History of Today in India – 25 February

Explore the history of today 25 February in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 25 February 2026, 04:24 AM

📜 Important Events on 25 February in World History

• 25 Feb 2016: Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston. Read more
• 25 Feb 2015: At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan. Read more
• 25 Feb 2009: Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials. Read more
• 25 Feb 2009: Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashed during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots. Read more
• 25 Feb 1999: Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four. Read more
• 25 Feb 1994: American-Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein commits a mass shooting at the Cave of the Patriarchs mausoleum, leaving 29 dead and over 100 injured before he was disarmed and beaten to death by survivors. Read more
• 25 Feb 1991: Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest. Read more
• 25 Feb 1986: People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines' first female president. Read more
• 25 Feb 1980: The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse. Read more
• 25 Feb 1956: In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin. Read more
• 25 Feb 1951: The first Pan American Games are officially opened in Buenos Aires by Argentine President Juan Perón. Read more
• 25 Feb 1948: In a coup d'état led by Klement Gottwald, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Prague to end the Third Czechoslovak Republic. Read more
• 25 Feb 1947: The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932. Read more
• 25 Feb 1947: Soviet NKVD forces in Hungary abduct Béla Kovács—secretary-general of the majority Independent Smallholders' Party—and deport him to the USSR in defiance of Parliament. His arrest is an important turning point in the Communist takeover of Hungary. Read more
• 25 Feb 1941: The outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands organises a general strike in German-occupied Amsterdam to protest against Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews. Read more
• 25 Feb 1939: As part of British air raid precautions, the first of 2.5 million Anderson shelters is constructed in a garden in Islington, north London. Read more
• 25 Feb 1933: Launch of the USS Ranger at Newport News, Virginia. It is the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned by the US Navy. Read more
• 25 Feb 1932: Adolf Hitler, having been stateless for seven years, obtains German citizenship when he is appointed a Brunswick state official by Dietrich Klagges, a fellow Nazi. As a result, Hitler is able to run for Reichspräsident in the 1932 election. Read more
• 25 Feb 1921: Georgian capital Tbilisi falls to the invading Russian forces after heavy fighting and the Russians declare the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Read more
• 25 Feb 1918: World War I: German forces capture Tallinn to virtually complete the occupation of Estonia. Read more
• 25 Feb 1916: World War I: In the Battle of Verdun, a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight. Read more
• 25 Feb 1912: Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Read more
• 25 Feb 1875: Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency. Read more
• 25 Feb 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress. Read more
• 25 Feb 1843: Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair. Read more
• 25 Feb 1836: Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 25 February in World History

• 25 Feb 2005: Noah Jupe, English actor Noah Casford Jupe is a British actor. As a child actor, he gained recognition for his roles in the television series The Night Manager and The Undoing (2020). He also appeared in a number of films of this period, including the dark comedy Suburbicon (2017), the drama Wonder (2017), the horror film A Quiet Place (2018) and its sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2021), and the sports drama Ford v Ferrari (2019). Read more
• 25 Feb 2004: Tyler Sanders, American actor (died 2022) Tyler Sanders was an American child actor. Read more
• 25 Feb 2003: Brandin Podziemski, American basketball player Brandin Thomas Podziemski is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Podz" or "Airpodz", he played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Santa Clara Broncos. Read more
• 25 Feb 2001: Vernon Carey Jr., American basketball player Vernon A. Carey Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. He finished his high school career at NSU University School as a five-star recruit and among the top-ranked players in the 2019 class. Read more
• 25 Feb 2000: Bo Nix, American football player Bo Chapman Nix is an American professional football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played his first three seasons of college football for the Auburn Tigers, winning SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019. During his last two seasons, Nix was a member of the Oregon Ducks and won Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 after leading the FBS in passing touchdowns. Read more
• 25 Feb 1999: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian footballer Gianluigi Donnarumma is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester City and captains the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Read more
• 25 Feb 1999: Rocky, South Korean singer, dancer and songwriter Park Min-hyuk, known professionally as Rocky (라키), is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter and actor. He was a member of the South Korean boy group Astro and its duo subunit Jinjin & Rocky with leader Jinjin. As an actor, he has starred in drama series Soul Plate (2019), Find Me If You Can (2021), Hyangjeon of Youth (2021), and Broke Rookie Star (2022). He also played in the Korean interpretation of the musical drama The Three Musketeers (2022). He founded his own agency, Wonijin Entertainment, in August 2023. Read more
• 25 Feb 1997: Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress Isabelle Fuhrman is an American actress. She is known for her breakthrough role as Esther in the horror film Orphan (2009) and its prequel Orphan: First Kill (2022). She played Clove in the dystopian adventure film The Hunger Games (2012), Alex in the independent film The Novice (2021), and Diamond in the Western film series Horizon: An American Saga (2024–present). Read more
• 25 Feb 1997: Thon Maker, South Sudanese-Australian basketball player Thon Marial Maker is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for Al-Ula of the Saudi Basketball League. He attended high school at Orangeville District Secondary School and played basketball for Canada's Athlete Institute. He was picked 10th overall in the 2016 NBA draft, and played for three different NBA teams between 2016 and 2021. Read more
• 25 Feb 1995: Mario Hezonja, Croatian basketball player Mario Hezonja is a Croatian professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Croatian national team in international competition. He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Read more
• 25 Feb 1995: Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgarian tennis player Viktoriya Konstantinova Tomova is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46 on 29 July 2024. Her best doubles ranking is No. 137, achieved on 8 September 2025. Tomova is the current No. 1 Bulgarian female singles player. Read more
• 25 Feb 1994: Fred VanVleet, American basketball player Fredderick Edmund VanVleet Sr. is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also the current president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Read more
• 25 Feb 1993: Erick Fedde, American baseball player Erick James Fedde is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Milwaukee Brewers, and in the KBO League for the NC Dinos. He played college baseball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Read more
• 25 Feb 1993: Lukáš Sedlák, Czech ice hockey player Lukáš Sedlák is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is a forward for HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). Sedlak was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the sixth round, 158th overall, of the 2011 NHL entry draft. Read more
• 25 Feb 1992: Joakim Nordström, Swedish ice hockey player Joakim Nordström is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre who is currently playing with HC Davos of the National League (NL). He won the World Championships in 2017 with Sweden and the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. He was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round, 90th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He is the brother of Dennis Nordström. Read more
• 25 Feb 1992: Jorge Soler, Cuban baseball player Jorge Carlos Soler Castillo is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, and San Francisco Giants. Read more
• 25 Feb 1990: Félix Peña, Dominican baseball player Félix Ricardo Peña is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels, and in the KBO League for the Hanwha Eagles and in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) for the Uni-President Lions. He made his MLB debut in 2016. Read more
• 25 Feb 1989: Jimmer Fredette, American basketball player James Taft "Jimmer" Fredette is an American former professional basketball player who serves as the managing director of the USA Basketball 3×3 Men’s National Team. Fredette was the 2011 National Player of the Year in college basketball, after ranking as the leading scorer in all of NCAA Division I during his senior season for the BYU Cougars. He was subsequently selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. Read more
• 25 Feb 1989: Kana Hanazawa, Japanese voice actress and singer Kana Hanazawa is a Japanese actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 2003. She won the Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype Anime Awards for Best Voice Actress three times in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Read more
