On this day...

1570 Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth, absolves her subjects from allegience
1793 First cabinet meeting (At George Washington's home)
1799 Fst federal forestry legislation authorizes purchase of timber land
1799 Congress passes first federal quarantine legislation
1804 Jefferson nominated for President at Democratic-Republican caucus
1828 John Quincy Adam's son John marries in the White House
1836 Samuel Colt patents first revolving barrel multishot firearm
1837 First US electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport
1838 London pedestrian walks 20 miles backward then forward in 8 hours
1847 State University of Iowa is approved
1859 First use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence
1862 Congress establishes the US Bureau of Engraving & Printing
1863 Congress creates national banking system, comptroller of currency
1868 Andrew Johnson impeached for violation of the Tenure of Office act
1870 Hiram Revels, MS, is sworn in as first black member of Congress (Senate)
1901 US Steel Corp organizes under directorship of J.P. Morgan
1907 US proclaims protectorate over Dominican Republic
1908 First tunnel under the Hudson River (railway tunnel) opens
1913 16th Amendment ratified, authorizing income tax
1919 Oregon becomes first state to tax gasoline (1 cent per gallon)
1921 Georgian SSR proclaimed
1924 Marie Boyd scores 156 points in Maryland HS basketball game (163-3)
1930 Check photographing device patented
1933 First aircraft carrier, "USS Ranger," launched
1933 Thomas Yawkey purchases the Boston Red Sox
1948 Communists seize Czechoslovakia
1950 "Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premiers on NBC
1951 First Pan American Games opens (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin at 20th Soviet Party Conference
1957 Buddy Holly & the Crickets record "That'll Be the Day"
1962 Mike O'Hara completes a record 97th marathon
1964 Cassius Clay stops champion Sonny Liston in the 7th round to win the world heavyweight title
1968 430 Unification Church couples wed in Korea
1977 New Orleans' "Pistol" Pete Maravich sets NBA record for a guard with 68 points
1977 Oil tanker explosion west of Honolulu spills 31 million gallons
1981 NHL most penalized game; Bruins vs North Stars, 84 penalites (392 mins)
1986 Corazon Aquino becomes President of Philippines
1987 US Supreme Court upholds (5-4) affirmative action
1989 First independent blue-collar labor union in Communist Hungary formed
1989 Dallas Cowboys' new owner Jerry Jones fires coach Tom Landry
1990 Nicaraguans vote out Sandinistas

1707 Carlo Goldoni, Italy, dramatist (Love of the Three Oranges)
1725 Armand-Louis Couperin, Paris, composer/organist (Notre Dame)
1841 Pierre Auguste Renoir, France, Impressionist painter
1847 John Watson, Canada, philospher (Objective Idealism)
1866 Beneditto Croce, Italy, humanist/historian/editor/philosopher
1871 Oliver Samuel Campbell, tennis champ (US singles 1890)
1876 Charles Freer, art collector; endowed Freer Gallery
1881 William Foster, Massachusetts, Communist Presidential candidate (1924,28,32)
1888 John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-59)
1900 Jed Harris, producer/director (Billy Rose Show, Operation Mad Ball)
1901 Zeppo Marx, comedian/actor (Marx Brothers)
1904 Adelle Davis, author/nutritionist
1906 Domingo Ortega, Spanish bullfighter
1906 Howard Zahniser, Father of the Wilderness Act
1908 Frank G. Slaughter, author (Sangaree)
1913 Jim Backus, Cleveland, actor (Mr. Magoo, Thurston Howell III-Gilligan Is)
1916 Ralph Baldwin, harness driver (set 11 major world records)
1917 Anthony Burgess, novelist (Clockwork Orange)
1918 Bobby Riggs, tennis star (1939 US Open)
1925 Bert Remsen, Glen Cove NY, actor (Mario-It's a Living)
1927 Jane Nigh, Hollywood, actress (Lorelei-Big Town)
1929 Christopher George, Royal Oak MN, actor (Rat Patrol, Immortal)
1929 Tommy Newsom, VA, musician/bandleader/saxophonist (Tonight Show)
1937 Basia Johnson, maid who inherited Johnson & Johnson fortune
1937 Bob Schieffer, Austin TX, newscaster (CBS Weekend News)
1938 Diane Baker, Hollywood Calif, actress (Diary of Anne Frank)
1938 Herb Elliott, Australia, 1500m runner (Olympic-gold-1960)
1939 Marisa Mell, Vienna Austria, actress (Masuerade, Casanova)
1940 Ron Santo, Chicago Cubs (first baseball player to veto his trade)
1941 Susan Browning, Baldwin NY, actress (Pat-Mary Hartman)
1943 George Harrison, musician, (Beatles)
1943 Sally Jessy Raphael, TV talk show host (Sally)
1944 Karen Grassle, Berkeley CA, actress (Caroline-Little House on Prairie)
1944 Kristina Holland, Fayetteville NC, (Tina-Courtship of Eddie's Father)
1945 Shivadhar Srinivasa Naipaul, Trinidad, novelist (Fireflies)
1947 Lee Evans, US, 400m runner (Olympic-gold-1968)
1953 Garrett Glaser, entertainment correspondant (Entertainment Tonight)
1955 Leann Hunley, actress (Dane Carrington-Dynasty)
1957 Stuart "Woody" Wood, guitarist (Bay City Rollers-Saturday Night)

Deaths which occurred on February 25th:

1601 Earl of Essex, executed for treason in revolt against Queen Elizabeth
1634 Albrecht von Wallenstein, German generalissimo, murdered at 50
1723 Sir Christopher Wren, England, astronomer/architect
1914 John Tenniel, illustrator (Alice in Wonderland), dies at 93
1967 John Griggs, actor (Joey Bishop Show), dies at 57
1970 Mark Rothko, abstract expressionist, dies at 66
1975 Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, dies at 77 in Chicago
1978 Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr., retired Air Force general, dies at 58
1983 Tennessee Williams, writer, chokes to death on a bottle cap at 71
1987 James Coco, actor (Joe-Dumplings), dies at 58