April 25, 2009 - Today In History

Today is Saturday, April 25, the 115th day of 2009. There are 250 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On April 25, 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.

On this date:

In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller named a huge land mass in the Western Hemisphere "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 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

In 1898, the United States formally declared war on Spain.

In 1901, New York Gov. Benjamin Barker Odell Junior 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, delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

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

In 1983, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter in which the Manchester, Maine, schoolgirl expressed fears about nuclear war.

In 1990, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.

Ten years ago:

On the third and final day of their Washington summit, NATO leaders promised military protection and economic aid to Yugoslavia's neighbors for standing with the West against Slobodan Milosevic.

More than 70,000 mourners gathered in Littleton, Colo., to remember the victims of the Columbine High School massacre.

Lord Killanin, former president of the International Olympic Committee, died in Dublin at age 84.

Five years ago:

Hundreds of thousands of abortion-rights supporters marched in Washington, D.C. to protest Bush administration policies.

One year ago:

Three New York police detectives were acquitted in the 50-shot killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed
groom-to-be, on his wedding day.

Triathlete David Martin, 66, was killed by a great white shark in the waters off San Diego County.

Today's Birthdays:

Movie director-writer Paul Mazursky is 79.

Songwriter Jerry Leiber is 76.

Actor Al Pacino is 69.

Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 64.

Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 64.

Actress Talia Shire is 63.

Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 62.

Rock musician Michael Brown (The Left Banke) is 60.

Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 59.

Country singer-songwriter Rob Crosby is 55.

Actor Hank Azaria is 45.

Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 45.

Rock musician Eric Avery (Jane's Addiction) is 44.

Country musician Rory Feek (Joey + Rory) is 44.

TV personality Jane Clayson is 42.

Actress Renee Zellweger is 40.

Actress Gina Torres is 40.

Actor Jason Lee is 39.

Actor Jason Wiles is 39.

Actress Emily Bergl is 34.

Actress Marguerite Moreau is 32.

Singer Jacob Underwood is 29.

Actress Sara Paxton is 21.

Thought for Today:

"There are two great rules of life, the one general and the other particular.
The first is that everyone can, in the end, get what he wants if he only tries.
This is the general rule.
The particular rule is that every individual is more or less an exception to the general rule."

— Samuel Butler,
English author
(1835-1902).