Sunday 25 February 2024 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days

Holidays and observances

• Armed Forces Day in Dominican Republic
• Choiseul Province Day in the Solomon Islands
• George Rogers Clark Day in Indiana, USA
• International Cochlear Implant Day
• Kitano Baika-sai or "Plum Blossom Festival" (Kitano Tenman-gū Shrine, Kyoto, Japan)
• Maha Shivaratri in Sri Lanka (is a annual festival celebrated annually in honor of Shiva. There is a Shivaratri in every luni-solar month of the Hindu calendar, on the month's 13th night/14th day, but once a year in late winter and before the arrival of Summer, marks Maha Shivaratri which means "the Great Night of Shiva")
• Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships in Hungary
• National Chili Day in Tamil Nadu, India
• National Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day and National Clam Chowder Day in USA
• National Day in Kuwait
• National Radio Day in Thailand
• People Power Day in the Philippines
• Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt invented the pistol. He received Patent # 138 for it on this day in 1836. The patent was for the Colt Revolver with a rotating chamber containing six bullets)
• Revolution Day in Suriname
• Soviet Occupation Day in Georgia
• World Spay Day (Last Tuesday in February)

Events

• 2016 – Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.
• 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
• 1987 – Southern Methodist University's football program is the first college football program to receive the death penalty by the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. It was revealed that athletic officials and school administrators had knowledge of a "slush fund" used to make illegal payments to the school's football players as far back as 1981.
• 1986 – People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines' first woman president.
• 1951 – The first Pan American Games were officially opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina by President Juan Perón.
• 1939 – The first of 2 1⁄2 million Anderson air raid shelters appeared in North London.
• 1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be designed from the start of construction as an aircraft carrier.
• 1928 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a broadcast license for television from the Federal Radio Commission.
• 1919 – Oregon places a one cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
• 1912 – Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
• 1901 – J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
• 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
• 1866 – Miners in Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull – human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons, and elephants had co-existed.
• 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for the Colt revolver.

