February 25
1570 - England's Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by Pope Pius V.
1793 - President George Washington held the first Cabinet meeting on record at his Mount Vernon home; attending were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.
1836 - Samuel Colt patented the first revolving barrel multishot firearm.
1870 - Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first black U.S. Senator, taking over the term of Jefferson Davis.
1901 - J.P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel Corporation, the world's first billion-dollar corporation.
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect.
1919 - Oregon became the first state to impose a gasoline tax, at one cent per gallon.
1948 - Communists took control of the government in Czechoslovakia.
1954 - Gamal Abdel Nasser became Egypt’s prime minister after the country’s president, Mohammed Naguib, was effectively ousted in a coup.
1956 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.
1983 - American playwright Tennessee Williams died at age 71 in New York City.
1986 - President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines; Corazon Aquino took over the office.
1990 - Violeta Chamorro was elected president of Nicaragua, a victor for opponents of the Sandinistas.
1991 - An Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 Americans during the Persian Gulf War.
1999 - A jury in Jasper, Texas, sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., an African-American man.
2011 - The Obama White House broke decades of tradition, naming Jeremy Bernard the first man to ever serve as social secretary in the female-dominated East Wing.
2018 - China’s official news agency said the country’s ruling Communist Party had proposed scrapping term limits for China’s president, appearing to lay the groundwork for Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023. (China’s rubber-stamp lawmakers approved that change on March 11.)
2020 - U.S. health officials warned that the coronavirus was certain to spread more widely in the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to be prepared.
2020 - Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who was a force for stability in the Middle East for nearly 30 years before being forced from power in an Arab Spring uprising, died at a Cairo hospital; he was 91.
Birthdays
24 - Isabelle Fuhrman (actress)
29 - Amy Ruffle (actress)
34 - Loryn Powell (comedian)
35 - Jameela Jamil (actress)
35 - James Phelps (actor)
35 - Oliver Phelps (actor)
35 - Justin Berfield (actor)
39 - Maria Kanellis (professional wrestler)
43 - Shawna Thompson (country singer)
45 - Rashida Jones (actress)
46 - Chelsea Handler (actress/comedian)
48 - Anson Mount (actor)
48 - Justin Jeffre (actor)
48 - Julio Iglesias (singer)
50 - Sean Astin (actor)
53 - Lesley Boone (actress)
55 - Tea Leoni (actress)
55 - Alexis Denisof (actress)
56 - Veronica Webb (actress/model)
56 - Carrot Top (comedian)
72 - Jack Handey (humorist)
72 - Ric Flair (professional wrestler)
79 - Sally Jessy Raphael (talk show host)
79 - Karen Grassle (actress)
83 - Diane Baker (actress)
84 - Bob Schieffer (journalist)
84 - Tom Courtenay (actor)
90 - Ann McCrea (actress)
========================================
Today in Sports History - February 25
1933 - The NFL adopts new rules, placing hash marks 10-yards in and placing goal posts on the goal line.
1940 - The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens played in the first hockey game to be televised in the U.S. The game was aired on W2WBS in New York with one camera in a fixed position. The Rangers beat the Canadiens 6-2.
1941 - The Boston Bruins set an NHL record after going 23 games unbeaten. Their record during the stretch was 15-0-8.
1951 - The first Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that baseball was the only professional sport exempt from antitrust laws.
1962 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points against the New York Knicks.
1964 - Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, became world heavyweight champion for the first time by knocking out Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida.
1977 - Pete Maravich of the New Orleans Jazz sets an NBA single-game scoring record for a guard with 68 points.
1981 - The Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins combined to set an NHL record for most penalties in a game with 84 that totaled 392 minutes.
1989 - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fired head coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career.
1989 - Mike Tyson records a TKO over Frank Bruno in the fifth round for the heavyweight championship.
1994 - Phil Rizzuto is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2002 - Jayson Williams, the former NBA star, surrendered to New Jersey police. He was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Costas Christofi. Christofi was killed by a shotgun that was recklessly handled by Williams. Williams was released on $250,000 bail.
2005 - It was announced that the Walt Disney Co. had agreed to sell the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to billionaire Henry Samueli and his wife Susan. Samueli's company was the operator of Arrowhead Pond, the Mighty Ducks' home arena.
2019 - James Harden's scoring streak of games with at least 30 points ends at 32 as he scores 28 in the Rockets' 119-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks. It was the second longest streak of 30-point games in NBA history.
1570 - England's Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by Pope Pius V.
