On This Day:
Friday April 25, 2014 This is the 115th day of the year, with 250 days remaining in 2014. Fact of the Day: Vatican City Vatican City, whose official name is State of the Vatican City, is the smallest independent nation-state in the world with an area of only 0.16 square miles and a population under 1,000. Vatican City became an independent nation-state in 1929 and is an enclave in Rome, located on the west bank of the Tiber River. The Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church, resides in the Vatican Palace and has absolute executive, legislative, and judicial powers within the city. He has been protected by a contingent of Swiss Guards since 1506. Vatican City does not have income tax and receives all of its monies from donations, interest on investments, and the sale of stamps, coins, and publications. The Sistine Chapel, whose ceiling was painted by Michelangelo, is located in Vatican City. It took the artist four years (1508-12) to paint the ceiling, lying on his back.
Holidays Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga: ANZAC Day (ANZAC was (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps).
Feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist, St. Heribald, and St. Anianus of Alexandria.
Italy: Liberation Day (1945).
Portugal: Revolution Day / Liberty Day (1974).
Egypt: Sinai Day (1982).
Swaziland: National Flag Day.
Arbor Day: Usually celebrated the last Friday in April, but may be celebrated locally on a different date.
Events 1792 - The guillotine was first used in Paris.
1859 - Ground was broken at Port Said, Egypt, for the Suez Canal.
1898 - The United States declared war on Spain.
1901 - New York became the first state to require automobile license plates; the fee was one dollar.
1915 - In World War I, Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli in Turkey.
1928 - The first guide dog, Buddy, was presented to Morris S. Frank.
1945 - Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
1953 - The magazine "Nature" published an article by biologists Francis Crick and James Watson, describing the "double helix" of DNA.
1959 - The St. Lawrence Seaway was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and President Dwight Eisenhower, linking the Atlantic Ocean with ports on the Great Lakes.
1967 - The first law legalizing abortion in the U.S. was signed by the Colorado governor.
1990 - The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery placed the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth.
2003 - Georgia lawmakers voted to remove the Dixie cross from the state's flag.
2005 - Bulgaria and Romania gain entrance into the European Union.
2005 - In Japan, one hundred seven perish in the Amagasaki rail crash.
Births 1214 - Louis IX, king of France (1226-1270).
1599 - Oliver Cromwell, Puritan leader in the English Civil War.
1840 - Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer.
1874 - Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor of radio.
1900 - Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian-born Nobel Prize-winning physicist.
1908 - Edward R. Murrow, American war correspondent, newsman.
1918 - Ella Fitzgerald, American Grammy Award-winning jazz singer.
1940 - Al Pacino, American actor.
1964 - Hank Azaria, American actor, comedian, and voice artist.
1969 - Renée Zellweger, American film actress.
1981 - Felipe Massa, Brazilian Formula One driver.
Deaths 1995 - Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath), American actress, dancer, and singer.
2005 - Swami Ranganathananda (born Shankaran Kutty), Indian monk.
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