Births

• 1997 – Isabelle Fuhrman, American actress. She portrayed Esther in the 2009 horror film Orphan and Clove in The Hunger Games.
• 1992 – Joe Santagato, American comedian and YouTuber. Joseph Patrick Santagato (born February 25, 1992) is an American YouTuber, comedian and podcaster.
• 1992 – Max Aaron, American figure skater. International Classic champion (2012, 2013, and 2014).
• 1991 – Tony Oller, American singer-songwriter and actor (MKTO). He appeared in the films Beneath the Darkness and The Purge.
• 1989 – Jimmer Fredette, American basketball player. James Taft "Jimmer" Fredette (born February 25, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague.
• 1988 – Jimmy Monaghan, American-born Irish singer-songwriter and pianist. Jimmy Monaghan is an Irish musician from Belmullet, Ireland.
• 1987 – Justin Abdelkader, American ice hockey player. Justin Abdelkader (/ˈæbdəlkeɪdər/; born February 25, 1987) is an American professional ice hockey left winger and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL).
• 1986 – James Starks, American football player. He was a member of their Super Bowl XLV championship team.
• 1985 – Joakim Noah, American basketball player. Joakim Simon Noah (/ˈdʒoʊəkɪm/ JOH-ə-kim; born February 25, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• 1982 – Bert McCracken, American singer-songwriter. Robert Edward McCracken (born February 25, 1982) is the lead singer and songwriter of the American rock band The Used.
• 1982 – Maria Kanellis, American professional wrestler for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Mary Louis Kanellis-Bennett (born February 25, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling manager, actress, model and singer currently signed to WWE under the ring name Maria Kanellis on the Raw brand, where she is a former WWE 24/7 Champion.
• 1977 – Josh Wolff, American soccer player and manager. He is currently the head coach of Austin FC ahead of their inaugural season in Major League Soccer in 2021.
• 1976 – Rashida Jones, American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is best known for starring as Ann Perkins on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015).
• 1976 – Samaki Walker, American basketball player. Walker continued to play for the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs (1999–2001), Los Angeles Lakers (2001–2003), Miami Heat (2003–2004), Washington Wizards (2004–2005), and Indiana Pacers (2005–2006).
• 1975 – Chelsea Handler, American comedian, author, and talk show host. Between 2016 and 2017, Handler hosted the talk show, Chelsea, on Netflix.
• 1974 – Kevin Skinner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Patrick Kevin Skinner (born February 25, 1974) is an American country music singer from the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky.
• 1971 – Dave Harris, American radio host and songwriter. Dave Harris (born February 25, 1971) is an American disc jockey, songwriter, and musician.
• 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor, director, and producer. His acting roles include Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Mikey Walsh in The Goonies (1985), Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger in Rudy (1993), Doug Whitmore in 50 First Dates (2004), and Bob Newby in the second and third seasons of Stranger Things (2017–2019).
• 1971 – Sean O'Haire, American wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kick-boxer (d. 2014), was an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer, better known by his ring name, Sean O'Haire.
• 1966 – Nancy O'Dell, American model and journalist. Nancy O'Dell (born Nancy Evelyn Humphries; February 25, 1966) is an American television host and entertainment journalist.
• 1966 – Téa Leoni, American actress. Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni (/ˈteɪ.ə pɑːntəleɪˈoʊni/; born February 25, 1966), better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress and producer.
• 1964 – Don Majkowski, American football player and sportscaster. Donald "Majik" Vincent Majkowski (born February 25, 1964) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, and Detroit Lions.
• 1961 – Davey Allison, American race car driver (d. 1993), was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the Winston Cup Series (now the NASCAR Cup Series).
• 1961 – Todd Blackledge, American football player and sportscaster. Todd Alan Blackledge (born February 25, 1961) is a former American football quarterback in both the NCAA and National Football League.
• 1958 – Jeff Fisher, American football player and coach. He coached the Titans for 17 seasons and the St.
• 1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player and coach. Darrell Kurt Rambis (born February 25, 1958) is a Greek-American former basketball player and coach who is a senior basketball adviser for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• 1957 – Dennis Diken, American rock drummer and record producer. Dennis Diken (born February 25, 1957) co-founded the New Jersey band The Smithereens.
• 1955 – Rodger McFarlane, American soldier, therapist, and activist (d. 2009), was an American gay rights activist who served as the first paid executive director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis and later served in leadership positions with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Bailey House and the Gill Foundation.
• 1954 – John Doe, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor. "John Doe" (for males) and "Jane Doe" (for females) are multiple-use names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed.
• 1952 – Jerry Chamberlain, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. Jerry Chamberlain is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer, best known for his work with the rock bands Daniel Amos and The Swirling Eddies (credited as "Spot").
• 1950 – Emitt Rhodes, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and recording engineer. Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles The Palace Guard as the group's drummer before joining The Merry-Go-Round as a multi-instrumentalist.
• 1949 – Jack Handey, American author and screenwriter. Although many people assume otherwise, Handey is a real person, not a pen name or character.
• 1949 – Ric Flair, American wrestler, manager, and trainer. Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), better known as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestling manager and retired professional wrestler signed to WWE under its Legends program.
• 1947 – Doug Yule, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Douglas Alan Yule (born February 25, 1947) is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of the Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.
• 1946 – Pete Wernick, American banjo player. Pete Wernick (born February 25, 1946), also known as "Dr.
• 1944 – Matt Guokas, American basketball player and coach. His father, Matt Sr. and uncle, Al, have also played in the NBA.
• 1943 – Jack Concannon, American football player and actor (d. 2005). He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions.
• 1940 – Billy Packer, American sportscaster and author. Anthony William "Billy" "Hewlett" Packer (born Anthony William Paczkowski, February 25, 1940) is a former American sportscaster and a published author.
• 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2010), was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 through 1973 and the Chicago White Sox in 1974. In 1990, Santo became a member of the Cubs broadcasting team providing commentary for Cubs games on WGN radio and remained at that position until his death in 2010.
• 1938 – Diane Baker, American actress. Diane Carol Baker (born February 25, 1938) is an American actress, producer and educator who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.
• 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American journalist and author. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all four of the major Washington national assignments: the White House, the Pentagon, United States Department of State, and United States Congress.
• 1935 – Sally Jessy Raphael, American journalist and talk show host. Sally Lowenthal (born February 25, 1935), better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American former talk show host known for her talk show program Sally (originally titled The Sally Jessy Raphael Show).
• 1934 – David E. Jeremiah, American admiral (d. 2013), was a United States Navy admiral who served as Vice Chairman and also acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After his retirement from the Navy in February 1994, he worked in the field of investment banking.
• 1934 – Tony Lema, American golfer (d. 1966), was an American professional golfer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s and won a major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. He died two years later at age 32 in an aircraft accident near Chicago.
• 1932 – Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996), was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars. Hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" marked him as a honky-tonk singer in sound and personal style; and his chart-topping singles "Hello Walls" and "It's Four in the Morning" showed his versatility as a vocalist.
• 1929 – Tommy Newsom, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2007), was a saxophone player in the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, for which he later became assistant director. Newsom was frequently the band's substitute director, whenever Doc Severinsen was away from the show or filling in for announcer Ed McMahon.
• 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009), was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter, director and author, most famous as a creator and producer of the television series M*A*S*H, and as co-writer of the Broadway musicals A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels.
• 1928 – Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (d. 2013), was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator.
• 1927 – Ralph Stanley, American singer and banjo player (d. 2016), was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of The Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, The Clinch Mountain Boys.
• 1924 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (d. 2013), was a British molecular biologist who made important discoveries in the physiology of muscle. He was a graduate in physics from Christ's College, Cambridge.
• 1921 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013), was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1943–51), Brooklyn Dodgers (1951–52), and Milwaukee Braves (1953–59).
• 1920 – Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (d. 1992), was an American career diplomat. Called one of the "pre-eminent career diplomats in American post-war history", he was best known for his work as Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East 1981–83.
• 1920 – Sun Myung Moon, Messiah II, Korean religious leader, founded the Unification Church (d. 2012), was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification movement (members of which considered him and his wife Hak Ja Han to be their "True Parents"), and of its widely noted "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremony, and the author of its unique theology the Divine Principle.
• 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (d. 1995), was an American tennis champion who was the World No. 1 or the World co-No. 1 player for three years, first as an amateur in 1939, then as a professional in 1946 and 1947. He played his first professional tennis match on December 26, 1941.
• 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1989), was an American radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles was the voice of nearsighted cartoon character Mr.
• 1910 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (d. 1992), was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politics late in life and was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm.
• 1908 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (d. 2001). Frank Gill Slaughter (February 25, 1908 – May 17, 2001), pen-name Frank G.
• 1906 – Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright (d. 1981), was an American journalist, playwright and children's novelist, known primarily for writing the Broadway play Harvey, later adapted for film starring James Stewart.
• 1905 – Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1963), was an American intellectual historian and professor and a co-founder of the field of American Studies. Miller specialized in the history of early America, and took an active role in a revisionist view of the colonial Puritan theocracy that was cultivated at Harvard beginning in the 1920s.
• 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian and agent (d. 1979), was an American actor, comedian, theatrical agent, and engineer. He was the youngest of the five Marx Brothers.
• 1889 – Homer S. Ferguson, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Philippines (d. 1982), was a United States Senator from Michigan. He was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Harrison City, Pennsylvania to parents Samuel Ferguson (Oct. 1857 in Pennsylvania – 1933) and Margaret Bush (Nov. 1857 in Pennsylvania – 1940).
• 1888 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959), was an American diplomat. A Republican, he served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D.
• 1881 – William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (d. 1961). Anti-war and civil rights movements
• 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor (d. 1921), was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic.
• 1869 – Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (d. 1940), was an American biochemist who studied the structure and function of nucleic acids. He characterized the different forms of nucleic acid, DNA from RNA, and found that DNA contained adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine, deoxyribose, and a phosphate group.

