On This Day in History..

1185 Sea battle at Dan-no-ura Minamoto Yoritomo beats Taira-family
1449 Anti-pope Felix V resigns
1507 Geographer Martin Waldseemuller 1st used name America
1541 Liege flooded after heavy down pour
1604 Count Maurits' army lands at Cadzand
1607 Battle at Gibraltar Dutch fleet beats Spanish/Portuguese fleet
1614 Amsterdam Bank of Loan forms
1626 Battle at the Dessauer bridge Monarch Albrecht von Wallenstein beats Earl of Mansfeld
1660 London Convention Parliament meets & votes to restore Charles II
1678 French troops conquer Ypres
1684 Patent granted for the thimble
1707 Battle of Almansa-Franco-Spanish forces defeat Anglo-Portuguese
1719 Daniel Defoes publishes "Robinson Crusoe"
1747 Prince Willem V appointed viceroy of Zealand
1792 Guillotine 1st used, executes highwayman Nicolas J Pelletier
1850 Paul Julius Reuter, use 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices
1859 Ground broken for Suez Canal
1861 7th New York arrives to reinforce Washington DC
1861 Battle of Lavaca TX
1862 Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans LA
1862 Battle of New Orleans LA - US Admiral Farragut occupies New Orleans
1864 Battle of Marks' Mill AR (Camden Expedition)
1867 Tokyo is opened for foreign trade
1875 Latest date for measurable snow in NYC (3")
1876 Chicago Cubs 1st National League game, beats Louisville 4-0 (1st National League shutout)
1881 250,000 Germans petition to bar foreign Jews from entering Germany
1881 French troops occupy Algeria & Tunisia
1886 Sigmund Freud opens practice at Rathausstrasse 7, Vienna
1891 President Benjamin Harrison visits San Francisco
1896 Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire (Cripple Creek CO)
1896 Sidney Jones & Harry Greenbacks musical premieres in London
1898 US declares war on Spain over Cuba
1901 Erve Beck hit the 1st home run in the American League
1901 In last of 9th, Detroit Tigers, trailing by 13-4, score 10 runs to win one of the greatest comebacks in baseball (1st game in Detroit)
1901 New York becomes 1st state requiring auto license plates ($1 fee)
1902 Erwin Harvey becomes 1st Cleveland ballplayer (Cleveland Bronchos) to have six hits in one game
1904 New York Yankee Jack Chesbro's 1st of 41 wins this year
1905 Latest day of 1st-class cricket in an Australia season (New South Wales vs Queensland)
1905 Whites win right to vote in South Africa
1915 78,000 ANZAC troops land at Gallipoli
1925 Paul von Hindenburg elected 2nd President of Germany (Adolf Hitler is 3rd)
1926 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot", premieres in Milan
1926 Persian cossack officer Reza Chan crowns himself Shah Palawi
1927 Spain routes 20,000 soldiers to Morocco (uprising Rifkabylen)
1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for the blind
1932 Rose Franken's "Another Language", premieres in NYC
1933 New York Yankee Russ Van Atta shuts out Washington Senators 16-0
1933 US & Canada drop Gold Standard
1938 1st use of seeing eye dog
1941 Operation Merkur Hitler orders conquest of Kreta
1942 Luftwaffe bombs Bath
1944 United Negro College Fund incorporates
1945 46 countries convene United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco CA
1945 Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission
1945 Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany
1945 US & Soviet forces meet at Torgau Germany on Elbe River
1945 Allied air raid on Surabaja Java
1945 British troops reach Grebbe line Netherlands
1945 Red army completely surrounds Berlin
1946 "Exposition Flyer" rammed at Napierville IL, killing 48
1946 Christopher Fry's "Phoenix too Frequent", premieres in London
1947 Lou Thesz beats Whipper Watson in St Louis, to become wrestling champion
1947 Trial against WWII mayor of Amsterdam Edward Voûte begins
1949 Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "Romulus der Grosse", premieres in Basel
1950 Chuck Cooper becomes the 1st black to play in the NBA
1950 Ambon proclaims RMS (Republik Maluku Selatan)
1952 American Bowling Congress approves use of an automatic pinsetter
1952 6th NBA Championship Minneapolis Lakers beat New York Knicks, 4 games to 3
1952 German "Country" Bathe-Württemberg forms
1953 Scientists identify DNA
1954 Bell labs announces 1st solar battery (New York NY)
1954 British raid Nairobi Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects are arrested)
1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1954 WDEF TV channel 12 in Chattanooga TN (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" goes #1
1956 Noël Coward's musical "South Sea Bubble", premieres in London
1957 1st experimental sodium nuclear reactor operated
1957 Ibrahim Hashim forms Jordanian government
1957 WUHY TV channel 35 in Philadelphia PA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1959 St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic, Great Lakes opens to shipping
1960 1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed (Triton)
1961 Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin
1961 Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit
1961 "Young Abe Lincoln" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 27 performances
1961 France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria
1961 Premier Moïse Tsjombe of Katanga arrested in Congo
1962 US Ranger spacecraft crash lands on the Moon
1962 Cleveland sends Harry Chiti to Mets for a player to be named later, on June 15 the Mets send Chiti back to Cleveland
1962 Lion & Tiger Veldt at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is dedicated
1962 US resumes above ground nuclear testing, at Christmas Island
1964 Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3
