April 25: Encyclopedia - April 25

April 25

April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). There are 250 days remaining.

April 25 - Events

• 1607 - Eighty Years' War: Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
• 1707 - An Allied Austrian army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
• 1719 - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is published.
• 1792 - Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
• 1792 - "La Marseillaise" (French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
• 1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.
• 1847 - The last survivors of the are out of the wilderness. See Donner Party for basic story and commentary on cannibalism; see Donner Party timeline for detailed chronology.
• 1849 - The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
• 1859 - Ground is broken for the Suez Canal.
• 1862 - American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Mark's Mills – Confederate forces seize a Union wagon supply train on its way to Camden, Arkansas forcing Union General Frederick Steele to withdraw his troops to Little Rock, Arkansas.
• 1881 - Caulfield Grammar School is founded in Melbourne, Australia.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
• 1901 - New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
• 1915 - The ANZAC tradition begins during World War I with a landing at Gallipoli on the Turkish coast.
• 1916 - Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.
• 1916 - ANZAC Day commemorated for the first time.
• 1926 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name Reza Pahlavi.
• 1938 - U.S. Supreme Court delivers opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
• 1940 - The Faroese flag Merkið is made the official flag for the Faroe Islands.
• 1943 - The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket was instituted.
• 1944 - The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
• 1945 - Elbe Day: United States and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe.
• 1945 - Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.
• 1953 - Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.
• 1959 - The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
• 1961 - Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
• 1974 - Carnation Revolution: A coup in Portugal restores democracy.
• 1975 - As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
• 1981 - More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
• 1982 - Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
• 1983 - American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
• 1983 - Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.
• 1988 - In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. He was accused of being a notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp known as "Ivan the Terrible" by survivors.
• 1989 - James Richardson is freed from a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of his seven children.
• 1993 - 300,000 gay, lesbian, transgender, and allied activists march on Washington, DC demanding freedom from discrimination.
• 2005 - The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
• 2005 - Bulgaria and Romania sign ascession treaties gaining entrance into the European Union.
• 2005 - 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.

April 25 - Births

• 32 - Marcus Salvius Otho, Roman Emperor (d. 69)
• 1214 - King Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
• 1228 - Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
• 1284 - King Edward II of England (d. 1327)
• 1287 - Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, de factor ruler of England (d. 1330)
• 1502 - Georg Major, German protestant theologian (d. 1574)
• 1545 - Yi Sun Shin, Korean admiral (d. 1598)
• 1599 - Oliver Cromwell, English statesman (d. 1658)
• 1608 - Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (d. 1660)
• 1621 - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, British soldier, statesman, and dramatist (d. 1679)
• 1694 - Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (d. 1753)
• 1710 - James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (d. 1776)
• 1725 - Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, British admiral (d. 1786)
• 1767 - Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (d. 1847)
• 1770 - Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist (d. 1850)
• 1840 (O.S.) - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893)
• 1849 - Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)
• 1874 - Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1937)
• 1900 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1902 - Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)
• 1903 - Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1987)
• 1906 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1997)
• 1908 - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
• 1911 - Jack Ruby, American assassin (d. 1967)
• 1914 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)
• 1917 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
• 1918 - Gerard Henri de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer (d. 1995)
• 1921 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter
• 1923 - Albert King, American musician
• 1925 - Sammy Drechsel, German journalist, film director, and cabaret performer (d. 1986)
• 1925 - Kay E. Kuter, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1927 - Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist
• 1930 - Paul Mazursky, American film director and writer
• 1932 - Meadlowlark Lemon, American basketball player
• 1933 - Jerry Leiber, American composer
• 1940 - Al Pacino, American actor
• 1945 - Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer and songwriter (ABBA)
• 1946 - Talia Shire, American actress
• 1946 - Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician
• 1947 - Johann Cruyff, Dutch footballer
• 1949 - Vicente Pernía, Argentine footballer
• 1950 - Steve Ferrone, British drummer
• 1952 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist
• 1960 - Bruce Redman, Australian Film Producer
• 1964 - Hank Azaria, American actor
• 1964 - Andy Bell, British singer and songwriter (band Erasure)
• 1965 - Eric Avery, American musician (Jane's Addiction)
• 1969 - Joe Buck, baseball and American football broadcaster
• 1969 - Darren Woodson, American football player
• 1969 - Renée Zellweger, American actress
• 1970 - Jason Lee, American actor
• 1973 - Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer (Millencolin)
• 1976 - Tim Duncan, West Indian basketball player
• 1976 - Rainer Schuettler, German tennis player
• 1989 - Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama
• 1996 - Allisyn Ashley Arm, American actress

April 25 - Deaths

• 1185 - Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
• 1265 - Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, English Crusader
• 1295 - King Sancho IV of Castile
• 1472 - Leon Battista Alberti, Italian artist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
• 1516 - John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
• 1566 - Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)
• 1566 - Louise Labé, French poet
• 1595 - Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (b. 1544)
• 1605 - Naresuan, King of Siam (b. 1555)
• 1644 - Chongzhen, Emperor of China (b 1611)
• 1660 - Henry Hammond, English churchman (b. 1605)
• 1690 - David Teniers the Younger, Flemish artist (b. 1610)
• 1744 - Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (b. 1701)
• 1770 - Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot and physicist (b. 1700)
• 1800 - William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
• 1840 - Siméon-Denis Poisson, French mathematician (b. 1781)
• 1878 - Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
• 1911 - Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
• 1937 - Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b.1857)
• 1943 - Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (b. 1858)
• 1968 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
• 1972 - George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)
• 1982 - John Cardinal Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
• 1990 - Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist (b. 1923)
• 1995 - Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)
• 1995 - Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer (b. 1911)
• 1996 - Saul Bass, American graphics designer (b. 1920)
• 1998 - Morris Wright, American writer (b. 1910)
• 1999 - Lord Killanin, Irish International Olympic Committee president (b. 1914)
• 2000 - David Merrick, American theatrical producer (b. 1911)
• 2001 - Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
• 2002 - Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)
• 2003 - Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. (1966)
• 2005 - Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk and president of the Ramakrishna Mission (b. (1908)

April 25 - Holidays and observances

• ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand)
• Carnation Revolution commemorated in Portugal (National Holiday)
• Festa della Liberazione, (Italy), annual commemoration to mark the liberation of Italy at the end of the Second World War.
• Faroe Islands - National Flag Day
• Swaziland - National Flag Day
• Easter Sunday - 1886, 1943, 2038. In the Gregorian Calendar 25th April is the latest date on which Easter Sunday can fall (22nd March is the earliest)
• Feast day of St Mark
• Rastafari movement - Celebration of Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica
• Roman Empire - Robigalia in honor of Robigus
• Official Red Hat Society day
• Alice Day - a holiday celebrated by some pedophiles

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "April 25", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki