25 August in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons.25 August is the birth anniversary of Narayanan “Vijayaraj” Alagarswami, Rajiv Raj Kapoor, and Vinesh Phogat.
25 August is also observed as the death anniversary of Haribhau Upadhyay, and Vijay Laxman.
Birth Anniversary
25 August in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Narayanan “Vijayaraj” Alagarswami, better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. He is the founder and general secretary of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Political party and served as a Member of Legislative Assembly twice representing the constituency of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively. Before entering politics Vijayakanth was a successful film actor, producer, and director. Vijayakanth is also the current DMDK chairman of the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. Vijayakanth is one of the very few Tamil actors to have acted only in Tamil films throughout his career. His films have mostly been dubbed into Telugu and Hindi. He was Born on 25 August 1952 in India.
Rajiv Raj Kapoor (25 August 1962 – 9 February 2021), an Indian film actor, film producer, film director, and a member of the Kapoor family, best known for his lead role in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. He was the youngest son of Raj Kapoor, the legendary Bollywood actor-director-producer. His elder brothers Randhir Kapoor and late Rishi Kapoor were also successful Bollywood actors. Famous actors Shammi Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor were his uncles. Prithviraj Kapoor was his paternal grandfather and Trilok Kapoor was his paternal great-uncle. After his father’s death, he assumed the role of producer for the popular film Henna in 1991, which was directed by his elder brother Randhir Kapoor. Further, in 1996 he made his directorial debut with the commercially unsuccessful Prem Granth, which starred his brother Rishi Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit. In 1999, he was one of the producers of Aa ab lout chalen which were directed by his brother Rishi Kapoor. Since then, he was not active in film producing or directing. He was Born on 25 August 1962 in Mumbai.
Vinesh Phogat, an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in both Commonwealth and Asian Games. Phogat became the first Indian athlete to be nominated for Laureus World Sports Awards in 2019. Phogat comes from a successful family of wrestlers, with her cousins Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari, being international wrestlers and Commonwealth Games medalists as well. She got many Awards including Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award for Wrestling, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for Wrestling She was Born on 25 August 1994 in Balali.
Read More: 24 August in Indian and World History
Death Anniversary
25 August in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Haribhau Upadhyay (24 March 1892 – 25 August 1972), a famous Indian litterateur and national worker. His special contribution to Hindi literature is the conversion of valuable books. In addition to many original works, he translated Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Meri Kahani’ and ‘Congress ka History’ by Pattabhi Sitaramayya into Hindi. Many books of Haribhau ji have been received by the Hindi literary world today. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, Haribhau Upadhyay jumped into the national movement. He had to go to jail several times in the old Ajmer princely state. After independence, he was elected the Chief Minister of Ajmer. Haribhau Ji’s special contribution to Hindi literature is the conversion of valuable books by him. In addition to many original works, he translated Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Meri Kahani’ and ‘Congress ka History’ written by Pattabhi Sitaramayya into Hindi. He died on 25 August 1972.
Vijay Laxman (12 March 1938 – 25 August 2006), an Indian cricketer who played in eight Tests from 1955 to 1964. When he made his debut, Vijay Mehra was the youngest India to play Test cricket – 17 years, 265 days – a record till Maninder Singh broke it in 1982-83. A slightly built right-hand opening batsman, Mehra made only 10 in that match. He improved to 32 in the next Test at New Delhi when he put on 68 runs for the first wicket with Nari Contractor. But then he was forgotten for six years before being brought back for the Test at Calcutta against England in 1961-62. Opening the batting, he scored a courageous 62, continuing to bat after fracturing his right thumb on the first morning. The injury forced him to bat at No. 11 in the second innings and miss the next Test. In the Ranji Trophy however, Mehra had a much better record and scored 3222 runs (37.90) with ten centuries. In a first-class career that stretched for over two decades, Mehra scored 5636 runs (34.36) with 13 centuries. He died on 25 August 2006.
Read More: 22 August in Indian and World History
Notable events on 25 August in Indian and World History
25 August 1841 – Emil Theodor Kocher, a Swiss physician, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
25 August 1850 – Charles Richet, a French physiologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
25 August 1900 – Hans Krebs, a German-born British biologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
25 August 1908 – Henri Becquerel a lineage of accomplished physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
25 August 1916 – Frederick Chapman Robbins an American pediatrician, virologist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
25 August 1918 – Leonard Bernstein a multifaceted American figure in the world of music and culture, was born.
25 August 1928 – Herbert Kroemer, a German-American physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate was born.
25 August 1942 – Howard Jacobson, a British novelist, and Booker Prize Winner, was born.
25 August 1975 – India became the Polo World Champion on this day.
25 August 1976 – Eyvind Johnson a Swedish novelist, short story writer, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.
25 August 1977 – Sir Edmund Hillary’s Sagar to Himalaya expedition started from Haldia port.
25 August 2003 – car bombings near Mumbai’s Gateway of India and Mumbi Devi Temple killed more than 50 people and injured more than 150.
25 August 2008 – The Government of Madhya Pradesh requested to insure all the students of government schools for the year 2008-09.
25 August 2012 – Voyager 1 was the first man-made spacecraft to enter space outside the Solar System.
25 August 2016 – James Cronin, an American particle physicist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, died.