1965 19th NBA Championship Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 1
1965 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Pensacola Golf Invitational
1966 Drunk driver kills 10 children in Asse Belgium
1967 Britain grants internal self-government to Swaziland
1967 Abortion legalized in Colorado
1967 Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders", premieres in NYC
1968 "Half a Sixpence" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 512 performances
1969 5,400th and last radio broadcast of "Mrs Dale's Diary" on BBC Radio
1970 Freda Payne releases "Band of Gold"
1970 Melanie releases "Lay Down"
1970 "Park" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 5 performances
1971 US canal rights in Nicaragua & rights to Corn Islands expire
1971 About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington DC
1971 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Burdine's Golf Invitational
1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1972 Hans-Werner Grosse glides 907.7 miles (1,461 km) in an AS-W-12
1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 NFL moves the goal posts & adopts sudden-death playoff
1974 Chancellor Willy Brandt Secretary Günther Guillaume found to be a spy
1974 Leo Tindemans forms Belgium government
1974 Marcello Caetano overthrown in Portugal; he is exiled to Madeira and later to Brazil (Carnation revolution)
1975 1st Boeing Jetfoil revenue service, Hong Kong to Macao
1975 Mario Soares' Socialist Party wins 1st free election in Portugal
1975 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1975 West German embassy blown-up in Stockholm Sweden
1976 Cub centerfielder Rick Monday rescues US flag from 2 fans trying to set it on fire
1976 Elections in Vietnam for a National Assembly to reunite the country
1976 India all out for 97 vs West Indies
1976 Jan Stephenson wins LPGA Birmingham Golf Classic
1976 Portugal adopts constitution
1977 Cincinnati Reds tie record of 12 runs in 5th inning beating Atlanta Braves 23-9
1977 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1978 Phillie Phanatic makes 1st appearance
1978 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more
1979 "Rock 'n Roll High Schools" premieres
1979 Peace treaty between Israel & Egypt goes into effect
1980 Announcement of Jimmy Carter hostage rescue bungle in Iran
1980 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Wayne Webb
1980 Oakland A's manager Billy Martin restrained by umps from attacking a fan
1980 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1981 Maureen Reagan (40) marries 3rd husband, Dennis Revell (28)
1981 Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills is suspended for 2 games after ordering Seattle's grounds crew to enlarge batter's boxes by one foot
1982 In accordance with Camp David, Israel completes Sinai withdrawal
1982 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1982 Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Orlando Lady Golf Classic
1982 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1982 Yankees fire manager Bob Lemon & replaces him with Gene Michael
1983 "Nightline" expands from ½ hour to a full hour
1983 Yuri Andropov invites US schoolgirl Samantha Smith to USSR
1983 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1984 Rock group Wings disbands
1984 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1985 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 goals in a Cup game
1985 Philadelphia Flyers 2-New York Islanders 6-Patrick Division Finals-Flyers hold 3-1 lead
1985 Roger Miller's musical "Big River", premieres at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC for 1005 performances
1985 West German Parliament ruled it illegal to deny the holocaust
1986 ETA bomb attacks Madrid killing 5
1988 "Nightline" goes on location to Jerusalem Israel
1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-211
1988 John Demjanjuk (Ivan the Terrible), sentenced to death in Jerusalem
1989 Mike Tyson gets a speeding ticket for drag racing in Albany NY
1989 Penguin Mario Lemieux ties NHL playoff record of 4 goals in 1st period
1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by shuttle Discovery
1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro begins a 6 year term as Nicaragua's President
1990 25th Academy of Country Music Awards Clint Black & Kathy Mattea win
1991 Designer Mary McFadden (52) announces divorce of Kohie Yohannan (23)
1991 Lisa Olson brings suit against NFL New England Patriots for sexual harassment
1991 "Grand Hotel" closes at Beck Theater NYC after 1018 performances
1991 Lucy Simon & Marsha Norman's musical "The Secret Garden" premieres in NYC
1992 "Shimada" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 4 performances
1992 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marc McDowell
1993 Russia elects Boris Yeltsin leader
1993 Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers" opens at Music Box Theater NYC for 839 performances
1994 14" of snow in Southern California
1994 Bomb attack on taxi stand in Johannesburg, 10 killed
1994 Fishing boat with school children capsize at Lanaka Syria, 46 killed
1994 King Azlan Shah of Malaysia resigns
1994 Mexican businessman & billionaire Angel Losada kidnapped
1994 Tsutomu Hata elected premier of Japan
1995 "Month in the Country" opens at Roundabout Theater NYC for 79 performances
1995 16th Emmy Sports Award presentation
1996 "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk", opens at Ambassador Theater NYC
1997 Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr hits his 250th homerun
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Missing In Action...