• 25 Feb 1989: E'Twaun Moore, American basketball player E'Twaun Donte Moore is an American former professional basketball player who is a scout for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 2011 NBA draft after playing college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. In high school, he led East Chicago's Central High School to an IHSAA state championship. Read more
• 25 Feb 1988: Tom Marshall, English photo colouriser and artist Tom Marshall is a British model maker, voice actor, director and image editor known for his colourisations of historical black and white photographs, often working under the name PhotograFix. He is a scale model maker with his model company Buggleskelly Station. Read more
• 25 Feb 1988: Gerald McCoy, American football player Gerald Keith McCoy Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the third overall pick of the 2010 NFL draft. McCoy has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times, and was selected to one First-team All-Pro. Read more
• 25 Feb 1987: Justin Abdelkader, American ice hockey player Justin Abdelkader is an American former professional ice hockey winger. He played for the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as EV Zug and HC Lugano of the National League (NL). He was drafted 42nd overall by the Red Wings in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Read more
• 25 Feb 1986: Justin Berfield, American actor, writer, and producer Justin Tyler Berfield is an American writer, producer and actor. He is known for his portrayals of Reese on the family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle and Ross Malloy on The WB sitcom Unhappily Ever After. As of 2010, Berfield is Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Produced, a film and television development, packaging, and production company announced in 2010 by the Virgin Group. Read more
• 25 Feb 1986: Jameela Jamil, English actress and presenter Jameela Alia Jamil is a British actress, activist and presenter. She began her career on Channel 4, where she hosted a pop culture series in the T4 strand from 2009 until 2012. She then became the radio host of The Official Chart, and co-hosted The Official Chart Update alongside Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1. She was the first regular solo female presenter of the BBC Radio 1 chart show. Read more
• 25 Feb 1986: James Phelps, English actor James Andrew Eric Phelps and Oliver Martyn John Phelps are English actors, podcasters and identical twin brothers. They are known for playing Fred and George Weasley, respectively, in the Harry Potter film series from 2001 to 2011 and have continued to work together as a duo on other projects. Read more
• 25 Feb 1986: Oliver Phelps, English actor James Andrew Eric Phelps and Oliver Martyn John Phelps are English actors, podcasters and identical twin brothers. They are known for playing Fred and George Weasley, respectively, in the Harry Potter film series from 2001 to 2011 and have continued to work together as a duo on other projects. Read more
• 25 Feb 1985: Joakim Noah, French-American basketball player Joakim Simon Noah is a former professional basketball player. Born in New York, Noah was a member of the France national team and played college basketball for the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007. The Chicago Bulls selected Noah with the ninth overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Noah is a two-time NBA All-Star and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 2014 when he also was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Read more
• 25 Feb 1982: Maria Kanellis, American professional wrestler, actress, and model Mary Louis Kanellis-Bennett is an American professional wrestler, manager, promoter, singer and model. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, TNA, All Elite Wrestling, and Ring of Honor. Read more
• 25 Feb 1982: Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player Flavia Pennetta is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. She is a Grand Slam champion in both doubles and singles, having won the 2011 Australian Open women's doubles title with Gisela Dulko, and the 2015 US Open singles title over childhood friend Roberta Vinci in the first all-Italian major final. Read more
• 25 Feb 1982: Anton Volchenkov, Russian ice hockey player Anton Alexeyevich Volchenkov is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Read more
• 25 Feb 1981: Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer Park Ji-sung is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in the South Korean capital of Seoul, Park is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful Asian players in football history, having won 19 trophies in his career. He is the first Asian footballer to win the UEFA Champions League, play in a UEFA Champions League final, and win the FIFA Club World Cup. Park was able to play anywhere across the midfield and was noted for his exceptional fitness level, discipline, work ethic and off-the-ball movement. His remarkable endurance levels earned him the nickname "Three-Lung" Park. Read more
• 25 Feb 1980: Kash Patel, American lawyer, former federal prosecutor and official Kashyap Pramod Patel is an American lawyer serving since 2025 as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Patel also served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from February to April 2025. Read more
• 25 Feb 1979: Napoleon Harris, American football player and politician Napoleon Bill Harris III is an American politician and former professional football player who has been a member of the Illinois Senate representing the 15th district since 2013. The 15th district stretches from Blue Island in the north, Calumet City in the east, Homewood in the west, Steger in the south, and includes all or parts of Crete-Monee, Dolton, Flossmoor, Glenwood, Thornton, Dixmoor, Markham, Midlothian, Oak Forest, Harvey, Riverdale, and South Holland. Read more
• 25 Feb 1976: Rashida Jones, American actress and writer Rashida Leah Jones is an American actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her roles as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series Boston Public (2000–2002), Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series The Office, Ann Perkins on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015), and as the eponymous lead role in the TBS comedy series Angie Tribeca (2016–2019). Her accolades include a Grammy Award and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2025, she was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world. Read more
• 25 Feb 1976: Samaki Walker, American basketball player Samaki Ijuma Walker is an American former professional basketball power forward and center. Walker played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected in the 1996 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks, where he played until 1999. Walker continued to play for the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs (1999–2001), Los Angeles Lakers (2001–2003), Miami Heat (2003–2004), Washington Wizards (2004–2005), and Indiana Pacers (2005–2006). Afterwards, Walker played in various international and minor leagues. Read more
• 25 Feb 1975: Chelsea Handler, American comedian, actress, author, and television host Chelsea Joy Handler is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, television host, and producer. She hosted the late-night talk show Chelsea Lately on the E! network from 2007 to 2014 and released a documentary series, Chelsea Does, on Netflix in January 2016. From 2016 to 2017, Handler hosted the talk show Chelsea on Netflix. Read more
• 25 Feb 1974: Dominic Raab, English politician; First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Rennie Raab is a British former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from September 2021 to September 2022 and again from October 2022 to April 2023. He previously served as First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, Raab was Member of Parliament (MP) for Esher and Walton from 2010 to 2024. Read more
• 25 Feb 1973: Anson Mount, American actor Anson Adams Mount IV is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Cullen Bohannon in the AMC western drama series Hell on Wheels, as Jim Steele on the NBC series Conviction (2006), as the Marvel Comics superhero Black Bolt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, and as Captain Christopher Pike in the Star Trek television series Discovery, Short Treks (2019), and Strange New Worlds (2022–present). He also starred opposite Britney Spears in the coming-of-age film Crossroads (2002). He is a member of the board of directors of METI International. Read more
• 25 Feb 1971: Sean Astin, American actor, director and producer Sean Patrick Astin is an American actor and trade union leader who serves as the 4th national president of SAG-AFTRA. He began his career as a child actor, making his film debut as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies (1985), followed by significant roles as Billy Tepper in Toy Soldiers (1991), Dave Morgan in Encino Man (1992), Daniel Ruettiger in Rudy (1993), and Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003). Read more
• 25 Feb 1971: Daniel Powter, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician Daniel Richard Powter is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His 2005 pop single "Bad Day" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks. He was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards for "Bad Day" and won the Juno Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2006. Read more
• 25 Feb 1968: Lesley Boone, American actress and producer Lesley Boone is an American actress and producer, best known for her roles as Marlene Gilbert on the Fox sitcom Babes (1990–1991), as Molly Hudson in the NBC comedy-drama Ed (2000–2004) and as Rose Roberts in the ABC action-adventure show Agent Carter (2015–2016) included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Read more
• 25 Feb 1968: Oumou Sangaré, Malian musician Oumou Sangaré is a Malian Wassoulou singer of Fula descent. She is often referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou". Wassoulou is a historical region south of the Niger River, where the music descends from age-old traditional song, often accompanied by a calabash. Read more
