February 25th Today in History

Today’s Historical Events

138 The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor

1095 Council of Rockingham: bishop Anselmus vs King William II Rufus

1358 Dalmatie flees Venice

1502 Austrian emperor Maximilian I reformats government machine

1570 Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. Also absolves her subjects from allegiance to the crown.

1601 Robert Devereux, English 2nd Earl of Essex, executed for treason against the Crown of England

1605 Portuguese garrison on Ambon surrenders to Admiral Van der Haghen

1623 Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria becomes monarch of Palts

Today’s Historical Events in Flim and TV

1901 George M. Cohan‘s 1st Broadway musical “The Governor’s Son”opens at the Savoy Theatre, NYC; runs for 32 performances

1940 1st televised (W2XBS, NYC) hockey game (Rangers vs Canadians)

1950 “Your Show of Shows” with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres on NBC. Writers include Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.

1980 British political comedy “Yes Minister” written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds premieres on BBC Two

1986 28th Grammy Awards: “We Are the World”, Sade, Phil Collins win

1990 On a BBC taped interview, rock star Stevie Nicks breaks down, saying that she will never have children & no man can stand her for long

1991 Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky and John Candy buy CFL’s Toronto Argonauts

1995 Singer Frank Sinatra performs for final time before a live audience of 1200 select guests at the Palm Desert Marriott Ballroom, in Palm Desert, California, on the closing night of his charity golf tournament

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1904 J M Synge’s “Riders to the Sea” opens at Irish National Theater Society

1911 Victor Herbert’s opera “Natoma” premieres at Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1944 Alexander Gretchaninov‘s “Missa Oecumenica” (Ecumenical Mass) premieres in Boston with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra; the composer wrote the work in memory of the conductor’s wife Natalie (1880-1942)

1951 “Michael Todd’s Peep Show” closes at Winter Garden, NYC, after 278 performances

1953 Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green‘s musical “Wonderful Town”, starring Rosalind Russell, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 559 performances, wins 5 Tony Awards

1957 Buddy Holly and the Crickets record their smash hit “That’ll Be the Day” in Clovis, New Mexico

1960 John Cage’s “Music for Amplified Toy Pianos” premieres

1963 Beatles release their 1st US single – “Please Please Me”

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1904 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games

1924 Marie Boyd scores 156 points in Maryland HS basketball game (163-3)

1925 US Men’s Figure Skating championship won by Nathaniel Niles

1930 Brilliant West Indian cricket batsman George Headley completes twin tons (114 & 112) in 3rd Test win against England at Georgetown, British Guiana

1933 Major NFL rule changes (hash mark 10 yds in, posts on goal line)

1933 New York industrialist Thomas Yawkey purchases Boston Red Sox for $1.25 million

1941 Boston Bruins set NHL record of 23-game unbeaten streak (15-0-8)

1952 VI Winter Olympic Games close at Oslo, Norway