Historical Events on Wednesday, 25th February

25/02/2026

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, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country in the Caribbean. It comprises the eponymous main island as well as 4,195 islands, islets, and cays. Situated at the convergence of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean, Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula, south of both Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital. Cuba is the third-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti and Dominican Republic, with about 10 million inhabitants. It is the largest country in the Caribbean by area. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America.

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25/02/2016

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

On February 25, 2016, three people were killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in Newton and Hesston, Kansas, including in and outside an Excel Industries building. The shooter, identified as Excel employee Cedric Larry Ford, was then killed by a responding police officer.

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25/02/2015

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

The 2015 Afghanistan avalanches were a series of devastating snow avalanches that occurred in late February 2015 across northeastern Afghanistan, primarily affecting four provinces. The hardest hit was Panjshir Province, where entire villages were buried under the snow. The disaster claimed the lives of up to 308 people, making it one of the deadliest avalanches in Afghanistan's history. The avalanches also impacted Parwan Province, causing widespread destruction and further complicating rescue efforts in the remote, mountainous regions.

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25/02/2009

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

Border Guard Bangladesh is the paramilitary force responsible for the protection and surveillance of Bangladesh’s land borders. Operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs and with operational control by army officials, BGB ensures border security, prevents illegal cross-border activities, and assists in maintaining internal law and order when required. Originally formed as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), it was reorganized and renamed BGB in 2010 following major reforms.

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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 was a passenger flight that crashed during landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the Netherlands, on 25 February 2009, resulting in the deaths of nine passengers and crew, including all three pilots.

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25/02/1999

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

Minerva Airlines Flight 1553, was a regularly scheduled commercial passenger flight from Cagliari to Genoa operated by Minerva Airlines under the Alitalia Express brand via a codeshare agreement with Alitalia. On 25 February 1999, the Dornier 328 serving the flight lost control and overran the runway while landing at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport. Of the 31 occupants on board, three died, including the flight attendant; another passenger later died in hospital. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

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25/02/1994

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 Kopel Goldstein was an American and Israeli physician and religious extremist who, in 1994, murdered 29 Palestinian people in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an incident of Jewish terrorism. Goldstein was a supporter of Kach, a religious Zionist party that the United States, the European Union and other countries designate as a terrorist organization. Kach was banned less than a month after Goldstein's attacks on account of statements made in support of his actions.

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25/02/1991

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

The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics in Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. The term "Warsaw Pact" commonly refers to both the treaty itself and its resultant military alliance, the Warsaw Pact Organisation. The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), the economic organization for the Eastern Bloc states.

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25/02/1986

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.

The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.

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25/02/1980

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

Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. Situated slightly north of the equator, over 90% of its territory is covered by rainforest, the highest proportion of forest cover in the world. Suriname is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Guyana to the west. It is the smallest country in South America by both population and territory, with around 612,985 inhabitants in 2021 in an area of approximately 165,940 square kilometers. The capital and largest city is Paramaribo, which is home to roughly half the population.

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25/02/1956

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" was a report by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, made to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 25 February 1956. Though popularly known as the Secret Speech, "secret" is a misnomer, as copies of the speech were read out at thousands of meetings of Communist Party (CPSU) and Komsomol organizations across the USSR. Khrushchev's speech sharply criticized the rule of the former General Secretary and Premier Joseph Stalin, particularly with respect to the purges which had especially marked the later years of the 1930s. Khrushchev charged Stalin with having fostered a leadership cult of personality despite ostensibly maintaining support for the ideals of communism. The speech is central to the period of liberalization known as the "Khrushchev Thaw" in the Soviet bloc and to the process of de-Stalinization.

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25/02/1951

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

The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas first held in 1951. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of the Americas, every four years, the year before Summer Olympics. It is the second-oldest continental games in the world. The only Winter Pan American Games were held in 1990. In 2021, the Junior Pan American Games was held for the first time specifically for young athletes. The Pan American Sports Organization is the governing body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter.

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25/02/1948

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.

In late February 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia through a coup d'état. It marked the beginning of four decades of the party's rule in the country.

