Webb Swims the Channel: First Person to Cross
Captain Matthew Webb waded into the English Channel at Dover and emerged at Calais 21 hours and 45 minutes later, completing the first successful swim across one of the world's most treacherous waterways. The feat made him an instant Victorian celebrity and established open-water distance swimming as a competitive pursuit that endures to this day.
August 25, 1875
151 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 25
Caesar Julian led 13,000 Roman soldiers against a 35,000-strong Alemanni confederation at Strasbourg and won a crushing victory that killed 6,000 Germanic warri…
Emperor Constantine V publicly humiliated nineteen high-ranking officials upon uncovering a conspiracy, then executed the ringleaders Constantine Podopagouros a…
The Archbishop of Utrecht granted the Dutch settlement of Ommen official city and fortification rights, elevating it from a rural hamlet to a recognized urban c…
August 25, 1258. George Mouzalon had served as regent for the young Emperor John IV Laskaris of Nicaea — the Byzantine rump state established after Constantinop…
Philip III ascended the French throne while stricken by dysentery during the Eighth Crusade, leaving his uncle Charles I of Naples to force peace talks with the…
The Honourable Artillery Company was granted a royal charter by Henry VIII on August 25, 1537. It is the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army — 488 yea…
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