Deaths

• 2017 – Bill Paxton, American actor (b. 1955)
• 2016 – Alfred E. Mann, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1925)
• 2015 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (b. 1922)
• 2015 – Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Chokwe Lumumba, American lawyer and politician (b. 1947)
• 2013 – C. Everett Koop, American surgeon and admiral, 13th Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1916)
• 2013 – Stewart "Dirk" Fischer, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Lynn Compton, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Philip José Farmer, American author (b. 1918)
• 2007 – William Anderson, American commander and politician (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Darren McGavin, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (b. 1921)
• 2002 – James L. Usry, American politician, first African-American mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey (b. 1922)
• 2001 – A. R. Ammons, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
• 2001 – Sigurd Raschèr, German-American saxophonist (b. 1907)
• 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
• 1997 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (b. 1940)
• 1994 – Baruch Goldstein, American-Israeli physician and murderer (b. 1956)
• 1993 – Eddie Constantine, American-French actor (b. 1917)
• 1993 – Toy Caldwell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
• 1987 – James Coco, American actor and comedian (b. 1930)
• 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (b. 1911)
• 1980 – Robert Hayden, American poet and academic (b. 1913)
• 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (b. 1897)
• 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (b. 1903)
• 1964 – Grace Metalious, American author (b. 1924)
• 1963 – Melville J. Herskovits, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1895)
• 1957 – Bugs Moran, American mob boss (b. 1893)
• 1950 – George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
• 1934 – Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, American botanist and academic (b. 1857)
• 1934 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
• 1915 – Charles Edwin Bessey, American botanist, author, and academic (b. 1845)
• 1910 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter and educator (b. 1820)
• 1899 – Paul Reuter, German-English journalist and businessman, founded Reuters (b. 1816)
• 1878 – Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1804)
• 1841 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1783)
• 1822 – William Pinkney, American politician and diplomat, 7th United States Attorney General (b. 1764)
• 1796 – Samuel Seabury, American bishop (b. 1729)
• 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul's Cathedral (b. 1632)