Human Genome Project

The following is your daily snapshot of what happened on this day in history: April 25th. This day is marked by, among other things, the completion of the Human Genome Project on April 25, 2003. The Human Genome Project (HGP) is an international scientific research project with a primary goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to identify and map the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint.

BORN APRIL 25TH:
April 25, 1214 – King Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
April 25, 1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
April 25, 1284 – King Edward II of England (d. 1327)
April 25, 1287 – Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, de facto ruler of England (d. 1330)
April 25, 1502 – Georg Major, German Protestant theologian (d. 1574)
April 25, 1599 – Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland (d. 1658)
April 25, 1608 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans, French politician (d. 1660)
April 25, 1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, British soldier, statesman, and dramatist (d. 1679)
April 25, 1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect (d. 1753)
April 25, 1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (d. 1776)
April 25, 1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1786)
April 25, 1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (d. 1847)
April 25, 1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist (d. 1850)
April 25, 1775 – Charlotte of Spain, Spanish Infanta and queen of Portugal (d. 1830)
April 25, 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
April 25, 1843 – Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse (d. 1878)
April 25, 1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)
April 25, 1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer (d. 1927)
April 25, 1851 – Leopoldo Alas y Ureña, a.k.a. “Clarín”, Spanish novelist (d. 1901)
April 25, 1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, British politician (d. 1933)
April 25, 1868 – John Bevins Moisant, American aviator (d. 1910)
April 25, 1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet (d. 1956)
April 25, 1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1937)
April 25, 1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
April 25, 1898 – Fred Haney, baseball player (d. 1977)
April 25, 1900 – Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
April 25, 1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)
April 25, 1903 – Andrey Nikolayevich Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1987)
April 25, 1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1986)
April 25, 1906 – William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1997)
April 25, 1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
April 25, 1909 – William Pereira, American architect (d. 1985)
April 25, 1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek naval officer in World War II (d. 1944)
April 25, 1914 – Ross Lockridge, Jr., American writer (d. 1948)
April 25, 1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
April 25, 1918 – Gerard Henri de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer (d. 1995)
April 25, 1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-born soprano (d. 2006)
April 25, 1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter (d. 2006)
April 25, 1923 – Melissa Hayden, American ballerina (d. 2006)
April 25, 1923 – Albert King, American musician (d. 1992)
April 25, 1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian composer (d. 2005)
April 25, 1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German journalist, film director, and cabaret performer (d. 1986)
April 25, 1925 – Kay E. Kuter, American actor (d. 2003)
April 25, 1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
April 25, 1927 – Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist
April 25, 1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish romance novelist (d. 2009)
April 25, 1929 – Yvette Williams, first woman New Zealander to go to Olympics
April 25, 1930 – Paul Mazursky, American film director and writer
April 25, 1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician (d. 1980)
April 25, 1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, American basketball player
April 25, 1932 – William Roache, British television actor (Coronation Street)
April 25, 1933 – Jerry Leiber, American composer
April 25, 1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player [AAGPBL] (d. 1992)
April 25, 1934 – Peter McParland, Northern Irish footballer
April 25, 1935 – April Ashley, English model
April 25, 1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch artist
April 25, 1939 – Ted Kooser, American poet and US Poet Laureate
April 25, 1940 – Jochen Borchert, German politician
April 25, 1940 – Al Pacino, American actor
April 25, 1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French director, screenwriter and actor
April 25, 1941 – Princess Muna al-Hussein, of Jordan
April 25, 1942 – Jon Kyl, American politician, junior senator of Arizona
April 25, 1942 – Katsuji Adachi, Japanese professional wrestler
April 25, 1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer and songwriter (ABBA)
April 25, 1945 – Stu Cook, American rock bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
April 25, 1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American conspiracy theorist
April 25, 1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
April 25, 1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician
April 25, 1947 – Johan Cruijff, Dutch footballer
April 25, 1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
April 25, 1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, former Premier of Taiwan
April 25, 1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician
April 25, 1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentine footballer
April 25, 1949 – James Fenton, English poet

