1983 43 years ago Historical Events September 25

Thirty-eight IRA prisoners, armed with six handguns, hijack a prison meals lorry and smash their way out of the Maze Prison.

On September 25, in the year 1983, Thirty-eight IRA prisoners, armed with six handguns, hijack a prison meals lorry and smash their way out of the Maze Prison. This event is recorded as a Historical Events event in the history of September 25, one of 480 recorded events on this date across all of history.

The Maze Prison escape took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. It held prisoners suspected of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles, with separate wings for loyalists and for republicans. In the biggest prison escape in UK peacetime history, 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners escaped from H-Block 7 (H7) of the prison. One prison officer died of a heart attack during the escape and twenty others were injured, including two who were shot with guns that had been smuggled into the prison.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on September 25, 1983 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Historical Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 1 Wikipedia article.
  • The event is associated with a specific geographical location (see map below).
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 9 April 2026.

On This Date in History 480

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2023 Sep 25 David McCallum, Scottish actor (born 1933)
Historical Events 2018 Sep 25 Bill Cosby is sentenced to three to ten years in prison for aggravated sexual assault.
Notable Deaths 2017 Sep 25 Jan Tříska, Czech actor (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2016 Sep 25 José Fernández, Cuban-American baseball player (born 1992)
Notable Deaths 2016 Sep 25 Arnold Palmer, American golfer (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2016 Sep 25 Nahid Hattar, Jordanian writer and political activist (born 1960)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 25 Claudio Baggini, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 25 John Galvin, American general (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 25 Tom Kelley, American baseball player and manager (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2015 Sep 25 Moti Kirschenbaum, Israeli journalist (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 25 Ulrick Chérubin, Haitian-Canadian educator and politician (born 1943)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 25 Sulejman Tihić, Bosnian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1951)
Notable Deaths 2014 Sep 25 Dorothy Tyler-Odam, English high jumper (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 25 Ron Fenton, English footballer, coach, and manager (born 1940)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 25 Choi In-ho, South Korean author and screenwriter (born 1945)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 25 José Montoya, American poet and academic (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 25 Billy Mure, American guitarist and composer (born 1915)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 25 Pablo Verani, Italian-Argentinian lawyer and politician (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2013 Sep 25 Bennet Wong, Canadian psychiatrist and academic, co-founded Haven Institute (Gabriola Island, Canada) (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 25 Billy Barnes, American composer and songwriter (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 25 John Bond, English footballer and manager (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 25 Eric Ives, English historian and academic (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 25 Alonso Lujambio, Mexican academic and politician (born 1962)
Notable Deaths 2012 Sep 25 Andy Williams, American singer (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2011 Sep 25 Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1940)
Notable Births 2009 Sep 25 Leah Jeffries, American actress
Notable Deaths 2009 Sep 25 Alicia de Larrocha, Spanish pianist (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2009 Sep 25 Pierre Falardeau, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1946)
Notable Deaths 2008 Sep 25 Derog Gioura, Nauruan politician, 23rd President of Nauru (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 25 Haidar Abdel-Shafi, Palestinian physician and politician (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2007 Sep 25 André Emmerich, German-American art dealer (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2006 Sep 25 Jeff Cooper, American target shooter and author (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2006 Sep 25 John M. Ford, American author and poet (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 Don Adams, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 Madeline-Ann Aksich, Canadian businesswoman and philanthropist (born 1956)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 George Archer, American golfer (born 1939)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 Urie Bronfenbrenner, Russian-American psychologist and ecologist (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pakistani linguist and critic (born 1912)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and author (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2005 Sep 25 Friedrich Peter, Austrian lawyer and politician (born 1921)
Historical Events 2003 Sep 25 The 8.3 Mw Hokkaidō earthquake strikes just offshore Hokkaidō, Japan.
Notable Births 2003 Sep 25 Bella Ramsey, English actor
Notable Deaths 2003 Sep 25 Aqila al-Hashimi, Iraqi translator and politician (born 1953)
Notable Deaths 2003 Sep 25 Herb Gardner, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2003 Sep 25 Franco Modigliani, Italian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
Notable Deaths 2003 Sep 25 George Plimpton, American writer and literary editor (born 1927)
Notable Births 2001 Sep 25 Cade Cunningham, American basketball player
Notable Births 2000 Sep 25 Lilas Ikuta, Japanese singer and songwriter
Notable Deaths 1999 Sep 25 Marion Zimmer Bradley, American author (born 1930)
Historical Events 1998 Sep 25 PauknAir Flight 4101, a British Aerospace 146, crashes near Melilla Airport in Melilla, Spain, killing 38 people.

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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