• 25 Feb 1967: Ed Balls, English politician; Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Edward Michael Balls is a British broadcaster, economist and former politician. He served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to 2015. A member of Labour Co-op, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Normanton and later for Morley and Outwood between 2005 and 2015. Read more
• 25 Feb 1966: Alexis Denisof, American actor Alexis Denisof is an American actor, primarily known for playing Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. He also had a recurring role on How I Met Your Mother. His wife, Alyson Hannigan, starred in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and How I Met Your Mother. Read more
• 25 Feb 1966: Téa Leoni, American actress Téa Leoni is an American actress. Early in her career, she starred on the television sitcoms Flying Blind (1992–1993) and The Naked Truth (1995–1998). Her breakthrough role was in the 1995 film Bad Boys, which led to leading parts in Deep Impact (1998), The Family Man (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Spanglish (2004), and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). From 2014 to 2019, Leoni starred as Elizabeth McCord on the CBS drama series Madam Secretary. Read more
• 25 Feb 1965: Carrot Top, American comedian Scott Christopher Thompson, known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his use of prop comedy. Read more
• 25 Feb 1965: Veronica Webb, American model, actress, and writer Veronica Webb is an American model, writer, and television personality. Born in Detroit, she comes from the original generation of supermodels who helped transform fashion into a global conversation. She has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Essence, and Elle, and was a runway favorite for designers including Gianni Versace, Azzedine Alaïa, Isaac Mizrahi, and Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. In 1992, Webb made history as the first Black model to sign an exclusive cosmetics contract, joining Revlon and helping to expand the industry's definition of beauty. Beyond fashion, she has built a career as a writer and cultural commentator, contributing to The New York Times, Elle, and Interview. Her work explores beauty, wellness, and modern science through the lens of storytelling and self-discovery. Read more
• 25 Feb 1963: Paul O'Neill, American baseball player and sportscaster Paul Andrew O'Neill is an American former baseball right fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Cincinnati Reds (1985–1992) and New York Yankees (1993–2001). O'Neill compiled 281 home runs, 1,269 runs batted in, 2,107 hits, and a lifetime batting average of .288. He won the American League batting title in 1994 with a .359 average. He was a five-time World Series champion and a five-time All-Star. Read more
• 25 Feb 1962: Birgit Fischer, German kayaker Birgit Fischer is a German former kayaker, who has won eight gold medals over six different Olympic Games, a record she shares with Aladár Gerevich and Isabell Werth, spanning seven Olympiads: twice representing East Germany, then four times representing the reunited nation. After both the 1988 and 2000 games, she announced her retirement, only to return for the subsequent games. She has been both the youngest- and oldest-ever Olympic canoeing champion. In 2004, she was chosen as the German sportswoman of the year. Read more
• 25 Feb 1958: Kurt Rambis, Greek-American basketball player, coach, and executive Darrell Kurt Rambis is a Greek-American former professional basketball player and coach who is a senior basketball adviser for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he won four NBA championships while playing power forward for the Lakers. Rambis was a key member of the Showtime era Lakers and was extremely popular for his hard-nosed blue collar play. With his trademark black horn-rimmed glasses, Rambis complemented the flashy Hollywood style of the Showtime era Lakers. Read more
• 25 Feb 1957: Raymond McCreesh, Irish Republican, hunger striker (died 1981) Raymond McCreesh was an Irish volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In 1976, he and two other IRA volunteers were captured while attempting to ambush a British Army observation post. McCreesh was one of the ten Irish republicans who died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike in the Maze Prison. McCreesh was one of 22 Irish republicans who died on hunger-strike. Read more
• 25 Feb 1957: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singaporean economist and politician; 5th Senior Minister and 9th President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam is a Singaporean politician and economist who has been the current and ninth President of Singapore since 2023. Read more
• 25 Feb 1953: José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004 José María Aznar López is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. Read more
• 25 Feb 1953: John Doe, American musician, singer-songwriter, actor, and poet John Nommensen Duchac, known professionally as John Doe, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet, guitarist and bass player. Doe co-founded LA punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span rock, punk, country and folk music genres. As an actor, he has dozens of television appearances and several movies to his credit, including the role of Jeff Parker in the television series Roswell. Read more
• 25 Feb 1952: Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcyclist (died 2000) William Joseph Dunlop was a Northern Irish roadracing motorcyclist from Ballymoney, County Antrim. In 2015, he was voted Northern Ireland's greatest-ever sports star. Read more
• 25 Feb 1951: Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter and coach Donald O'Riley Quarrie CD is a Jamaican former track and field athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s. At the 1976 Summer Olympics he was the gold medallist in the Olympic 200 meters and silver medallist in the Olympic 100 meters. In all, he competed in five Olympic Games and won four Olympic medals during his career. Read more
• 25 Feb 1950: Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish skier (died 2006) Francisco "Paquito" Fernández Ochoa was a World Cup alpine ski racer from Spain. Born in Madrid and raised north of the city in Cercedilla, he was the eldest of eight children whose father ran a ski school. Paquito raced in all of the alpine disciplines and specialized in slalom. Read more
• 25 Feb 1950: Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter and author Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and writer. His short story collection, Night in Tunisia, won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. After a stint working at RTÉ, he made his directorial debut with the 1982 film Angel. Read more
• 25 Feb 1950: Néstor Kirchner, Argentine politician; 51st President of Argentina (died 2010) Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, and mayor of Río Gallegos from 1987 to 1991. He later served as first gentleman of Argentina during the early tenure of his wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first person to serve in this role. Ideologically, he identified himself as a Peronist and a progressive, with his political approach called Kirchnerism. Read more
• 25 Feb 1949: Ric Flair, American professional wrestler Richard Morgan Fliehr, known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. As of November 2023, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in a legends role for special appearances. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair's career spanned fifty years. Read more
• 25 Feb 1949: Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author Amin Maalouf is a Lebanese-born French author who has lived in France since 1976. Although his native language is Arabic, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into over 40 languages. Read more
• 25 Feb 1947: Lee Evans, American sprinter and athletics coach (died 2021) Lee Edward Evans was an American sprinter. He won two gold medals in the 1968 Summer Olympics, setting world records in the 400 meters and the 4 × 400 meters relay, both of which stood for 20 and 24 years respectively. Evans co-founded the Olympic Project for Human Rights and was part of the athlete's boycott and the Black Power movement. Read more
• 25 Feb 1946: Jean Todt, French racing driver and team manager Jean Henri Todt is a French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver. He was previously director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive officer of Ferrari from 2004 to 2008. From 2009 to 2021 he served as the ninth president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Read more
• 25 Feb 1944: François Cevert, French racing driver (died 1973) Albert François Cevert was a French racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1969 to 1973. Cevert won the 1971 United States Grand Prix with Tyrrell. Read more
• 25 Feb 1943: George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer (died 2001) George Harrison was an English musician who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Known as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison played a significant role in shaping the band's musical direction and later established a successful solo career, particularly through his interest in non-Western musical influences. Read more
• 25 Feb 1942: Karen Grassle, American actress Karen Grassle is an American actress, known for her role as Caroline Ingalls in the NBC television drama series Little House on the Prairie. Read more
• 25 Feb 1941: David Puttnam, English film producer and academic David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Midnight Express and Memphis Belle. In 1982, he received the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, and in 2006 he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Read more