April 25, 1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer
April 25, 1950 – Peter Jurasik, American actor
April 25, 1951 – Ian McCartney, British Member of Parliament
April 25, 1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist
April 25, 1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Soviet ice hockey player
April 25, 1953 – Ron Clements, American animation director
April 25, 1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor
April 25, 1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentine footballer
April 25, 1955 – Christopher Tyng, American composer
April 25, 1956 – Jaroslava Schallerová, Hungarian actress
April 25, 1958 – Fish, Scottish singer and lyricist (ex-Marillion)
April 25, 1959 – Dominique Blanc, French actress
April 25, 1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian film producer
April 25, 1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, American author
April 25, 1963 – David Moyes, Everton Football Club manager
April 25, 1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor and voice actor
April 25, 1964 – Andy Bell, English singer and songwriter (Erasure)
April 25, 1965 – Eric Avery, American musician (Jane’s Addiction, Deconstruction, Polar Bear)
April 25, 1965 – Simon Fowler, English musician (Ocean Colour Scene)
April 25, 1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player
April 25, 1966 – Erik Pappas, Greek-American baseball player
April 25, 1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
April 25, 1966 – James Stacy Barbour, American actor and singer
April 25, 1969 – Joe Buck, American sports broadcaster
April 25, 1969 – Gina Torres, American actress
April 25, 1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player
April 25, 1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress
April 25, 1970 – Jason Lee, American actor
April 25, 1970 – Jason Wiles, American actor
April 25, 1971 – Tomoko Kawakami, voice actress, Japanese Seiyuu
April 25, 1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish flamenco dancer
April 25, 1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer (Millencolin)
April 25, 1974 – Dean Phoenix American gay pornographic actor
April 25, 1975 – Emily Bergl, British-American actress
April 25, 1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player
April 25, 1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
April 25, 1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player
April 25, 1976 – Gilberto, Brazilian footballer
April 25, 1977 – Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer
April 25, 1977 – Marguerite Moreau, American actress
April 25, 1977 – Matthew West, American Christian singer
April 25, 1977 – Ilias Kotsios, Greek footballer
April 25, 1977 – Paavo Siljamäki, Finnish musician
April 25, 1977 – Kim Jong Kook, South Korean singer
April 25, 1978 – Letícia Birkheuer, Brazilian model
April 25, 1978 – Matt Walker, British Paralympic swimmer
April 25, 1980 – Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
April 25, 1980 – Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor
April 25, 1980 – Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
April 25, 1980 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
April 25, 1981 – Dwone Hicks, American football player
April 25, 1981 – Felipe Massa, Brazilian Formula One driver
April 25, 1981 – John McFall, British Paralympic sprinter
April 25, 1981 – Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
April 25, 1982 – Brian Barton, American baseball player
April 25, 1982 – Monty Panesar, English cricketer for England
April 25, 1982 – Marco Russo, Italian footballer
April 25, 1983 – DeAngelo Williams, American football player
April 25, 1983 – J.P. Howell, American baseball player
April 25, 1983 – Joanne Peh, Singaporean actress
April 25, 1984 – Robert Andino, American baseball player
April 25, 1984 – Melonie Diaz, American actress
April 25, 1984 – Andre’ Woodson, American football player
April 25, 1985 – Giedo van der Garde, Dutch racing driver
April 25, 1985 – Jadyn Maria, Puerto Rican singer & songwriter
April 25, 1987 – Johann Smith, American soccer player
April 25, 1987 – Jay Park, b-boy & musician, part of Art of Movement
April 25, 1988 – James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
April 25, 1989 – Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama
April 25, 1990 – Taylor Walker, Australian Rules football player
April 25, 1992 – Sim, Yücel Akyüz
April 25, 1996 – Allisyn Ashley Arm, American child actress

