History of 25 August
1902 – “Al-Hoda” began publication in New York City making it the first Arabic daily newspaper in the U.S.
1916 – The National Park Service was established as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
1920 – Ethelda Bleibtrey won the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition in Antwerp, Belgium. She was the first woman to win an Olympic competition for the U.S.
1920 – The first airplane to fly from New York to Alaska arrived in Nome.
1921 – The U.S. signed a peace treaty with Germany.
1939 – The movie “Wizard of Oz” opened around the United States.
1940 – Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward were married while suspended in parachutes at the World’s Fair in New York City.
1941 – Soviet and British troops invaded Iran. This was in reaction to the Shah’s refusal to reduce the number of German residents.
1941 – Allied forces invaded Iran. Within four days the Soviet Union and England controlled Iran.
1941 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed the bill appropriating funds for the construction of the Pentagon.
1944 – Paris, France, was liberated by Allied forces ending four years of the German occupation.
1944 – Romania declared war on Germany.
1946 – Ben Hogan won the PGA in Portland, OR. It was his first major golf title.
1949 – NBC Radio debuted “Father Knows Best.” The show went to TV in 1954.
1950 – U.S. President Truman ordered the seizure of U.S. railroads to avert a strike.
1972 – In Great Britain, computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) was introduced.
1978 – The Turin shroud believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ went on display for the first time in 45 years.
1981 – The U.S. Voyager 2 sent back pictures and data about Saturn. The craft came within 63,000 miles of the planet.
1983 – The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed a $10 billion grain pact.
1987 – Saudi Arabia denounced the “group of terrorists” that ran the Iranian government.
1988 – Iran and Iraq began talks in Geneva after ending their eight years of war.
1990 – Military action was authorized by the United Nations to enforce the trade embargo that had been placed on Iraq after their invasion of Kuwait.
1991 – Byelorussia declared independence from the Soviet Union.
1992 – It was reported by researchers that cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of developing cataracts.
1993 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 3,652.09, an all-time high.
1995 – Harry Wu, a human rights activist, returned to the United States. He said the spying case against him in China was “all lies.”
1997 – The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida.
1998 – A survey released said that 1/3 of Americans use the Internet.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Rachel Bilson, American actress
- 1981 – Jan-Berrie Burger, Namibian cricketer
- 1981 – Camille Pin, a French tennis player
- 1982 – Jung Jung-suk, South Korean footballer (d. 2011)
- 1983 – James Rossiter, English race car driver
- 1984 – Florian Mohr, German footballer
- 1984 – Anya Monzikova, Russian-American model and actress
- 1986 – Rodney Ferguson, American footballer
- 1987 – Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Velimir Jovanović, Serbian footballer
- 1987 – Blake Lively, American model, and actress
- 1987 – Amy Macdonald, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1987 – Justin Upton, American baseball player
- 1987 – Adam Warren, American baseball player
- 1987 – James Wesolowski, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Angela Park, Brazilian-American golfer
- 1989 – Hiram Mier, Mexican footballer
- 1990 – Max Muncy, American baseball player
- 1992 – Miyabi Natsuyaki, Japanese singer and actress
- 1992 – Ricardo Rodriguez, Swiss footballer
- 1994 – Edmunds Augstkalns, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1998 – China Anne McClain, American actress and singer