• 25 Feb 1940: Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2010) Ronald Edward Santo was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and the Chicago White Sox in 1974. In 1990, Santo became a member of the Cubs broadcasting team providing commentary for Cubs games on WGN radio and remained at that position until his death in 2010. In 1999, he was selected to the Cubs All-Century Team. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012. Read more
• 25 Feb 1938: Diane Baker, American actress and producer Diane Carol Baker is an American actress, producer, and educator. Read more
• 25 Feb 1938: Herb Elliott, Australian athlete Herbert James Elliott is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle-distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the record held by Derek Ibbotson; later in the month he set the 1500 metres world record, running 3:36.0, 2.1 seconds under the record held by Stanislav Jungwirth. In the 1500 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics, he won the gold medal and bettered his own world record with a time of 3:35.6. Read more
• 25 Feb 1938: Farokh Engineer, Indian cricketer Farokh Maneksha Engineer is an Indian former cricketer. He was a wicket-keeper-batsman, usually an opening batsman, who represented India in 46 Test matches from 1961 to 1975. In first-class cricket, he played for Bombay from 1959/60 to 1974/75, for West Zone from 1961/62 to 1974/75, and for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1968 to 1976. He was the first-choice wicket-keeper for the Rest of the World team which toured England in 1970 and Australia in 1971–72. Engineer is the first Man of the Match for India in the Men's Cricket World Cup because of his performance against East Africa in the 1975 Cricket World Cup. Read more
• 25 Feb 1937: Tom Courtenay, English actor Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay is an English actor. A notable figure of the British New Wave, he has received numerous accolades including three BAFTAs, a Golden Globe, two Silver Bears, and a Volpi Cup, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was knighted for his services to cinema and theatre in the 2001 New Year Honours. Read more
• 25 Feb 1937: Bob Schieffer, American political author, journalist and TV interviewer Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all four of the major Washington national assignments: the White House, the Pentagon, United States Department of State, and United States Congress. His career with CBS has almost exclusively dealt with national politics. He has interviewed every United States President since Richard Nixon, as well as most of those who sought the office. Read more
• 25 Feb 1935: Tony Campolo, American sociologist and pastor (died 2024) Anthony Campolo Jr. was an American sociologist, Baptist pastor, author, public speaker, and spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Campolo was an influential leader in the evangelical left. Campolo was a popular commentator on religious, political, and social issues, and had been a guest on programs such as The Colbert Report, The Charlie Rose Show, Larry King Live, Nightline, Crossfire, Politically Incorrect and The Hour. Read more
• 25 Feb 1935: Oktay Sinanoglu, Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist (died 2015) Oktay Sinanoğlu was a Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist who made contributions to the theory of electron correlation in molecules, the statistical mechanics of clathrate hydrates, quantum chemistry, and the theory of solvation. Read more
• 25 Feb 1934: Tony Lema, American golfer (died 1966) Anthony David Lema was an American professional golfer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s and won a major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. He died two years later at age 32 in an aircraft accident near Chicago. Read more
• 25 Feb 1932: Tony Brooks, English racing driver (died 2022) Charles Anthony Standish "Tony" Brooks was a British racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1956 to 1961. Nicknamed "the Racing Dentist", Brooks was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1959 with Ferrari and Vanwall, and won six Grands Prix across six seasons. Read more
• 25 Feb 1932: Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1996) Faron Young was an American country singer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. His hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' " and "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" marked him as a honky-tonk singer in sound and personal style; and his chart-topping singles "Hello Walls" and "It's Four in the Morning" showed his versatility as a vocalist. Read more
• 25 Feb 1930: Wendy Beckett, British nun and art critic (died 2018) Wendy Mary Beckett, better known as Sister Wendy, was a British Catholic religious sister and art historian who became known internationally during the 1990s when she presented a series of BBC television documentaries on the history of art. Her programmes, such as Sister Wendy's Odyssey and Sister Wendy's Grand Tour, often drew a 25 percent share of the British viewing audience. In 1997 she made her debut on US public television, with The New York Times describing her as "a sometime hermit who is fast on her way to becoming the most unlikely and famous art critic in the history of television." Read more
• 25 Feb 1928: Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman (died 2016) Paul Bert Elvstrøm was a Danish yachtsman and the founder of Elvstrøm Sails. He won four Olympic gold medals and thirteen world titles in a range of classes including Snipe, Soling, Star, Flying Dutchman, Finn, 505, and 5.5 Metre. For his achievements, Elvstrøm was chosen as "Danish Sportsman of the Century." Read more
• 25 Feb 1928: Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter (died 2009) Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series M*A*S*H, and as co-writer of the Broadway musicals A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels. Read more
• 25 Feb 1928: A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American civil rights advocate, historian, and judge (died 1998) Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham Jr. was an American civil rights advocate, historian, presidential adviser, and federal court judge. From 1990 to 1991, he served as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Originally nominated to the bench by President Kennedy in 1963, Higginbotham was the seventh African-American Article III judge appointed in the United States, and the first African-American United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He was elevated to the Third Circuit in 1977, serving as a federal judge for nearly 30 years in all. In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Higginbotham used the name "Leon" informally. Read more
• 25 Feb 1928: Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (died 2013) Richard Gustave Stern was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. Read more
• 25 Feb 1927: Ralph Stanley, American singer and banjo player (died 2016) Ralph Edmund Stanley was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of the Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. He was also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley. Read more
• 25 Feb 1926: Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic (died 2003) Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda, was a Japanese-born Turkish mathematician known for his contributions to the field of algebraic number theory. Read more
• 25 Feb 1925: Lisa Kirk, American actress and singer (died 1990) Lisa Kirk was an American actress and singer noted for her comic talents and rich contralto. Read more
• 25 Feb 1925: Shehu Shagari, Nigerian politician, 6th President of Nigeria (died 2018) Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari was a Nigerian politician who was the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979, which gave rise to the Second Nigerian Republic. Read more
• 25 Feb 1924: Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (died 2013) Hugh Esmor Huxley was a British molecular biologist who made important discoveries in the physiology of muscle. He was a graduate in physics from Christ's College, Cambridge. However, his education was interrupted for five years by the Second World War, during which he served in the Royal Air Force. His contribution to development of radar earned him an MBE. Read more
• 25 Feb 1922: Molly Reilly, Canadian aviator (died 1980) Moretta Fenton Beall "Molly" Reilly became the first female Canadian pilot to reach the rank of captain, the first female Canadian corporate pilot, and the first woman to fly to the Arctic professionally. Her modifications to the Beechcraft Duke were used to improve the aircraft. Over the course of her career, Reilly logged over 10,000 flight hours as a pilot-in-command — without a single accident. She is a member of the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame. Read more
• 25 Feb 1921: Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (died 1970) Pierre Laporte was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician. He was deputy premier of the province of Quebec when he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) during the October Crisis. Read more
• 25 Feb 1921: Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (died 2013) Andrew Pafko was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52), and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59). He batted and threw right-handed and played center field. Read more
• 25 Feb 1920: Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (died 1992) Philip Charles Habib was an American career diplomat active from 1949 to 1987. Read more
• 25 Feb 1919: Monte Irvin, American baseball player and executive (died 2016) Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles, New York Giants (1949–1955) and Chicago Cubs (1956). He grew up in New Jersey and was a standout football player at Lincoln University. Irvin left Lincoln to spend several seasons in Negro league baseball. His career was interrupted by military service from 1943 to 1945. Read more
• 25 Feb 1918: Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (died 1995) Robert Larimore Riggs was an American tennis champion who was the world No. 1 amateur in 1939 and world No. 1 professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December 26, 1941. Read more