1967 STACKHOUSE CHARLES D. SHEBOYGAN WI "03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV (NORWOOD, OH)" ALIVE AND WELL 98
1967 WESKAMP ROBERT LARRY ARVADA CO 03/06/74 REMAINS RETURNED
1968 CROSSMAN GREGORY J. STURGIS MI
1968 GUILLORY HUBIA J. NEW ORLEANS LA "KIA IN AMBUSH, REMAINS LEFT BEHIND"
1968 KELLEY DANIEL M. DORCHESTER MA "KIA IN AMBUSH, REMAINS LEFT BEHIND"
1968 MITCHELL ALBERT C. NEW YORK NY
1968 SCOTT DAVID L. CARLOCK IL "KIA IN AMBUSH, REMAINS LEFT BEHIND"
1971 LEMON JEFFREY C. FLOSSMOOR IL
1971 ODOM CHESTER R. II "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - ""ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON" "BLACK AMERICAN WORKING WITH THE VC-ODOM, CHESTER"""
1971 SIGAFOOS WALTER H. III RICHBORO PA
1972 BROWNLEE ROBERT W. CHICAGO IL EVADED ACROSS RIVER
1975 WALSH BRIAN LED AWAY AT GUNPOINT
1975 YIM JOHN SUNG POSSIBLY BEHEADED BY KC

Births which occurred on April 25:

