylight saving time will start only in the Australian states of New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria.

Moscow theatre siege: The Chechen separatist suicide squad released eight children but kept some 700 people hostage in a Moscow theater rigged with explosives. Diplomats waited for the gunmen to honor a pledge to free about 75 foreigners among their hostages, including Australians, Austrians, Britons, Germans and three Americans.

Recent celebrity deaths: Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator, is killed in a plane crash with his wife, daughter, and five others.

U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, his family, and his staff are killed in a plane accident at Eveleth, Minnesota.

Microsoft Windows XP is released.

Microsoft releases Windows XP.

A Metra commuter train slams into a school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, killing seven students.

Canadian federal election, 1993: Jean Chrétien and his Liberal Party defeat the governing Progressive Conservative Party, which falls to an historic low of 2 seats.

Lithuania holds a referendum on its first constitution after declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The European Economic Community makes £1.8 million available to help combat the Ethiopian famine. //news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/25/newsid_2478000/2478431.stm

United States troops invade Grenada at the behest of Eugenia Charles of Dominica, a member of the Organization of American States.

Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague.

Hong Kong police forces attack the ICAC headquarters.

Seychelles recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Space Shuttle program: Last test taxi flight of Space Shuttle Enterprise.

The last natural smallpox case is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.

"Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols" is released in the United Kingdom.

"Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols" is released in the United Kingdom.

Clarence Norris, the last known survivor of the Scottsboro Boys, is pardoned.

The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (or Taiwan).

The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (or Taiwan).

The wreck of the Confederate submarine "Hunley" is found off Charleston, South Carolina, by pioneer underwater archaeologist, Dr. E. Lee Spence,//www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070624/2hunley_2.htm Cover Story: Time Capsule From The Sea ndash "U.S. News World Report", July 2–9, 2007 then just 22 years old. "Hunley" was the first submarine in history to sink a ship in warfare.

An abortion bill passes in the British Parliament.

Charles De Gaulle vetoes British entry into the European Economic Community again.

Mobutu's troops launch an offensive against mercenaries in Bukavu, Congo.

The Montreal, Quebec Expo 67 closes, having received over 50 million attendees.

London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran is officially crowned.

U.S. Navy pilot John McCain is shot down over North Vietnam and made a POW. His capture will be announced in the NY Times and Washington Post two days later.

Mehdi Ben Barka, a Moroccan politician, is kidnapped in Paris and never seen again.

In St. Louis, Missouri, the -tall inverted catenary steel Gateway Arch is completed.

The Soviet Union declares its support of African countries in case Rhodesia unilaterally declares independence.

Vietnam War: Near Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. A sketch of Marine positions is found on the dead body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.

In Washington, DC, a pro-Vietnam War march draws 25,000.

Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (30th government)

Brazilian president Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco removes power from parliament, legal courts and opposition parties.

Police discover the body of Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, Indiana.

An 80-kiloton nuclear device is detonated at Amchitka Island, Alaska as part of the Vela Uniform program, code-named Project Long Shot.

Ian Brady and Myra Hindley appear in court, charged with the murders of Edward Evans (17), Lesley Ann Downey (10), and John Kilbride (12).

Pope Paul VI announces that the ecumenical council has decided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ.

Anti-government demonstrations occur in the Dominican Republic.

French Foreign Minister Couve de Murville travels to Moscow.

The first edition of "Private Eye", the British satirical magazine, is published.

Mafia boss Albert Anastasia is assassinated in a barber shop, at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City, US.

Landslides caused by heavy rains hit Salerno, Italy, killing about 300.

"The Time of Your Life", a drama by William Saroyan, debuts in New York City.

Celal Bayar forms the new (ninth) government of Turkey.

Rome-Berlin Axis is formed.

Former U.S. Interior SecretaryAlbert B. Fall is convicted of bribery for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, becoming the first Presidential cabinet member to go to prison for actions in office.

An annular solar eclipse is seen on Atlantic Ocean and Africa.

Conscription in Australia ends.

November ndash Vladimir Zworykin takes out the first patent for color television.

The "putsch" in Hamburg ends in failure.

The Third Dáil enacts the Constitution of the Irish Free State.

In Italy, with the March on Rome, Fascism obtains power and Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister.

The Red Army occupies Vladivostok.

The steamer "Princess Sophia" sinks on Vanderbilt Reef near Juneau, Alaska 353 people die in the greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest.

Czechoslovakia declares its independence from Austria-Hungary.

A new Polish government is declared in Western Galicia (Central Europe).

O.S.) ndash (traditional beginning date of the Bolshevik RevolutionRussian Civil War).

St. Cuthbert's Society, University of Durham is founded after a general meeting, chaired by the Reverend Hastings Rashdall.

The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given in Boston, Massachusetts with Hans von Bülow as soloist.

John B. Shelden (of Millville, New Jersey) claims to have discovered the North Pole.

Florida drafts its constitution in Tallahassee.

The paddlewheel steamer sinks off the Georgia coast, with a cargo of $400,000 in coins.

American Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers and are sentenced to hang.

American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army.

In the Granadine Confederation, rebel troops of southern states defeat the government troops.

Crimean War ndash Battle of Balaclava: The allies gain an overall victory, except for the disastrous cavalry Charge of the Light Brigade, from which only 200 of 700 men survive.

Construction begins on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina. Due to a lack of support in Raleigh, the route is revised to run from Wilmington to the Petersburg Railroad in Weldon.

November 20 ndash The Congress of Troppau (Opava) is convened between the rulers of Russia, Austria and Prussia.

Edenton Tea Party takes place in North Carolina, marking the first major gathering of women in support of the American cause.