• 25 Feb 1917: Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (died 1993) John Anthony Burgess Wilson was an English writer and composer. Read more
• 25 Feb 1915: S. Rajaratnam, Singaporean politician, 1st Senior Minister of Singapore (died 2006) Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, better known as S. Rajaratnam, was a Singaporean statesman, journalist and diplomat. He served as the first Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1965 until 1980, and subsequently as the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1980 to 1985. Rajaratnam was pivotal in establishing Singapore's foreign policy framework during its early years of sovereignty, helping to secure the nation's position on the global stage in its early years. Alongside his foreign affairs portfolio, he also served as Minister for Culture from 1959 to 1965, Minister for Labour from 1968 to 1971, Deputy Prime Minister from 1980 to 1985 and Senior Minister from 1985 to 1988. Throughout his entire political career, he represented the constituency of Kampong Glam. Rajaratnam is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of modern Singapore. Read more
• 25 Feb 1913: Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter (died 1989) James Gilmore Backus was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island, the father of James Dean's character in Rebel Without a Cause, the voice of the near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo, the rich Hubert Updike III on the radio version of The Alan Young Show, and Joan Davis's character's husband on TV's I Married Joan. He also starred in his own show of one season, The Jim Backus Show, also known as Hot Off the Wire. Read more
• 25 Feb 1913: Gert Fröbe, German actor (died 1988) Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe was a German actor who appeared in over 100, mostly German-produced films. He was best known in English-speaking countries for his work as the title character in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Other international films include his role as Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as General Dietrich von Choltitz in Is Paris Burning?, as Colonel Manfred von Holstein in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, and as Inspector Bauer in Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg. Read more
• 25 Feb 1910: Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (died 1992) Millicent Vernon Fenwick was an American fashion editor, politician, and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm. She was regarded as a moderate and progressive within her party and was outspoken in favor of civil rights and the women's movement. Read more
• 25 Feb 1908: Mary Locke Petermann, American cellular biochemist (died 1975) Mary Locke Petermann was an American cellular biochemist known for her key role in the discovery and characterization of animal ribosomes, the molecular complexes that carry out protein synthesis. She was the first woman to become a full professor at Cornell University's medical school. Read more
• 25 Feb 1908: Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (died 2001) Frank Gill Slaughter, pen-name Frank G. Slaughter, pseudonym C. V. Terry, was an American novelist and physician whose books sold more than 60 million copies. His novels drew on his own experience as a doctor and his interest in history and the Bible. Through his novels, he often introduced readers to new findings in medical research and new medical technologies. Read more
• 25 Feb 1907: Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (died 1948) Sabahattin Ali was a Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Read more
• 25 Feb 1906: Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright (died 1981) Mary Chase was an American journalist, playwright and children's novelist, known primarily for writing the 1944 Broadway play Harvey, which was adapted into the 1950 film starring James Stewart. Read more
• 25 Feb 1905: Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (died 1963) Perry Gilbert Eddy Miller was an American intellectual historian and a co-founder of the field of American Studies. Miller specialized in the history of early America and took an active role in a revisionist view of the colonial Puritan theocracy that was cultivated at Harvard University beginning in the 1920s. Heavy drinking led to his premature death at the age of 58. Read more
• 25 Feb 1903: King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and coach (died 1986) Francis Michael "King" Clancy was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams and won All-Star honours. After he retired in 1937, he remained in hockey, becoming a coach for the Montreal Maroons. Clancy next worked for 11 seasons as a referee in the NHL. Read more
• 25 Feb 1901: Vince Gair, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Queensland (died 1980) Vincent Clair Gair was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1952 until 1957, when his stormy relations with the trade union movement saw him expelled from the Labor Party. He was elected to the Australian Senate and led the Democratic Labor Party from 1965 to 1973. In 1974 he was appointed Australian Ambassador to Ireland by the Whitlam government, which caused his expulsion from the DLP. Read more
• 25 Feb 1901: Zeppo Marx, American comedian and theatrical agent (died 1979) Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx was an American comedic actor. He was the youngest, and last survivor, of the five Marx Brothers. He appeared in the first five Marx Brothers feature films from 1929 to 1933, usually performing in a more subdued style than his brothers and serving as a romantic lead and/or straight man. He abandoned acting for subsequent careers as an engineer and theatrical agent. Read more
• 25 Feb 1898: William Astbury, physicist and molecular biologist (died 1961) William Thomas Astbury FRS was an English physicist and molecular biologist who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. His work on keratin provided the foundation for Linus Pauling's discovery of the α-helix. He also studied the structure for DNA in 1937 and made the first step in the elucidation of its structure. Read more
• 25 Feb 1896: Ida Noddack, German chemist and physicist (died 1978) Ida Noddack, née Tacke, was a German chemist and physicist. In 1934 she was the first to mention the idea later named nuclear fission. With her husband Walter Noddack, and Otto Berg, she discovered element 75, rhenium. She was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read more
• 25 Feb 1894: Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (died 1969) Meher Baba was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or the total manifestation of God in human form. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of hundreds of thousands of people, mostly in India, with a smaller number of followers in North America, Europe, South America, and Australia. Read more
• 25 Feb 1890: Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (died 1965) Dame Julia Myra Hess was an English pianist known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. She famously organised concerts in London during the Second World War and The Blitz. Read more
• 25 Feb 1888: John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (died 1959) John Foster Dulles was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the Republican Party, he was briefly a U.S. senator from New York in 1949. Dulles was a significant figure in the early Cold War era who pushed for an aggressive rollback campaign against communist regimes and their allies throughout the world. Read more
• 25 Feb 1885: Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (died 1969) Princess Alice of Battenberg was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II, and paternal grandmother of King Charles III. After marrying Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903, she adopted the style of her husband, becoming Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Read more
• 25 Feb 1883: Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (died 1981) Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, was a member of the British royal family. She was the longest-lived princess of the blood royal, and one of the longest-lived British royals. Princess Alice was the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria, the sister-in-law of Queen Mary, and the first cousin of Queen Mary's husband, King George V, and was the sister of Charles Edward the last Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Princess served as Viceregal Consort of both the Union of South Africa and of Canada. Read more
• 25 Feb 1881: William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (died 1961) William Z. Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Communist politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1945 to 1957. He was previously a member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, leading the drive to organize packinghouse industry workers during World War I and the steel strike of 1919. Read more
• 25 Feb 1881: Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (died 1938) Alexei Ivanovich Rykov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician and statesman, most prominent as premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1929 and 1924 to 1930 respectively. He was one of the accused in Joseph Stalin's show trials during the Great Purge. Read more
• 25 Feb 1877: Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist and scholar (died 1935) Erich Moritz von Hornbostel was an Austrian ethnomusicologist, comparative musicologist, and scholar of music. He is remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs–Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs. He is also known as the father of the "Berlin School of Ethnomusicology" in conjunction with Carl Stumpf. Read more
• 25 Feb 1873: Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (died 1921) Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor, who sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. Generally recognized as the first international recording star, Caruso made around 250 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920. Read more
• 25 Feb 1871: Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian poet and playwright (died1913) Lesya Ukrainka was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active political, civil, and female rights activist. Read more
• 25 Feb 1869: Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (died 1940) Phoebus Aaron Theodore Levene was a Russian-born American biochemist who studied the structure and function of nucleic acids. He characterized the different forms of nucleic acid, DNA from RNA, and found that DNA contained adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine, deoxyribose, and a phosphate group. Read more
• 25 Feb 1866: Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (died 1952) Benedetto Croce,
  was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A political liberal in most regards, he formulated a distinction between liberalism and "liberism". Croce had considerable influence on other Italian intellectuals, from Marxists to Italian fascists, such as Antonio Gramsci and Giovanni Gentile, respectively. Read more
• 25 Feb 1865: Andranik, Armenian general (died 1927) Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as General Andranik or simply Andranik, was an Armenian military commander and statesman, the best known fedayi and a key figure of the Armenian national liberation movement. Read more
• 25 Feb 1860: William Ashley, English historian and academic (died 1927) Sir William James Ashley was an English economic historian. His major intellectual influence was in organising economic history in Great Britain and introducing the ideas of the leading German economic historians, especially Gustav von Schmoller and the historical school of economic history. His chief work is The Economic Organisation of England, still a set text on many A-level and University syllabuses. Read more
• 25 Feb 1857: Robert Bond, Canadian politician; first Prime Minister of Newfoundland (died 1927) Sir Robert Bond was a Newfoundlander politician who was the last Premier of Newfoundland Colony from 1900 to 1907 and the first prime minister of the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1907 to 1909 after the 1907 Imperial Conference conferred dominion status on the colony. Read more
• 25 Feb 1856: Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian and academic (died 1915) Karl Gotthard Lamprecht was a German historian who specialized in German art and economic history. Read more
• 25 Feb 1856: Mathias Zdarsky, Czech-Austrian skier, painter, and sculptor (died 1940) Mathias Zdarsky was an early ski pioneer and founder of modern Alpine skiing technique: Arnold Lunn described him as the "father of alpine skiing". He was the first ski instructor in the world. He was also a teacher, painter and sculptor. Read more
• 25 Feb 1855: Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet and author (died 1886) Cesário Verde was a 19th-century Portuguese poet. His work, while mostly ignored during his lifetime and not well known outside of the country's borders even today, is generally considered to be amongst the most important in Portuguese poetry and is widely taught in schools. This is partly due to his being championed by many other authors after his death, notably Fernando Pessoa. Read more
• 25 Feb 1845: George Reid, Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1918) Sir George Houston Reid was a Scottish-born Australian politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourth prime minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905. He held office as the leader of the Free Trade Party, previously serving as the 12th premier of New South Wales from 1894 to 1899, and later as the high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1916. Read more
• 25 Feb 1842: Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (died 1912) Karl Friedrich May was a German author known for writing often in first-person narrative about travels and adventures, mostly set in the American Old West or the Orient and Middle East, but also in Latin America, China and within Germany. For a time he insisted that he actually had travelled to the West and was called Old Shatterhand there, while in the Ottoman Empire he was called Kara Ben Nemsi, and posed in costumes. Read more
• 25 Feb 1841: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (died 1919) Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. It has been said that, as a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau." Read more
• 25 Feb 1833: John St. John, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Kansas (died 1916) John Pierce St. John was an American politician who served as the eighth governor of Kansas. A Republican, St. John was a staunch supporter of Prohibition and later served as the Prohibition presidential nominee in 1884. Under his tenure as governor Kansas became the third state to enact a statewide prohibition of alcohol which would last until 1948 and remain in some form until 1987. After leaving elected office he maintained his position in the Prohibition party and remained active in the party's presidential politics and was a major figure in the party schism during the 1896 presidential election. Read more
• 25 Feb 1816: Giovanni Morelli, Italian historian and critic (died 1891) Giovanni Morelli was an Italian art critic and political figure. As an art historian, he developed the "Morellian" technique of scholarship, identifying the characteristic "hands" of painters through scrutiny of diagnostic minor details that revealed artists' scarcely conscious shorthand and conventions for portraying, for example, ears. He was born in Verona and died in Milan. Read more
• 25 Feb 1812: Carl Christian Hall, Danish lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Denmark (died 1888) Carl Christian Hall was a Danish statesman. Hall served as the Council President of Denmark, first from 1857 to 1859 and again from 1860 to 1863. Read more
• 25 Feb 1809: John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (died 1873) Captain John Hart CMG was a South Australian politician and a Premier of South Australia. Read more
• 25 Feb 1806: Emma Catherine Embury, American author and poet (died 1863) Emma Catherine Embury was an American writer and poet. Under the pen name of "Ianthe", she contributed to the periodicals of the day, and may be considered among the pioneers of female literature in the United States. Her many poems and tales were afterwards collected and published in book form. Among these volumes are The Blind Girl and Other Tales, Glimpses of Home Life, Pictures of Early Life, Nature's Gems, or American Wild Flowers (1845), and The Waldorf Family, a fairy tale of Brittany, partly a translation and partly original (1848). Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 25 February in World History

• 25 Feb 2025: Henry Kelly, Irish radio and television broadcaster, actor and journalist (born 1947) Patrick Henry Kelly, better known as Henry Kelly, was an Irish radio and television broadcaster and journalist who was based in the United Kingdom. Read more
• 25 Feb 2025: Roberto Orci, Mexican-American screenwriter and producer (born 1973) Roberto Gaston Orcí was a Mexican film and television screenwriter and producer. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to Transformers (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) with his writing and producing partner Alex Kurtzman. Read more
• 25 Feb 2025: Jane Reed, UK Magazine editor and media executive (born 1940) Jane Barbara Reed was a British publishing executive. During the 1970s she was the editor of Woman's Own magazine. She had leading positions with the Today newspaper and News International. Read more
• 25 Feb 2023: Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (born 1930) Gordon Edward Pinsent was a Canadian actor, writer, director, and singer. He was known for his roles in numerous productions, including Away from Her, The Rowdyman, John and the Missus, A Gift to Last, Due South, The Red Green Show, and Quentin Durgens, M.P. He was the voice of King Babar in the Babar the Elephant television and film productions from 1989 to 2015. Read more
• 25 Feb 2022: Farrah Forke, American actress (born 1968) Farrah Rachael Forke was an American actress best known for her roles as Alex Lambert on the NBC sitcom Wings and Mayson Drake on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She also voiced the character Big Barda on the animated television series Batman Beyond and Justice League Unlimited, starred as Carey on the short-lived cult sitcom Dweebs, Nikki Harkin on Mr. Rhodes, Carol Ashby in the pilot episode of the 90's remake of Fantasy Island, and appeared in several made-for-TV movies such as Nurses on the Line (1993), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993), Bionic Ever After? (1994), and theatrical movies like Disclosure (1994) and Heat (1995). Read more
• 25 Feb 2022: Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator (born 1927) Winifred Shirley Hughes was an English author and illustrator. She wrote more than fifty books, which have sold more than 11.5 million copies, and illustrated more than two hundred. Read more
• 25 Feb 2020: Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (born 1924) Dmitry Timofeyevich Yazov was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Yazov served as Minister of Defence from 1987 until he was arrested for his part in the 1991 August coup, four months before the fall of the Soviet Union. Yazov was the last person to be appointed to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union on 28 April 1990 and the only Marshal born in Siberia. At the time of his death on 25 February 2020, he was the last living Marshal of the Soviet Union. Read more
• 25 Feb 2017: Bill Paxton, American actor and filmmaker (born 1955) William Paxton was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona, he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nominee, among other accolades. Read more
• 25 Feb 2015: Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (born 1930) Harve Bennett was an American television and film producer and screenwriter. Read more