1214 Louis IX king of France (1226-70)
1228 Koenraad IV Roman Catholic German king (1237-54)
1284 Edward II king of England (1307-27)
1567 Aurelio Signoretti composer
1599 Oliver Cromwell Puritan lord protector of England (1653-58)
1608 Jean duke of Orléans brother of French King Louis XIII/General
1614 Hieronymus van Beverningk chief Dutch treasurer/maecenas
1614 Marc'Antonio Pasqualini composer
1666 Johann Heinrich Buttstett composer
1677 Guillaume Coustou Sr French sculptor (Chevaux the Marly)
1690 Gottlieb Theophil Muffat composer
1710 James Ferguson astronomer
1723 Giovanni Marco Rutini composer
1730 Fedele Fenaroli composer
1769 Mark Isambard Brunel engineer/inventor
1792 John Keble Anglican priest/founder (Oxford Movement)
1818 Marek Konrad Sokolowski composer
1824 Gustave-Rodolphe-Clarence Boulanger painter
1825 Charles Ferdinand Dowd US, standardized time zones
1837 William Charles Levey composer
1840 James Dearing Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1865
1841 Pauline Lucca soprano
1842 Antonio Fogazzarro Italian writer/poet (Il santo/Leila)
1849 Felix Klein German mathematician (Evanston Colloquium)
1862 Edward Grey English viscount of Fallodon/minister of Foreign affairs
1867 Jean Demoor Belgian physician/physiologist
1869 Karl Prohaska composer
1871 Sara Amsel Indonesian/Dutch actress
1872 Charles Burgess Fry cricketer/world record long jumper
1873 Walter De la Mare English poet/anthologist (Behold the Dreamer)
1874 Guglielmo Marconi Bologna Italy, inventor (radio/Nobel 1909)
1876 Ruben Marcos Campos composer
1881 Hans Windisch German new testament expert
1883 Elsa Maxwell Keokuk IA, writer (Jack Paar Show)
1889 Charles Kellaway cricketer (great Australian all-rounder of 1920's)
1895 Stanley Rous British soccer official
1897 Haro Levoni Step'anyan composer
1897 VAA Mary English princess
19-- Pamela Brull Monterey Park CA, actress (Princess Maya-Secret Empire)
1900 Lord [Hubert Miles] Gladwyn [Jebb] MP (Liberal)
1900 Wolfgang Ernst Pauli Austria, physicist (Pauli inhibition/Nobel 1945)
1901 Ernst Gernot Klussmann composer
1903 Camilla Horn actress (Rebus, Vertigine, Polterabend, Matinee Idol)
1903 Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen composer
1905 Hugh Willatt solicitor/public servant
1905 Walter Hassan engineer
1906 Sally Salminen writer
1906 William J Brennan Jr Newark NJ, 92nd Supreme Court judge (1956-90)
1906 Zoltan Gardonyi composer
1907 Paula Trueman New York NY, actress (Gran-Billy)
1907 Vasily Pavlovich Solov'yov-Sedoy composer
1908 Edward R Murrow Pole Creek NC, newscaster (Person to Person)
1909 Jaroslav Doubrava composer
1912 Gladys L Presley mother of Elvis
1913 Earl Bostic Tulsa OK, alto sax player (Flamingo, Temptation)
1913 Russ Conway Brandon Manitoba, actor (Richard Diamond Private Eye)
1914 Claude Mauriac writer
1914 Marcos Perez Jimenez President/dictator Venezuela
1915 A J A Quintus Bosz Indonesian/Suriname lawyer
1915 William Goyen writer
1918 Astrid Varnay Stockholm Sweden, soprano (Metropolitan Opera 1941-56)
1918 [Ibolyka] Astridm Varnay Hungarian/US singer (Walküre)
1918 Ella Fitzgerald Newport News VA, jazz singer (The First Lady of Song, Is it live or Memorex, A-Tisket A-Tasket)
1919 Heinz Wunderlich composer
1920 Jean Carmet actor (Cache Cash, Miss Mona, Night Magic)
1920 Marre reformer of the bar
1921 Jean Mogin Belgian poet
1921 Karel Appel painter (Vragende Children)
1923 Albert King Indianola MS, blues singer/guitarist (Bad Look Blues)
1923 Anita Bjorak actress (Miss Julie, Loving Couples, Night People)
1923 Melissa Hayden Toronto Ontario Canada, ballerina (1961 Silver Bowl)
1923 Aafje J R Bouber [Blom] actress (Traveller Without Baggage)
1923 Francis Graham-Smith British astronomer
1924 Erzsebet Szonyi composer
1924 Franco Mannino composer
1925 Flannery O'Connor short story writer (or 03/25)
1925 Anthony Christopher British trade unionist
1926 Paul Walter Furst composer
1927 Ernst Widmer composer
1929 José Angel Valente Spanish poet (A modo the esperanza)
1929 Yvette Corlett athlete
1929 Yvette Williams New Zealand, long jumper (Olympics-gold-52)
1930 Dotty Mack Cincinatti OH, actress (Paul Dixon Show)
1930 Lynn Hamilton Yazoo City MS, actress (Alice Morgan-Port Charles, Donna-Sanford & Son)
1930 Paul Mazursky Brooklyn NY, writer/director (Moscow on the Hudson)
1930 Roy Marshall cricket opener (prolific Hampshire only 4 Tests for West Indies)
1931 David Shepherd painter
1932 Lia Manoliu Romania, discus thrower (Olympics-gold-1968)
1932 Meadowlark [George] Lemon basketball star (Harlem Globetrotter)
1932 William Roache England, actor (Ken Barlow-Coronation Street)
1933 Helen Paling British circuit judge
1933 Jerry Leiber songwriter (Leiber & Stoller)
1934 Denny "Scott" Miller Bloomington IN, actor (Wagon Train)
1934 David de Peyer cancer research campaigner
1937 Bo Brundin Stockholm Sweden, actress (Rhinemann Exchange)
1937 Thomas Faber publisher
1939 Richard Earl of Lichfield English photographer
1939 Veronica Sutherland British diplomat
