February 25

February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 309 days remaining until the end of the year (310 in leap years).

• 138 – Roman Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his heir.
• 493 - Odoacer surrenders Ravenna after a 3-year siege and agrees to a mediated peace with Theodoric the Great.
• 1336 - 4,000 defenders of the Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.
• 1489 - Charles VIII of France recognizes Monaco as an independent state.
• 1570 – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England.
• 1793 - George Washington holds the first cabinet meeting held by a President of the United States.
• 1831 - Battle of Oloynka Grochowska, part of the Polish November Uprising against the Russian Empire.
• 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a US patent for the Colt revolver.
• 1837 - Thomas Davenport gets the first patent for an electric motor.
• 1843 - Provisional Cessation of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands is established by Lord George Paulet.
• 1848 - The Provisional Government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc's motion, guarantees workers right.
• 1856 – A peace conference begins in Paris after the Crimean War.
• 1866 - Miners at Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull.
• 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels becomes the first African American to serve in the US Congress.
• 1875 - Guangxu Emperor of China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.
• 1901 - J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
• 1912 - Marie-Adelaide, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, at age 17, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
• 1916 - World War I: The Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
• 1917 – The British steamship RMS Laconia is sunk by a German U-boat off the south coast of Ireland, killing 12 people.
• 1921 – Tbilisi, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
• 1932 - Adolf Hitler is given German citizenship.
• 1933 - The USS Ranger is launched. it is the first US ship built only as an aircraft carrier.
• 1941 - February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increased anti-Jewish measures by the Nazis.
• 1945 - World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
• 1947 – The State of Prussia ceases to exist.
• 1948 - The Communist Party takes control of Czechoslovakia.

• 1951 – The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes President of Egypt.
• 1956 – Nikita Krushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
• 1964 – Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, becomes heavyweight boxing champion, defeating Sonny Liston.
• 1968 – South Korean troops kill 135 people in Vietnam.
• 1969 - In Prague, Jan Zajic sets himself on fire in an act of protest against the Communist government. He dies of his injuries.
• 1975 - Muhammad Abdullah becomes Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
• 1980 – Suriname's government is overthrown in a coup in the capital city Paramaribo.
• 1981 – Adolfo Suárez leaves office as Prime Minister of Spain.
• 1983 – The Statute of Autonomy for the Canary Islands is approved.
• 1986 – People Power Revolution: In the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos is forced to resign after a rule of over 20 years. Corazon Aquino becomes President, the first Asian woman in that position.
• 1988 – Roh Tae-woo becomes President of South Korea.
• 1990 - Violeta Chamorro is elected President of Nicaragua, defeating Daniel Ortega.
• 1991 - End of the Warsaw Pact.
• 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits a US military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 reservists from Pennsylvania.
• 1992 – Khojaly Massacre: Armenian forces kill 613 Azerbaijani civilians in Nagorno Karabakh.
• 1994 – In the West Bank town of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Palestinian worshippers, before being killed.
• 1995 - The first Screen Actors Guild Awards are given in Los Angeles, California.
• 1997 - Yi Han-yong, a North Korean defector, is murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea.
• 2001 - Non-reformed Communists win the election in Moldova.
• 2001 - Pedro Pires is elected President of the Cape Verde Islands.
• 2003 – Roh Moo-hyun becomes President of South Korea.
• 2008 – Lee Myung-bak becomes President of South Korea.
• 2009 – Bangladeshi Border Guards kill 74 people in Dhaka, including 57 army officers and family.
• 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes near Amsterdam, killing 9 people.
• 2010 – Viktor Yanukovych becomes President of Ukraine, succeeding Viktor Yushchenko.
• 2011 – The Fianna Fail-led government in the Republic of Ireland, under Brian Cowen, suffers a heavy defeat in the general election. Enda Kenny is elected to serve as the next Taoiseach.
• 2013 - Park Geunhye becomes the first female President of South Korea.
• 2015 - Avalanches in Northeastern Afghanistan kill 310 people.
• 2018 - The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, end.

