On This Day: January 25

Updated January 24, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 25, 1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service.

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On Jan. 25, 1882, Virginia Woolf, the British novelist, was born. Following her death on March 28, 1941, her obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1533 England’s King Henry VIII secretly married Anne Boleyn, his second wife.

1759 Scottish poet Robert Burns was born in Alloway.

1787 Shays’ Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Capt. Daniel Shays failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Mass.

1890 The United Mine Workers of America was founded in Columbus, Ohio.

1915 The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated transcontinental telephone service in the United States.

1947 Gangster Al Capone died at age 48.

1959 American Airlines opened the jet age in the United States with the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707.

1971 Charles Manson and three female followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.

1995 The defense gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles, saying Simpson was the victim of a “rush to judgment” by authorities.

2006 The Islamic militant group Hamas won a large majority of seats in Palestinian parliamentary elections.

2007 Ford Motor Co. said it had lost a staggering $12.7 billion in 2006, the worst loss in the company’s 103-year history.

2011 A federal judge in New York sentenced Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to have a U.S. civilian trial, to life in prison for conspiring in the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

R&B singer Alicia Keys turns 31 years old today.

AP Photo/Charles Sykes

Former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze turns 84 years old today.

AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov

1931 Dean Jones, Actor, turns 81

1958 Dinah Manoff, Actress (“Empty Nest,” “Soap”), turns 54

1975 Mia Kirshner, Actress, turns 37

1979 Christine Lakin, Actress, turns 33

Historic Birthdays

Virginia Woolf 1/25/1882 – 3/28/1941 British author.Go to obituary »

71 Giovanni Morone 1/25/1509 – 12/1/1580
Italian cardinal and diplomat

64 Robert Boyle 1/25/1627 – 12/30/1691
Anglo-Irish chemist

77 Joseph-Louis Lagrange 1/25/1736 – 4/10/1813
Italian-French mathematician

37 Robert Burns 1/25/1759 – 7/21/1796
Scottish national poet

60 Benjamin Robert Haydon 1/25/1786 – 6/22/1846
English historical painter/writer

77 Dan Rice 1/25/1823 – 2/22/1900
American clown

50 George Edward Pickett 1/25/1825 – 7/30/1875
American Confederate Army officer

76 Charles Curtis 1/25/1860 – 2/8/1936
American 31st vice president

85 Rufus Matthew Jones 1/25/1863 – 6/16/1948
American Quaker and author

91 W. Somerset Maugham 1/25/1874 – 12/16/1965
English novelist/playwright

76 William C. Bullitt 1/25/1891 – 2/15/1967
U.S. diplomat

73 Paul-Henri Spaak 1/25/1899 – 7/31/1972
Post-World War II statesmen from Belgium

54 Viljo Revell 1/25/1910 – 11/8/1964
Finnish architect

1533	England’s King Henry VIII secretly married Anne Boleyn, his second wife.
1759	Scottish poet Robert Burns was born in Alloway.
1787	Shays’ Rebellion suffered a setback when debt-ridden farmers led by Capt. Daniel Shays failed to capture an arsenal at Springfield, Mass.
1890	The United Mine Workers of America was founded in Columbus, Ohio.
1915	The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated transcontinental telephone service in the United States.
1947	Gangster Al Capone died at age 48.
1959	American Airlines opened the jet age in the United States with the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707.
1971	Charles Manson and three female followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.
1995	The defense gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles, saying Simpson was the victim of a “rush to judgment” by authorities.
2006	The Islamic militant group Hamas won a large majority of seats in Palestinian parliamentary elections.
2007	Ford Motor Co. said it had lost a staggering $12.7 billion in 2006, the worst loss in the company’s 103-year history.
2011	A federal judge in New York sentenced Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantanamo detainee to have a U.S. civilian trial, to life in prison for conspiring in the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.

1931	Dean Jones, Actor, turns 81
1958	Dinah Manoff, Actress (“Empty Nest,” “Soap”), turns 54
1975	Mia Kirshner, Actress, turns 37
1979	Christine Lakin, Actress, turns 33

71	Giovanni Morone 1/25/1509 – 12/1/1580 Italian cardinal and diplomat
64	Robert Boyle 1/25/1627 – 12/30/1691 Anglo-Irish chemist
77	Joseph-Louis Lagrange 1/25/1736 – 4/10/1813 Italian-French mathematician
37	Robert Burns 1/25/1759 – 7/21/1796 Scottish national poet
60	Benjamin Robert Haydon 1/25/1786 – 6/22/1846 English historical painter/writer
77	Dan Rice 1/25/1823 – 2/22/1900 American clown
50	George Edward Pickett 1/25/1825 – 7/30/1875 American Confederate Army officer
76	Charles Curtis 1/25/1860 – 2/8/1936 American 31st vice president
85	Rufus Matthew Jones 1/25/1863 – 6/16/1948 American Quaker and author
91	W. Somerset Maugham 1/25/1874 – 12/16/1965 English novelist/playwright
76	William C. Bullitt 1/25/1891 – 2/15/1967 U.S. diplomat
73	Paul-Henri Spaak 1/25/1899 – 7/31/1972 Post-World War II statesmen from Belgium
54	Viljo Revell 1/25/1910 – 11/8/1964 Finnish architect