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25/02/1947

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

The abolition of Prussia occurred on 25 February 1947 by decree of the Allied Control Council, the governing authority of post-World War II occupied Germany and Austria, through Control Council Law No. 46. The decision was grounded in the view that Prussia had long embodied the most reactionary and militaristic elements within German political life. As the engine of German militarism and a key promoter of authoritarianism and expansionist policies, Prussia was seen as fundamentally incompatible with efforts to rebuild Germany as a peaceful and democratic state, and its dominance in German affairs had contributed directly to the wars of aggression that devastated Europe. By dismantling Prussia, the Allies aimed to eradicate the institutional structures most responsible for German aggression. This abolition referred strictly to the political entity of Prussia, not to the expulsion of ethnic Germans from East Prussia between 1945 and 1950.

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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.

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, abbreviated as NKVD, was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) secret police organization, and thus had a monopoly on intelligence and state security functions. The NKVD is known for carrying out political repression and the Great Purge under Joseph Stalin, as well as counterintelligence and other operations on the Eastern Front of World War II. The head of the NKVD was Genrikh Yagoda from 1934 to 1936, Nikolai Yezhov from 1936 to 1938, Lavrentiy Beria from 1938 to 1946, and Sergei Kruglov in 1946.

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25/02/1941

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

The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a communist party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party in 1991, forming the GroenLinks. Members opposed to the merger founded the New Communist Party of the Netherlands.

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25/02/1939

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 (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s and 30s, with the Raid Wardens' Service set up in 1937 to report on bombing incidents. Every local council was responsible for organising ARP wardens, messengers, ambulance drivers, rescue parties, and liaison with police and fire brigades.

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25/02/1933

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) was an interwar United States Navy aircraft carrier, the only ship of its class. A Treaty ship, Ranger was the first U.S. vessel to be designed and built from the keel up as a carrier. She was relatively small, just 730 ft (220 m) long and under 15,000 tons, closer in size and displacement to the first US carrier—Langley—than later ships. An island superstructure was not included in the original design, but was added after completion.

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25/02/1932

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 was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era, which lasted from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations as well as the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.

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25/02/1921

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

The Democratic Republic of Georgia was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to March 1921. Recognized by all major European powers of the time, DRG was created in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the collapse of the Russian Empire and allowed territories formerly under Russia's rule to assert independence. In contrast to Bolshevik Russia, DRG was governed by a moderate, multi-party political system led by the Georgian Social Democratic Party (Mensheviks).

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25/02/1918

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

Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Located on a bay in northern Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of 456,518 as of 2025 and administratively lies in Harju County. Tallinn is the main governmental, financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located 187 kilometres (116 mi) northwest of the country's second largest city, Tartu, however, only 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Helsinki, Finland. It is also 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, 300 kilometres (190 mi) north of Riga, Latvia, and 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name, Reval.

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25/02/1916

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, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

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25/02/1912

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

Marie-Adélaïde, was Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 1912 until her abdication in 1919. She was the first Grand Duchess regnant of Luxembourg, its first female monarch since Duchess Maria Theresa and the first Luxembourgish monarch to be born within the territory since Count John the Blind (1296–1346).

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25/02/1875

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

The Guangxu Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His succession was endorsed by dowager empresses Ci'an and Cixi for political reasons after the Tongzhi Emperor died without an heir. Cixi held political power for much of Guangxu's reign as regent, except for the period between his assumption of ruling powers in 1889 and the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898.

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25/02/1870

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 Rhodes Revels was an American politician, minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and college administrator. Born free in North Carolina, he later lived and worked in Ohio, where he voted before the Civil War. Elected by the Mississippi legislature to the United States Senate as a Republican to represent Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during the Reconstruction era, he was the first African American to serve in either house of the U.S. Congress.

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25/02/1843

Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair.

Lord George Paulet CB was a British officer of the Royal Navy.

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25/02/1836

Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.

Samuel Colt was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable.

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25/02/1705

George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premieres in Hamburg.

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.

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25/02/0628

Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.

Khosrow II, commonly known as Khosrow Parviz, is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 to 628, including an interruption of one year.

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25/02/0138

Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.

Year 138 (CXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Niger and Camerinus. The denomination 138 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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