What Happened On
Robert Noyce
Photo Credit: Intel Free Press
Robert NoycePhoto Credit: Intel Free Press
Silicon Integrated Circuit
April 25, 1961
Robert Noyce patents his revolutionary device. Jack Kilby had invented the first hybrid integrated circuit in 1958 made of germanium. The following year, Noyce invented the monolithic integrated circuit on silicon. Noyce's was more practical than Kilby's implementation and modern ICs are based on Noyce's design.
1910 New York license plate
Photo Credit: Jerry "Woody"
1910 New York license platePhoto Credit: Jerry "Woody"
License Plates
April 25, 1901
New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates. These weren't issued by the state, but were provided by the owner with their initials on them. It wasn't until 1903 that Massachusetts provided the first state-issued license plates. New York didn't start issuing license plates until 1910.
USS Iowa and crew - 1898
USS Iowa and crew - 1898
Spanish-American War
April 25, 1898
The U.S. Congress officially declares war against Spain. It decreed that a de facto state of war had existed since April 21. Cuba had been fighting for independence from Spain.
On May 1, U.S. Commodore George Dewey virtually destroyed the Spanish fleet while American losses were minimal during the Battle of Manila Bay. It was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.
The war would end in December with the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 in which Spain renounced all claims to Cuba, gave Guam and Puerto Rico to the U.S., and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million.
First Ship to officially pass through the Suez Canal
First Ship to officially pass through the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
April 25, 1859
Construction of the Suez Canal, a North-South waterway connecting the Mediterranean and the Red seas, begins. It was completed in 1869.
First Execution by Guillotine
April 25, 1792
The French execute convicted criminal Nicolas Jacques Pelletier. The use of the guillotine was brought about by French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin who sought a way to provide humane executions.
The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
April 25, 1719
The first volume of Daniel Defoe's classic work is published. The book was based on the real-life adventures of Alexander Selkirk.
St. Lawrence Seaway
April 25, 1959
Opens to the public, providing access between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.
Mario Andretti
April 25, 1959
The legendary driver Mario Andretti makes his racing debut, winning at the Nazareth Motor Speed-way (Pennsylvania) in a 1948 Hudson.
First Black Drafted by the NBA
April 25, 1950
Charles "Chuck" Cooper is selected by the Boston Celtics.
United Negro College Fund
April 25, 1944
Founded by Frederick Douglass Patterson, president of the Tuskegee Institute.
First House Built in Kentucky
April 25, 1750
Dr. Thomas Walker completes its construction near the present-day town of Barbourville.
First Circumnavigation of the Globe
April 25, 1521
Ferdinand Magellan, leader of the expedition, is mortally wounded in a battle with the natives of the Philippine Islands. He died on the 27th. The three-year voyage, started in 1519, was completed without him.
Only 18 out of the original 237 men completed the voyage and only one of the five ships that started the voyage completed the journey. Approximately 232 sailors died on the expedition. The voyage proved that the globe could be circled by sea and that the world was much larger than previously believed.
Magellan had not originally intended to circumnavigate the world, but was trying to find a route through which Spanish ships could navigate to the Spice Islands. After Magellan's death, his assistant Juan Sebastián Elcano took command and decided to continue the voyage around the Earth.
Birthdays
Pacino as Frank Serpico
Pacino as Frank Serpico
Al Pacino (Alberto Pacino)
Born April 25, 1940
American Oscar-Tony-Emmy winning actor. Al Pacino started his career as a stand up comedian. He turned down the role of Han Solo in Star Wars. Film: The Godfather (1972), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and Scent of a Woman (1992, Oscar).
Ella Fitzgerald
Born April 25, 1917 d. 1996
American jazz singer. She had an extraordinarily wide vocal range of 2.5 octaves. Music: A-Tisket, A-Tasket (1938) and On The Sunny Side Of The Street (1963).
Ruby about to shoot Oswald
Ruby about to shoot Oswald
Jack Ruby (Jacob Leon Rubenstein)
Born April 25, 1911 d. 1967
American night club owner. He died while awaiting a retrial for the murder of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
Edward R. Murrow (Egbert Roscoe Murrow)
Born April 25, 1908 d. 1965
American Emmy-winning journalist. He gained prominence during World War II with live broadcasts from Europe by him and his "Murrow Boys", ending his broadcasts with "Good night, and good luck." He flew with 25 combat missions in Europe during the war.
His reports on his television show See It Now helped bring about the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
He won four Peabody awards, the Medal of Freedom (1964), and was knighted an honorary commander of the Order of the British Empire (1965).
