May 25

• May 25, 1521
  Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, officially declares Martin Luther a criminal and heretic for refusing to recant at the Diet of Worms
• May 25, 1624
  The Parliament of England issues Statute of Monopolies, the first statutory expression of English patent law
• May 25, 1659
  Richard Cromwell resigns as English Lord Protector
• May 25, 1720
  Great Plague of Marseille, which kills 100,000 people in the city, begins
• May 25, 1810
  Argentina declares independence from Napoleonic Spain
• May 25, 1812
  92 miners are killed during a series of coal mine explosions, which take place around the Felling Colliery in Durhamshire, England
• May 25, 1844
  The first telegraphed news dispatch, sent from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, appears in the Baltimore "Patriot"
• May 25, 1887
  In France, a gas lamp at the Paris Opera catches fir; 200 die
• May 25, 1895
  Playwright Oscar Wilde is convicted of a morals charge in London and is sentenced to two years in prison
• May 25, 1911
  Revolution in Mexico overthrows President Porfirio Díaz
• May 25, 1915
  Second Battle of Ypres ends leaving 105,000 casualties
• May 25, 1945
  Arther C Clark, a British science fiction writer, proposes relay satellites in geosynchronous orbit
• May 25, 1946
  The United Nations approve the end of the British Mandate and recognize Transjordan as an independent sovereign kingdom Jordan
• May 25, 1961
  United States President John Kennedy appeals to Congress that the nation should commit to "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth" by the end of the decade
• May 25, 1963
  Organization for African Unity is formed by Chad, Mauritania, and Zambia
• May 25, 1977
  "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope", the first release in the Star Wars saga created by American filmmaker George Lucas, is released
• May 25, 2000
  Israel withdraws military forces from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation
• May 25, 2002
  China Airlines Flight 611 breaks up near the Penghu Islands at Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people on board