1940 Al Pacino New York NY, actor (And Justice For All, Godfather, Scorpio)
1940 Marian Norrie
1940 O B McClinton [Burnett] Senatobia MS, country singer (Keep your arms around me)
1941 Bertrand Tavernier actor (Captain Conan, L627, Daddy Nostalgie)
1941 Chris Augustine rocker (Every Mother's Son)
1941 Lawrence J Smith (Representative-Democrat-FL, 1983- )
1942 John Martin Dalby composer
1942 Jon Kyl (Representative-Republican-AZ)
1944 John Bryant editor (Europeans)
1945 Björn Ulvaeus Gothenburg Sweden, guitarist/songwriter (ABBA-Waterloo, Dancing Queen)
1945 Stu Cook Oakland CA, rock bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival-Proud Mary)
1945 Walt Wesley NBA star (Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers)
1945 Michael Kogel rocker
1946 Talia [Rose Coppola] Shire Jamaica NY, actress (Adrian-Rocky, Constanzia Corleone-Godfather)
1946 Digby Fairweather jazz trumpeter
1946 Peter Sutherland CEO (Allied Irish Banks)
1946 Ronnie Gilbert rocker (Lifeline, Harp)
1946 Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky Russian ultra nationalist/anti semite
1947 Bill Fontana composer
1947 Jeffrey DeMunn Buffalo NY, actor (Blaze, Frances, Windy City)
1947 Johan Cruyff Dutch soccer player/coach (Ajax/Barcelona)
1948 Mike Selvey cricketer (England pace bowler of late 70's)
1949 Michael Brown New York NY, keyboardist/songwriter (The Left Banke-Walk Away Renee)
1950 Steve Ferrone Brighton England, drummer (Average White Band)
1951 Ian McCartney MP
1951 Linda Stone pharmacist
1952 Cory Day Bronx NY, rock vocalist
1952 Vladislav Tretiak USSR hockey player (Olympics-gold-1972, 76)
1953 Gary Cosier cricketer (Australian batsman 1975-78, 109 on debut vs West Indies)
1954 Rob Crosby Sumter SC, country singer (She's a Natural)
1955 Buster Mottram tennis player
1955 Joanne Abbott Sarnia Ontario Canada, yachter (Olympics-96)
1955 John Nunn British chess player
1957 Eric "The Crafty Cockney" Bristow London England, dart thrower (5 World Masters titles)
1958 Fish [Derek William Dick] Edinburgh Scotland, rock vocalist (Marillion-Real to Reel)
1958 Chris Johnson Arcata CA, LPGA golfer (1990 Atlantic City Classic)
1958 Flab rocker
1959 Billy Rankin Glasgow, Scotland, rocker
1959 Tony Phillips Atlanta GA, baseballoutfielder Chicago White Sox
1964 Andy Bell rocker (Erasure-Oh L'Amour)
1964 Jackie Campbell Los Angeles CA, WPVA volleyballer (Nationals-5th-1993)
1964 Jamie Siddons cricketer (Victorian & SA batsman ODI for Australia 1988)
1965 Denis Perez hockey defenseman (Team France 1998)
1965 Mark Bryant NBA forward/center (Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets)
1966 Darren Holmes Asheville NC, pitcher (Colorado Rockies)
1966 Isabelle Pasco France, actress (Ave Maria)/model (Elle, Vogue)
1967 Angel Martino Americus GA, 50 meter/100 meter freestyle (Olympics-gold/2 bronze-92, 96)
1969 Darren Woodson NFL safety (Dallas Cowboys)
1969 Gavin Bruk-Jackson cricketer (Zimbabwe Test batsman 1993)
1969 Jon Olsen US, 100 meter freestyle/400 meter/800 meter medley (Olympics-gold-1992, 96)
1969 Marisa Pedulla Bellefonte PA, half-lightweight judoka (Olympics-96)
1969 Nir Shental Israel, Men's 470 yachter (Olympics-15th-1996)
1969 Sanjeeva Ranatunga cricketer (Sri Lankan Test batsman 1994- )
1969 Travis Fryman Lexington KY, infielder (Detroit Tigers)
1970 Corwin Brown NFL safety (New York Jets, New England Patriots)
1970 Steve Tovar NFL linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals)
1971 Andrew Grigg CFL receiver (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
1971 Brad Clontz Stuart VA, pitcher (Atlanta Braves)
1971 Eric England NFL defensive end (Arizona Cardinals)
1971 Joël Bourgeois Moncton New Brunswick, 3000 meter Steeplechase (Olympics-96)
1971 Michelle Harris Newark DE, Miss Delaware-America (1996)
1971 Pam Schaffrath Chicago IL, female catcher (Colorado Silver Bullets)
1972 Percell Gaskins linebacker (Carolina Panthers)
1973 Alek Stojanov Windsor, NHL right wing (Pittsburgh Penguins)
1973 Barbara Rittner Krefeld German Federal Republic, tennis star (1992 Schenectady)
1973 Paige Gordon North Vancouver British Columbia Canada, diver (Olympics-16-92, 96)
1973 Wes Martin Calgary Alta, golfer (1990 Alberta Jr Masters-2nd)
1974 Brad Hassell Australian soccer striker (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1974 Libor Prochazka hockey defenseman (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998)
1974 Tricia Dunn ice hockey forward (USA, Olympics-98)
1974 Twan Russell linebacker (Washington Redskins)
1975 Ruben Gomez rocker (Menudo-Cannonball)
1975 Jacque Jones San Diego CA, baseball outfielder (Olympics-bronze-96)
1976 Tim Duncan NBA forward (San Antonio Spurs)
1977 Jonathan Angel San Francisco CA, actor (Tommy Delucca-Saved By The Bell)
1977 Marguerite Moreau actress (Connie-Mighty Ducks, D2, D3)
1985 Jonathan Halyalkar Ramsey NJ, actor (Billy-Who's the Boss)
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Deaths which occurred on April 25:

