On This Day: March 25

This is the 84th day of the year.

Fact of the Day: Old New Year's Day

In Great Britain and its North American colonies, this day was the beginning of the new year up through 1751, when the adoption of the Gregorian calendar changed the beginning of the year to January 1. On this day in 1857, the first photograph of a solar eclipse was taken.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Barontius, St. Alfwold, St. Dismus, St. Lucy Filippini, St. Hermenland, and St. Margaret Clitherow.

Greece: Independence Day (from Turkey, 1821).

United Kingdom (except Scotland): Lady Day / Quarter Day.

Maryland: Maryland Day.

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Annunciation of the Lord.

Alaska: Seward's Day.

Events

1609 - English explorer Henry Hudson set off from Amsterdam, on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, in search of the Northwest Passage.

1634 - Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by Lord Baltimore; they arrived at St. Clement's Island and called the settlement St. Mary's.

1751 - This was the old New Year's Day for Great Britain and its North American colonies up through 1751, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted and the beginning of the year changed to January 1.

1775 - George Washington planted the first pecan trees at Mount Vernon; this is celebrated as Pecan Day.

1807 - British Parliament abolished the slave trade.

1913 - The Palace Theatre, home of vaudeville, opened in New York City.

1937 - The first perfumed ad appeared in the Washington, D.C. "Daily News."

1954 - RCA manufactured its first color TV set and began mass production.

1957 - France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg signed a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market.

1982 - The Canada Act was signed by Queen Elizabeth II, ratifying the Canadian Constitution and making it wholly independent.

2002 - A strong earthquake rocked Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, killing up to 1,000 people.

Births

1867 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian musician, conductor.

1881 - Bela Bartók, Hungarian pianist.

1920 - Howard Cosell (Cohen), American sportscaster.

1935 - Gloria Steinem, American, feminist, publisher.

1942 - Aretha Franklin, American singer.

1947 - Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight), British musician, singer, songwriter.

Deaths

1975 - King Faisal, shot to death by his nephew, Prince Faisal, who had a history of mental illness.