To avoid severe flooding, Martinsborough, North Carolina is moved to higher ground west. The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Martinsborough as the new county seat of Pitt County, 3 years after its founding.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe publishes his epistolary novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" ("Die Leiden des jungen Werthers") which is influential in the Sturm und Drang movement and Romanticism.

German cobbler Johann Birkenstock creates the first Birkenstocksandals.

George II of Great Britain dies his grandson George III ascends to the throne. He will reign until January 1820.

War of the Austrian Succession ndash Second battle of Cape Finisterre: The British Navy again defeats a French fleet.

December ndash Thomas Tenison is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.

Queen Mary II of England founds the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich.

A Dutch fleet attacks the Portuguese garrison at Elmina castle at present-day Elmina, Ghana, but is defeated with heavy casualties. This defeat, along with the defeats at Bahia and Puerto Rico caused a 5 year long lull in Dutch attacks on Spanish and Portuguese colonies.

Author Richard Burton is made vicar of St. Thomas in the west suburbs of London.

René Descartes, at age 20, graduates in civil and canon law at the University of Poitiers, where he becomes disillusioned with books, preferring to seek truths from le grand livre du monde. His thesis defense may have been written in December 1616.

Dirk Hartog makes the second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at Dirk Hartog Island off the Western Australian coast. The pewterHartog Plate, left to mark the landfall of the Dutch ship Eendracht, is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

With small profits to show, the Virginia Company decides to distribute land in Virginia to stockholders according to the number of shares owned. Each stockholder can set up a particular plantation and pay associated expenses, receiving for each person transported (the headrights system).

Peter Paul Rubens begins work on his famous classical tapestries, when a contract is signed in Antwerp with cloth dyers Jan Raes and Frans Sweerts in Brussels, and the rich Genoese merchant Franco Cattaneo.

Charles V abdicates as Holy Roman Emperor and is succeeded by his brother Ferdinand.

Russia breaks a 60-year-old truce with Sweden by attacking Finland.

Bairam Khan defeats Hindu forces at Panipat.

Humayun resumes rule of the Mughal Empire.

John Dee is charged, but cleared, of treason in England.

The Muscovy Company is chartered in England to trade with Muscovy and Richard Chancellor negotiates with the Tsar.

Orlande de Lassus' first book of madrigals is published, in Antwerp.

Richard Eden publishes "The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India", a translation into English of parts of Pietro Martire d'Anghiera's "De orbe novo decades", Gonzalo Oviedo's "Natural hystoria de las Indias" and others including the first recorded use in English of the country name 'China'.

William Annyas becomes the Mayor of Youghal in Ireland, the first Jew to hold such a position in Ireland.ref name=Affairs1987

Negro ndash the Spanish term for black person ndash is coined.

Gresham's School is founded by Sir John Gresham in England.

Richard Eden publishes "The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India", a translation into English of parts of Pietro Martire d\\\'Anghiera's "De orbe novo decades", Gonzalo Oviedo's "Natural hystoria de las Indias" and others including the first recorded use in English of the country name 'China'.

Collapse of the Adal Sultanate in the Horn of Africa.

The Pont Notre-Dame in Paris, constructed under Charles VI of France, collapses into the Seine.

King Manuel I of Portugal begins his reign.

Avignon Pope Benedict XIII orders all Talmuds to be delivered to the diocese and held until further notice.

The Grand Canal of China is reinstated by this year after it had fallen out of use restoration began in 1411, and was a response by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to improve the grain shipment system of tribute traveling from south to north towards his new capital at Beijing. Hence, the problem with lack of food supply is sufficed by this year.

Battle of Agincourt: Archers of Henry V of England are instrumental in defeating a massed army of French knights.

The Swiss Confederation takes the territory of Aargau from the house of Habsburg.

The Orthodox Church in the lands of the tsardom of Muskovy (actual Russia) separates from the one in Ukraine and Byelorussia, both claiming to be the true Kiev patriarchate.

Adam Banastre, Henry de Lea and William Bradshaw attack Liverpool Castle.

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederic II issued a decree ("Edict of Salerno") by which the physician's and the apothecary's professions were separated.

Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic saga writer, is murdered by Gissur Þorvaldsson, an emissary of King Haakon IV of Norway.

Emperor Lizong of Song China accepts the Neo-Confucian teachings of the late Zhu Xi, including his commentary on the Four Books. This will have an impact upon the philosophical schools of surrounding countries as well, including Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Pope Celestine IV succeeds Pope Gregory IX as the 179th pope.

King Stephen of England dies at Dover, and is succeeded by Henry Plantagenet, the son of his cousin Matilda. Henry becomes King Henry II of England, aged 21.

The cities of Moscow and Vologda are first mentioned in written records.

The beginning of the Second Crusade.

Battle of Dorylaeum, the Seljuq Turks defeat German crusaders under Conrad III.

June ndash The Wendish Crusade fail to convert most of the Polabian Slavs.

Theodoric Strabo signs a peace treaty with Leo I and according to the terms the Goths are paid with an annual tribute of 2,000 pounds of gold. Leo gives him an independent state in Thrace and he obtains the rank of "magister militum".

Gundobad returns to Burgundy where his father Gondioc has died and becomes king of the Burgundians.

The Ostrogoths leave Pannonia, migrate to Macedonia and Moesia, from where they ravage the Balkans.

Leo I grants his grandson Leo II, age 6, the title of "Caesar" (approximate date).

King Euric orders the invasion of Italy, but is defeated by Glycerius. The Visigoths withdraw to Gaul, and conquer the cities of Arles and Marseille.

Pope Marcellinus dies at Rome after an 8-year reign. The papal throne will remain vacant until 308.