• 1337 - Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
• 1398 – Emperor Xuande of China (d. 1435)
• 1552 - Magdalene of Lippe (d. 1587)
• 1591 – Friedrich von Spee, German writer (d. 1635)
• 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1695)
• 1651 - Johann Philipp Krieger, German baroque composer and organist (d. 1725)
• 1682 - Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (d. 1771)
• 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian writer (d. 1793)
• 1708 - Felix Benda, Bohemian composer and organist (d. 1768)
• 1714 – Rene Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French chancellor (d. 1792)
• 1727 - Armand-Louis Couperin, French composer (d. 1789)
• 1728 - John Wood, the Younger, English architect (d. 1782)
• 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, British territorial governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
• 1755 - François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
• 1778 – Jose de San Martin, Argentine independence leader, hero in many South American countries (d. 1850)
• 1812 - Carl Christian Hall, Danish statesman (d. 1888)
• 1816 - Giovanni Morelli, Italian art critic and political figure (d. 1891)
• 1833 – John St. John, Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
• 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (d. 1919)
• 1842 – Karl May, German writer (d. 1912)
• 1845 – George Reid, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
• 1848 - William II of Württemberg (d. 1921)
• 1856 - Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian (d. 1915)
• 1857 - Robert Bond, 1st Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
• 1859 - John Burke, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1937)
• 1861 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher and educator (d. 1925)
• 1865 - Andranik Ozanian, Armenian general, rebel leader and activist (d. 1923)
• 1866 - Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher, humanist, historian and politician (d. 1952)
• 1871 – Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian writer and poet (d. 1913)
• 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (d. 1921)
• 1881 - Alexei Rykov, Soviet politician (d. 1938)
• 1881 - William Z. Foster, American labour organiser and politician (d. 1961)
• 1883 - Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
• 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (d. 1969)
• 1888 – John Foster Dulles, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
• 1889 - Homer S. Ferguson, United States Senator for Michigan (d. 1982)
• 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist (d. 1965)
• 1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (d. 1986)
• 1894 - Meher Baba, Indian spiritual figure (d. 1969)

• 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1902 - Virginio Rosetta, Italian footballer (d. 1975)
• 1903 - King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
• 1906 - Boris Papandopulo, Croatia composer and conductor (d. 1991)
• 1906 - Domingo Ortega, Spanish matador (d. 1988)
• 1910 - Millicent Fenwick, American politician (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor (d. 1989)
• 1913 - Gert Fröbe, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English writer (d. 1993)
• 1918 - Barney Ewell, American runner (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995)
• 1919 - Monte Irvin, American baseball player (d. 2016)
• 1919 - Karl H. Pribram, Austrian-American professor (d. 2015)
• 1920 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian statesman (d. 1970)
• 1922 - Molly Bobak, Canadian writer, painter and printmaker (d. 2014)
• 1924 - Hugh Huxley, British biologist
• 1927 - Dick Jones, American actor (d. 2014)
• 1927 - Ralph Stanley, American singer (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1929 - Tommy Newsom, American bandleader (d. 2007)
• 1930 - Wendy Beckett, British nun, historian and broadcaster
• 1932 – Tony Brooks, British racing driver
• 1935 – Sally Jessy Raphael, American talk show host
• 1936 - Jorge Jacobson, Argentine journalist and writer (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Tom Courtenay, British actor
• 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American broadcast journalist
• 1938 - Malcolm Tierney, British actor (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player (d. 2010)
• 1941 - Pierluigi Cera, Italian footballer (d. 2022)
• 1943 – George Harrison, English songwriter, guitarist and member of the Beatles (d. 2001)
• 1943 – Wilson da Silva Piazza, Brazilian footballer
• 1943 - Boediono, 11th Vice President of Indonesia
• 1946 - Jan Groth, Norwegian singer and keyboardist (d. 2014)
• 1946 - Jean Todt, French Formula One executive
• 1946 - Elkie Brooks, British singer
• 1947 - Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence
• 1947 - Marc Sautet, French writer, teacher, and philosopher (d. 1998)
• 1947 – Lee Evans, American athlete
• 1947 - Doug Yule, American musician
• 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina (d. 2010)
• 1950 - Francisco Fernandez Ochoa, Spanish alpine skier (d. 2006)
• 1950 - Neil Jordan, Irish movie director, screenwriter and novelist

