Today in History: October 25, Teapot Dome scandal conviction

Today is Sunday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2026. There are 67 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 25, 1929, former Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall was convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for oil field leases at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and the Elk Hills and Buena Vista oil fields in California. As a result of the “Teapot Dome scandal” Fall would become the first U.S. Cabinet member to be imprisoned for crimes committed while in office.

Also on this date:

In 1415, England’s King Henry V's forces defeated a much larger French army at the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years’ War.

In 1760, Britain’s King George III succeeded his late grandfather, George II.

In 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown went on trial in Charles Town, Virginia, for his failed raid at Harpers Ferry. (He was convicted and later hanged.)

In 1962, during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson II demanded that Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin confirm or deny the existence of Soviet-built missile bases in Cuba. Stevenson then presented the council with photographic evidence of the bases, a key moment in the Cuban missile crisis.

In 1971, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the People's Republic of China as that country's sole legitimate representative to the United Nations, expelling representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the world body and effectively casting out Taiwan.

In 1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there.

In 1986, in Game 6 of the World Series, the New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning, defeating the Boston Red Sox 6-5 and forcing a seventh game; the tiebreaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner’s error on Mookie Wilson’s slow grounder. (The Mets went on to win Game 7 and the Series.)

In 1999, golfer Payne Stewart and five others were killed when their Learjet lost cabin pressure, flew hundreds of miles off course on autopilot, and crashed in a field in South Dakota. Stewart was 42.

In 2002, Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota along with his wife, daughter and five others, a week-and-a-half before the election.

In 2022, Rishi Sunak became Britain’s first prime minister of color after being chosen to lead the governing Conservative Party. He resigned the post in 2024 after his party's general election defeat.

In 2023, Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and wounding 13. Card was found dead by suicide two days after the attack, the worst mass shooting in Maine's history.

In 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated children from their parents, calling it a “blot on American history” during a visit to Indian Country in Arizona.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Marion Ross is 98. Former Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart is 91. Author Anne Tyler is 85. Rock singer Jon Anderson (Yes) is 82. Guitarist Glen Tipton (Judas Priest) is 79. Basketball Hall of Famer Dave Cowens is 78. Olympic gold medal wrestler Dan Gable is 78. Olympic gold medal hockey player Mike Eruzione is 72. Actor Nancy Cartwright (TV: “The Simpsons”) is 69. Rock drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) is 65. Violinist Midori is 55. Baseball Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez is 55. Author Zadie Smith is 51. Pop singer Katy Perry is 42. Singer Ciara is 41. Golfer Xander Schauffele is 33. MLB All-Star Juan Soto is 28. Actor Dallas Young is 20.