January 25th in History
On this day in history —
- The Senate accepts Claudius as Emperor (41)
- Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter and subsequently becomes a popular wedding processional (1858)
- Nellie Bly completes her around-the-world journey in 72 days (1890)
- Alexander Graham Bell places the first US transcontinental telephone call (1915)
- World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends (1945)
- JFK conducts the first live presidential press conference (1961)
- Charles Manson and three associates are found guilty of the Tate-LaBianca murders (1971)
- Idi Amin becomes president of Uganda (1971)
It’s the birthday of —
- Messalina, wife of the emperor Claudius (17)
- Robert Boyle, first modern chemist (1627)
- Robert Burns, poet (1759)
- William Colgate, founder of Colgate-Palmolive (1783)
- W. Somerset Maugham, writer (1874)
- Virginia Woolf, writer (1882)
- Ewan MacColl, folk singer (1915)
- Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian politician (1928)
- Dean Jones, actor (1931)
- Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician (1933)
- Etta James, singer-songwriter (1938)
- Gregory Sierra, actor (1941)
- Tobe Hooper, filmmaker (1943)
- John Leslie, porn star (1945)
- Alicia Keys, singer-songwriter (1981)
Deaths —
- Al Capone, mob boss (1947)
- Adele Astaire, dancer (1981)
- Philip Johnson, architect (2005)
Holidays and Celebrations —
- Burns Night (Scottish people)
- 2001 Revolution Day (Egypt)
- National Police Day (Egypt)
- National Voters’ Day (India)
- Tatiana Day (Russian Orthodox)
Informal and made-up holidays include A Room of One’s Own Day, Macintosh Computer Day, National Irish Coffee Day, and Opposite Day.
(*O.S., or Old Style, when used, refers to the fact that Russia did not convert from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar until 1918.)