October 25 birthdays
1881 PABLO PICASSO Spanish artist
Regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century, Picasso is known for co-founding the cubist movement and inventing constructed sculpture. Among his most famous works are Les Demoiselles d’avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937).
1888 RICHARD E. BYRD American aviator
Byrd lays claim to being the first person to reach the North Pole and the South Pole by air, but his claim to have reached the North Pole first is disputed.
1913 KLAUS BARBIE German Gestapo chief
Known as the Butcher of Lyon, Barbie liked to personally torture Gestapo prisoners, primarily Jews and members of the French Resistance. After escaping to Bolivia, he was extradited to France in 1983 and sentenced to life.
1919 MOHAMMAD REZA PAHLAVI
Shah of Iran
Pahlavi was the final Shah of Iran, holding the position from 1941 until his overthrow during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The Shah died while in exile in Egypt, where President Anwar Sadat had granted him asylum.
1941 HELEN REDDY Australian singer
Reddy was born in Melbourne to a show-business family and started her career as an entertainer at the age of four. In 1966, she won a Bandstand talent contest, with the first prize a trip to New
York. Her most successful single was I Am Woman.
1959 CHRISSY AMPHLETT Australian singer
Amphelett is best known as the frontwoman of the band Divinyls. As a teenager, she travelled to Britain, France and Spain, where she was detained for three months for singing in the streets. Divinyls hits included Science Fiction and I Touch Myself.
1961 CHAD SMITH
American musician
Smith has been the drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1968. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith also worked with The Chicks on the album Taking the Long Way, which won five Grammy Awards in 2007.