Summary of the Day ✨ 25 February (25/02)
Cuban border guards killed four people when they fired on a US speedboat in Cuban waters, while in Kansas, shootings left three dead and fourteen injured. Meanwhile, avalanches claimed at least 310 lives in Afghanistan, Bangladesh experienced a deadly military mutiny, and a Turkish Airlines crash in Amsterdam killed nine people including all three pilots.
Historical Events 📜
- 2026: Four people are killed and several more are injured when Cuban Border Guard Troops confront and open fire on a US-registered speedboat violating Cuban waters.
- 2016: Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.
- 2015: At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.
- 2009: Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.
- 2009: Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes 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.
- 1999: Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four.
- 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 is disarmed and beaten to death by survivors.
- 1991: Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest.
- 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.
- 1980: The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
- 1956: In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin.
- 1951: The first Pan American Games are officially opened in Buenos Aires by Argentine President Juan Perón.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Famous Births 👶
- 2005: Noah Jupe, English actor
- 2004: Tyler Sanders, American actor (died 2022)
- 2003: Brandin Podziemski, American basketball player
- 2001: Vernon Carey Jr., American basketball player
- 2000: Bo Nix, American football player
- 1999: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian footballer
- 1999: Rocky, South Korean singer, dancer and songwriter
- 1997: Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress
- 1997: Thon Maker, South Sudanese-Australian basketball player
- 1995: Mario Hezonja, Croatian basketball player
- 1995: Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1994: Fred VanVleet, American basketball player
- 1993: Erick Fedde, American baseball player
- 1993: Lukáš Sedlák, Czech ice hockey player
- 1992: Joakim Nordström, Swedish ice hockey player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Henry Kelly, Irish radio and television broadcaster, actor and journalist (born 1947)
- 2025: Roberto Orci, Mexican-American screenwriter and producer (born 1973)
- 2025: Jane Reed, UK Magazine editor and media executive (born 1940)
- 2023: Gordon Pinsent, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (born 1930)
- 2022: Farrah Forke, American actress (born 1968)
- 2022: Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator (born 1927)
- 2020: Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (born 1924)
- 2017: Bill Paxton, American actor and filmmaker (born 1955)
- 2015: Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (born 1930)
- 2015: Ariel Camacho, Mexican musician and singer-songwriter; (born 1992)
- 2015: Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic; noted ichthyologist (born 1922)
- 2012: Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1932)
- 2010: Ihsan Dogramaci, Turkish pediatrician and academic (born 1915)
- 2008: Hans Raj Khanna, Indian judge and advocate; upholder of civil liberties (born 1912)
- 2005: Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (born 1921)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast days:
Æthelberht of Kent - Christian feast days:
Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás - Christian feast days:
Gerland of Agrigento - Christian feast days:
John Roberts, writer and missionary (Anglican Communion) - Christian feast days:
Hamburg Matthiae-mahl, feast of Hanseatic League cities on the mediaeval first day of spring - Christian feast days:
Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani - Christian feast days:
Blessed Robert of Arbrissel, founder of Fontevraud Abbey - Christian feast days:
Saint Walpurga (she was canonised on 1 May c. 870 and Walpurgis Night is celebrated 30 April) - Christian feast days:
February 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Kitano Baika-sai or “Plum Blossom Festival” (Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine, Kyoto, Japan)
- Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships (Hungary)
- National Day (Kuwait)
- People Power Day (Philippines)
- Revolution Day in Suriname
- Soviet Occupation Day (Georgia)