On This Day - What Happened On April 25 - Encyclopedia Britannica

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Featured Event

1990 Hubble Space Telescope sent into orbit The Hubble Space Telescope, a sophisticated optical observatory built in the United States under the supervision of NASA, was placed into operation this day in 1990 by the crew of the space shuttle Discovery. NASA

Featured Biography

Al Pacino American actor bornApril 25, 1940 (age 85)New York City, New York© 1999 Touchstone Pictures 1976 Tim Duncan American basketball player 1940 Al Pacino American actor 1932 Meadowlark Lemon American basketball player 1917 Ella Fitzgerald American singer 1599 Oliver Cromwell English statesman See All Biographies On This Day

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2021 Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao became the first person of colour to win the Academy Award for best director; she was recognized for Nomadland (2020), which was also named best picture. Test your knowledge of the Academy AwardsAmy Sussman/Getty Images Entertainment 2019 American basketball player John Havlicek, who was considered the best “sixth man” (bench player) in the history of the NBA, died at the age of 79. How much do you know about basketball?© Jerry Coli /Dreamstime.com 2015 A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck near Kathmandu, Nepal, causing widespread damage and killing several thousand. Watch a video about Nepal's recovery from the earthquake of 2015© Omar Havana/Getty Images 2014 In a cost-saving measure, the water supply of Flint, Michigan, was switched from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Flint River, causing a public health crisis as residents were exposed to dangerously high levels of lead. Learn about ways to keep lead pipes safe© Mark Wilson/Getty Images 1995 American dancer and actress Ginger Rogers, who starred with Fred Astaire in 10 popular Hollywood musicals, died at the age of 83. Take our women in classic cinema quiz 1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro became Central America's first female president as she was sworn into office in Nicaragua. Test your knowledge of famous firsts for womenKathy Willens—AP/Shutterstock.com 1959 One of the largest civil engineering feats ever undertaken, the St. Lawrence Seaway officially opened, linking the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. How much do you know about canals and straits?Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1926 Giacomo Puccini's uncompleted opera Turandot was performed posthumously at La Scala under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. Take our quiz about operaEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1915 The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed at Gallipoli in western Turkey during the Dardanelles Campaign of World War I. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about World War I© Chronicle/Alamy 1908 Edward R. Murrow, a radio and television broadcaster who was the most influential and esteemed figure in American broadcast journalism during its formative years, was born in North Carolina. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous AmericansU.S. Information Agency 1901 New York became the first U.S. state to mandate license plates when Governor Benjamin Odell, Jr., signed a law ordering automobiles and motorcycles to display “the separate initials of the owner's name placed upon the back thereof in a conspicuous place.” 1874 Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian physicist who invented a successful system of radio telegraphy (1896) and received the Nobel Prize for Physics (1909), was born. Take our quiz about inventors and their inventionsLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C. 1859 Construction of the Suez Canal officially began; completed 10 years later, the waterway connected the Mediterranean and Red seas. Discover important events of April 21–26Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1809 The Treaty of Amritsar, which settled Indo-Sikh relations for a generation, was concluded between Charles T. Metcalfe, representing the British East India Company, and Ranjit Singh, head of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab. 1792 The first guillotine was erected, on the Place de Grève in Paris, to execute a highwayman.ilbusca/iStockphoto.com 1781 Petersburg, Virginia, was captured by British troops under William Phillips and Benedict Arnold during the American Revolution. Watch an overview of the American Revolutionary WarLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C. SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.