0974 Ratherius of Verona/Liege bishop/abbot, dies at about 84
1295 Sancho IV the Brave, scholar/king of Castile/León, dies
1342 Benedict XII [Jacques Fournier] Pope (1334-42), dies
1472 Leon Battista degli Alberti scupltor/musician (Dinner Pieces), dies
1482 Margaret of Anjou Queen (Henry VI), dies
1566 Diane de Poitiers lover of French King Henry II, dies
1595 Torquato Tasso Italian poet/playwright, dies at 51
1607 Don Juan Alvarez Spanish Admiral (Gibraltar), dies in battle
1607 Jacob van Heemskerck Dutch Admiral (Nova Zambia), dies in battle
1635 Alessandro Tassoni Italian political writer (Rape of Bucket), dies at 69
1647 Matthias Gallas Austrian earl of Campo/duke of Lucerna, dies at 62
1663 Heinrich Pape composer, dies at 53
1690 David Teniers the Younger Flemish painter (Pictorium), dies at 79
1728 John Woodward geologist/physician, dies
1744 Anders Celsius Swedish astronomer (Centegrade Thermometer), dies at 42
1792 Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Beckmann composer, dies at 54
1792 Nicolas J Pelletier Frenchman, first to be guillotined
1800 William Cowper English lawyer/poet (Olney Hymns), dies at 68
1808 Alois Luigi Tomasini composer, dies at 66
1813 Louis-Sébastien Mercier French poet (Le Déserteur), dies at 73
1822 Frederick "William" Herschel German/British astronomer, dies at 83
1828 John Goldberg Dutch patriot/statesman, dies at 64
1840 Siméon-Denis Poisson French mathematician (Poisson verdeling), dies
1845 Thomas Duncan painter, dies
1853 William Beaumont physiologist, dies
1862 Charles Ferguson Smith US Union General-Major, dies of infection at 55
1873 Walter de la Mare English poet/author (Behold the Dreamer), dies at 43
1882 Johann CF Zöllner German astronomer (astro photography), dies
1905 Jacob Olie Dutch photographer, dies at about 70
1906 John Knowles Paine US composer, dies at 67
1915 Nicola d' Arienzo composer, dies at 72
1925 George Stephanescu composer, dies at 81
1926 Ellen K S Key Swedish author/feminist (Century of the Child), dies at 76
1928 Pjotr N Wrangel Russian baron General, dies at 49
1931 A J Y [Bert] Hopkins cricketer (20 Tests for Australia, 509 runs), dies
1937 Clem Sohn air show performer dies at 26 when his chute fails to open
1942 Paul Kornfeld writer, dies at 52
1943 Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko playwright/director, dies
1946 Albert Knight cricketer (3 Tests for England on 1903-04 tour), dies
1946 Joseph Vine cricketer (batted in two Tests England vs Australia 1911-12), dies
1951 Jerzy Fitelberg composer, dies at 47
1954 Joseph Hergesheimer novelist (Java Head), dies
1955 Constance Collier actress (Perils of Pauline), dies at 77
1955 Paulus B Barth Swiss painter/lithographer, dies at 73
1960 Hope Emerson actress (I Married Joan, Peter Gunn), dies at 62
1960 Amanullah emir/king of Afhanistan (1919-28), dies at 67
1960 Ilmari Henrik Reinhold Krohn composer, dies at 92
1961 Hans F Blunck writer, dies
1966 Maurice Roelants Belgian author (Prayer for a Good End), dies at 70
1969 Margarita Xirgu actress (Bloody Wedding), dies at 80
1970 Anita Louise actress (Gorilla, Anthony Adverse), dies at about 55
1971 Max Drischner composer, dies at 80
1972 George Sanders actor (Mr Freeze-Batman, Ivanhoe), dies at 65
1976 Carol Reed director (Agony & Ecstasy), dies
1976 Margaret Bannerman actress (Great Defender), dies at 79
1981 Dixie a mouse who lived 6½ years, dies
1982 Don Wilson TV announcer (Jack Benny Show), dies at 81
1982 Celia Johnson actress (Brief Encounter, Happy Breed), dies at 73
1982 John Cody US cardinal/archbishop of Chicago (1965-82), dies at 74
1982 Paul de Vree Flemish writer/essayist (Round Table), dies
1982 William R Burnett US, writer (Asphalt Jungle), dies at 82
1984 Richard Benedict actor (Okinawa), dies of a heart attack at 64
1985 Murray Matheson actor (Felix-Banacek), dies at 72
1985 Richard Haydn British actor (Mutiny on the Bounty), dies at 80
1988 Boris Kremenliev composer, dies at 76
1988 Carolyn Franklin singer/songwriter/son of Aretha, dies at 43
1988 Clifford D[onald] Simak sci-fi author (Hugo, Way Station), dies at 83
1989 George Coulouris actor (Papillon, Runaway Bus), dies at 85
1990 Dexter Gordon jazz saxophonist, dies in Philadelphia of kidney failure at 67
1991 Frank Hamilton actor (Subterraneans), dies at 66
1991 Theo Laseroms [Tank] Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord), dies
1992 Brian Macleod Canadian musician, dies of cancer at 39
1992 Dany [Daniël S] Tuijnman Dutch minister of traffic & water, dies at 77
1992 Panos Christi entertainer, dies of AIDS at 54
1992 Yutaka Ozaki Japanese rock artist, dies at 26 of pulmonary edema
1993 Rosita Moreno actress (Walls of Gold), dies of heart attack at 85
1994 David Langton British actor (Upstairs Downstairs), dies at 82
1994 George Gennimatas Greek minister of National Economy, dies at 55
1994 Talaat Yassin Hamman militant Moslem leader, shot dead at 32
1995 Art Fleming game show host (Jeopardy), dies at 74
1995 Francis Henry Smith librarian, dies at 85
1995 Ginger Rogers actress/dancer (Top Hat, Stage Door), dies at 83
1995 Joseph Heifitz film director, dies at 89
1996 John Eustace Theodore Brancker lawyer/parliamentarian, dies at 87
1996 John Lorne Campbell folklorist, dies at 90
1996 Saul Bass designer, dies at 74

