April 25th in History

First guillotine execution, April 25, 1792
Today in History
- The Peloponnesian War ends with Sparta and its allies defeating the Athenian empire (404 BCE)
- The first execution by guillotine takes place (1792 CE)
- The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, is composed (1792 CE)
- Charles Fremantle and HMS Challenger reach western Australia (1829 CE)
- The groundbreaking ceremony for the Suez Canal takes place (1859 CE)
- Spanish-American War: The US declares war on Spain (1898 CE)
- New York becomes the first US state to require license plates on automobiles (1901 CE)
- World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins (1915 CE)
- World War II: US and Soviet troops meet along the River Elbe (1945 CE)
- World War II: The Nazi occupation army in Northern Italy surrenders; the puppet fascist regime dissolves, and Benito Mussolini flees (1945 CE)
- The United Nations conference in San Francisco begins (1945 CE)
- Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish their first article on the double helix structure of DNA (1953 CE)
- Party chairman Ю́рий Андро́пов (Yuri Andropov) invites American schoolgirl Samantha Smith to visit the Soviet Union as a result of her letter about nuclear war (1983 CE)
- Pioneer 10 crosses the orbit of Pluto (1983 CE)
Birthdays
- Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector (1599)
- Guglielmo Marconi, telegraphy pioneer (1874)
- William J. Brennan, Jr., supreme jurist (1906)
- Edward R. Murrow, radio and television journalist (1908)
- Mort Weisinger, comic book editor (1915)
- Ella Fitzgerald, singer (1917)
- Robert Q. Lewis, game show host (1920)
- Albert King, blues guitarist (192)
- Paul Mazursky, filmmaker (1930)
- Meadowlark Lemon, globetrotting basketball player (1932)
- Al Pacino, actor (1940)
- Talia Shire, actress (1946)
- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, economist (1949)
- Dinesh D’Souza, political commentator (1961)
- Hank Azaria, actor and voice artist (1964)
- Renée Zellweger, actress (1969)
Deaths
- Anders Celsius, temperature namesake (1744)
- William Cowper, poet (1800)
- Anna Sewell, Black Beauty author (1878)
- George Herriman, Krazy Kat cartoonist (1944)
- George Sanders, actor (1972)
- Clifford D. Simak, science fiction writer (1988)
- Valerie Solanas, author and activist (1988)
- Art Fleming, game show host (1995)
- Ginger Rogers, actress, singer, dancer (1995)
- David Merrick, filmmaker (2000)
- Bobby “Boris” Pickett, singer-songwriter (2007)
- Bea Arthur, actress (2009)
- Dorothy Provine, actress, singer, dancer (2010)
Holidays and Celebrations
- ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand)
- Arbor Day (Germany)
- DNA Day (scientific community)
- Flag Day (Faroe Islands and Swaziland)
- Freedom Day (Portugal)
- Liberation Day (Italy)
- Malaria Awareness Day (worldwide)
- Military Foundation Day (North Korea)
- Parental Alienation Awareness Day (Canada, Bermuda, 17 US states)
- Red Hat Society Day (Red Hat Society, worldwide)
- Robigalia (ancient Rome)
- Sinai’s Liberation Day (Egypt)
Informal and made-up holidays include East Meets West Day (US sports teams), Hug a Plumber Day, National Hairball Awareness Day, National Zucchini Bread Day, Malaria Awareness Day, and World Penguin Day.
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April 25 is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years). There are 250 days remaining until the end of the year.