Today in History

Today is Monday, April 25, the 116th day of 2016. There are 250 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 25, 1816, Romantic poet Lord Byron, beset by financial problems and personal turmoil (including a failed marriage), left his native England at age 28, never to return. (Byron died eight years later in Greece.)

On this date:

In 1507, a world map produced by German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller contained the first recorded use of the term "America," in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.

In 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.

In 1862, during the Civil War, a Union fleet commanded by Flag Officer David G. Farragut captured the city of New Orleans.

In 1901, New York Gov. Benjamin Barker Odell, Jr. signed an automobile registration bill which imposed a 15 mph speed limit on highways.

In 1915, during World War I, Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

In 1944, the United Negro College Fund was founded.

In 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses. Delegates from some 50 countries gathered in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.

In 1964, vandals sawed off the head of the "Little Mermaid" statue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In 1974, the "Carnation Revolution" took place in Portugal as a bloodless military coup toppled the Estado Novo regime.

In 1983, 10-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, received a reply from Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov to a letter she'd written expressing concern about possible nuclear war; Andropov reassured Samantha that the Soviet Union did not want war, and he invited her to visit his country, a trip Samantha made in July.

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in orbit from the space shuttle Discovery. (It was discovered that the telescope's primary mirror was flawed, requiring the installation of corrective components to achieve optimal focus.)

Ten years ago: In a video posted on the Internet, al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and said any government formed in Iraq would be merely a "stooge." President George W. Bush ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand.

Five years ago: President Bashar Assad of Syria sent the military into the southern city of Daraa, where an anti-government uprising had begun the previous month.

One year ago: A magnitude-7.8 earthquake in Nepal killed more than 8,200 people. Families of soldiers, leaders and visitors gathered in Turkey near former battlefields, honoring thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the Gallipoli campaign of World War I on the 100th anniversary of the ill-fated British-led invasion. Italy celebrated the 70th anniversary of a partisan uprising against the Nazis and their Fascist allies near the end of World War II.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Al Pacino is 76. Ballroom dance judge Len Goodman (TV: "Dancing with the Stars") is 72. Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 71. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 71. Actress Talia Shire is 71. Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 69. Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 66. Country singer-songwriter Rob Crosby is 62. Actor Hank Azaria is 52. Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 52. Rock musician Eric Avery is 51. Country musician Rory Feek (Joey + Rory) is 51. TV personality Jane Clayson is 49. Actress Renee Zellweger is 47. Actress Gina Torres is 47. Actor Jason Lee is 46. Actor Jason Wiles is 46. Actress Emily Bergl is 41. Actor Jonathan Angel is 39. Actress Marguerite Moreau is 39. Singer Jacob Underwood is 36. Actress Melonie Diaz is 32. Actress Sara Paxton is 28. Actress Allisyn Ashley Arm is 20.

Thought for Today: "I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is." -- Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born author (1899-1977).