Today in History

February 25

1713 - Sweden’s King Charles XII is taken prisoner by the Ottoman Sultan.

1793 - US President George Washington convenes the first Cabinet meeting.

1836 - American inventor Samuel Colt patents his revolver.

1913 - The 16th Amendment of the US Constitution, authorising income tax, goes into effect.

1947 - Prussia officially becomes part of Germany.

1951 - The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1955 - Britain completes construction of HMS Ark Royal, its largest-ever aircraft carrier.

1964 - American boxer Muhammad Ali defeats heavyweight champion Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.

1976 - US vetoes UN resolution deploring Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem.

1986 - Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos resigns and flees to US air base.

1988 - India tests surface-to-surface missile joining US, Soviet Union, China and France.

1993 - Kim Young-sam becomes President of South Korea, the first civilian president since 1960.

1994 - Jewish colonist Baruch Goldstein massacres 30 Palestinians in Hebron.

1998 - Veteran pro-democracy campaigner Kim Dae-jung becomes President of South Korea.

2002 - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is accused of treason over an alleged plot to kill President Robert Mugabe.

2003 - Pakistani bowler Wasim Akram creates one-day cricket history at Boland Park by becoming the first to take 500 wickets.

2005 - Argentina completes biggest debt restructuring in history.

2006 - A six-storey building collapses in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 20 people.

2013 - Park Geun-hye is inaugurated as South Korea’s new President.

2015 - Dubai unveils 16 car-charging stations for hybrid and electric cars for public use.

2016 - Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt walks free from prison, after ending 23 years of legal troubles over his possession of an assault rifle.

2017 - Palestinian singer Yacoub Shaheen crowned ‘Arab Idol’ for the fourth time.