April 25
April 25 is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 250 days remain until the end of the year.
It is also the latest possible day that Easter can occur.
Events
- 1607 - Eighty Years' War: Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
- 1707 - The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
- 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.
- 1829 - Charles Fremantle arrives in the HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
- 1846 - Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.
- 1847 - The last survivors of the Donner Party are out of the wilderness.
- 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.
- 1861 - American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut capture the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Marks' Mills.
- 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 invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula during World War I by Australian, British, French and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
- 1916 - Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.
- 1916 - ANZAC Day commemorated for the first time, on the first anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove.
- 1926 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name Reza Shah Pahlavi.
- 1926 - Giacomo Puccini's Turandot is performed for the first time under Arturo Toscanini's conduction.
- 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 - The U.S. Army blows the swastika from the top of the Zeppelintribüne.
- 1945 - General partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement. Nazi occupation army leaves Northern Italy. This day is taken as symbol of Liberation of Italy.
- 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.
- 1966 - Tashkent city was destroyed by a huge earthquake.
- 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 leftist military coup in Portugal restores democracy after more than forty years as a corporate fascist state.
- 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.
- 1986 - Mswati III was crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
- 1988 - In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
- 1990 - The Hubble Telescope was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery into orbit.
- 1989 - James Richardson is freed from a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of his seven children.
- 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 accession treaties gaining entrance into the European Union.
- 2005 - 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.
- 2007 - Boris Yeltsin's funeral - the first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
- 2007 - The Dow Jones Industrial hit 13,000 for the first time in history, closing at 13,089.89
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 facto 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)
- 1775 - Charlotte of Spain, Spanish Infanta and queen of Portugal (d. 1830)
- 1776 - Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
- 1843 - Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse (d. 1878)
- 1849 - Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)
- 1851 - Leopoldo Alas y Ureña, a.k.a. "Clarín", Spanish novelist (d. 1901)
- 1874 - Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1937)
- 1897 - Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
- 1898 - Fred Haney, baseball player (d. 1977)
- 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)
- 1905 - George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1986)
- 1906 - William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1997)
- 1908 - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
- 1909 - William Pereira, American architect (d. 1985)
- 1914 - Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)
- 1917 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
- 1918 - Gerard Henri de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer (d. 1995)
- 1918 - Astrid Varnay, Swedish-born soprano (d. 2006)
- 1921 - Karel Appel, Dutch painter (d. 2006)
- 1923 - Albert King, American musician (d. 1992)
- 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
- 1929 - Yvette Williams First New Zealander to go to olympics
- 1930 - Paul Mazursky, American film director and writer
- 1931 - Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician (d. 1980)
- 1932 - William Roache, British television actor (Coronation Street)
- 1932 - Meadowlark Lemon, American basketball player
- 1933 - Jerry Leiber, American composer
- 1934 - Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer
- 1935 - April Ashley, English model
- 1938 - Ton Schulten, Dutch artist
- 1939 - Ted Kooser, American poet and US Poet Laureate
- 1940 - Al Pacino, American actor
- 1941 - Bertrand Tavernier, French director, screenwriter and actor
- 1941 - Princess Muna al-Hussein, of Jordan
- 1942 - Jon Kyl, American politician
- 1945 - Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer and songwriter (ABBA)
- 1945 - Stu Cook, American rock bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
- 1946 - Talia Shire, American actress
- 1946 - Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician
- 1947 - Johan Cruijff, Dutch footballer
- 1947 - Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
- 1948 - Yu Shyi-kun, former Premier of Taiwan
- 1949 - Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician
- 1949 - Vicente Pernía, Argentine footballer
- 1950 - Steve Ferrone, British drummer
- 1951 - Ian McCartney, British Member of Parliament
- 1952 - Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist
- 1952 - Vladislav Tretiak, Soviet ice hockey player
- 1955 - Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor
- 1955 - Américo Gallego, Argentine footballer
- 1956 - Jaroslava Schallerová, Hungarian actress
