The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation became enforceable on May 25, 2018, two years after adoption, rewriting how companies worldwide handle personal data. Penalties reach as high as 4 percent of global annual revenue, and businesses spent billions preparing — Fortune 500 firms alone budgeted an estimated $7.8 billion on compliance. The rule reshaped digital advertising and became the template regulators later copied from California to Brazil.

Addressing a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy declared that the United States should commit to "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" before the decade was out. The pledge launched the Apollo program, which ultimately cost roughly $25 billion and employed some 400,000 people. Neil Armstrong made the goal real on July 20, 1969 — with five months to spare.

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw and banning his writings across the empire. Luther, who had refused to recant before the Diet weeks earlier, was spirited away to Wartburg Castle by allies, where he translated the New Testament into German. The decree failed to stop the Reformation, which would reshape European politics for more than a century.

At the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor on May 25, 1935, Ohio State sophomore Jesse Owens broke three world records and tied a fourth in the span of 45 minutes — days after injuring his back in a fall down a flight of stairs. His long jump of 26 feet 8¼ inches stood as the world mark for the next 25 years. It is still called the greatest single day in track and field history.

George Lucas's "Star Wars" premiered on May 25, 1977 in just 32 theaters — 20th Century Fox had little faith in the project. It became a cultural phenomenon and the top-grossing film of its era, sending Fox's stock soaring and launching a franchise that Disney valued at more than $4 billion when it bought Lucasfilm in 2012.