Hank Azaria
Born April 25, 1964
American Emmy-winning actor. TV: The Simpsons (voice of Moe, Apu, Police Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Cletus, Professor Frink, and Snake).
Talia Shire (Talia Coppola)
Born April 25, 1946
American actress. Film: The Godfather (1972, Don Corleone's daughter) and Rocky (1976, Rocky's wife).
Meadowlark Lemon meeting with Betty Ford at the White House (1974)
Meadowlark Lemon
Born April 25, 1932 d. 2015
American basketball player. With the Harlem Globetrotters.
Paul Mazursky
Born April 25, 1930 d. 2014
American film director. Film: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986, screenplay).
Albert King (Albert Nelson)
Born April 25, 1923 d. 1992
American blues musician. Music: Laundromat Blues (1966) and Born Under a Bad Sign (1967).
William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Born April 25, 1906 d. 1997
American lawyer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1956-90).
Guglielmo Marconi
Born April 25, 1874 d. 1937
Italian Nobel-winning physicist, radio pioneer, inventor of the wireless telegraph (1896).
Howard Roger Garis
Born April 25, 1873 d. 1962
American children's author, creator of the Uncle Wiggily the rabbit stories and board game.
Oliver Cromwell
Born April 25, 1599 d. 1658
Lord Protector of England. He led "the curse of Cromwell," in which he massacred the Irish during an extensive expropriation of their land. He also outlawed Christmas celebrations in England, calling them an extreme forgetfulness to Christ.
Decreed an Inch was Equal to 3 Barleycorns
Edward II
Born April 25, 1284 d. 1327
King of England (1307-1327). He decreed that an inch was equal to three average barleycorns laid end to end (1324).
Louis IX
Born April 25, 1214 d. 1270
King of France (1226-70). Known as Saint Louis, he was canonized in 1297.
Deaths
Tonight with Belafonte
Tonight with Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.)
Died April 25, 2023 b. 1927
American Tony-Emmy-Grammy-winning singer/actor. Known as the "King of Calypso." He was the first black to win an Emmy (1960, for his performance in the TV show Tonight with Belafonte). Music: Banana Boat Song (1956, aka Day-Oh).
Beatrice Arthur as Maude and 1943 U.S. Marine Corps ID photo
Beatrice Arthur as Maude and 1943 U.S. Marine Corps ID photo
Beatrice Arthur (Bernice Frankel)
Died April 25, 2009 b. 1922
American Tony-Emmy-winning actress, and served as a U.S. Marine during WWII. TV: Maude (1972-78, Maude Findlay) and The Golden Girls (1985-92, Dorothy Zbornak). Broadway: Fiddler on the Roof (1964, Yente the Matchmaker).
Anna Sewell
Died April 25, 1878 b. 1820
English author. Writings: Black Beauty (1877), which has sold over 50 million copies and has been made into numerous movies. It was her only novel. Written in her declining health, she died five months after its publication.
Michael Lanier
Died April 25, 2018 b. 1969
American giant. He and his brother James were the world's tallest identical twins, 7 ft. 6 in. (228.6cm).
Source: Guinness Book of World Records
Bobby "Boris" Pickett
Died April 25, 2007 b. 1938
American singer. Music: Monster Mash (1962, #1, "It was a graveyard smash!").
Ginger Rogers (Virginia McMath)
Died April 25, 1995 b. 1911
American Oscar-winning actress, Fred Astaire's dance partner.
George Sanders
Died April 25, 1972 b. 1906
British Oscar-winning Actor. Film: Starred in The Saint and The Falcon movies. He was married to both Zsa Zsa Gabor and her sister Magda. He committed suicide.
George Herriman
Died April 25, 1944 b. 1880
American cartoonist. Creator of Krazy Kat comic strip (1913-44). The strip focused on Krazy Kat and his unrequited love for the mouse Ignatz who despised Krazy.
Emma
Died April 25, 1885 b. 1836
Queen of the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) (1855-63). She was the first queen to visit the U.S. (1866).
Anders Celsius
Died April 25, 1744 b. 1701
Swedish astronomer. Inventor of the Celsius (centigrade) thermometer (1742).
Torquato Tasso
Died April 25, 1595 b. 1544
Italian poet of the late Renaissance. He spent seven years confined to an insane asylum. Writings: Gerusalemme liberato (1575, which is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of European literature).
Benedict XII
Died April 25, 1342 b. ????
French-born religious leader, 197th Pope (1334-42).