August 25 in history — What Happened Today in History

Linus Torvalds announces the first version of what will become Linux.

Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the last planet in the Solar System at the time, due to Pluto being within Neptune's orbit from 1979 to 1999.

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 404, carrying 54 people, disappears over the Himalayas after takeoff from Gilgit Airport in Pakistan. The aircraft was never found.

Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 crashes near Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn, Maine, killing all eight people on board including peace activist and child actress Samantha Smith.

Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.

Zimbabwe joins the United Nations.

The last performance of the Jahrhundertring at the Bayreuth Festival receives ovations of 45 minutes.

George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, is assassinated by a former member of his group.

President Jânio Quadros of Brazil resigns after just seven months in power, initiating a political crisis that culminates in a military coup in 1964.

The Games of the XVII Olympiad commence in Rome, Italy.

The world's first publicly marketed instant noodles, Chikin Ramen, are introduced by Taiwanese-Japanese businessman Momofuku Ando.

To avert a threatened strike during the Korean War, President Truman orders Secretary of the Army Frank Pace to seize control of the nation's railroads.

The House Un-American Activities Committee holds first-ever televised congressional hearing: "Confrontation Day" between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.

Ten days after World War II ends with Japan announcing its surrender, armed supporters of the Chinese Communist Party kill U.S. intelligence officer John Birch, regarded by some of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.

The August Revolution ends as Emperor Bảo Đại abdicates, ending the Nguyễn dynasty.

World War II: Paris is liberated by the Allies.

World War II: Second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons; a Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned back by an Allied air attack.

World War II: Battle of Milne Bay: Japanese marines assault Allied airfields at Milne Bay, New Guinea, initiating the Battle of Milne Bay.

World War II: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union jointly stage an invasion of the Imperial State of Iran.

World War II: The first Bombing of Berlin by the British Royal Air Force.

As part of its S-Plan, the Irish Republican Army carries out the 1939 Coventry bombing in which five civilians were killed.

The United Kingdom and Poland form a military alliance in which the UK promises to defend Poland in case of invasion by a foreign power.

The Diexi earthquake strikes Mao County, Sichuan, China and kills 9,000 people.

Nazi Germany and the Zionist Federation of Germany signed the Haavara Agreement. The agreement was a major factor in breaking the anti-Nazi boycott of 1933 and facilitated Jewish emigration from Germany and into British Mandate of Palestine.

Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, which began on August 13, ends with the Red Army's defeat.

The United States National Park Service is created.

World War I: Japan declares war on Austria-Hungary.

World War I: The library of the Catholic University of Leuven is deliberately destroyed by the German Army. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts are lost.

Hiram Mier, Mexican footballer

Jaakko Ohtonen, Finnish actor

Angela Park, Brazilian-American golfer

Giga Chikadze, Georgian mixed martial artist and kickboxer

Stacey Farber, Canadian actress

Velimir Jovanović, Serbian footballer

Blake Lively, American model and actress

Amy Macdonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

Justin Upton, American baseball player

Adam Warren, American baseball player

James Wesolowski, Australian footballer

Rodney Ferguson, American footballer

Florian Mohr, German footballer

Nico M. M. Nibbering, Dutch chemist and academic (born 1938)

Uziah Thompson, Jamaican-American drummer and producer (born 1936)

Enrique Zileri, Peruvian journalist and publisher (born 1931)

Ciril Bergles, Slovene poet and translator (born 1934)

António Borges, Portuguese economist and banker (born 1949)

William Froug, American screenwriter and producer (born 1922)

Liu Fuzhi, Chinese academic and politician, 3rd Minister of Justice for China (born 1917)

Raghunath Panigrahi, Indian singer-songwriter (born 1932)

Gylmar dos Santos Neves, Brazilian footballer (born 1930)

Florencio Amarilla, Paraguayan footballer, coach, and actor (born 1935)

Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (born 1930)

Roberto González Barrera, Mexican banker and businessman (born 1930)

Donald Gorrie, Scottish politician (born 1933)