February 25

February 25 in recent years

2024 (Sunday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Tuesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Thursday)

2015 (Wednesday)

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

Events

Pre-1600

• 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
• 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
• 1336 – Four thousand defenders of Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.

1601–1900

• 1705 – George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premiered in Hamburg.
• 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.
• 1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair.
• 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress.
• 1875 – Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.

1901–present

• 1912 – Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
• 1916 – World War I: In the Battle of Verdun, a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight.
• 1918 – World War I: German forces capture Tallinn to virtually complete the occupation of Estonia.
• 1921 – Georgian capital Tbilisi falls to the invading Russian forces after heavy fighting and the Russians declare the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
• 1932 – Adolf Hitler, having been stateless for seven years, obtains German citizenship when he is appointed a Brunswick state official by Dietrich Klagges, a fellow Nazi. As a result, Hitler is able to run for Reichspräsident in the 1932 election.
• 1933 – Launch of the USS Ranger at Newport News, Virginia. It is the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned by the US Navy.
• 1939 – As part of British air raid precautions, the first of 2.5 million Anderson shelters is constructed in a garden in Islington, north London.
• 1941 – The outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands organises a general strike in German-occupied Amsterdam to protest against Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews.
• 1947 – The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.
• 1947 – Soviet NKVD forces in Hungary abduct Béla Kovács—secretary-general of the majority Independent Smallholders' Party—and deport him to the USSR in defiance of Parliament. His arrest is an important turning point in the Communist takeover of Hungary.
• 1948 – In a coup d'état led by Klement Gottwald, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Prague to end the Third Czechoslovak Republic.
• 1951 – The first Pan American Games are officially opened in Buenos Aires by Argentine President Juan Perón.
• 1956 – In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin.
• 1980 – The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
• 1986 – People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines' first female president.
• 1991 – Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest.
• 1994 – American-Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein commits a mass shooting at the Cave of the Patriarchs mausoleum, leaving 29 dead and over 100 injured before he was disarmed and beaten to death by survivors.
• 1999 – Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four.
• 2009 – Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.
• 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashed during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.
• 2015 – At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.
• 2016 – Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1259 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (d. 1321)
• 1337 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
• 1475 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York (d. 1499)
• 1540 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (d. 1614)
• 1543 – Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Emir of Bitlis (d. 1603)
• 1591 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and author (d. 1635)

1601–1900

• 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1695)
• 1663 – Peter Anthony Motteux, French-English author, playwright and translator (d. 1718)
• 1670 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1720)
• 1682 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (d. 1771)
• 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and composer (d. 1793)
• 1714 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1792)
• 1728 – John Wood, the Younger, English architect, designed the Royal Crescent (d. 1782)
• 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, English-Canadian general and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
• 1755 – François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
• 1778 – José de San Martín, Argentinian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1850)
• 1806 – Emma Catherine Embury, American author and poet (d. 1863)
• 1809 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (d. 1873)
• 1812 – Carl Christian Hall, Danish lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1888)
• 1816 – Giovanni Morelli, Italian historian and critic (d. 1891)
• 1833 – John St. John, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
• 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (d. 1919)
• 1842 – Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1912)
• 1845 – George Reid, Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
• 1855 – Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet and author (d. 1886)
• 1856 – Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian and academic (d. 1915)
• 1856 – Mathias Zdarsky, Czech-Austrian skier, painter, and sculptor (d. 1940)
• 1857 – Robert Bond, Canadian politician; first Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
• 1860 – William Ashley, English historian and academic (d. 1927)
• 1865 – Andranik, Armenian general (d. 1927)
• 1866 – Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (d. 1952)
• 1869 – Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (d. 1940)
• 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (d. 1921)
• 1877 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist and scholar (d. 1935)
• 1881 – William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (d. 1961)
• 1881 – Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (d. 1938)
• 1883 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
• 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (d. 1969)
• 1888 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
• 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (d. 1965)
• 1894 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (d. 1969)
• 1896 – Ida Noddack, German chemist and physicist (d. 1978)
• 1898 – William Astbury, physicist and molecular biologist (d. 1961)

