On August 25, a rock anthem defined a generation, Voyager 2 revealed Neptune’s rings, Aaliyah’s voice fell silent, and a king’s bones rose from a parking lot.
August 25 in History
Springsteen's 'Born to Run' Captures the Moment
Third album, two years in the making, storms the charts at No. 3.
In a year when rock was fragmenting into disco and punk, one record has summoned a sweeping, streetwise romanticism that feels like a declaration. Bruce Springsteen's third album, Born to Run, arrives today on Columbia Records, and it is the sound of a man staking his claim.
Co-produced by Springsteen, manager Mike Appel, and Jon Landau, the record took from January 1974 to July 1975 to cut, with six months alone spent on the title track. The cover, showing Springsteen leaning on saxophonist Clarence Clemons's shoulder, has already become iconic.
Born to Run has climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. Two singles, "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," are spinning on radio. The songs are dense, fervent, and built for the road.
Voyager 2 Glimpses Neptune's Rings
Probe sweeps past the planet, confirming what had only been suspected.
Neptune, captured by Voyager 2 during its historic 1989 flyby of the planet — NASA
Voyager 2 has done it again. The NASA spacecraft, now 4.4 billion miles from Earth, made its closest approach to Neptune today, passing within 3,000 miles of the planet's cloud tops and sending back definitive proof that Neptune has rings.
Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 has already swept past Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981, and Uranus in 1986. It is the only spacecraft ever to have visited the ice giants. The new images, captured during the flyby, show a dynamic blue world with a Great Dark Spot and thin, faint rings that had been hinted at but never confirmed.
Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are poring over the data, which also includes details of Neptune's large moon Triton. The encounter marks the final planetary stop on Voyager 2's grand tour.
Singer Aaliyah Dies in Bahamas Crash
Overloaded plane goes down 200 feet from runway; eight others killed.
Singer Aaliyah, who died in a 2001 plane crash in the Bahamas — mika-photography.com
Singer Aaliyah, 22, was killed Saturday night when the overloaded Cessna 402B carrying her and her record company crew crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas, about 200 feet from the runway. The aircraft, certified for seven passengers, was carrying eight. All eight passengers and the pilot died.
The singer had just finished filming the music video for "Rock the Boat," directed by Hype Williams, with nearly sixty people working on the production. Pilot Luis Morales III had warned passengers the plane was overloaded, but they insisted on flying to Miami. Investigators say Morales falsified records on his experience and qualifications to fly the Cessna 402.
Aaliyah, whose albums included One in a Million, was a rising star in R&B and film.
Galileo Shows Telescope to Lawmakers
Astronomer displays improved spyglass to Venetian officials.
Galileo Galilei, the astronomer who demonstrated his revolutionary telescope to Venetian lawmakers — Justus Sustermans
Galileo Galilei, the astronomer and professor at the University of Padua, demonstrated his improved telescope to Venetian lawmakers on August 25, 1609. The instrument, which he has refined, magnifies objects nine times and reveals the stars of the Milky Way, the phases of Venus, and the four largest moons of Jupiter.
Galileo has taught geometry, mechanics, and astronomy at Padua since 1592. The demonstration is part of his efforts to secure patronage and recognition for his work.
Richard III's Skeleton Found Under Leicester Car Park
University of Leicester confirms bones are those of the last Plantagenet king, found beneath a city centre car park.
The skeleton of King Richard III discovered beneath a Leicester car park — Richard Buckley et al.
The bones lay in a grave hacked out of the chancel floor of a long-vanished friary church, rough-hewn and too short for a king. But the skeleton unearthed beneath a Leicester city centre car park has been identified as that of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England, the University of Leicester announced.
The remains were found on the site of the former Greyfriars Church, now a municipal parking lot, after an excavation commissioned by Ricardian author Philippa Langley with assistance from the Richard III Society. The university's scholars matched the skeleton through radiocarbon dating, trauma analysis, and comparison of mitochondrial DNA.
A key witness in the identification was Michael Ibsen, a 16th-generation great-nephew of Richard III, who provided a mouth-swab DNA sample on 24 August 2012. The excavators located Greyfriars Church by 5 September and found the skeleton in the church's choir.
The bones bear marks of battle, including a cleaved skull, consistent with accounts of Richard's death at Bosworth Field in 1485. The discovery ends a 500-year search for the king, whose body was said to have been buried at Leicester's Greyfriars after his defeat by Henry Tudor.
Japs Strike Milne Bay; Allies Hold Airfields
Japanese naval infantry attack the Australian base at Milne Bay and meet fierce resistance.
The first major Pacific battle in which Allied land forces decisively defeated the Japanese opened today at Milne Bay, as enemy naval infantry, the Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai, attacked the Australian base on the eastern tip of New Guinea.
Louvain Library Burned; 230,000 Books Lost
German troops set fire to the Catholic university's library at 11:30 pm, destroying medieval manuscripts and incunabula.
The sack of Louvain has reached its darkest hour, as German troops set fire to the town's Catholic university library at around 11:30 pm on August 25, destroying more than 230,000 books, including 750 medieval manuscripts and 800 incunabula.
Philip III Proclaimed King of France in Tunis
Philip III, 25 and stricken with dysentery, proclaimed king in Tunis after his father's death on crusade.
Philip III, aged 25 and stricken with dysentery, was proclaimed King of France in Tunis on 25 August, following the death of his father Louis IX during the Eighth Crusade. The new king, the third of his name, now faces the task of extracting the crusading host from Africa.
King Grants Charter to Fraternity of Artillery
Henry VIII authorizes the Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of Longbows, Crossbows and Handgonnes for the realm's defence.
The eldest regiment of the British Army had its beginning this day, when King Henry VIII granted a royal charter to the Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of Longbows, Crossbows and Handgonnes. The charter, dated August 25, 1537, authorizes the company for the realm's defence.
Captain Webb Swims the Channel, First in History
After roughly 21 hours 40 minutes in the water, Captain Webb landed near Calais at 10:41 this morning, having swum about 39 miles (63 km).
Captain Matthew Webb has become the first man to swim across the English Channel, a feat accomplished in approximately 21 hours 40 minutes. He landed near Calais at 10:41 this morning, having swum about 39 miles (63 km) through the treacherous waters. The captain, who fell into his friends' arms upon arriving, slept at the Hotel de Paris. His achievement has stirred public admiration, with donations reaching £2,424 (about £240,000 today), part of which he gave to his father and part invested. Webb has dismissed his American rival Paul Boyton, who crossed in a survival suit, as 'an obvious fraud'.
Frederick's Army Strikes Russians at Zorndorf
Prussian force of 35,000 meets Russian army of 43,000; both sides suffer heavy losses before the enemy withdraws.
On the fields of Zorndorf, in present-day Sarbinowo, Poland, the Prussian army, 35,000 strong under Frederick, engaged the Russian force of 43,000 commanded by Count William Fermor. The battle raged with terrible slaughter: the Prussians lost 12,800 men, the Russians 18,000. After the contest, the Russians withdrew, and Frederick claimed victory. Yet some, like historian Daniel Marston, call it a 'draw', for both armies were too exhausted to fight another battle. The king's men have marched, their powder spent, leaving the field to the crows.