1793 - President George Washington held the first Cabinet meeting on record at his Mount Vernon home; attending were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.
1836 - Samuel Colt patented the first revolving barrel multishot firearm.
1870 - Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first black U.S. Senator, taking over the term of Jefferson Davis.
1901 - J.P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel Corporation, the world's first billion-dollar corporation.
1913 - The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect.
1919 - Oregon became the first state to impose a gasoline tax, at one cent per gallon.
1948 - Communists took control of the government in Czechoslovakia.
1954 - Gamal Abdel Nasser became Egypt’s prime minister after the country’s president, Mohammed Naguib, was effectively ousted in a coup.
1956 - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev harshly criticized the late Josef Stalin in a speech before a Communist Party congress in Moscow.
1983 - American playwright Tennessee Williams died at age 71 in New York City.
1986 - President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines; Corazon Aquino took over the office.
1990 - Violeta Chamorro was elected president of Nicaragua, a victor for opponents of the Sandinistas.
1991 - An Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 Americans during the Persian Gulf War.
1999 - A jury in Jasper, Texas, sentenced white supremacist John William King to death for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr., an African-American man.
2011 - The Obama White House broke decades of tradition, naming Jeremy Bernard the first man to ever serve as social secretary in the female-dominated East Wing.
2018 - China’s official news agency said the country’s ruling Communist Party had proposed scrapping term limits for China’s president, appearing to lay the groundwork for Xi Jinping to rule as president beyond 2023. (China’s rubber-stamp lawmakers approved that change on March 11.)
2020 - U.S. health officials warned that the coronavirus was certain to spread more widely in the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to be prepared.
2020 - Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who was a force for stability in the Middle East for nearly 30 years before being forced from power in an Arab Spring uprising, died at a Cairo hospital; he was 91.
Birthdays
24 - Isabelle Fuhrman (actress)
29 - Amy Ruffle (actress)
34 - Loryn Powell (comedian)
35 - Jameela Jamil (actress)
35 - James Phelps (actor)
35 - Oliver Phelps (actor)
35 - Justin Berfield (actor)
39 - Maria Kanellis (professional wrestler)
43 - Shawna Thompson (country singer)
45 - Rashida Jones (actress)
46 - Chelsea Handler (actress/comedian)
48 - Anson Mount (actor)
48 - Justin Jeffre (actor)
48 - Julio Iglesias (singer)
50 - Sean Astin (actor)
53 - Lesley Boone (actress)
55 - Tea Leoni (actress)
55 - Alexis Denisof (actress)
56 - Veronica Webb (actress/model)
56 - Carrot Top (comedian)
72 - Jack Handey (humorist)
72 - Ric Flair (professional wrestler)
79 - Sally Jessy Raphael (talk show host)
79 - Karen Grassle (actress)
83 - Diane Baker (actress)
84 - Bob Schieffer (journalist)
84 - Tom Courtenay (actor)
90 - Ann McCrea (actress)
========================================
Today in Sports History - February 25
1933 - The NFL adopts new rules, placing hash marks 10-yards in and placing goal posts on the goal line.
1940 - The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens played in the first hockey game to be televised in the U.S. The game was aired on W2WBS in New York with one camera in a fixed position. The Rangers beat the Canadiens 6-2.
1941 - The Boston Bruins set an NHL record after going 23 games unbeaten. Their record during the stretch was 15-0-8.
1951 - The first Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that baseball was the only professional sport exempt from antitrust laws.
1962 - Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points against the New York Knicks.
1964 - Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, became world heavyweight champion for the first time by knocking out Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida.
1977 - Pete Maravich of the New Orleans Jazz sets an NBA single-game scoring record for a guard with 68 points.
1981 - The Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins combined to set an NHL record for most penalties in a game with 84 that totaled 392 minutes.
1989 - Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fired head coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career.
1989 - Mike Tyson records a TKO over Frank Bruno in the fifth round for the heavyweight championship.
1994 - Phil Rizzuto is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
2002 - Jayson Williams, the former NBA star, surrendered to New Jersey police. He was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Costas Christofi. Christofi was killed by a shotgun that was recklessly handled by Williams. Williams was released on $250,000 bail.
2005 - It was announced that the Walt Disney Co. had agreed to sell the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to billionaire Henry Samueli and his wife Susan. Samueli's company was the operator of Arrowhead Pond, the Mighty Ducks' home arena.
2019 - James Harden's scoring streak of games with at least 30 points ends at 32 as he scores 28 in the Rockets' 119-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks. It was the second longest streak of 30-point games in NBA history.