1901–present

• 1901 – Vince Gair, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Queensland (d. 1980)
• 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian and theatrical agent (d. 1979)
• 1903 – King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and coach (d. 1986)
• 1905 – Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1963)
• 1906 – Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright (d. 1981)
• 1907 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (d. 1948)
• 1908 – Mary Locke Petermann, American cellular biochemist (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (d. 2001)
• 1910 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1989)
• 1913 – Gert Fröbe, German actor (d. 1988)
• 1915 – S. Rajaratnam, Singaporean politician, 1st Senior Minister of Singapore (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (d. 1993)
• 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995)
• 1919 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player and executive (d. 2016)
• 1920 – Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (d. 1992)
• 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1970)
• 1921 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Molly Reilly, Canadian aviator (d. 1980)
• 1924 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Lisa Kirk, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Shehu Shagari, Nigerian politician, 6th President of Nigeria (d. 2018)
• 1926 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
• 1927 – Ralph Stanley, American singer and banjo player (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
• 1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American civil rights advocate, historian, and judge (d. 1998)
• 1928 – Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Wendy Beckett, British nun and art critic (d. 2018)
• 1932 – Tony Brooks, English racing driver (d. 2022)
• 1932 – Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
• 1934 – Tony Lema, American golfer (d. 1966)
• 1935 – Oktay Sinanoglu, Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist (d. 2015)
• 1937 – Tom Courtenay, English actor
• 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American political author, journalist and TV interviewer
• 1938 – Diane Baker, American actress and producer
• 1938 – Herb Elliott, Australian athlete
• 1938 – Farokh Engineer, Indian cricketer
• 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1941 – David Puttnam, English film producer and academic
• 1942 – Karen Grassle, American actress
• 1943 – George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer (d. 2001)
• 1944 – François Cevert, French racing driver (d. 1973)
• 1946 – Jean Todt, French racing driver and team manager
• 1947 – Lee Evans, American sprinter and athletics coach (d. 2021)
• 1949 – Ric Flair, American professional wrestler
• 1949 – Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author
• 1950 – Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish skier (d. 2006)
• 1950 – Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter and author
• 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, Argentine politician; 51st President of Argentina (d. 2010)
• 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter and coach
• 1952 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcyclist (d. 2000)
• 1953 – José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004
• 1953 – John Doe, American musician, singer-songwriter, actor, and poet
• 1957 – Raymond McCreesh, Irish Republican, hunger striker (d. 1981)
• 1957 – Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singaporean economist and politician; 5th Senior Minister and 9th President of Singapore
• 1958 – Kurt Rambis, Greek-American basketball player, coach, and executive
• 1962 – Birgit Fischer, German kayaker
• 1963 – Paul O'Neill, American baseball player and sportscaster
• 1965 – Carrot Top, American comedian
• 1965 – Veronica Webb, American model, actress, and writer
• 1966 – Alexis Denisof, American actor
• 1966 – Téa Leoni, American actress
• 1967 – Ed Balls, English politician; Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1968 – Lesley Boone, American actress and producer
• 1968 – Oumou Sangaré, Malian musician
• 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor, director and producer
• 1971 – Daniel Powter, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician
• 1973 – Anson Mount, American actor
• 1974 – Dominic Raab, English politician; First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
• 1975 – Chelsea Handler, American comedian, actress, author, and television host
• 1976 – Rashida Jones, American actress and writer
• 1976 – Samaki Walker, American basketball player
• 1979 – Napoleon Harris, American football player and politician
• 1981 – Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer
• 1982 – Maria Kanellis, American professional wrestler, actress, and model
• 1982 – Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player
• 1982 – Anton Volchenkov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Joakim Noah, French-American basketball player
• 1986 – Justin Berfield, American actor, writer, and producer
• 1986 – Jameela Jamil, English actress and presenter
• 1986 – James Phelps, English actor
• 1986 – Oliver Phelps, English actor
• 1987 – Justin Abdelkader, American ice hockey player
• 1988 – Tom Marshall, English photo colouriser and artist
• 1988 – Gerald McCoy, American football player
• 1989 – Jimmer Fredette, American basketball player
• 1989 – Kana Hanazawa, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1989 – E'Twaun Moore, American basketball player
• 1990 – Félix Peña, Dominican baseball player
• 1992 – Joakim Nordström, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1992 – Jorge Soler, Cuban baseball player
• 1993 – Erick Fedde, American baseball player
• 1993 – Lukáš Sedlák, Czech ice hockey player
• 1994 – Fred VanVleet, American basketball player
• 1995 – Mario Hezonja, Croatian basketball player
• 1995 – Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgarian tennis player
• 1997 – Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress
• 1997 – Thon Maker, South Sudanese-Australian basketball player
• 1999 – Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian footballer
• 1999 – Rocky, South Korean singer, dancer and songwriter
• 2001 – Vernon Carey Jr., American basketball player
• 2003 – Brandin Podziemski, American basketball player
• 2005 – Noah Jupe, English actor

