February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 309 days remaining until the end of the year (310 in leap years).
Up to 1950
- 138 – Roman Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his heir.
- 493 - Odoacer surrenders Ravenna after a 3-year siege and agrees to a mediated peace with Theodoric the Great.
- 1336 - 4,000 defenders of the Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.
- 1489 - Charles VIII of France recognizes Monaco as an independent state.
- 1570 – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England.
- 1793 - George Washington holds the first cabinet meeting held by a President of the United States.
- 1831 - Battle of Oloynka Grochowska, part of the Polish November Uprising against the Russian Empire.
- 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a US patent for the Colt revolver.
- 1837 - Thomas Davenport gets the first patent for an electric motor.
- 1843 - Provisional Cessation of the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands is established by Lord George Paulet.
- 1848 - The Provisional Government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc's motion, guarantees workers right.
- 1856 – A peace conference begins in Paris after the Crimean War.
- 1866 - Miners at Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull.
- 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels becomes the first African American to serve in the US Congress.
- 1875 - Guangxu Emperor of China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.
- 1901 - J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
- 1912 - Marie-Adelaide, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, at age 17, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
- 1916 - World War I: The Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
- 1917 – The British steamship RMS Laconia is sunk by a German U-boat off the south coast of Ireland, killing 12 people.
- 1921 – Tbilisi, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
- 1932 - Adolf Hitler is given German citizenship.
- 1933 - The USS Ranger is launched. it is the first US ship built only as an aircraft carrier.
- 1941 - February Strike: In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increased anti-Jewish measures by the Nazis.
- 1945 - World War II: Turkey declares war on Germany.
- 1947 – The State of Prussia ceases to exist.
- 1948 - The Communist Party takes control of Czechoslovakia.
From 1951
- 1951 – The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes President of Egypt.
- 1956 – Nikita Krushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
- 1964 – Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, becomes heavyweight boxing champion, defeating Sonny Liston.
- 1968 – South Korean troops kill 135 people in Vietnam.
- 1969 - In Prague, Jan Zajic sets himself on fire in an act of protest against the Communist government. He dies of his injuries.
- 1975 - Muhammad Abdullah becomes Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
- 1980 – Suriname's government is overthrown in a coup in the capital city Paramaribo.
- 1981 – Adolfo Suárez leaves office as Prime Minister of Spain.
- 1983 – The Statute of Autonomy for the Canary Islands is approved.
- 1986 – People Power Revolution: In the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos is forced to resign after a rule of over 20 years. Corazon Aquino becomes President, the first Asian woman in that position.
- 1988 – Roh Tae-woo becomes President of South Korea.
- 1990 - Violeta Chamorro is elected President of Nicaragua, defeating Daniel Ortega.
- 1991 - End of the Warsaw Pact.
- 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits a US military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 reservists from Pennsylvania.
- 1992 – Khojaly Massacre: Armenian forces kill 613 Azerbaijani civilians in Nagorno Karabakh.
- 1994 – In the West Bank town of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Palestinian worshippers, before being killed.
- 1995 - The first Screen Actors Guild Awards are given in Los Angeles, California.
- 1997 - Yi Han-yong, a North Korean defector, is murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea.
- 2001 - Non-reformed Communists win the election in Moldova.
- 2001 - Pedro Pires is elected President of the Cape Verde Islands.
- 2003 – Roh Moo-hyun becomes President of South Korea.
- 2008 – Lee Myung-bak becomes President of South Korea.
- 2009 – Bangladeshi Border Guards kill 74 people in Dhaka, including 57 army officers and family.
- 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes near Amsterdam, killing 9 people.
- 2010 – Viktor Yanukovych becomes President of Ukraine, succeeding Viktor Yushchenko.
- 2011 – The Fianna Fail-led government in the Republic of Ireland, under Brian Cowen, suffers a heavy defeat in the general election. Enda Kenny is elected to serve as the next Taoiseach.
- 2013 - Park Geunhye becomes the first female President of South Korea.
- 2015 - Avalanches in Northeastern Afghanistan kill 310 people.
