What happened on May 25 ?

1048 - Emperor Shenzong of China (d. 1085)

1334 - Emperor Suko of Japan (d. 1398)

1458 - Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat (d. 1511)

1606 - Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)

1661 - Claude Buffier, French philosopher and historian (d. 1737)

1713 - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1792)

1725 - Samuel Ward, American politician (d. 1776)

1803 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist and playwright (d. 1873)

1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)

1845 - Lip Pike, baseball player (d.1883)

1856 - Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (d. 1942)

1860 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (d. 1944)

1865 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1955)

1865 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)

1877 - Billy Murray, American singer (d. 1954)

1878 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, African American entertainer (d. 1949)

1879 - Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born publisher (d. 1964)

1880 - Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)

1882 - Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)

1886 - Philip Murray, U.S. (Scottish-born) labor leader (d. 1952)

1887 - Francesco Forgione, "Padre Pio", Catholic saint (d. 1968)

1888 - Miles Malleson, English actor (d. 1969)

1889 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian inventor (d. 1972)

1897 - Gene Tunney, American heavyweight champion (d. 1978)

1898 - Bennett Cerf, American publisher, TV personality (d. 1971)

1900 - Alain Grandbois, French Canadian poet (d. 1975)

1907 - U Nu, Burmese politician (d. 1995)

1909 - Alfred Kubel, German politician (d. 1999)

1912 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (d. 1989)

1913 - Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster (d. 1965)

1917 - Steve Cochran, American actor (d. 1965)

1918 - Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)

1921 - Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1921 - Hal David, American lyricist and songwriter

1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)

1922 - Kitty Kallen, American big band singer

1924 - István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)

1925 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (d. 1974)

1925 - Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)

1927 - Robert Ludlum, American writer (d. 2001)

1929 - Beverly Sills, American soprano

1931 - Georgi Grechko, cosmonaut

1932 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)

1933 - Ray Spencer, English footballer

1935 - Cookie Gilchrist, American football player

1936 - Tom T. Hall, American singer and songwriter

1938 - Raymond Carver, American writer (d. 1988)

1939 - Dixie Carter, American actress

1943 - Jessi Colter, American singer

1944 - Frank Oz, English-born puppeteer and director

1944 - Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (d. 2005)

1948 - Klaus Meine, German musician (Scorpions)

1949 - Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist

1953 - Daniel Passarella, Argentine football player

1956 - Sugar Minott, Jamaican singer

1956 - David P. Sartor, American concert music composer

1958 - Paul Weller, British musician

1960 - Guy Fletcher, keyboardist (Dire Straits)

1963 - Mike Myers, Canadian actor and comedian

1965 - Simon Fowler, English singer (Ocean Colour Scene)

1966 - McLoud, Swiss composer, musician, and multimedia artist

1967 - Poppy Z. Brite, American author

1968 - Kendall Gill, American basketball player

1969 - Anne Heche, American actress

1969 - Stacy London, American fashion consultant and media personality

1970 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor

1971 - Sonya Smith, American actress

1973 - Demetri Martin, American comedian

1973 - Molly Sims, American supermodel and actress

1975 - Lauryn Hill, American singer

1976 - Miguel Tejada, Dominican Major League Baseball player

1976 - Cillian Murphy, Irish actor

1978 - Brian Urlacher, American football player

1979 - Carlos Bocanegra, American soccer player

1979 - Monica Keena, American actress

1979 - Jonny Wilkinson, English international and Newcastle Falcons rugby player

1979 - Caroline Ouellette, French Canadian ice hockey player

1980 - Jae Hee, South Korean actor

1982 - Adam Boyd, English footballer

1984 - Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, Miss Iceland, crowned Miss World in 2005

1993 - The Dilley sextuplets, first surviving set of sextuplets in the United States