THE DAY IN HISTORY · OCTOBER 25

October 25 in history

What happened on October 25: 4 moments from the Maps of History atlases, in 1944, 1951, 1969 and 1973, each linked to the map that shows it.

1944

Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle ever fought, ends with the Japanese fleet finished as a fighting force — and the first kamikaze units committed.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE WW2 MAP →

1951 — India’s first general election

25 Oct 1951 — Winter snow would soon close the high valleys of Himachal. Voters in the Chini valley around Kalpa therefore cast the first ballots of India’s first general election, months before the rest of the country voted. The first voter was a schoolteacher, Shyam Saran Negi. He continued to vote in every general election until his death in November 2022.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE INDIAN INDEPENDENCE & PARTITION MAP → · THE FULL STORY →

1969 — Kisumu massacre

25 Oct 1969 — Hostile crowds greet Kenyatta on a visit to Odinga’s home town. His guards open fire, killing at least eleven people. Five days later the opposition KPU is banned. Remember them.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE TWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE MAP → · THE FULL STORY →

1973 — Yom Kippur War

6–25 Oct 1973 — Egypt storms across the Suez Canal; Israel recovers and crosses the canal in turn. Both superpowers airlift arms to their allies and go on nuclear alert. OPEC then uses oil as a weapon, and its price quadruples.

READ THIS MOMENT → · SEE IT ON THE COLD WAR MAP → · THE FULL STORY →