Discover what happened on September 25 in history as historic institutions took shape, groundbreaking innovations changed everyday life, sports milestones made headlines, and memorable moments helped shape the world we know today.
What Happened on September 25 in History?
On this day, Congress proposed the amendments that became the Bill of Rights, Michigan’s first State Fair opened in Detroit, Dr. Frank Jobe performed the first Tommy John surgery, and “The Rick, Darla & Scott” morning show debuted on WGRD in Grand Rapids.
SEPTEMBER 25 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1513 – Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa became the first European known to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas after crossing the Isthmus of Panama.
1789 – The first U.S. Congress approved 12 proposed amendments to the Constitution for submission to the states. Ten became the Bill of Rights in 1791, another became the 27th Amendment in 1992, and one remains unratified.
1849 – The first official Michigan State Fair opened in Detroit.
1884 – Lighthouse keeper Elizabeth Whitney Williams lit the Little Traverse Lighthouse at Harbor Point, MI, for the first time. Williams was one of the first female lighthouse keepers on the Great Lakes.
1890 – President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation establishing Sequoia National Park in California, America’s second national park and the first created specifically to protect a living organism.
1919 – President Woodrow Wilson collapsed after delivering a speech in Pueblo, Colorado, during a nationwide speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles.
1926 – Henry Ford announced that Ford Motor Company factory employees would work a five-day, 40-hour week instead of the traditional six-day workweek.
1926 – The NHL officially approved a franchise for Detroit. The new team became the Detroit Cougars, later the Falcons, before adopting the name Detroit Red Wings in 1932.
1928 – Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, the company that would eventually become Motorola, was incorporated in Chicago. The company later introduced the Motorola car radio and eventually adopted Motorola as its name.
1955 – CBS’s Toast of the Town was officially renamed The Ed Sullivan Show. The variety program had debuted in 1948.
1956 – TAT-1, the first transatlantic telephone cable system, entered service, dramatically improving telephone communication between North America and Europe.
1957 – The Little Rock Nine attended their first full day of classes at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, under the protection of federal troops.
1965 – The Beatles, a Saturday morning animated series inspired by the Fab Four, premiered on ABC. The series ran until 1969. (The actual Beatles didn’t provide their characters’ speaking voices,)
1965 – Willie Mays became the oldest player at the time to hit 50 home runs in a season. Ten years earlier, he had also become the youngest player to reach 50.
1965 – At age 59, legendary pitcher Satchel Paige became the oldest player ever to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Starting for the Kansas City Athletics, Paige pitched three scoreless innings and allowed only one hit.
1970 – The Partridge Family, starring Shirley Jones and David Cassidy, premiered on ABC. The series ran until 1974.
1973 – The Skylab 3 astronauts returned to Earth after spending 59½ days in space, setting a new endurance record for human spaceflight. The three-man crew included astronaut Jack Lousma, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
1974 – Dr. Frank Jobe performed groundbreaking elbow ligament reconstruction surgery on Dodgers pitcher Tommy John. The procedure—eventually known as “Tommy John surgery” — would transform sports medicine and extend the careers of countless athletes.
1977 – About 4,200 runners participated in the first Chicago Marathon.
1978 – Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 collided with a small plane over San Diego and crashed into a residential neighborhood, killing 144 people aboard the two aircraft and on the ground. It was the deadliest aviation disaster in U.S. history at the time.
1978 – Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke won a federal court case challenging Major League Baseball’s policy barring female reporters from locker rooms, helping establish equal access for women sports journalists.
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the 102nd justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first woman to serve on the Court.
1987 – The Princess Bride, starring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright, opened in theaters.
1992 – A Florida judge granted 12-year-old Gregory Kingsley permission to sever the legal rights of his biological mother, allowing him to be adopted by his foster parents.
1992 – NASA launched the Mars Observer, the first U.S. mission to Mars in 17 years. Contact with the spacecraft was lost shortly before it was scheduled to enter orbit around Mars in August 1993.
1995 – Ross Perot announced plans for a new political party that became the Reform Party of the United States.
1995 – The “Rick, Darla & Scott” morning show, featuring Rick Beckett, Darla Jaye and Scott Winters, debuted on 97.9 WGRD in Grand Rapids after the trio moved from 94.5 WKLQ’s “Q-Morning Zoo.” Read more about their move.
1997 – NBC sportscaster Marv Albert pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery in a highly publicized trial. NBC fired him shortly afterward.
2001 – Michael Jordan announced he was coming out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards. He had served as the team’s president of basketball operations since January 2000.
2009 – The horror movie Paranormal Activity began its limited theatrical release.