- 1958 - Fish, Scottish singer and lyricist (ex-Marillion)
- 1959 - Dominique Blanc, French actress
- 1960 - Bruce Redman, Australian film producer
- 1964 - Hank Azaria, American actor
- 1964 - Andy Bell, British singer and songwriter (band Erasure)
- 1964 - Wisit Sasanatieng, Thai film director
- 1965 - Eric Avery, American musician (Jane's Addiction, Deconstruction, Polar Bear)
- 1965 - Simon Fowler, English musician (Ocean Colour Scene)
- 1966 - James Stacy Barbour, American actor and singer
- 1969 - Joe Buck, American sports broadcaster
- 1969 - Gina Torres, American actress
- 1969 - Darren Woodson, American football player
- 1969 - Renée Zellweger, American actress
- 1970 - Jason Lee, American actor
- 1970 - Tionne Watkins, American singer (TLC)
- 1971 - Tomoko Kawakami, (Voice Actress), Japanese Seiyuu
- 1973 - Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer (Millencolin)
- 1975 - Emily Bergl, English-American actress
- 1975 - Jacque Jones, American baseball player
- 1976 - Tim Duncan, American basketball player
- 1976 - Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player
- 1976 - Gilberto, Brazilian footballer
- 1977 - Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer
- 1977 - Marguerite Moreau, American actress
- 1977 - Matthew West, American Christian singer
- 1977 - Ilias Kotsios, Greek footballer
- 1978 - Letícia Birkheuer, Brazilian model
- 1980 - Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
- 1980 - Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
- 1981 - Felipe Massa, Brazilian Formula One driver
- 1981 - Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
- 1982 - Monty Panesar, English cricketer
- 1983 - DeAngelo Williams, American football player
- 1983 - J.P. Howell, American baseball player
- 1984 - Andre' Woodson, American football quarterback
- 1985 - Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver
- 1987 - Johann Smith, American footballer
- 1988 - Sara Paxton, American actress
- 1988 - James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1989 - Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama
- 1989 - Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
- 1996 - Allisyn Ashley Arm, American child actress
- 1996 - Amanda- American Angel (who's favorite song is LADEEDEEEEEDUHDUH ON THE STEREREREREREOOO
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, Emperor of China (b. 1611)
- 1660 - Henry Hammond, English churchman (b. 1605)
- 1690 - David Teniers the Younger, Flemish artist (b. 1610)
- 1740 - Shrimant Baji Rao Vishwanath Bhat, also known as Baji Rao I, a general and Peshwa (b. 1699)
- 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)
- 1843 - Edward Drummond, British civil servant
- 1878 - Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
- 1891 - Nathaniel Woodard, English educationalist (b. 1811)
- 1892 - Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (b. 1840)
- 1911 - Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
- 1915 - Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
- 1923 - Louis-Olivier Taillon, Quebec politician (b. 1840)
- 1928 - Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1878)
- 1937 - Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b. 1857)
- 1943 - Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (b. 1858)
- 1944 - Tony Mullane, Irish-born American baseball player (b. 1859)
- 1968 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
- 1972 - George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)
- 1975 - Mike Brant, Israeli singer (b. 1947)
- 1976 - Carol Reed, British film producer and director (b. 1906)
- 1980 - Katia Mann, wife of German writer Thomas Mann (b. 1883)
- 1982 - John Cardinal Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
- 1990 - Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist (b. 1923)
- 1992 - Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
- 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 - Wright Morris, American writer (b. 1910)
- 1999 - Lord Killanin, Irish International Olympic Committee president (b. 1914)
- 2000 - David Merrick, American theatrical producer (b. 1911)
- 2000 - Lucien le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)
- 2001 - Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
- 2002 - Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)
- 2002 - Lisa Lopes, American rapper (TLC) (b. 1971)
- 2003 - Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. 1966)
- 2004 - Thom Gunn, British poet (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk (b. 1908)
- 2006 - Jane Jacobs, American-born Canadian urbanist (b. 1916)
- 2007 - Alan Ball, English footballer (b. 1945)
- 2007 - Bobby "Boris" Pickett, American singer and songwriter (b. 1938)
- 2007 - Arthur Milton, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances
- ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand).
- Faroe Islands - National Flag Day.
- Festa della Liberazione, (Italy), annual commemoration to mark the liberation of Italy at the end of the Second World War.
- Official Red Hat Society day.
- Portugal - Carnation Revolution in commemoration to the end of the fascist dictatorship (National holiday).
- Rastafari movement - Celebration of Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica.
- Roman Empire - Robigalia in honor of Robigus.
- Sinai Liberation Day, (Egypt), Celebrates the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai peninsula.
- Swaziland - National Flag Day.
- Valencian National Day, commemorated after the Franco-Spanish conquest of the Kingdom of Valencia during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Liturgical Feast days
- Easter Sunday - 1886, 1943, 2038. In the Gregorian Calendar 25 April is the latest date on which Easter Sunday can fall (22 March is the earliest).
- Saint Mark the Evangelist
- Saint Anianus