1781 Cornwallis retreats from Guilford Courthouse

On this day in 1781, British General Lord Charles Cornwallis retreats to Wilmington, North Carolina, after being defeated at Guilford Courthouse by 4,500 Continental Army soldiers and militia under the command of American Major General Nathanael Greene.

With Cornwallis’ defeat, the British task of defending North Carolina fell to a young Irish-born nobleman, Francis, Lord Rawdon, an officer of marked ability, who went on to execute an unlikely victory over Greene at Hobkirk’s Hill, a ridge just north of Camden, North Carolina.

Rawdon, who was being provided information on the Continentals’ movements by British Loyalists, learned of the movements of General Greene and his troops. A deserter from the Continental Army informed Rawdon about the precarious supply situation of the Continental Army, and the commander sprung into action. Although outnumbered by a Continental Army of 1,174 men to Rawdon’s 800 British troops, the British managed to surprise Greene and the Continentals at Hobkirk’s Hill. Although casualties were approximately the same on each side, the British won a tactical victory, taking the field. Greene retreated, but managed to save his supplies and artillery, while Rawdon and the British fell back to Charleston, South Carolina.

Upon his return to England, King George III honored Lord Rawdon with his own peerage as Baron Rawdon in March 1783. Six years later, Rawdon added his mother’s surname, Hastings, to his own. With his father’s death in 1793, Rawdon-Hastings became the second earl of Moira. He served as the governor general of India beginning in 1813. Proving his military and diplomatic prowess, he gained Nepal, Marathas and Singapore for the crown. These successes led to yet another new title, the marquess of Hastings.
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1862 Fall of New Orleans

Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans a day after his fleet successfully sailed past two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River the day before, and the Confederates lose a major city early in the war.
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1864 Battle of Mark's Mills, Arkansas

For the second time in a week, a Confederate force captures a Union wagon train trying to supply the Federal force at Camden, Arkansas. This time, the loss forced Union General Frederick Steele to withdraw back to Little Rock.

Steele captured Camden on April 15 as he moved southwest towards Shreveport, Louisiana. This was part of a larger Union operation in the region. General Nathaniel Banks moved up the Red River into northwest Louisiana on a planned invasion of Texas, but he was turned back at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8. Steele was to pinch Confederate forces around Shreveport with a move from central Arkansas. After taking Camden, Steele sent 1,100 men west to capture a store of corn. That force was badly defeated by a Confederate detachment at the Battle of Poison Springs on April 18. Now, with provisions dwindling, Steele sent another wagon train northeast from Camden towards Pine Bluff to fetch supplies.

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Drake and 1,700 troops accompanied the 240 wagons that left Camden on April 22. Three hundred runaway slaves traveled along as well. Three days later, Confederate troops under General James Fagan pounced on Drake's command near Mark's Mills. They came from two sides, and Drake was wounded and captured early in the battle along with 1,400 of his troops. The Confederates lost 41 killed and 108 wounded, but they captured the entire wagon train. Tragically, the Rebels followed up their victory much as they had at Poison Springs on April 18, where they massacred captured black soldiers. At Mark's Mills, at least half of the runaways were killed in cold blood. Even one of the Confederate officers admitted in his report that "No orders, threat, or commands could restrain the men from vengeance on the Negroes..."

