History of the Day for:
February 25
- 1793: The department heads of the U.S. government met with President Washington at his home for the first cabinet meeting on record.
- 1836: Inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.
- 1841: French Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir was born.
- 1870: Hiram R. Revels, R-Miss., became the first black member of the U.S. Senate when he was sworn in to serve out Jefferson Davis' term.
- 1879: Congress passed the first Timberland Protection Act.
- 1901: Zeppo, the youngest of the Marx Brothers comedy team, was born.
- 1913: The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, providing for an income tax.
- 1925: Glacier Bay National Monument was established in Alaska.
- 1932: Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
- 1933: The USS Ranger (CV-4) is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier.
- 1941: February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis.
- 1945: World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
- 1947: State of Prussia ceases to exist.
- 1948 The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.
- 1950: "Your Show of Shows" made its debut on NBC.
- 1951: The first Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 1956: In a speech to the Communist Party Congress, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin as a demigod and tyrant.
- 1957: Buddy Holly recorded his first hit "That'll Be The Day" in New Mexico.
- 1963: The Beatles released their first single in the U.S.: "Please Please Me" on Vee-Jay Records.
- 1964: Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight boxing champion for the first time by knocking out Sonny Liston in Miami.
- 1982: The final episode of "The Lawrence Welk Show" aired.
- 1983: Playwright Tennessee Williams ("A Streetcar Named Desire") died.
- 1986: In the face of overwhelming military and civil opposition, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife and several others, were airlifted to safety from the presidential palace to a U.S. air base.
- 1989: The new owner of the Dallas Cowboys fired coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career.
- 1991: Gulf War: An Iraqi Scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
- 1992: Khojaly massacre: about 613 civilians are killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
- 1994: Mosque of Abraham massacre: In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Dr. Baruch Kappel Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more before being subdued and beaten to death by survivors. Subsequent rioting kills 26 more Palestinians and 9 Israelis.
- 2009: BDR massacre in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 74 People are being killed, including more than 50 Army officials, by Bangladeshi Boarder Guards inside its headquarter.