- 2018 - The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, end.
Up to 1900
- 1337 - Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
- 1398 – Emperor Xuande of China (d. 1435)
- 1552 - Magdalene of Lippe (d. 1587)
- 1591 – Friedrich von Spee, German writer (d. 1635)
- 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1695)
- 1651 - Johann Philipp Krieger, German baroque composer and organist (d. 1725)
- 1682 - Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (d. 1771)
- 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian writer (d. 1793)
- 1708 - Felix Benda, Bohemian composer and organist (d. 1768)
- 1714 – Rene Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French chancellor (d. 1792)
- 1727 - Armand-Louis Couperin, French composer (d. 1789)
- 1728 - John Wood, the Younger, English architect (d. 1782)
- 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, British territorial governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
- 1755 - François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
- 1778 – Jose de San Martin, Argentine independence leader, hero in many South American countries (d. 1850)
- 1812 - Carl Christian Hall, Danish statesman (d. 1888)
- 1816 - Giovanni Morelli, Italian art critic and political figure (d. 1891)
- 1833 – John St. John, Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
- 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French impressionist painter (d. 1919)
- 1842 – Karl May, German writer (d. 1912)
- 1845 – George Reid, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
- 1848 - William II of Württemberg (d. 1921)
- 1856 - Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian (d. 1915)
- 1857 - Robert Bond, 1st Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
- 1859 - John Burke, Governor of North Dakota (d. 1937)
- 1861 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher and educator (d. 1925)
- 1865 - Andranik Ozanian, Armenian general, rebel leader and activist (d. 1923)
- 1866 - Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher, humanist, historian and politician (d. 1952)
- 1871 – Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian writer and poet (d. 1913)
- 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (d. 1921)
- 1881 - Alexei Rykov, Soviet politician (d. 1938)
- 1881 - William Z. Foster, American labour organiser and politician (d. 1961)
- 1883 - Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
- 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg (d. 1969)
- 1888 – John Foster Dulles, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
- 1889 - Homer S. Ferguson, United States Senator for Michigan (d. 1982)
- 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist (d. 1965)
- 1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (d. 1986)
- 1894 - Meher Baba, Indian spiritual figure (d. 1969)
1901 – 1950
- 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1902 - Virginio Rosetta, Italian footballer (d. 1975)
- 1903 - King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
- 1906 - Boris Papandopulo, Croatia composer and conductor (d. 1991)
- 1906 - Domingo Ortega, Spanish matador (d. 1988)
- 1910 - Millicent Fenwick, American politician (d. 1992)
- 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1913 - Gert Fröbe, American actor (d. 1988)
- 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English writer (d. 1993)
- 1918 - Barney Ewell, American runner (d. 1996)
- 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995)
- 1919 - Monte Irvin, American baseball player (d. 2016)
- 1919 - Karl H. Pribram, Austrian-American professor (d. 2015)
- 1920 - Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian statesman (d. 1970)
- 1922 - Molly Bobak, Canadian writer, painter and printmaker (d. 2014)
- 1924 - Hugh Huxley, British biologist
- 1927 - Dick Jones, American actor (d. 2014)
- 1927 - Ralph Stanley, American singer (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1929 - Tommy Newsom, American bandleader (d. 2007)
- 1930 - Wendy Beckett, British nun, historian and broadcaster
- 1932 – Tony Brooks, British racing driver
- 1935 – Sally Jessy Raphael, American talk show host
- 1936 - Jorge Jacobson, Argentine journalist and writer (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Tom Courtenay, British actor
- 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American broadcast journalist
