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Mata Hari / Rock Hudson / Test-Tube Baby

Mata Hari / Rock Hudson / Test-Tube Baby

On This Day (July 25): Your quick daily trip back in time

Fatih Taskiran
July 25, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

🌟 Editor's Note

Good morning. It's Friday, July 25, we're exploring Mata Hari’s fantastic story, Rock Hudson's AIDS announcement, the world’s first test-tube baby, and much more.

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🗓️ Time Machine

-306

Constantine I is declared Roman Emperor by his soldiers.

-1814

English engineer George Stephenson introduced his first steam locomotive, a traveling engine designed for hauling coal on the Killingworth wagonway, called Blücher.

-1917

French court sentences exotic dancer Mata Hari to death for allegedly spying for Germany during World War I.

-1943

Benito Mussolini was dismissed as the Italian Prime Minister and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III.

-1944

Operation Spring during World War II was one of Canada's bloodiest days, with 18,444 casualties and 5,021 killed.

-1965

Rock Hudson, who made more than 60 films during his career, announced he had acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

-1975

'A Chorus Line' by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban opens at the Shubert Theatre, NYC, breaking the record for the longest-running Broadway show, with 6,137 performances.

-1978

Louise Joy Brown, the world’s first baby to be conceived via in-vitro fertilization (IVF), was born at Oldham’s General Hospital.

📸 Snapshot

The Statue of Liberty's head was on display at the Paris World's Fair before moving to its home in New York, 1878

💬 Final Words

❝

I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.