FRIDAY, May 23, 2025

1618-Second Defenestration of Prague: Two Catholic Lords Regent and their secretary are thrown out of a window and amazingly are not seriously injured by the 70 foot (21m) fall. Triggers the Thirty Years' War.

1785-Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals

1813-South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (The Liberator)

1934-American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow - Bonnie and Clyde, are killed by police in an ambush near Sailes, Louisiana

1949-Federal Republic of [West] Germany created out of the American, British and French occupation zones

1958-Mao Zedong starts the "Great Leap Forward" movement in China, kills between 23 and 55 million Chinese citizens due to famine and forced labor

1998-The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes