This day in history – November 25

• 1491 The siege of Granada, last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins.

• 1500 Governor De Bobadilla of Santo Domingo captures Christopher Columbus.

• 1667 A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha, in the Caucasus, killing 80 000 people.

• 1715 First English patent granted to an American, for processing corn.

• 1792 Mathematician, astronomer and almanac author Benjamin Banneker first publishes his Farmer’s Almanac.

• 1817 First sword swallower in US performs (NYC)

• 1839 Cyclone slams south eastern India with high winds and a 40 foot storm surge, destroying city of Coringa. Storm waves sweep inland, destroying 20 000 ships and killing an estimated 300 000 people.

• 1841 35 survivors of the mutiny on the slave ship Amistad return to Africa.

• 1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.

• 1884 John B Meyenberg of St Louis patents evaporated milk.

• 1897 Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy.

• 1940 Woody Woodpecker debuts with release of Walter Lantz’s “Knock Knock”.

• 1949 “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” appears on music charts.

• 1950 UN gives Eritrea to Ethiopia.

• 1951 17 die in a train crash in Woodstock, Alabama.

• 1953 Earthquake and tsnunami strike Honshu, Japan.

• 1955 Race segregation forbidden on trains & buses between US states.

• 1958 Senegal becomes an autonomous state in French Community.

• 1963 JFK laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

• 1966 Jimi Hendrix Experience makes its London debut at Bag O’ Nails Club.

• 1969 John Lennon returns MBE to protest against UK’s support for Vietnam War.

• 1970 In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and two compatriots commit ritualistic suicide after an unsuccessful coup attempt.

• 1974 Irish Republican Army is outlawed in Britain following deaths of 21.

• 1975 A loyalist gang nicknamed the “Shankill Butchers” undertakes its first “cut-throat killing”; the gang was named for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder (by throat slashing) of random Catholic civilians in Belfast.

• 1981 Failed coup by South African mercenaries in Seychelles.

• 1983 World’s greatest robbery; 26 million pounds (sterling) worth of gold, diamonds and cash stolen from Brink’s-Mat warehouse at Heathrow Airport, England.

• 1984 William Schroeder is second person to receive Jarvik-7 artificial heart.

• 1987 Super typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category five winds of 265kph and a surge that swallows entire villages. At least 1 036 deaths attributed to the storm.

• 1988 Chuck Berry pays $250 fine to resolve NYC assault charges.

• 1988 Widespread earthquake hits North East US, Canada, no damage reported.

• 1993 Failed bomb attack on Egyptian premier Atef Sedki, one dead.

• 1996 After 24 years, Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade, ends.

• 2008 A car bomb in St. Petersburg, Russia, kills three people and injures one.

• 2009 Flooding in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia; powerful storm brings three years worth of rain in four hours, killing over 150 people and sweeping thousands of cars away during Hajj.

• 2011 Sudden violent storms strike southern Sri Lanka, killing 27 people and drowning many fishermen caught by surprise. Thousands of homes lose their roofs and several more sustain damage. Landslides along with flooding was reported on the mainland.

• 2012 11 people are killed and 30 are wounded by twin car bombs hitting a Protestant church in Nigeria.

• 2012 16 people are killed and 44 injured after a wedding party bus plunges 300 ft down a gorge in India.

• 2013 17 people are killed and 37 are wounded in a cafe bombing in Baghdad, Iraq.

• 2013 Disney release “Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” (Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media 2015, 2014 Billboard Album of the Year).

• 2014 Switzerland’s Bern Art Museum agrees to accept artworks looted from their Jewish owners by the Nazis.

• 2015 Pope Francis begins his trip to Africa, visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Source: www.onthisday.com