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)