- 1938 - Malcolm Tierney, British actor (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player (d. 2010)
- 1941 - Pierluigi Cera, Italian footballer (d. 2022)
- 1943 – George Harrison, English songwriter, guitarist and member of the Beatles (d. 2001)
- 1943 – Wilson da Silva Piazza, Brazilian footballer
- 1943 - Boediono, 11th Vice President of Indonesia
- 1946 - Jan Groth, Norwegian singer and keyboardist (d. 2014)
- 1946 - Jean Todt, French Formula One executive
- 1946 - Elkie Brooks, British singer
- 1947 - Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence
- 1947 - Marc Sautet, French writer, teacher, and philosopher (d. 1998)
- 1947 – Lee Evans, American athlete
- 1947 - Doug Yule, American musician
- 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina (d. 2010)
- 1950 - Francisco Fernandez Ochoa, Spanish alpine skier (d. 2006)
- 1950 - Neil Jordan, Irish movie director, screenwriter and novelist
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican runner
- 1952 - Joey Dunlop, British motorcycle racer (d. 2000)
- 1953 – Jose Maria Aznar, Spanish politician, former Prime Minister of Spain
- 1953 - Kim Yeong-cheol, South Korean actor
- 1954 - Gerardo Pelusso, Uruguayan football manager
- 1955 – Camille Thériault, Canadian politician, 29th Premier of New Brunswick
- 1956 - Andres Ammas, Estonian politician (d. 2018)
- 1957 - Chuck Strahl, Canadian politician
- 1958 - Kevin Gray, American actor
- 1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player
- 1959 - Mike Peters, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1961 - Chris Pitman, American keyboardist
- 1962 - Birgit Fischer, German kayaker
- 1962 - Mark Heenehan, British theatre actor
- 1964 – Lee Evans, British comedian
- 1964 - Luigi Troiani, Italian rugby player
- 1965 - Sylvie Guillem, French ballet dancer
- 1965 - Carrot Top, American comedian
- 1965 - Veronica Webb, American supermodel and actress
- 1967 - Jonathan Freedland, British journalist and writer
- 1967 – Ed Balls, British politician
- 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor
- 1971 - Sean O'Haire, American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kick boxer (d. 2014)
- 1971 - Christien Anholt, British actor
- 1973 – Julio Iglesias, Jr., Spanish singer
- 1974 - Kevin Skinner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Chelsea Handler, American comedienne and actress
- 1975 - Naga Munchetty, British television news presenter
From 1976
- 1976 - Rashida Jones, American actress
- 1977 - Sarah Jezebel Deva, English singer-songwriter
- 1978 - Yazid Mansouri, Algerian footballer
- 1978 - Yuji Nakazawa, Japanese footballer
- 1981 – Shahid Kapoor, Indian actor
- 1981 – Park Ji-Sung, South Korean footballer
- 1982 – Chris Baird, Northern Irish footballer
- 1982 - Bert McCracken, American musician
- 1982 - Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player
- 1982 - Maria Kanellis, American professional wrestler
- 1983 – Eduardo da Silva, Brazilian-Croatian footballer
- 1984 - Xing Huina, Chinese athlete
- 1984 – Craig Mackail-Smith, British footballer
- 1985 – Joakim Noah, American basketball player
- 1986 - Jameela Jamil, British television and radio presenter
- 1986 - James Phelps, British actor
- 1986 - Oliver Phelps, British actor
- 1987 - Justin Abdelkader, American ice hockey player
- 1987 - Mevlut Erdinc, Turkish footballer
- 1988 - Luca Di Matteo, Italian footballer
- 1989 - Kana Hanazawa, Japanese voice actress
- 1990 - Alejandra Andreu, Spanish model
- 1990 - Younès Belhanda, Moroccan footballer
- 1992 - Max Aaron, American figure skater
- 1993 - Christina Kirkman, American actress
- 1994 - Eugenie Bouchard, Canadian tennis player
- 1995 - Francesca Michielin, Italian singer
- 1997 – Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress
- 1998 – Brendon Baerg, American actor
Up to 1900
- 1246 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd
- 1495 - Sultan Cem, pretender to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1459)
- 1547 - Vittoria Colonna, Italian poet (b. 1492)
- 1553 - Hirate Masahide, Japanese diplomat (b. 1492)
- 1558 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (b. 1498)
- 1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English politician (b. 1566)
- 1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general (b. 1583)
- 1643 - Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (b. 1582)
- 1655 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (b. 1580)
- 1682 - Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
