Nov. 25 history: Brits leave NYC

Nov. 25 in history

In 1783, nearly three months after the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the American Revolution, the last British soldiers withdraw from New York City, the last British military position in the United States. After the last Redcoat departed New York, U.S. General George Washington entered the city in triumph to the cheers of New Yorkers. The city had remained in British hands since its capture in September 1776. 

In 1914, baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California.

In 1961, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was commissioned.

In 1963, JFK buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1986, three weeks after a Lebanese magazine reported that the United States had been secretly selling arms to Iran, Attorney General Edwin Meese reveals that proceeds from the arms sales were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua. In addition to violating the U.S. arms embargo against Iran, the arms sales contradicted President Reagan’s vow never to negotiate with terrorists.

In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution designating November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The resolution, which was introduced by the Dominican Republic, marked the anniversary of the death of three sisters, Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, who were murdered there in 1960. While women in Latin America and the Caribbean had honored the day since 1981, all UN countries did not formally recognize it until 1999. 

In 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, and appointed Tom Ridge to be its head. 

In 2012, YouTube announced that “Gangnam Style” by South Korean rapper PSY had become the site’s most watched video to that time, with more than 805 million viewings. 

In 2013, prosecutors closed their year-long investigation into the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed the lives of 26 victims, 20 of them children; their report said the motive of gunman Adam Lanza, who also killed his mother and himself, might never be known. (History.com 11/25/23)