August 25
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1835
1835: The Great Moon Hoax takes off
New York’s The Sun began running a series of news accounts on this day that falsely claimed British astronomer John Herschel had observed all sorts of life on the Moon, including blue unicorns, bipedal beavers, and winged humans. The stories became a global sensation before being exposed as fiction, though The Sun never retracted them. The Great Moon Hoax remains one of history’s most famous media hoaxes.
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Featured Event
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
On this day in 1944, some two months after the Allied invasion of Normandy, Paris was liberated from German occupiers as the Free French 2nd Armored Division under General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc entered the city. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about World War II.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© Carrienelson1/Dreamstime.com
Born this day in 1930 in Scotland, actor Sean Connery achieved international stardom portraying the suave secret agent James Bond and later earned an Oscar for his performance in The Untouchables (1987).
Famous Birthdays
More on August 25
© Frank Empson/The Tennesseean/Imagn Images
2026
Dolly Parton—a country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist considered an American national treasure by fans and critics alike—died at age 80.
© Dennis Kunkel Microscopy/Science Source
2020
The World Health Organization and the Africa Regional Certification Commission officially certified Africa free of wild poliovirus, a historic public health milestone that came after all 47 countries went three consecutive years without a single case of the naturally occurring virus.
South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team of the South Carolina National Guard
2017
Hurricane Harvey struck Texas. Over the next six days, it caused catastrophic flooding and killed 89 people. Harvey cost an estimated $160 billion in damage, making it the second most expensive hurricane in the United States at the time.
NASA/JPL
2012
Voyager 1 became the first space probe to enter interstellar space when it crossed the heliopause, the outer limit of the Sun’s magnetic field and solar wind.
NASA
2012
U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong—who was the first person to set foot on the Moon, an event he described as “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”—died at age 82. [How many people have been to the Moon?]
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
2005
Hurricane Katrina made its first landfall, between Miami and Hollywood, Florida. It weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed Florida, but, while moving over the Gulf of Mexico in subsequent days, it grew into a ferocious category 5 hurricane that became the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
© 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
1939
The Wizard of Oz, a film adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was released in theaters. Starring Judy Garland, the movie was nominated for six Academy Awards and won for score and song (“Over the Rainbow”). [Learn more about the people, places, and events that shaped the 1930s.]
© Onnes—iStock/Getty Images
1916
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Organic Act,” which established the National Park Service. [Test your knowledge of national parks and landmarks.]
Photos.com/Getty Images
1900
German Classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the most influential of all modern thinkers, died at age 55. Although he was an ardent foe of nationalism, antisemitism, and power politics, his name was later invoked by fascists to advance the very things he loathed. [How much do you know about philosophy?]
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1875
Captain Matthew Webb of Great Britain became the first person to swim the English Channel without artificial aid, a landmark achievement in endurance sport. His time from Dover, England, to Calais, France, was 21 hours 45 minutes. [Learn more about distance swimming.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1825
Uruguay declared its independence from the Brazilian Empire, which had annexed the territory several years earlier. The declaration was a pivotal step in the country’s struggle for sovereignty, and August 25 is celebrated annually as Uruguay’s Independence Day.
© Andrey Maslakov/Dreamstime.com
1530
Ivan IV (the Terrible), grand prince of Moscow and first tsar of Russia, was born. [Take our quiz about Russian history.]
© Photos.com/Getty Images
325
The Council of Nicaea—the first ecumenical council of the Christian church, called by the emperor Constantine I—brought to an end the controversy of Arianism, concluding that God the Father was of equal status with God the Son. [Test your knowledge of the history of Christianity.]