On June 25, 1876, Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana.
On June 25, 1887, George Abbott, American playwright, director, actor and producer, was born. Following his death on Jan. 31, 1995, his obituary appeared in The Times.
| 1788 |
Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution. |
| 1868 |
Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were readmitted to the Union. |
| 1950 |
War broke out on the Korean peninsula as forces from the communist North invaded the South. |
| 1951 |
The first commercial color telecast took place as CBS transmitted a one-hour special from New York to four other cities. |
| 1962 |
The Supreme Court ruled that the use of an unofficial, nondenominational prayer in New York public schools was unconstitutional. |
| 1967 |
The Beatles performed a new song, “All You Need Is Love,” during a live international telecast. |
| 1973 |
Former White House Counsel John Dean began testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee. |
| 1991 |
The Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence. |
| 1995 |
Warren E. Burger, the 15th chief justice of the United States, died at age 87. |
| 1996 |
A truck bomb killed 19 Americans and injured hundreds at a U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia. |
| 1997 |
An unmanned cargo ship crashed into Russia’s Mir space station, knocking out half of the station’s power and rupturing a pressurized laboratory. |
| 1998 |
The Supreme Court rejected a line-item veto law as unconstitutional. |
| 2005 |
Hardline Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of Iran’s presidential runoff election. |
| 2009 |
Michael Jackson died from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol. (The 50-year-old singer’s doctor, Conrad Murray, has pleaded innocent to involuntary manslaughter.) |
| 1925 |
June Lockhart, Actress (“Lassie,” “Lost in Space”), turns 87 |
| 1942 |
Willis Reed, Basketball hall of famer, turns 70 |
| 1944 |
Gary David Goldberg, Writer, producer (“Family Ties,” “Spin City”), turns 68 |
| 1945 |
Carly Simon, Singer, turns 67 |
| 1947 |
Jimmie Walker, Actor, comedian (“Good Times”), turns 65 |
| 1949 |
Phyllis George, TV personality, turns 63 |
| 1952 |
Tim Finn, Rock singer (Crowded House), turns 60 |
| 1963 |
George Michael, Singer, turns 49 |
| 1966 |
Dikembe Mutombo, Basketball player, turns 46 |
| 1967 |
Richie Rich, Rapper, producer, turns 45 |
| 1971 |
Angela Kinsey, Actress (“The Office”), turns 41 |
| 1972 |
Carlos Delgado, Baseball player, turns 40 |
| 1972 |
Mike Kroeger, Rock musician (Nickelback), turns 40 |
| 1975 |
Linda Cardellini, Actress (“ER”), turns 37 |
| 1978 |
Aramis Ramirez, Baseball player, turns 34 |
| 1979 |
Busy Philipps, Actress (“Cougar Town”), turns 33 |
| 79 |
Edward Holyoke 6/25/1689 – 1/1/1769
American educator; president of Harvard University (1737-69) |
| 73 |
Antonio Gaudi 6/25/1852 – 6/10/1926
Spanish (Catalan) architect |
| 64 |
Robert Henri 6/25/1865 – 7/12/1929
American painter |
| 47 |
Crystal Eastman 6/25/1881 – 7/8/1928
American lawyer, suffragist and writer |
| 66 |
Benito Lynch 6/25/1885 – 12/23/1951
Argentine novelist and short story writer |
| 63 |
Henry Harley Arnold 6/25/1886 – 1/15/1950
American military strategist |
| 95 |
Hermann Oberth 6/25/1894 – 12/29/1989
Austrian-born German scientist |
| 79 |
Lord Louis Mountbatten 6/25/1900 – 8/27/1979
English statesman, naval leader and last viceroy of India |
| 68 |
William H. Stein 6/25/1911 – 2/2/1980
American Nobel Prize-winning biochemist (1972) |
George Abbott 6/25/1887 – 1/31/1995 