• 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican runner
• 1952 - Joey Dunlop, British motorcycle racer (d. 2000)
• 1953 – Jose Maria Aznar, Spanish politician, former Prime Minister of Spain
• 1953 - Kim Yeong-cheol, South Korean actor
• 1954 - Gerardo Pelusso, Uruguayan football manager
• 1955 – Camille Thériault, Canadian politician, 29th Premier of New Brunswick
• 1956 - Andres Ammas, Estonian politician (d. 2018)
• 1957 - Chuck Strahl, Canadian politician
• 1958 - Kevin Gray, American actor
• 1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player
• 1959 - Mike Peters, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1961 - Chris Pitman, American keyboardist
• 1962 - Birgit Fischer, German kayaker
• 1962 - Mark Heenehan, British theatre actor
• 1964 – Lee Evans, British comedian
• 1964 - Luigi Troiani, Italian rugby player
• 1965 - Sylvie Guillem, French ballet dancer
• 1965 - Carrot Top, American comedian
• 1965 - Veronica Webb, American supermodel and actress
• 1967 - Jonathan Freedland, British journalist and writer
• 1967 – Ed Balls, British politician
• 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor
• 1971 - Sean O'Haire, American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kick boxer (d. 2014)
• 1971 - Christien Anholt, British actor
• 1973 – Julio Iglesias, Jr., Spanish singer
• 1974 - Kevin Skinner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1975 – Chelsea Handler, American comedienne and actress
• 1975 - Naga Munchetty, British television news presenter

• 1976 - Rashida Jones, American actress
• 1977 - Sarah Jezebel Deva, English singer-songwriter
• 1978 - Yazid Mansouri, Algerian footballer
• 1978 - Yuji Nakazawa, Japanese footballer
• 1981 – Shahid Kapoor, Indian actor
• 1981 – Park Ji-Sung, South Korean footballer
• 1982 – Chris Baird, Northern Irish footballer
• 1982 - Bert McCracken, American musician
• 1982 - Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player
• 1982 - Maria Kanellis, American professional wrestler
• 1983 – Eduardo da Silva, Brazilian-Croatian footballer
• 1984 - Xing Huina, Chinese athlete
• 1984 – Craig Mackail-Smith, British footballer
• 1985 – Joakim Noah, American basketball player
• 1986 - Jameela Jamil, British television and radio presenter
• 1986 - James Phelps, British actor
• 1986 - Oliver Phelps, British actor
• 1987 - Justin Abdelkader, American ice hockey player
• 1987 - Mevlut Erdinc, Turkish footballer
• 1988 - Luca Di Matteo, Italian footballer
• 1989 - Kana Hanazawa, Japanese voice actress
• 1990 - Alejandra Andreu, Spanish model
• 1990 - Younès Belhanda, Moroccan footballer
• 1992 - Max Aaron, American figure skater
• 1993 - Christina Kirkman, American actress
• 1994 - Eugenie Bouchard, Canadian tennis player
• 1995 - Francesca Michielin, Italian singer
• 1997 – Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress
• 1998 – Brendon Baerg, American actor

