President Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project

Born on This Day

Ella Fitzgerald

1917 - 1996

Legendary jazz singer noted for her vocal rangeprecise diction and gift for improvisational scat singing.

Al Pacino

1940 -

Oscar-winning actor known for playing intenseoften violent characters in "The Godfather," "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Serpico."

Tim Duncan

1976 -

Basketball great nicknamed "The Big Fundamental" for his dominating play. Led the San Antonio Spurs to five NBA championships.

Ella FitzgeraldBettmann Archive

Al PacinoGetty Images

Tim DuncanNBAE via Getty Images

1901

APR25

New York becomes the first state to require license plates on carsusing the owners’ initials instead of numbers. Motorists must make their own platesand they do so with a variety of materialsincluding wood and leather.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major eventsfamous birthsnotable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on April 25th

1719

“Robinson Crusoe” is published

Daniel Defoe’s fictional work The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is published. The bookabout a shipwrecked sailor who spends 28 years on a deserted islandis based on the experiences of shipwreck victims and of Alexander Selkirka Scottish sailor who spent four years on a small island off the coast of […]

1:06m read

1859

Ground broken for Suez Canal

At Port SaidEgyptground is broken for the Suez Canalan artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lessepsthe French diplomat who organized the colossal undertakingdelivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction. Canals have been built on […]

1915

Allies begin invasion of Gallipoli

On April 251915a week after Anglo-French naval attacks on the Dardanelles end in dismal failurethe Allies launch a large-scale land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsulathe Turkish-controlled land mass bordering the northern side of the Dardanelles. In January 1915two months after Turkey entered World War I on the side of the […]

2:22m read

1917

Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald is born

On April 251917jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport NewsVirginia. She was called “The First Lady of Song,” an honor whose meaning is captured in a compliment paid to her by the great composer Ira Gershwin: “I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them.” […]

2:10m read

1945

U.S. and Russian armies meet at Torgausignaling imminent German defeat

On April 251945eight Russian armies completely encircle Berlinlinking up with the U.S. First Army patrolfirst on the western bank of the Elbethen later at Torgau. Germany isfor all intents and purposesAllied territory. The Allies sounded the death knell of their common enemy by celebrating. In Moscownews of […]

1:04m read

1950

Chuck Cooper becomes first African American selected in NBA draft

On April 251950the Boston Celtics make Chuck Cooperan All-American forward from Duquesne Universitythe first African American picked in NBA draft. With the selectionthe first pick in the second roundCooper breaks the NBA’s color barrier and changes the league for the better. The pick was met with skepticism by some […]

1:44m read

1974

NFL adopts overtime for regular-season games

On April 251974the NFL adopts a new overtime rule for regular-season games to prevent tie games. The rule change comes as part of sweeping effort to improve the action and tempo of games. The league also moves goal posts from the front to the back of the end zone and limits contact defensive players […]

1:04m read

1980

Plane crashes on Canary Islandskilling 146

A Dan-Air Boeing 727 carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands crashes and kills all 146 on board on April 251980. This terrible crash came just three years after another even deadlier accident at the Canary Islands airport. In 1977a KLM jumbo jet had collided with a Pan Am plane on the runway; […]

1:28m read

1989

A father is exonerated after 21 years

James Richardson walks out of a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of killing his seven children. Special prosecutor Janet Reno agreed to the release after evidence showed that the conviction resulted from misconduct by the prosecutor. In additionneighbor Betsy Reese had confessed to the crime to a nursing home employee. On […]

1:42m read

1990

Hubble Space Telescope placed in orbit

The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescopea long-term space-based observatoryinto a low orbit around Earth. The space telescopeconceived in the 1940sdesigned in the 1970sand built in the 1980swas designed to give astronomers an unparalleled view of the solar systemthe galaxyand the […]

0:48m read

2014

The Flint water crisis begins

On April 252014 officials from FlintMichigan switched the city’s water supply to the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure for the struggling city. In doing sothey unwittingly introduced lead-poisoned water into homesin what would become a massive public-health crisis. The problem started when officials decided to switch the water supply from […]

1:36m read

2015

Magnitude 7.8 earthquake kills thousands in Nepal

On April 252015 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake tears through Nepalkilling nearly 9,000 and injuring 16,800. It was the worst such earthquake for the Asian country since 1934. The earthquake struck shortly before noonbut the devastation continued as several dozen aftershocks caused even more destruction. OverallNepal was shaken by hundreds of aftershocks[…]

1:22m read