Today in history: Apr 25

1769: Birth of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849), French-emigre engineer and inventor who solved the historic problem of underwater tunneling.

• 1769: Birth of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849), French-emigré engineer
and inventor who solved the historic problem of underwater tunneling

HT Image

• 1859: Ground was broken for the Suez Canal under the direction of its planner
Ferdinand de Lesseps; and exactly 100 years later in 1959 the St.
Lawrence Seaway linking the Great lakes to the Atlantic Ocean was
opened jointly by Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower.

• 1915: The Gallipoli Campaign in World War I started. This was an Anglo-French
operation against Turkey, intended to force the 38-mile-long Dardanelles
channel and to occupy Constantinople. This day is celebrated as ANZAC
(abbreviation of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day in
Australia and New Zealand. It failed to produce decisive results,
because of poor military leadership, faulty tactics and inadequate
equipment. Winston Churchill, who had masterminded the venture,
resigned from the government.
• 1945: Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organise the
United Nations.
• 1968: The Indian classical singer Bade Ghulam Ali, one of the main exponents
of the Patiala gharana of khayal singing, died aged 66. His versatility
made him equally at ease with khayal, thumri and bhajan, and he even
sang for some films such as Baiju Bawra and Mughal-e-Azam.
• 1982: The first national telecast in colour in India started with Satyajit Ray's
film Shatranj Ke Khilari.