Steele's army was now in dangerous territory. With Confederate forces lurking all around Camden and with supplies running low, Steele retreated to Little Rock, leaving southern Arkansas under Rebel control. Drake survived his wounds and later became governor of Iowa. Drake University in Des Moines now bears his name.
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1915 Allies begin invasion of Gallipoli

On April 25, 1915, a week after Anglo-French naval attacks on the Dardanelles end in dismal failure, the Allies launch a large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula, the Turkish-controlled land mass bordering the northern side of the Dardanelles.

In January 1915, two months after Turkey entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers, Russia appealed to Britain to defend it against attacks by the Ottoman army in the Caucasus. Lord Kitchener, Britain’s secretary of state for war, told Churchill, first lord of the Admiralty, that no troops were available to help the Russians and that the only place where they could demonstrate their support was at the Dardanelles, to prevent Ottoman troops from moving east to the Caucasus. First Sea Lord John Fisher advocated a joint army-navy attack.

The naval attack of March 18, 1915, was a disaster, as undetected Turkish mines sank half of the joint Anglo-French fleet sent against the Dardanelles. After this failure, the Allied command switched its focus to a landing of army troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula, with the objective of securing the Dardanelles so that the Allied fleet could pass safely through and reconnoiter with the Russians in the Black Sea.

On April 25, British, French, Australian and New Zealander troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The Turkish forces were well prepared to meet them, however, as they had long been aware of the likelihood of just such an invasion. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was devastated by some of the best-trained Turkish defenders, led by Mustafa Kemal, the future President Ataturk of Turkey. Meanwhile, the British and French also met fierce resistance at their landing sites and suffered two-thirds casualties at some locations. During the next three months, the Allies made only slight gains off their landing sites and sustained terrible casualties.

To break the stalemate, a new British landing at Suvla Bay occurred on August 6, but the British failed to capitalize on the largely unopposed landing and waited too long to move against the heights. Ottoman reinforcements arrived and quickly halted their progress. Trenches were dug, and the British were able to advance only a few miles.

In September, Sir Ian Hamilton, the British commander, was replaced by Sir Charles Monro, who in December recommended an evacuation from Gallipoli. On January 8, 1916, Allied forces staged a full retreat from the shores of the peninsula, ending a disastrous campaign that resulted in 250,000 Allied casualties and a greatly discredited Allied military command, including Churchill, who resigned as first lord of the Admiralty and accepted a commission to command an infantry battalion in France.
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1945 Americans and Russians link up, cut Germany in two

On this day in 1945, eight Russian armies completely encircle Berlin, linking up with the U.S. First Army patrol, first on the western bank of the Elbe, then later at Torgau. Germany is, for all intents and purposes, Allied territory.

The Allies sounded the death knell of their common enemy by celebrating. In Moscow, news of the link-up between the two armies resulted in a 324-gun salute; in New York, crowds burst into song and dance in the middle of Times Square. Among the Soviet commanders who participated in this historic meeting of the two armies was the renowned Russian Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov, who warned a skeptical Stalin as early as June 1941 that Germany posed a serious threat to the Soviet Union. Zhukov would become invaluable in battling German forces within Russia (Stalingrad and Moscow) and without. It was also Zhukov who would demand and receive unconditional surrender of Berlin from German General Krebs less than a week after encircling the German capital. At the end of the war, Zhukov was awarded a military medal of honor from Great Britain.
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1967 Westmoreland makes controversial remarks

At a news conference in Washington, Gen. William Westmoreland, senior U.S. commander in South Vietnam, causes controversy by saying that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily." Though he said that, "Ninety-five percent of the people were behind the United States effort in Vietnam," he asserted that the American soldiers in Vietnam were "dismayed, and so am I, by recent unpatriotic acts at home." This criticism of the antiwar movement was not received well by many in and out of the antiwar movement, who believed it was both their right and responsibility to speak out against the war.
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1971 North Vietnamese attack South Vietnamese installations

North Vietnamese troops hit Allied installations throughout South Vietnam. In the most devastating attack, the ammunition depot at Qui Nhon was blown up. On April 27, the aviation fuel tanks at Da Nang air base were attacked by communist gunners, resulting in explosions and a fire that destroyed a large proportion of the fuel stored there. In the following three days, 54 South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were reported killed, and 185 wounded. The United States reported seven dead and 60 wounded.