- 1713 – King Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
- 1715 - Pu Songling, Chinese writer (b. 1640)
- 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect (b. 1632)
- 1819 - Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese poet (b. 1734)
- 1822 - William Pinkney, American statesman and diplomat (b. 1764)
- 1831 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German writer (b. 1752)
- 1841 - Philip Pendleton Barbour, American politician (b. 1783)
- 1850 – Daoguang, Emperor of China (b. 1782)
- 1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet (b. 1779)
- 1864 – Anna Harrison, shortest-serving First Lady of the United States (b. 1775)
- 1865 - Otto Ludwig, German writer (b. 1813)
- 1877 - Jang Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
- 1894 - Steele MacKaye, American playwright, actor and inventor (b. 1842)
- 1899 – Paul Julius Reuter, German journalist (b. 1816)
1901 – 2000
- 1912 – Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
- 1922 - Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (b. 1869)
- 1945 - Mario de Andrade, Brazilian writer and photographer (b. 1893)
- 1950 – George Minot, American physician (b. 1885)
- 1953 - Sergei Winogradsky, Russian scientist (b. 1856)
- 1957 – Bugs Moran, American gangster (b. 1893)
- 1964 - Kenneth Lee Spencer, American opera singer and actor (b. 1913)
- 1964 - Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian artist and sculptor (b. 1887)
- 1969 - Jan Zajic, Czechoslovakian student (b. 1950)
- 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter (b. 1903)
- 1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist (b. 1884)
- 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American Muslim leader, Nation of Islam (b. 1897)
- 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright (b. 1911)
- 1993 - Eddie Constantine, American-born actor and singer (b. 1917)
- 1994 – Baruch Goldstein, Israeli army officer (b. 1956)
- 1997 - Cal Abrams, American baseball player (b. 1924)
- 1997 - Yi Han-yong, North Korean defector
- 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist (b. 1912)
From 2001
- 2001 – Sir Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer (b. 1908)
- 2003 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor (b. 1920)
- 2004 - Donald Hings, Canadian inventor (b. 1907)
- 2005 - Peter Benenson, English founder of Amnesty International (b. 1921)
- 2005 - Leo Labine, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1931)
- 2005 - Edward Patten, American singer (b. 1939)
- 2009 – Philip Jose Farmer, American writer (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Maurice André, French classical trumpeter (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Red Holloway, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Louisiana Red, American blues musician (b. 1932)
- 2013 - Ray O'Connor, 22nd Premier of Western Australia (b. 1926)
- 2013 - C. Everett Koop, American politician and spokesperson (b. 1916)
- 2014 - Chokwe Lumumba, American politician, Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi (b. 1947)
- 2014 - Mario Coluna, Brazilian footballer (b. 1935)
- 2014 - Paco de Lucia, Spanish flamenco guitarist, composer and producer (b. 1947)
- 2015 - Eugenie Clark, American zoologist and professor (b. 1922)
- 2015 - Terry Gill, Australian actor (b. 1939)
- 2015 - Marian Szeja, Polish footballer (b. 1941)
- 2016 - François Dupeyron, French movie director and screenwriter (b. 1950)
- 2016 - Alfred E. Mann, American entrepreneur and philanthropist (b. 1925)
- 2016 - Tony Burton, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2016 - Jim Clark, English movie editor (b. 1931)
- 2017 - Hassan Al-Jundi, Moroccan actor (b. 1939)
- 2017 - Neil Fingleton, English basketball player and actor (b. 1980)
- 2017 - Bill Paxton, American actor (b. 1955)
- 2017 - Jack Pope, American judge, attorney and writer (b. 1913)
- 2017 - Toshio Nakanishi, Japanese musician (b. 1956)
- 2017 - Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born American sculptor (b. 1951)
- 2018 - Ainsley Gotto, Australian political staffer and interior designer (b. 1946)
- 2019 - Janet Asimov, American science fiction writer and psychoanalyst (b. 1926)
- National Day (Kuwait)
- People Power Day (Philippines)
- Soviet Occupation Day (Republic of Georgia)
- Memorial Day for Victims of the Communist dictatorships (Hungary)
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