On this day in history - April 25

What Happened On This Day – April 25

• 2011 The largest tornado outbreak ever recorded hits the U.S.

  348 people in six states were killed during the outbreak, which encompassed a total of 358 confirmed tornadoes.

• 1983 The German news magazine, Stern, announces discovery of Hitler's diaries

  The documents were later exposed as forgeries, triggering one of the most spectacular media scandals in history. Experts believe that Hitler never kept a diary.

• 1974 In Portugal, the fascist Estado Novo regime is overthrown in a bloodless coup

  The leftist Carnation Revolution was led by military officers and supported by widespread civil resistance.

• 1953 The double helix structure of DNA described for the first time

  Francis Crick and James D. Watson published their groundbreaking findings about the molecule containing genetic information was in Nature that day.

• 1859 Construction of the Suez Canal begins

  The waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea became the shortest sea link between Europe and Asia.