What Happened On
Happy Days
February 25, 1972
The TV show Love, American Style airs a segment called Love and the Television Set (later retitled Love and the Happy Days for syndication) with Ron Howard, Marion Ross, and Anson Williams. Happy Days was a spin-off of this segment starring Howard, Ross, and Williams.
The story centers around their family becoming the first on the block to get a television set, forcing Ritchie to choose between his best friend or Arlene to come watch the big fight.
George Lucas saw the episode and cast Howard as the lead in his 1973 film American Graffiti.
Rubber Duckie
February 25, 1970
Ernie (voiced by Jim Henson) debuts his bathtub song Rubber Duckie on the TV series Sesame Street. It would reach #16 on the charts.
First Black Member of the U.S. Congress
February 25, 1870
Hiram Rhodes Revels is seated to the U.S. Congress. He was elected to the U.S. Senate representing Mississippi. His seating was initially blocked by Democratic senators on the grounds that Mississippi was under military rule and lacked a civil government to confirm his election. Others claimed Revels was not a U.S. citizen until the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868, and was therefore ineligible to become a U.S. Senator.
First Practical Electric Motor
February 25, 1837
The first practical electric motor is patented, by Thomas Davenport. This was the first U.S. patent for an electric machine (1837, Patent No. 132). He used silk from his wife's wedding dress for insulation for the wiring. Davenport was unable to capitalize on his invention and died broke.
Terri Schiavo
February 25, 1990
Terri Schiavo collapses in her home after suffering a cardiac arrest, which resulted in severe brain damage. A lengthy legal battle would ensue over the right of her husband to have Terri's feeding tube removed. It was eventually removed in 2005 resulting in her death.
Iran-Contra Affair
February 25, 1987
Fawn Hall admits to destroying papers for her boss Lt. Col. Oliver North in an effort to cover up the Iran-Contra Affair.
9-Year-Old Bank Robber
February 25, 1981
A boy robs a New York bank at gunpoint. He got away with $118, but later surrendered to the FBI.
Muhammad Ali
February 25, 1964
The boxing legend Muhammad Ali wins his first of three heavyweight titles by beating Sonny Liston.
First U.S. Televised Ice Hockey Game
February 25, 1940
W2XBS of New York broadcasts a game between the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers won 6 to 2.
Taxation - 16th Amendment Goes Into Effect
February 25, 1913
The 16th amendment goes into effect, giving the U.S. Congress the power to lay and collect income taxes.
First Performing Monkey in the U.S.
February 25, 1751
A New York City man charged a schilling to watch a two-foot tall monkey walk a tightrope and dance.
Birthdays
George Harrison
Born February 25, 1943 d. 2001
British singer, one of the Beatles. He wrote the song While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
Jim Backus (James Gilmore Backus)
Born February 25, 1913 d. 1989
American actor. TV: Gilligan's Island (1964-92, Thurston Howell III) and Mr. Magoo (1964-65, voice of Magoo). Film: Rebel Without a Cause (1955, James Dean's character's father).
One of his grade school teachers was Margaret Hamilton, who would later play the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
First Modern-Style Drive-In
First Modern-Style Drive-In
Inventor of the Modern Drive-in Theater
Richard Milton Hollingshead, Jr.
Born February 25, 1900 d. 1975
American inventor of the modern-style drive-in theater. He patented the drive-in featuring ramped parking (U.S. Patent #1,909,537), opening the first one in 1933. It held 400 cars, had a 40 x 50 ft (12 x 15 m) screen, and advertised with the slogan, "The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are." The cost was $0.25 per car plus $0.25 per person. His patent was ruled invalid in 1950. Earlier attempts at drive-ins featured silent movies and impromptu car parking as opposed to his arranged ramped parking.
According to some, Hollingshead came up with the idea because his mother was too large to sit comfortably in a regular theater.
Carrot Top (Scott Thompson)
Born February 25, 1965
American comedian. Known for his bright red hair and prop comedy. Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic (1994).
Davey Allison (David Carl Allison)
Born February 25, 1961 d. 1993
American race car driver, NASCAR 1987 Rookie of the Year. He died from injuries received from a crash while trying to land his newly-purchased helicopter at Talladega Superspeedway.
Tom Courtenay
Born February 25, 1937
English actor. Film: Doctor Zhivago (1965) and The Dresser (1983).
1960 Olympics
1960 Olympics
Paul Elvstrøm
Born February 25, 1928 d. 2016
Danish Hall of Fame yachtsman. He is one of only four athletes who have competed in the Olympics over a span of 40 years (1948-88), along with fencer Ivan Joseph Martin Osiier, sailor Durward Knowles, and sailor Magnus Konow. He is one of only four people to win four consecutive individual Olympic gold medals (1948, '52, '56, '60). He also pioneered the technique of "hiking" (aka "sitting out."). He was the first to use toe-straps in the bottom of his dinghy to enable him to get more of his body weight outside the boat.