2018 – Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in prison following his conviction on aggravated indecent assault charges. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction and ordered his release in 2021, ruling that his prosecution violated an earlier non-prosecution agreement.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON SEPTEMBER 25:
Hubie Brown – 93 years old (1933) – Basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
Mary Allen Wilkes – 89 years old (1937) – Computer scientist and lawyer
David S. Mann – 87 years old (1939) – Lawyer and politician, Mayor of Cincinnati
Robert Miano – 84 years old (1942) – Actor and producer
Robert Gates – 83 years old (1943) – Lieutenant, academic, and politician, 22nd United States Secretary of Defense
Aram Saroyan – 83 years old (1943) – Poet and novelist
Robert Walden – 83 years old (1943) – Actor, director, and screenwriter
Michael Douglas – 82 years old (1944) – Actor and producer
Doris Matsui – 82 years old (1944) – Politician
Kathleen Brown – 81 years old (1945) – Lawyer and politician, 29th California State Treasurer
Gil Morgan – 80 years old (1946) – Golfer
Jerry Penrod – 80 years old (1946) – Bass player
Cheryl Tiegs – 79 years old (1947) – Model and actress
Mimi Kennedy – 78 years old (1948) – Actress and screenwriter
Jeff Borowiak – 77 years old (1949) – Tennis player
Anson Williams – 77 years old (1949) – Actor, singer, and director
E. C. Coleman – 76 years old (1950) – Basketball player
Burleigh Drummond – 75 years old (1951) – Drummer and songwriter
Mark Hamill – 75 years old (1951) – Actor, singer, and producer
Bob McAdoo – 75 years old (1951) – Basketball player and coach
Jimmy Garvin – 74 years old (1952) – Wrestler and manager
Cherríe Moraga – 74 years old (1952) – Poet, playwright, and activist
Tommy Norden – 74 years old (1952) – Actor
Ron Rash – 73 years old (1953) – Novelist, short story writer, poet
Sylvester Croom – 72 years old (1954) – Football player and coach
Luanne Rice – 71 years old (1955) – Author and activist
W. Daniel Hillis – 70 years old (1956) – Computer scientist, engineer, and author, founded the Thinking Machines Corporation
Jamie Hyneman – 70 years old (1956) – Special effects designer and television host, founded M5 Industries
Glenn Hubbard – 69 years old (1957) – Baseball player and coach
Randy Kerber – 68 years old (1958) – Keyboard player, composer, and conductor
Heather Locklear – 65 years old (1961) – Actress
Aida Turturro – 64 years old (1962) – Actress
Tate Donovan – 63 years old (1963) – Actor
Keely Shaye Smith – 63 years old (1963) – Journalist and author
Matt Battaglia – 61 years old (1965) – Football player, actor, and producer
Scottie Pippen – 61 years old (1965) – Basketball player and sportscaster
Rob Schmidt – 61 years old (1965) – Director and screenwriter
Todd Philcox – 60 years old (1966) – Football player
John A. List – 58 years old (1968) – Economist and academic
Will Smith – 58 years old (1968) – Actor, producer, and rapper
Bill Simmons – 57 years old (1969) – Journalist and author
Hal Sparks – 57 years old (1969) – Actor, comedian, musician and political commentator
Tony Womack – 57 years old (1969) – Baseball player
David Weathers – 57 years old (1969) – Baseball player
Curtis Buckley – 56 years old (1970) – Football player and psychiatrist
Paul Pope – 56 years old (1970) – Cartoonist, writer and artist
Dean Ween – 56 years old (1970) – Musician
John Lynch – 55 years old (1971) – Football player and sportscaster
Bridgette Wilson – 53 years old (1973) – Actress, singer, model, and beauty queen
Daniel Kessler – 52 years old (1974) – English-American singer and guitarist
Matt Hasselbeck – 51 years old (1975) – Football player
Dat Nguyen – 51 years old (1975) – Football player and coach
Santigold – 50 years old (1976) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Chauncey Billups – 50 years old (1976) – Basketball player
Charlotte Ayanna – 50 years old (1976) – Puerto Rican-American actress
Clea DuVall – 49 years old (1977) – Actress
Robbie Jones – 49 years old (1977) – Actor
Mike Krahulik – 49 years old (1977) – Illustrator
Joel David Moore – 49 years old (1977) – Actor
Wil Nieves – 49 years old (1977) – Puerto Rican-American baseball player
Ryan Leslie – 48 years old (1978) – Singer-songwriter and producer
Rashad Evans – 47 years old (1979) – Mixed martial artist and wrestler
Chris Owen – 46 years old (1980) – Actor
T.I. – 46 years old (1980) – Rapper, songwriter, producer, and actor
Rocco Baldelli – 45 years old (1981) – Baseball player and manager
Jason Bergmann – 45 years old (1981) – Baseball player
Lee Norris – 45 years old (1981) – Actor
Donald Glover (also known as Childish Gambino) – 43 years old (1983) – Actor, rapper, producer, and screenwriter
Matt Carle – 42 years old (1984) – Ice hockey player
Ivory Latta – 42 years old (1984) – Basketball player
Zach Woods – 42 years old (1984) – Actor and comedian
Aldon Smith – 37 years old (1989) – Football player
Keauna McLaughlin – 34 years old (1992) – Figure skater
Teddy Swims – 34 years old (1992) – Singer and songwriter
Brandin Cooks – 33 years old (1993) – Football player
Antonia Gentry – 29 years old (1997) – Actress
Cade Cunningham – 25 years old (2001) – Basketball player
Leah Jeffries – 17 years old (2009) – Actress
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR SEPTEMBER 25:
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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
