25th November

EVENTS:

• 1343 – A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples (Italy) and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places.
• 1667 – A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.
• 1759 – An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.
• 1833 – A massive undersea earthquake, estimated magnitude between 8.7-9.2, rocks Sumatra, producing a massive tsunami all along the Indonesian coast.
• 1839 – A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40-foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster.
• 1975 – Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands.
• 2000 – The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, and becomes the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years.
• 2009 – Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away and 122 people perish in the torrents, with 350 others missing.
• 2015 – Pope Francis makes his first official visit to Africa.

BIRTHS:

• 1844 – Karl Benz, German engineer and businessman, founded Mercedes-Benz (d. 1929)
• 1898 – Debaki Bose, Indian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1971)
• 1926 – Ranganath Misra, Indian jurist, 21st Chief Justice of India (d. 2012)
• 1940 – Joe Gibbs, American football player and coach
• 1940 – Shyamal Kumar Sen, Indian jurist and politician, 21st Governor of West Bengal
• 1945 – George Webster, American football player (d. 2007)
• 1946 – Mike Doyle, English footballer (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Kerry O’Keeffe, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
• 1952 – Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer and politician
• 1961 – Paul Comstive, English footballer (d. 2013)
• 1963 – Chip Kelly, American football player and coach
• 1972 – Deepa Marathe, Indian cricketer
• 1980 –Alviro Petersen, South African cricketer
• 1983 –Jhulan Goswami Indian cricketer
• 1984 –Peter Siddle, Australian cricketer

HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:

• Evacuation Day(19th century New York City)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Suriname from the Netherlands in 1975.
• International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (International)
• National Day (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Teachers’ Day or Hari Guru (Indonesia)
• Vajiravudh Day (Thailand)