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 806 – Tarasios, patriarch of Constantinople
• 891 – Fujiwara no Mototsune, Japanese regent (b. 836)
• 1099 – Anselm of Ribemont, Frankish nobleman and participant of the First Crusade
• 1522 – William Lily, English scholar and educator (b. 1468)
• 1536 – Berchtold Haller, German-Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1492)
• 1547 – Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara (b. 1490)

1601–1900

• 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1566)
• 1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general and politician (b. 1583)
• 1636 – Santorio Santorio, Italian biologist (b. 1561)
• 1655 – Daniël Heinsius, Flemish poet and scholar (b. 1580)
• 1682 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
• 1710 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, French soldier and explorer (b. 1639)
• 1713 – Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
• 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul's Cathedral (b. 1632)
• 1756 – Eliza Haywood, English actress and poet (b. 1693)
• 1796 – Samuel Seabury, American bishop (b. 1729)
• 1805 – Thomas Pownall, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1722)
• 1819 – Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese-French poet and educator (b. 1734)
• 1822 – William Pinkney, American politician and diplomat, 7th United States Attorney General (b. 1764)
• 1841 – Philip P. Barbour, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1783)
• 1850 – Daoguang Emperor of China (b. 1782)
• 1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and lyricist (b. 1779)
• 1865 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (b. 1813)
• 1870 – Henrik Hertz, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1797)
• 1877 – Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
• 1878 – Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1804)
• 1899 – Paul Reuter, German-English journalist and businessman, founded Reuters (b. 1816)

1901–present

• 1906 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1861)
• 1910 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter and educator (b. 1820)
• 1911 – Friedrich Spielhagen, German author, theorist, and translator (b. 1829)
• 1912 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
• 1914 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (b. 1820)
• 1915 – Charles Edwin Bessey, American botanist, author, and academic (b. 1845)
• 1920 – Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, French archaeologist and engineer (b. 1844)
• 1928 – William O'Brien, Irish journalist and politician (b. 1852)
• 1934 – Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, American botanist and academic (b. 1857)
• 1934 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
• 1945 – Mário de Andrade, Brazilian author, poet, and photographer (b. 1893)
• 1950 – George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
• 1953 – Sergei Winogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian microbiologist and ecologist (b. 1856)
• 1954 – Joseph Beech, American Methodist missionary and educator (b. 1867)
• 1957 – Mark Aldanov, Russian author and critic (b. 1888)
• 1957 – Bugs Moran, American mob boss (b. 1893)
• 1963 – Melville J. Herskovits, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1895)
• 1964 – Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1887)
• 1964 – Grace Metalious, American author (b. 1924)
• 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (b. 1903)
• 1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
• 1972 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (b. 1889)
• 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (b. 1897)
• 1978 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (b. 1920)
• 1980 – Robert Hayden, American poet and academic (b. 1913)
• 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (b. 1911)
• 1996 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (b. 1940)
• 1997 – Andrei Sinyavsky, Russian journalist and publisher (b. 1925)
• 1998 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 2001 – A. R. Ammons, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Don Bradman, Australian international cricketer; holder of world record batting average (b. 1908)
• 2005 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Hans Raj Khanna, Indian judge and advocate; upholder of civil liberties (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Ihsan Dogramaci, Turkish pediatrician and academic (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
• 2015 – Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1930)
• 2015 – Ariel Camacho, Mexican musician and singer-songwriter; (b. 1992)
• 2015 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic; noted ichthyologist (b. 1922)
• 2017 – Bill Paxton, American actor and filmmaker (b. 1955)
• 2020 – Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1924)
• 2022 – Farrah Forke, American actress (b. 1968)
• 2022 – Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator (b. 1927)
• 2023 – Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast days:
  • Æthelberht of Kent
  • Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás
  • Gerland of Agrigento
  • John Roberts, writer and missionary (Anglican Communion)
  • Hamburg Matthiae-mahl, feast of Hanseatic League cities on the mediaeval first day of spring
  • Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani
  • Blessed Robert of Arbrissel, founder of Fontevraud Abbey
  • Saint Walpurga (she was canonised on 1 May c. 870 and Walpurgis Night is celebrated 30 April)
  • February 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Kitano Baika-sai or "Plum Blossom Festival" (Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine, Kyoto, Japan)
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships (Hungary)
• National Day (Kuwait)
• People Power Day (Philippines)
• Revolution Day in Suriname
• Soviet Occupation Day (Georgia)

External links

• "On This Day". BBC.
• The New York Times: On This Day
• "Historical Events on February 25". OnThisDay.com.