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25th August

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1944 : World War II: Liberation of Paris from German occupation.


Free French divisions march into Paris followed by the U.S. Fourth Infantry Division. In spite of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s orders to burn the city to the ground, German resistance was light, and a quick surrender was negotiated. The French capital had fallen to German forces on 14 June 1940, two weeks after the Allied defenders of Europe were evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain. One week later, French Premier Henri Petain signed an armistice with the Nazis. Elsewhere, however, General Charles de Gaulle and the Free French kept fighting, and on 25 August 1944, they entered Paris in triumph. The next day, de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees. He became head of the French provincial government, but resigned in 1946. From 1958 to 1969, de Gaulle served as French president under the Fifth Republic.

2003

Two car bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), India killing 44 people. It is thought that the bombs were planted by a Kashmir militant group.

1997

Former East German leader, Egon Krenz, is sentenced by a court in Germany to six years in prison for instigating a shoot-to-kill policy against people trying to escape East Germany during the Cold War.

1991

Belarus declares independence from the Soviet Union.

1987

U.S. spacecraft Voyager sends pictures to Earth of the planet Neptune and its satellite planets.

1974

In England, the human cannon ball Mary Connors fails to break the English record for being shot out a cannon.

1967

George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party, is shot dead in Arlington, Virginia.

1945

John Birch, an American missionary to China before the war and a captain in the Army during the war, is killed by Chinese communists days after the surrender of Japan, for no apparent reason.

1920

Polish-Soviet War: Poland defeats the Bolshevik Red Army at the Battle of Warsaw.

1912

The Chinese Nationalist party, the Kuomintang, is established.

1875

Englishman Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old merchant navy captain, becomes the first known person to successfully swim the English Channel.

1825

Uruguay declares independence from Brazil.

1758

Seven Years War: Prussia and Russia fight to an inconclusive finish at the Battle of Zorndorf in Poland.

1580

The Spanish defeat the Portuguese at the Battle of Alcantara in Portugal.

1537

In Britain, The Honourable Artillery Company is established – the oldest surviving regiment of the British Army.

325 AD

The Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical debate held by the early Christian church, concludes with the establishment of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

1938

English novelist Frederick Forsyth.

1930

Scottish actor Sean Connery

1918

US conductor, pianist and composer Leonard Bernstein.

1918

English actor Richard Greene.

1900

English biochemist Sir Hans Krebs

1900

German philosopher Friedrich Wilheim Nietzsche.

1867

English chemist and physicist Micheal Faraday.