Bobby Riggs
Born February 25, 1918 d. 1995
American tennis player. He lost to Billie Jean King in the "Battle of the Sexes" (1973). At the beginning of the match, Riggs presented King with a giant lollipop and she gave him a piglet. He was ranked #1 for three years.
Anthony Burgess (John Anthony Burgess Wilson)
Born February 25, 1917 d. 1993
British author. Writings: A Clockwork Orange (1962, 1971 movie).
Gert Fröbe (Karl-Gerhard Frobe)
Born February 25, 1913 d. 1988
German actor. Film: Goldfinger (1964, Auric Goldfinger).
Mary Coyle Chase
Born February 25, 1906 d. 1981
American Pulitzer-winning playwright. Plays: Harvey (1944, about an oversized imaginary rabbit).
Zeppo Marx (Herbert Manfred Marx)
Born February 25, 1901 d. 1979
American comedian, one of the Marx Brothers. He was the youngest of the Marx Brothers, appearing in the first five Marx Brothers feature films (1929-33). He left the act to start a career as an engineer and theatrical agent, becoming a multi-millionaire due to his engineering efforts.
Enrico Caruso
Born February 25, 1873 d. 1921
Italian tenor. Known for his power and control in performances such as Rigoletto and Pagliacci.
Deaths
Paul Revere's Forgotten Sidekick
William Dawes
Died February 25, 1799 b. 1745
American patriot. He rode with Paul Revere on his famous ride (1775) warning of the British advancement. Dawes and Revere were riding with Samuel Prescott when they encountered a British mounted patrol on the road from Lexington to Concord. They split into different directions to evade the British. Revere was captured, but released without his horse. Dawes fell off his horse and had to continue on foot. Both returned to Lexington. Prescott and his horse successfully jumped a wall and were able to escape the British. He was the only one who completed the mission by making it to Concord.
St. Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral
Sir Christopher Wren
Died February 25, 1723 b. 1632
English architect. Designed and built St. Paul's Cathedral in London (1675-1710) and designed the towers of Westminster Abbey (1713).
Dave Nicholson
Died February 25, 2023 b. 1939
American baseball player. He set the record for the longest major-league home run hit during a regular-season game by hitting a 573-feet (175.7 m) home run for the Chicago White Sox over the left-field roof of Chicago's Comiskey Park in 1964.
Bill Paxton
Died February 25, 2017 b. 1955
American actor. TV: Big Love (2006-11). Film: Aliens (1986, Private Hudson).
C. Everett Koop
Died February 25, 2013 b. 1916
American pediatric surgeon, U.S. Surgeon General (1982-89).
Henry Morris
Died February 25, 2006 b. 1918
American young earth creationist. Considered the father of modern creation science. Co-wrote The Genesis Flood (1961) which used Noah's flood from the Bible to explain many geological formations.
Darren McGavin (William Lyle Richardson)
Died February 25, 2006 b. 1922
American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Mike Hammer (1957, title role), The Night Stalker (1974-75, Carl Kolchak), and Murphy Brown (1989-92, Murphy's dad). Film: A Christmas Story (1983, Father who won a major award).
Glenn Theodore Seaborg
Died February 25, 1999 b. 1912
American Nobel-winning chemist. He was the co-discoverer of plutonium (1940), for which he shared a 1951 Nobel Prize, the isotope plutonium 239 (1941), americium (1944), curium (1944), berkelium (1949), and californium (1950).
Toy Caldwell Jr.
Died February 25, 1993 b. 1947
American guitarist, songwriter. Formed the Marshall Tucker Band. Music: Heard It in a Love Song (1977) and Take the Highway.
Rudd Weatherwax
Died February 25, 1985 b. 1907
American actor, animal trainer. Lassie's trainer for the film Lassie Come Home (1943) and the TV series. He is also the uncle of Ken Weatherwax who played Pugsley in The Addams Family.
Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier Williams)
Died February 25, 1983 b. 1911
American Pulitzer-winning playwright. Writings: The Glass Menagerie (1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947, Pulitzer), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955, Pulitzer).
Sir John Tenniel
Died February 25, 1914 b. 1820
English illustrator. He illustrated Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He was also principal political cartoonist for Punch magazine for over 50 years.
Royal Earl House
Died February 25, 1895 b. 1814
American inventor. He patented a printing telegraph (1846), and was the first to use stranded wire for telegraph lines.
Frederick I
Died February 25, 1713 b. 1657
first King of Prussia (1701-13).