• 25 Feb 2015: Ariel Camacho, Mexican musician and singer-songwriter; (born 1992) José Ariel Camacho Barraza was a Mexican musician and singer-songwriter. He predominantly performed regional Mexican music, mainly corridos. He was the lead singer and lead guitarist of his group, Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho. In 2013, Ariel Camacho y Los Plebes del Rancho signed to JG Records where they frequently played in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. In 2014 they signed with DEL Records, which allowed them to play their music in the United States. Read more
• 25 Feb 2015: Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic; noted ichthyologist (born 1922) Eugenie Clark, popularly known as The Shark Lady, was an American ichthyologist known for both her research on shark behavior and her study of fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. Clark was a pioneer in the field of scuba diving for research purposes. In addition to being regarded as an authority in marine biology, Clark was popularly recognized and used her fame to promote marine conservation. Read more
• 25 Feb 2012: Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1932) Iverson Minter, known professionally as Louisiana Red, was an American blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer, who recorded more than 50 albums. A master of slide guitar, he played both traditional acoustic and urban electric styles, with lyrics both honest and often remarkably personal. His career includes collaborations with artists as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Eric Burdon, and others. Read more
• 25 Feb 2010: Ihsan Dogramaci, Turkish pediatrician and academic (born 1915) İhsan Doğramacı was a Turkish paediatrician, entrepreneur, philanthropist, educationalist and college administrator of Iraqi Turkmen descent born in modern Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq then part of the Ottoman Empire. Read more
• 25 Feb 2008: Hans Raj Khanna, Indian judge and advocate; upholder of civil liberties (born 1912) Hans Raj Khanna was an Indian judge, jurist and advocate who propounded the basic structure doctrine in 1973 and attempted to uphold civil liberties during the time of Emergency in India in a lone dissenting judgement in 1976. He entered the Indian judiciary in 1952 as an Additional District and Sessions Judge and subsequently was elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India in 1971 where he continued till his resignation in 1977. Read more
• 25 Feb 2005: Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (born 1921) Peter Benenson was a British barrister, human rights activist and the founder of the human rights group Amnesty International (AI); a global movement of more than 10 million people, currently, and in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end abuses on human rights and to secure the release of political prisoners. Read more
• 25 Feb 2001: A. R. Ammons, American poet and critic (born 1926) Archibald Randolph Ammons was an American poet and professor of English at Cornell University. Ammons published nearly thirty collections of poems in his lifetime. Revered for his impact on American romantic poetry, Ammons received several major awards for his work, including two National Book Awards for Poetry, one in 1973 for Collected Poems and another in 1993 for Garbage. Read more
• 25 Feb 2001: Don Bradman, Australian international cricketer; holder of world record batting average (born 1908) Sir Donald George Bradman, nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, to make Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport. Read more
• 25 Feb 1999: Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912) Glenn Theodore Seaborg was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His work in this area also led to his development of the actinide concept and the arrangement of the actinide series in the periodic table of the elements. Read more
• 25 Feb 1998: W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (born 1914) William Ormond Mitchell, was a Canadian writer and broadcaster. His "best-loved" novel is Who Has Seen the Wind (1947), which portrays life on the Canadian Prairies from the point of view of a small boy and sold almost a million copies in Canada. As a broadcaster, he is known for his radio series Jake and the Kid, which aired on CBC Radio between 1950 and 1956 and was also about life on the Prairies. Read more
• 25 Feb 1997: Andrei Sinyavsky, Russian journalist and publisher (born 1925) Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial of 1965. Read more
• 25 Feb 1996: Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (born 1940) Haing Somnang Ngor was a Cambodian and American actor, physician, and activist. He made his acting debut in the biographical drama film The Killing Fields (1984) as journalist Dith Pran, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the first actor of Asian descent to win the award and one of the only two amateur actors to win an Academy Award, following Harold Russell. Read more
• 25 Feb 1983: Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (born 1911) Thomas Lanier Williams III, known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama. Read more
• 25 Feb 1980: Robert Hayden, American poet and academic (born 1913) Robert Hayden was an American poet, essayist, and educator. He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-American writer to hold the office. Read more
• 25 Feb 1978: Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (born 1920) Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force who, in 1975, became the first African American to reach the rank of four-star general in the United States Armed Forces. Three years later, James was forced to retire prematurely due to heart issues, just weeks before dying of a heart attack. Read more
• 25 Feb 1975: Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (born 1897) Elijah Muhammad was an American religious leader who led the Nation of Islam from 1933 until his death in 1975. Under Elijah Muhammad's leadership, the Nation of Islam grew from a small Detroit-based movement into a nationwide organization with tens of thousands of members in the United States during the civil rights movement, promoting black nationalism and a distinctive theology that white people are a race of "devils" created by an evil black Meccan scientist named Yakub, and that there are multiple gods, each a black man named Allah, whom he is the messenger of. Read more
• 25 Feb 1972: Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (born 1889) Gottfried Erik Fuchs, also known as Godfrey Fuchs, was a German Olympic footballer. He scored a then-world record 10 goals for the Germany national team in a 16–0 win against Russia at the 1912 Olympics. He left Germany to escape the Holocaust, as he was Jewish, and ultimately emigrated to Canada. Read more
• 25 Feb 1971: Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1884) Theodor Svedberg was a Swedish chemist and Nobel laureate for his research on colloids and proteins using the ultracentrifuge. Svedberg was active at Uppsala University from the mid-1900s to late 1940s. While at Uppsala, Svedberg started as a docent before becoming the university's physical chemistry head in 1912. After leaving Uppsala in 1949, Svedberg was in charge of the Gustaf Werner Institute until 1967. Apart from his 1926 Nobel Prize, Svedberg was named a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1944 and became part of the National Academy of Sciences in 1945. Read more
• 25 Feb 1970: Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (born 1903) Mark Rothko was an American abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of color, which he produced from 1949 to 1970. Although Rothko did not personally subscribe to any one school, he is associated with the American abstract expressionism movement of modern art. Read more
• 25 Feb 1964: Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian sculptor and illustrator (born 1887) Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles of Cubism to architecture, analyzing human figures into geometrical forms. Read more
• 25 Feb 1964: Grace Metalious, American author (born 1924) Grace Metalious was an American author known for her novel Peyton Place, one of the best selling works in publishing history. Read more
• 25 Feb 1963: Melville J. Herskovits, American anthropologist and academic (born 1895) Melville Jean Herskovits was an American anthropologist who helped to first establish African and African Diaspora studies in American academia. He is known for exploring the cultural continuity from African cultures as expressed in African-American communities. He worked with his wife Frances (Shapiro) Herskovits, also an anthropologist, in the field in South America, the Caribbean and Africa. They jointly wrote several books and monographs. Read more
• 25 Feb 1957: Mark Aldanov, Russian author and critic (born 1888) Mark Aldanov was a Russian and later French writer and critic, known for his historical novels. Read more
• 25 Feb 1957: Bugs Moran, American mob boss (born 1893) George Clarence "Bugs" Moran was an American Chicago Prohibition-era gangster. He was incarcerated three times before his 21st birthday. Seven members of his gang were gunned down and killed in a warehouse in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of February 14, 1929, supposedly on the orders of his rival Al Capone. Read more
• 25 Feb 1954: Joseph Beech, American Methodist missionary and educator (born 1867) Joseph Beech, or Joe Beech as he was more commonly known, was an American Methodist missionary and educator, member of Psi Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa, and founding president of the West China Union University. He was a recipient of the Order of Brilliant Jade. Read more
