25 April in history
6 events that happened on 25 April, from 1507 to 1974.
1507 CE 519 years ago
Saint-Dié scholars publish the book that names America
The Cosmographiae Introductio, issued with Martin Waldseemüller's world map, proposed naming the New World 'America' after Amerigo Vespucci. The only surviving copy of the map is in the Library of Congress.
✦ Anniversary of the day
1644 CE 382 years ago
Last Ming emperor takes his own life as Beijing falls
As Li Zicheng's rebels entered Beijing, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on Coal Hill behind the Forbidden City. Within weeks the Manchus seized the capital and founded Qing rule.
1859 CE 167 years ago
Work begins on the Suez Canal
Ferdinand de Lesseps struck the first blow at the site of Port Said. The canal opened in 1869, linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea and shortening the sea route from Europe to Asia.
1915 CE 111 years ago
Allied troops land at Gallipoli
British, French, Australian and New Zealand troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign failed after eight months and around 100,000 deaths on both sides; 25 April is now Anzac Day.
1953 CE 73 years ago
Watson and Crick publish the double helix
Nature published James Watson and Francis Crick's paper on the structure of DNA, alongside papers by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin's group. It explained how genetic information is copied.
1974 CE 52 years ago
Carnation Revolution topples Portugal's dictatorship
A largely bloodless coup by army officers ended the Estado Novo regime. Democracy followed, and Portugal's African colonies gained independence within two years.
