On this day: February 25

Events on February 25

• 138 Roman emperor Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his son and successor following the death of Hadrian's first adopted son Lucius Aelius. Wikipedia
• 628 Khosrow II, the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, was overthrown by his son Kavad II. Wikipedia
• 1705 George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premiered in Hamburg. Wikipedia
• 1836 Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm. Wikipedia
• 1843 Royal Navy captain Lord George Paulet began a five-month occupation of the Hawaiian Islands. Wikipedia
• 1866 Miners in Calaveras County, California, discovered a human skull that was taken to show that humans had existed during the Pliocene, a thesis that was later disproved. Wikipedia
• 1870 Mississippi senator Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African American to be seated in the U.S. Congress. Wikipedia
• 1875 Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency. Wikipedia
• 1912 Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: In the Battle of Verdun, a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight. Wikipedia
• 1918 World War I: German forces capture Tallinn to virtually complete the occupation of Estonia. Wikipedia
• 1921 Georgian capital Tbilisi falls to the invading Russian forces after heavy fighting and the Russians declare the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Wikipedia
• 1933 USS Ranger, the United States Navy's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, was launched. Wikipedia
• 1941 The outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands organises a general strike in German-occupied Amsterdam to protest against Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1948 Fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention in recent unrest, President Edvard Beneš ceded control of the government to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Wikipedia
• 1951 After being postponed due to World War II, the inaugural edition of the Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Wikipedia
• 1956 In a speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced the personality cult and dictatorship of his predecessor Joseph Stalin. Wikipedia
• 1980 The first prime minister of independent Suriname, Henck Arron, was deposed in a military coup led by Dési Bouterse. Wikipedia
• 1986 Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were ousted from power by the non-violent People Power Revolution, with Corazon Aquino succeeding as president. Wikipedia
• 1991 Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest. Wikipedia
• 1994 Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Palestinian Muslims praying at the mosque in Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 people and wounding 125 others. Wikipedia
• 1999 Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four. Wikipedia
• 2009 At their headquarters in Pilkhana, members of the Bangladesh Rifles began a mutiny that resulted in 82 deaths. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2020 Hong Kong–based writer and publisher Gui Minhai, known for writing about Chinese Communist Party politicians, was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for intelligence violations. Wikipedia

Born on February 25

• 1643 Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (died 1695) Wikipedia
• 1707 Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and composer (died 1793) Wikipedia
• 1778 José de San Martín, Argentinian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (died 1850) Wikipedia
• 1841 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1842 Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1866 Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (died 1952) Wikipedia
• 1871 Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian poet and playwright (died1913) Wikipedia
• 1873 Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (died 1921) Wikipedia
• 1881 Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (died 1938) Wikipedia
• 1885 Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (died 1969) Wikipedia
• 1888 John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (died 1959) Wikipedia
• 1917 Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1943 George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1949 Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author Wikipedia
• 1950 Néstor Kirchner, Argentine politician; 51st President of Argentina (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1953 José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004 Wikipedia
• 1965 Carrot Top, American comedian Wikipedia
• 1966 Téa Leoni, American actress Wikipedia
• 1971 Sean Astin, American actor, director and producer Wikipedia
• 1976 Rashida Jones, American actress and writer Wikipedia
• 1981 Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer Wikipedia
• 1999 Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian footballer Wikipedia

Died on February 25

• 1634 Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general and politician (born 1583) Wikipedia
• 1713 Frederick I of Prussia (born 1657) Wikipedia
• 1723 Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul's Cathedral (born 1632) Wikipedia
• 1852 Thomas Moore, Irish poet and lyricist (born 1779) Wikipedia
• 1914 John Tenniel, English illustrator (born 1820) Wikipedia
• 1950 George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 1964 Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian sculptor and illustrator (born 1887) Wikipedia
• 1970 Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 1971 Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1983 Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 1999 Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1912) Wikipedia
• 2001 Don Bradman, Australian international cricketer; holder of world record batting average (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2017 Bill Paxton, American actor and filmmaker (born 1955) Wikipedia
• 2020 Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (born 1924) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast days: Æthelberht of Kent Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Gerland of Agrigento Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: John Roberts, writer and missionary (Anglican Communion) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Hamburg Matthiae-mahl, feast of Hanseatic League cities on the mediaeval first day of spring Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Blessed Robert of Arbrissel, founder of Fontevraud Abbey Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: Saint Walpurga (she was canonised on 1 May c. 870 and Walpurgis Night is celebrated 30 April) Wikipedia
• Christian feast days: February 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Kitano Baika-sai or "Plum Blossom Festival" (Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine, Kyoto, Japan) Wikipedia
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships (Hungary) Wikipedia
• National Day (Kuwait) Wikipedia
• People Power Day (Philippines) Wikipedia
• Revolution Day in Suriname Wikipedia
• Soviet Occupation Day (Georgia) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “February 25” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/February 25” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “February 25” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for February 25 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.