Today in History: April 25

Today is Thursday, April 25, the 116th day of 2024. There are 250 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

In 404 B.C., the Peloponnesian War ended as Athens surrendered to Sparta.

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 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

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

In 1898, the United States Congress declared war on Spain; the 10-week conflict resulted in an American victory.

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 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. Meanwhile, delegates from some 50 countries gathered in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

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

In 1992, Islamic forces in Afghanistan took control of most of the capital of Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.

In 2002, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of the Grammy-winning trio TLC died in an SUV crash in Honduras; she was 30.

In 2013, President Barack Obama consoled a rural Texas community rocked by a deadly fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people, telling mourners during a memorial service at Baylor University they were not alone in their grief.

In 2018, Danish engineer Peter Madsen was convicted of murder for luring a Swedish journalist onto his homemade submarine before torturing and killing her; Madsen was later sentenced to life in prison.

In 2019, former Vice President Joe Biden entered the Democratic presidential race, declaring the fight against Donald Trump to be a “battle for the soul of this nation.”

In 2021, “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao’s portrait of itinerant lives on open roads across the American West, won Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards; Zhao was honored as best director.

In 2022, Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the social media platform where he – then the world’s richest person – had made a habit of promoting his interests and attacking his critics to his tens of millions of followers.

In 2023, President Joe Biden formally announced that he would be running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish this job” and extend the run of America’s oldest president for another four years.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Al Pacino is 84. Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 79. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 79. Actor Talia Shire is 79. Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 77. Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 74. Country singer-songwriter Rob Crosby is 70. Actor Hank Azaria is 60. Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 60. Rock musician Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction) is 59. Country musician Rory Feek (Joey + Rory) is 59. TV personality Jane Clayson is 57. Actor Renee Zellweger is 55. Actor Gina Torres is 55. Actor Jason Lee is 54. Actor Jason Wiles is 54. Actor Emily Bergl is 49. Actor Marguerite Moreau is 47. Actor Melonie Diaz is 40. Actor Sara Paxton is 36. Actor/producer Allisyn Snyder is 28. Actor Jayden Rey is 15.