(CNN) June 17, 1994, was supposed to be a big sports night. Viewers around the nation settled in front of their TV screens to watch the New York Knicks take on the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

But instead, another sports figure dominated television in an unforgettable way on that night 25 years ago. O.J. Simpson hopped into a white Ford Bronco, rode down a Los Angeles interstate and sparked one of the most-watched events in TV history.

A man called 'The Juice'

It's hard to think of him this way now, but going into the summer of 1994, Simpson was simply "The Juice." The seemingly always smiling, affable ex-football legend had morphed into a movie star and popular TV pitchman. His transformation from that into one of the most divisive figures in American history really started on that Friday evening a quarter century ago.

Motorists stop and wave as police cars pursue the white Ford Bronco on June 17, 1994.

That was the day Simpson was charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was supposed to have turned himself in to face the charges but didn't. He was declared a fugitive, and a warrant was put out for his arrest.

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