On this day: July 25
America gives its Army generals five stars, a family favorite amusement park ride is patented, Dylan plugs in and Roseanne "sings," all on this day.
A.D. 315: The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum at Rome to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
A.D. 315: The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum at Rome to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
1547: Henry II of France is crowned.
1567: Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
1603: James VI of Scotland is crowned as king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.
1783: The American Revolutionary War's last action, the Siege of Cuddalore in present-day India, is ended by preliminary peace agreement.
1788: Wolfgang Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor.
1837: The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London.
1861: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution, stating that the Civil War is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
1866: The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the five-star rank of general of the Army. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to be promoted to this rank.
1871: Wilhelm Schneider of Davenport, Iowa, is granted the first carousel patent.
1898: During the Spanish-American War, the United States invades Puerto Rico with a landing at Guánica. As an outcome of the war, Spain cedes Puerto Rico, along with the Philippines and Guam, that were under Spanish sovereignty, to the U.S. under the Treaty of Paris. Fifty-four years later, on the same day, Puerto Rico will officially be declared a self-governing commonwealth of the U.S.
1909: Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from (Calais to Dover) in 37 minutes.
1915: Royal Flying Corps Capt. Lanoe Hawker becomes the first British military aviator, and third overall, to earn the Victoria Cross, for defeating three German two-seat observation aircraft in one day, over the Western Front.
1923: Actress Estelle Getty ("Golden Girls") is born in New York City.
1934: The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.
1943: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
1946: An atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini atoll.
1954: Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, one of the most prolific running backs in NFL history, is born in Columbia, Miss. He's seen here in 1977.
1955: Supermodel Iman is born in Mogadishu, Somalia.
1956: The Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria, carrying 1,134 passengers and 572 crew, collides with the Swedish ship Stockholm off the New England coast, killing 46 on the Andrea Doria and five on the Stockholm. The larger Andrea Doria would capsize and sink the following morning.
1959: The SR-N1, the world's first practical hovercraft, crosses the English Channel from Calais to Dover in just over two hours.
1965: Bob Dylan goes electric as he plugs in at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in folk and rock music. Met with a mix of cheering and booing, he leaves the stage after only three songs.
1966: Rolling Stones founding member Brian Jones makes his final public concert performance with the band. Due to Jones' legal problems, mood swings and substance abuse, he is asked to leave the band in June 1969 and would be found dead in his swimming pool on July 3, 1969.
1966: The Supremes release "You Can't Hurry Love." The song would go on to top the United States Billboard pop singles chart.
1967: Actor Matt LeBlanc ("Friends") is born in Newton, Mass.
1969: During a press conference in Guam, President Richard Nixon puts forth the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense, but that the U.S. would aid in defense as requested. This is the start of the "Vietnamization" of the war.
1969: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young perform together for the first time, at Fillmore East in New York City.
1976: The Viking 1 orbiter takes the famous "Face on Mars" photo.
1978: Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby," is born in Oldham, England. Despite the nickname, the in vitro fertilization that led to Brown's conception actually took place in a petri dish.
1980: The movie comedy "Caddyshack," starring Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield, debuts in theaters.
1984: Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to walk in space, carrying out more than three hours of experiments outside the orbiting space station Salyut Seven.
1985: While in Paris for treatment, actor Rock Hudson issues a press release announcing that he is dying of AIDS. Less than three months later he would become the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness.
1990: Controversy arises after comedian Roseanne Barr sings an off-key version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at San Diego Padres game and follows it by spitting and grabbing her crotch. Barr offended many including President George H.W. Bush, who called her rendition "disgraceful."
1992: The 25th Olympic Summer games opens in Barcelona, Spain.
1997: Ben Hogan, considered one of the greatest players in the history of golf, dies at age 84 in Fort Worth, Texas. His nine career professional major championships tie him for fourth all-time, trailing only Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Walter Hagen. He's pictured here during his homecoming parade in New York City after his victory at the 1953 British Open.
2000: Texas Gov. George W. Bush selects Dick Cheney to be his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.
2000: Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, crashes just after takeoff from Paris, killing all 109 aboard and four on the ground. The nose of the jet and pieces of its cabin can be seen here. The crash was the only fatal accident in Concorde's history and helped speed the retirement of the jet, which came three years later.
2010: Wikileaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history. The leak reveals information on the deaths of civilians, increased Taliban attacks and involvement by Pakistan and Iran in the insurgency.