• 25 Feb 1953: Sergei Winogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian microbiologist and ecologist (born 1856) Sergei Nikolaevich Winogradsky (Russian: Сергей Николаевич Виноградский; Ukrainian: Сергій Миколайович Виноградський; 13 September [O.S. 1 September] 1856 – 24 February 1953), also published under the name Sergius Winogradsky, was a Ukrainian and Russian microbiologist, ecologist and soil scientist who pioneered the cycle-of-life concept. Winogradsky discovered the first known form of lithotrophy during his research with Beggiatoa in 1887. He reported that Beggiatoa oxidized hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as an energy source and formed intracellular sulfur droplets. This research provided the first example of lithotrophy, but not autotrophy. Born in the capital of present-day Ukraine, his legacy is also celebrated by this nation. Read more
• 25 Feb 1950: George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1885) George Richards Minot was an American medical researcher who shared the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George Hoyt Whipple and William P. Murphy for their pioneering work on pernicious anemia. Read more
• 25 Feb 1945: Mário de Andrade, Brazilian author, poet, and photographer (born 1893) Mário Raul de Morais Andrade was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. He wrote one of the first and most influential collections of modern Brazilian poetry, Paulicéia Desvairada, published in 1922. He has had considerable influence on modern Brazilian literature, and as a scholar and essayist—he was a pioneer of the field of ethnomusicology—his influence has reached far beyond Brazil. Read more
• 25 Feb 1934: Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, American botanist and academic (born 1857) Elizabeth Gertrude Britton was an American botanist, bryologist, and educator. She and her husband, Nathaniel Lord Britton, played a significant role in the fundraising and creation of the New York Botanical Garden. She was a co-founder of the precursor body to the American Bryological and Lichenological Society. She was an activist for the protection of wildflowers, inspiring local chapter activities and the passage of legislation. Elizabeth Britton made major contributions to the literature of mosses, publishing 170 papers in that field. Read more
• 25 Feb 1934: John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (born 1873) John Joseph McGraw was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890s Baltimore Orioles teams, noted for their innovative, aggressive play. Read more
• 25 Feb 1928: William O'Brien, Irish journalist and politician (born 1852) William O'Brien was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was particularly associated with the campaigns for land reform in Ireland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as his conciliatory approach to attaining Irish Home Rule. Read more
• 25 Feb 1920: Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, French archaeologist and engineer (born 1844) Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy was a French archaeologist, noted for his excavations at Susa in 1885 and for his work, L'Art antique de la Perse. Read more
• 25 Feb 1915: Charles Edwin Bessey, American botanist, author, and academic (born 1845) Charles Edwin Bessey was an American botanist. Read more
• 25 Feb 1914: John Tenniel, English illustrator (born 1820) Sir John Tenniel was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knighted for artistic achievements in 1893, the first such honour ever bestowed on an illustrator or cartoonist. According to the V&A, "his intelligent, detailed style elevated the fame and standing of cartoonists immeasurably." Read more
• 25 Feb 1912: William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (born 1852) William IV was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death in 1912. He succeeded his father, Adolphe. Like his father, William did not participate in politics, despite being vested with considerable power by the Constitution. Read more
• 25 Feb 1911: Friedrich Spielhagen, German author, theorist, and translator (born 1829) Friedrich Spielhagen was a German novelist, literary theorist and translator. He tried a number of careers in his early 20s, but at 25 began writing and translating. His best known novel is Sturmflut and his novel In Reih' und Glied was quite successful in Russia. Read more
• 25 Feb 1910: Worthington Whittredge, American painter and educator (born 1820) Thomas Worthington Whittredge was an American artist of the Hudson River School. Whittredge was a highly regarded artist of his time, and was friends with several leading Hudson River School artists including Albert Bierstadt and Sanford Robinson Gifford. He traveled widely and excelled at landscape painting, many examples of which are now in major museums. He served as president of the National Academy of Design from 1874 to 1875 and was a member of the selection committees for the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and the 1878 Paris Exposition, both important venues for artists of the day. Read more
• 25 Feb 1906: Anton Arensky, Russian pianist and composer (born 1861) Anton Stepanovich Arensky was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music. Read more
• 25 Feb 1899: Paul Reuter, German-English journalist and businessman, founded Reuters (born 1816) Paul Julius Reuter, later ennobled as Freiherr von Reuter, was a German-born British entrepreneur who was a pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting. He was a reporter, media owner, and the founder of the Reuters news agency, which became part of the Thomson Reuters conglomerate in 2008. Read more
• 25 Feb 1878: Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (born 1804) Townsend Harris was an American merchant and politician who served as the first United States Consul General to Japan. He negotiated the Harris Treaty between the US and Japan and is credited as the diplomat who first opened Shogunate Japan to foreign trade and culture in the Edo period. Read more
• 25 Feb 1877: Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (born 1816) Jung Bahadur Rana,, was born Bir Narsingh Kunwar (1817-1877). His mother, Ganesh Kumari, was the daughter of Kaji Nain Singh Thapa, the brother of Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa from the prominent Thapa dynasty of Chhetri clan. During his lifetime, Jung Bahadur eliminated factional fighting at court, removed his family's rivals such as the Pandes and Basnyats, introduced innovations in the bureaucracy and judiciary, and made efforts to modernize Nepal. He is considered a significant figure in Nepalese history. Some modern historians blame Jung Bahadur for initiating a dark period in Nepalese history marked by an oppressive dictatorship that lasted 104 years, while others attribute this period to his nephews, the Shumsher Ranas. Rana's rule is often associated with tyranny, debauchery, economic exploitation, and religious persecution. Read more
• 25 Feb 1870: Henrik Hertz, Danish poet and playwright (born 1797) Henrik Hertz was a Danish poet. Read more
• 25 Feb 1865: Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (born 1813) Otto Ludwig was a German dramatist, novelist and critic born in Eisfeld in Thuringia. He was one of Germany's first modern realists and one of the most notable dramatists of the period. Read more
• 25 Feb 1852: Thomas Moore, Irish poet and lyricist (born 1779) Thomas Moore was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist, widely regarded in his lifetime as Ireland's "national bard". The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his Irish Melodies. In these, Moore set to old Irish tunes verses that spoke to a nationalist narrative of Irish dispossession, loss, and resistance. With his romantic work Lalla Rookh (1817), in which these same themes are explored in an elaborate orientalist allegory, Moore achieved wider critical recognition. Translated into several languages, and adapted and arranged for musical performance by, among others, Robert Schumann, the chivalric verse-narrative established Moore as one of the leading exemplars of European romanticism. Read more
• 25 Feb 1850: Daoguang Emperor of China (born 1782) The Daoguang Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing, personal name Minning, was the seventh emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign was marked by "external disaster and internal rebellion". These include the First Opium War and the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion which nearly brought down the dynasty. The historian Jonathan Spence characterizes the Daoguang Emperor as a "well meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist view even if they had nothing to say about the domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty". Read more
• 25 Feb 1841: Philip P. Barbour, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (born 1783) Philip Pendleton Barbour was the tenth speaker of the United States House of Representatives and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is the only individual to serve in both positions. Read more
• 25 Feb 1822: William Pinkney, American politician and diplomat, 7th United States Attorney General (born 1764) William Pinkney was an American statesman and diplomat, and was appointed the seventh U.S. attorney general by President James Madison. Read more
• 25 Feb 1819: Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese-French poet and educator (born 1734) Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, better known by the literary name of Filinto Elísio, bestowed on him by the Marquise of Alorna, was a Portuguese poet and the reputed son of a Lisbon boat-owner. Read more
• 25 Feb 1805: Thomas Pownall, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (born 1722) Thomas Pownall was a British colonial administrator and politician. He was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1757 to 1760, and afterwards sat in the House of Commons from 1767 to 1780. He travelled widely in British North America prior to the American Revolutionary War, opposed Parliamentary attempts to tax the colonies, and was a minority advocate of colonial positions until the Revolution. Read more

Why is 25 February Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 25 February, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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On 25 February, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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