• 1246 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd
• 1495 - Sultan Cem, pretender to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1459)
• 1547 - Vittoria Colonna, Italian poet (b. 1492)
• 1553 - Hirate Masahide, Japanese diplomat (b. 1492)
• 1558 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (b. 1498)
• 1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English politician (b. 1566)
• 1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general (b. 1583)
• 1643 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (b. 1582)
• 1655 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (b. 1580)
• 1682 - Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
• 1713 – King Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
• 1715 - Pu Songling, Chinese writer (b. 1640)
• 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect (b. 1632)
• 1819 - Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese poet (b. 1734)
• 1822 - William Pinkney, American statesman and diplomat (b. 1764)
• 1831 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (b. 1752)
• 1841 - Philip Pendleton Barbour, American politician (b. 1783)
• 1850 – Daoguang, Emperor of China (b. 1782)
• 1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet (b. 1779)
• 1864 – Anna Harrison, shortest-serving First Lady of the United States (b. 1775)
• 1865 - Otto Ludwig, German writer (b. 1813)
• 1877 - Jang Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
• 1894 - Steele MacKaye, American playwright, actor and inventor (b. 1842)
• 1899 – Paul Julius Reuter, German journalist (b. 1816)

• 1912 – Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
• 1922 - Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (b. 1869)
• 1945 - Mario de Andrade, Brazilian writer and photographer (b. 1893)
• 1950 – George Minot, American physician (b. 1885)
• 1953 - Sergei Winogradsky, Russian scientist (b. 1856)
• 1957 – Bugs Moran, American gangster (b. 1893)
• 1964 - Kenneth Lee Spencer, American opera singer and actor (b. 1913)
• 1964 - Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian artist and sculptor (b. 1887)
• 1969 - Jan Zajic, Czechoslovakian student (b. 1950)
• 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist (b. 1884)
• 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American Muslim leader, Nation of Islam (b. 1897)
• 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright (b. 1911)
• 1993 - Eddie Constantine, American-born actor and singer (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Baruch Goldstein, Israeli army officer (b. 1956)
• 1997 - Cal Abrams, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 1997 - Yi Han-yong, North Korean defector
• 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (b. 1912)

• 2001 – Sir Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor (b. 1920)
• 2004 - Donald Hings, Canadian inventor (b. 1907)
• 2005 - Peter Benenson, English founder of Amnesty International (b. 1921)
• 2005 - Leo Labine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1931)
• 2005 - Edward Patten, American singer (b. 1939)
• 2009 – Philip Jose Farmer, American writer (b. 1918)
• 2012 – Maurice André, French classical trumpeter (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Red Holloway, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Louisiana Red, American blues musician (b. 1932)
• 2013 - Ray O'Connor, 22nd Premier of Western Australia (b. 1926)
• 2013 - C. Everett Koop, American politician and spokesperson (b. 1916)
• 2014 - Chokwe Lumumba, American politician, Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi (b. 1947)
• 2014 - Mario Coluna, Brazilian footballer (b. 1935)
• 2014 - Paco de Lucia, Spanish flamenco guitarist, composer and producer (b. 1947)
• 2015 - Eugenie Clark, American zoologist and professor (b. 1922)
• 2015 - Terry Gill, Australian actor (b. 1939)
• 2015 - Marian Szeja, Polish footballer (b. 1941)
• 2016 - François Dupeyron, French movie director and screenwriter (b. 1950)
• 2016 - Alfred E. Mann, American entrepreneur and philanthropist (b. 1925)
• 2016 - Tony Burton, American actor (b. 1937)
• 2016 - Jim Clark, English movie editor (b. 1931)
• 2017 - Hassan Al-Jundi, Moroccan actor (b. 1939)
• 2017 - Neil Fingleton, English basketball player and actor (b. 1980)
• 2017 - Bill Paxton, American actor (b. 1955)
• 2017 - Jack Pope, American judge, attorney and writer (b. 1913)
• 2017 - Toshio Nakanishi, Japanese musician (b. 1956)
• 2017 - Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born American sculptor (b. 1951)
• 2018 - Ainsley Gotto, Australian political staffer and interior designer (b. 1946)
• 2019 - Janet Asimov, American science fiction writer and psychoanalyst (b. 1926)

• National Day (Kuwait)
• People Power Day (Philippines)
• Soviet Occupation Day (Republic of Georgia)
• Memorial Day for Victims of the Communist dictatorships (Hungary)