It happened today – this day in history – November 25

1034: Death of Malcolm II, king of the Scots.

1120: William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I, dies trying to save his illegitimate half-sister, the Countess of Perche, while crossing the English Channel.

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

1667: A dmassive earthquake rocks Shemakha, in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people.

1741: Elizabeth of Russia seizes power in a coup with the aid of Imperial Russian guards in St Petersburg.

1783: Britain evacuates New York, its last military position in the US.

1867: Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.

1897: Puerto Rico is granted autonomy by Spain.

1922: Crown Prince Hirohito becomes Regent of Japan as his father’s health fails.

1940: The first Woody Woodpecker cartoon is released.

1944: A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth’s store in Deptford, killing 160 shoppers.

1947: The first systematic Hollywood blacklist is instituted, denying employment to American entertainment professionals due to alleged communist ties or sympathies.

1955: Clement Attlee resigns as leader of the Labour Party.

1957: US President Dwight Eisenhower suffers a mild stroke, impairing his speech.

1963: JFK is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

1969: John Lennon returns his MBE to protest against the UK’s support for the war in Biafra, US involvement in Vietnam and his record Cold Turkey going down the charts.

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

1971: Labour Party leader Harold Wilson proposes Britain should work towards a withdrawal from Northern Ireland, and after 15 years the Republic of Ireland could rejoin the Commonwealth.

1973: A bloodless military coup ousts Greek President George Papadopoulos.

1974: The IRA is outlawed in Britain. On the same day, folk artist Nick Drake dies of an overdose of the antidepressant amiltriptyline aged 26.

1976: The Band play their farewell concert at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. It is filmed by Martin Scorsese for the movie The Last Waltz.

1980: Sugar Ray Leonard regains the WBC welterweight boxing title when Roberto Durán quits in the eighth round, saying “No mas” at the Superdome, New Orleans.

1984: Do They Know It’s Christmas is recorded at S.A.R.M. Studios in London.

1986: The Iran-Contra affair erupts as President Reagan reveals secret arms deal. On the same day, Col Oliver North’s secretary, Fawn Hall, sneaks documents out of his office.

1990: Lech Walesa wins Poland’s first popular election.

2003: Glen Campbell was arrested in Phoenix Arizona with a blood alcohol level of .20 after his BMW struck a Toyota Camry. He was charged with ‘extreme’ drunk driving, hit and run, and assaulting a police officer. On the same day, Meat Loaf undergoes heart surgery in London.

2005: Death of football legend George Best.

2009: Three years worth of rain falls in four hours in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing over 150 people and sweeping thousands of cars away during Hajj.

2012: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel wins his third consecutive Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.

2015: Pope Francis begins a trip to Africa.

2016: Death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro aged 90.

2018: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins his fifth Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.

BIRTHDAYS: Bruno Tonioli, dancing judge, 64; Steve Rothery, guitarist (Marillion) 60; Mark Lanegan, singer, 55; Dougray Scott, actor, 54; Christina Applegate, actress, 48; Dominic Cummings, political strategist, 48; Xabi Alonso, former footballer, 38; Katie Cassidy, actress, 33.