Updated August 25, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Aug. 25, 1944, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation.
On Aug. 25, 1918, Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer and pianist, was born. Following his death on Oct. 14, 1990, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1718 Hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, with some of them settling in present-day New Orleans. 1825 Uruguay declared its independence from Brazil. 1875 Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 22 hours. 1916 The National Park Service was established within the Department of the Interior. 1921 The United States signed a peace treaty with Germany. 1950 President Harry S. Truman ordered the Army to seize control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike. 1975 The album “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen was released. 1984 Author Truman Capote was found dead at age 59. 1985 Samantha Smith, the schoolgirl whose letter to Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov resulted in her peace tour of the communist country, was killed with her father in an airplane crash in Maine. 1997 The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida. 1998 Former Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell died at age 90. 2003 Tennis champion Pete Sampras announced his retirement during a news conference at the U.S. Open in New York. 2009 South Korea’s first rocket blasted off into space. 2009 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., died at age 77. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Sean Connery turns 82 years old today.
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Actress Blake Lively (“Gossip Girl”) turns 25 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
1921 Monty Hall, Game show host (“Let’s Make a Deal”), turns 91 1931 Regis Philbin, Talk show, game show host, turns 81 1933 Wayne Shorter, Jazz saxophonist, turns 79 1933 Tom Skerritt, Actor (“Picket Fences”), turns 79 1941 Marshall Brickman, Filmmaker, turns 71 1946 Rollie Fingers, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 66 1949 Gene Simmons, Rock musician (Kiss), turns 63 1951 Rob Halford, Rock singer (Judas Priest), turns 61 1954 Elvis Costello, Rock musician, turns 58 1958 Tim Burton, Director, turns 54 1961 Billy Ray Cyrus, Country singer, turns 51 1961 Ally Walker, Actress, turns 51 1964 Blair Underwood, Actor, turns 48 1966 Albert Belle, Baseball player, turns 46 1967 Jeff Tweedy, Rock singer (Wilco), turns 45 1968 Rachael Ray, TV chef, turns 44 1970 Claudia Schiffer, Model, turns 42 1981 Rachel Bilson, Actress (“The O.C.”), turns 31
Historic Birthdays
Leonard Bernstein 8/25/1918 – 10/14/1990 American conductor, composer and pianist.Go to obituary »
79 George Wallace 8/25/1919 – 9/13/1998
American four-time governor of Alabama and 1968 third-party candidate60 Walt Kelly 8/25/1913 – 10/18/1973
American creator of the comic strip “Pogo”81 Sir Hans Adolf Krebs 8/25/1900 – 11/22/1981
German-born English Nobel Prize-winning biochemist (1953)84 Sean O’Kelly 8/25/1882 – 11/23/1966
Irish president (1945-59) and leader of the Sinn Fein Party77 Arthur Hinsley 8/25/1865 – 3/17/1943
English Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop of Westminster45 Bill Nye 8/25/1850 – 2/22/1896
American journalist and humorist40 Louis II (“mad king Ludwig”) 8/25/1845 – 6/13/1886
German king of Bavaria (1864-86)64 Allan Pinkerton 8/25/1819 – 7/1/1884
Scottish-born American founder of the Pinkerton detective agency53 Ivan lV 8/25/1530 – 3/18/1584
Russian tsar remembered as “Ivan the Terrible”
