On This Day — 25 February

2000s

2026

Four people are killed and several more are injured when Cuban Border Guard Troops confront and open fire on a US-registered speedboat violating Cuban waters.

Cuba

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2016

Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.

Hesston shootings

2015

At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.

2015 Afghanistan avalanches

2009

Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.

Border Guard Bangladesh

2009

Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.

Turkish Airlines Flight 1951

1900s

1999

Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four.

Minerva Airlines Flight 1553

1994

American-Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein commits a mass shooting at the Cave of the Patriarchs mausoleum, leaving 29 dead and over 100 injured before he is disarmed and beaten to death by survivors.

Baruch Goldstein

1991

Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest.

Warsaw Pact

1986

People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines' first female president.

People Power Revolution

1980

The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.

Suriname

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1956

In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin.

On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences

1951

The first Pan American Games are officially opened in Buenos Aires by Argentine President Juan Perón.

Pan American Games

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1948

In a coup d'état led by Klement Gottwald, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Prague to end the Third Czechoslovak Republic.

1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état

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1947

The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.

Abolition of Prussia

1947

Soviet NKVD forces in Hungary abduct Béla Kovács—secretary-general of the majority Independent Smallholders' Party—and deport him to the USSR in defiance of Parliament. His arrest is an important turning point in the Communist takeover of Hungary.

NKVD

1941

The outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands organises a general strike in German-occupied Amsterdam to protest against Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews.

Communist Party of the Netherlands

1939

As part of British air raid precautions, the first of 2.5 million Anderson shelters is constructed in a garden in Islington, north London.

Air Raid Precautions

1933

Launch of the USS Ranger at Newport News, Virginia. It is the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned by the US Navy.

USS Ranger (CV-4)

1932

Adolf Hitler, having been stateless for seven years, obtains German citizenship when he is appointed a Brunswick state official by Dietrich Klagges, a fellow Nazi. As a result, Hitler is able to run for Reichspräsident in the 1932 election.

Adolf Hitler

1921

Georgian capital Tbilisi falls to the invading Russian forces after heavy fighting and the Russians declare the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Democratic Republic of Georgia

1918

World War I: German forces capture Tallinn to virtually complete the occupation of Estonia.

Tallinn

1916

World War I: In the Battle of Verdun, a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight.

World War I

1912

Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

1800s

1875

Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.

Guangxu Emperor

1870

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress.

Hiram R. Revels