On This Day: Major World Events of October 25
October 25 has left its mark on history in different eras and different countries. GSM's 'On This Day' column verifies each entry against authoritative sources and labels the country concerned, stating facts only: from the Battle of Agincourt in northern France in 1415, to the Charge of the Light Brigade in Crimea in 1854, to the UN General Assembly's China-seat resolution in 1971, all happened on October 25.
In 1415, France (the battlefield near present-day Agincourt in northern France): during the Hundred Years' War, the English army led by King Henry V defeated a larger French force at the Battle of Agincourt on October 25. The victory paved the way for further English conquests in France and remains one of the most famous battles of the war.
In 1854, Crimea (near Balaclava, in present-day Ukraine): during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, about 670 British cavalrymen of the Light Brigade, acting on a misunderstood order, charged directly into a Russian artillery position under fire from three sides — the action remembered as the Charge of the Light Brigade. About 110 were killed and 161 wounded, according to contemporary accounts; Alfred, Lord Tennyson later immortalized the charge in his poem of the same name.
In 1881, Spain (Málaga): the artist Pablo Picasso was born on October 25 in Málaga, in southern Spain. A cofounder of Cubism who spent most of his life in Paris, France, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
In 1940, the United States: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was promoted to brigadier general on October 25, becoming the first Black general in the U.S. Army. The promotion came after more than four decades of service, at a time when the U.S. military was still segregated during World War II.
In 1962, the United States (at United Nations headquarters in New York): during the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson presented aerial reconnaissance photographs at a UN Security Council meeting on October 25, showing Soviet missile sites in Cuba, and demanded an answer from the Soviet ambassador. The confrontation came at the most dangerous stage of the crisis.
In 1971, the United Nations (headquartered in New York, United States): the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 on October 25, restoring the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China at the United Nations and expelling the representatives of the Republic of China, based in Taiwan. The People's Republic of China thereby took the China seat, including its permanent seat on the Security Council.
In 2001, the United States: Microsoft officially released the Windows XP operating system on October 25. XP merged the consumer Windows 9x line with the business-oriented Windows NT line into a single product line and remained in use for more than a decade, becoming one of the most widely used operating systems in Microsoft's history.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国纽约的联合国大会堂。1962年10月25日美国大使在此出示古巴导弹照片、1971年10月25日联合国大会在此通过第2758号决议。照片 Spiff 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经维基共享资源。Photo: The United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York, United States, where the U.S. ambassador presented the Cuban missile photographs on October 25, 1962, and the General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 on October 25, 1971. Photo by Spiff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