DIED APRIL 25TH:
April 25, 68 – Saint Mark, the first Pope of Alexandria and the founder of Christianity in Africa
April 25, 1077 – Géza I of Hungary (b. 1040)
April 25, 1265 – Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, English crusader
April 25, 1295 – King Sancho IV of Castile
April 25, 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian artist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
April 25, 1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
April 25, 1566 – Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henry II of France (b. 1499)
April 25, 1566 – Louise Labé, French poet
April 25, 1595 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (b. 1544)
April 25, 1605 – Naresuan, King of Siam (b. 1555)
April 25, 1644 – Chongzhen Emperor, Emperor of China (b. 1611)
April 25, 1660 – Henry Hammond, English churchman (b. 1605)
April 25, 1690 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish artist (b. 1610)
April 25, 1740 – Shrimant Baji Rao Vishwanath Bhat, also known as Baji Rao I, a general and Peshwa (b. 1699)
April 25, 1744 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (b. 1701)
April 25, 1770 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot and physicist (b. 1700)
April 25, 1800 – William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
April 25, 1840 – Siméon-Denis Poisson, French mathematician (b. 1781)
April 25, 1875 – Trinley Gyatso, 12th Dalai Lama (b. 1857)
April 25, 1878 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
April 25, 1891 – Nathaniel Woodard, English educationalist (b. 1811)
April 25, 1892 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (b. 1840)
April 25, 1906 – John Knowles Paine, American composer (b. 1839)
April 25, 1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian novelist (b. 1862)
April 25, 1915 – Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
April 25, 1919 – Augustus D. Juilliard, music patron (b. 1836)
April 25, 1923 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, Canadian politician (b. 1840)
April 25, 1928 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1878)
April 25, 1937 – Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b. 1857)
April 25, 1943 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian theatre director (b. 1858)
April 25, 1944 – George Herriman, cartoonist (b. 1880)
April 25, 1944 – Tony Mullane, Irish-born American baseball player (b. 1859)
April 25, 1968 – John Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
April 25, 1972 – George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)
April 25, 1973 – Olga Grey, Hungarian-born American silent actress (b. 1896)
April 25, 1975 – Mike Brant, Israeli singer (b. 1947)
April 25, 1976 – Carol Reed, English film producer and director (b. 1906)
April 25, 1976 – Markus Reiner, Israeli scientist (b. 1886)
April 25, 1978 – Lee Kim Lai, Singaporean police officer (b. 1960)
April 25, 1980 – Katia Mann, wife of German writer Thomas Mann (b. 1883)
April 25, 1982 – John Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
April 25, 1983 – William S. Bowdern, American Jesuit Roman Catholic priest (b. 1897)
April 25, 1988 – Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist (b. 1936)
April 25, 1990 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist (b. 1923)
April 25, 1992 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
April 25, 1995 – Andria Balanchivadze, Georgian composer (b. 1906)
April 25, 1995 – Art Fleming, American game show host (b. 1925)
April 25, 1995 – Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer (b. 1911)
April 25, 1996 – Saul Bass, American graphics designer (b. 1920)
April 25, 1998 – Wright Morris, American writer (b. 1910)
April 25, 1998 – Christian Mortensen, Danish-American supercentenarian (b. 1882)
April 25, 1999 – Roger Troutman, American musician (b. 1951)
April 25, 1999 – Larry Troutman, American musician (b. 1944)
April 25, 1999 – Lord Killanin, Irish International Olympic Committee president (b. 1914)
April 25, 2000 – David Merrick, American theatrical producer (b. 1911)
April 25, 2000 – Lucien le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)
April 25, 2001 – Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
April 25, 2002 – Indra Devi, yoga teacher (b. 1899)
April 25, 2002 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper (TLC) (b. 1971)
April 25, 2002 – Athanasios Papoulis, Greek-American engineer and applied mathematician (b. 1921)
April 25, 2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. 1966)
April 25, 2004 – Thom Gunn, English poet (b. 1929)
April 25, 2005 – Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk (b. 1908)
April 25, 2006 – Jane Jacobs, American-born Canadian urbanist (b. 1916)
April 25, 2007 – Alan Ball, British footballer (b. 1945)
April 25, 2007 – Bobby “Boris” Pickett, American singer and songwriter (b. 1938)
April 25, 2007 – Arthur Milton, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1928)
April 25, 2008 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English jazz musician and broadcaster (b. 1921)
April 25, 2009 – Beatrice Arthur, American comedienne, actress, and singer (b. 1922)
April 25, 2010 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer, actress, and comedienne (b. 1935)

APRIL 25TH MEMORABLE EVENTS:
April 25, 404 BC – Peloponnesian War: Lysander’s Spartan Armies defeated the Athenians and the war ends.
April 25, 1607 – Eighty Years’ War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
April 25, 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming Dynasty China, committed suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
April 25, 1707 – The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
April 25, 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
April 25, 1792 – La Marseillaise (French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
April 25, 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire
April 25, 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in the HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
April 25, 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.
April 25, 1847 – The last survivors of the Donner Party are out of the wilderness.
April 25, 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal’s English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
April 25, 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
April 25, 1861 – American Civil War: The Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C.
April 25, 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
April 25, 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks’ Mills.
April 25, 1898 – Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
April 25, 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
April 25, 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins—The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian, British, French and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
April 25, 1916 – Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declare martial law in Ireland.
April 25, 1916 – Anzac Day commemorated for the first time, on the first anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove.
April 25, 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class “A” League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
April 25, 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
April 25, 1939 – DC Comics publishes its second major superhero in Detective Comics #27; he is Batman, one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time.
April 25, 1943 – The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket is instituted.
April 25, 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
April 25, 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe.
April 25, 1945 – The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini tries to escape. This day is taken as symbolic of the Liberation of Italy.
April 25, 1945 – Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.
April 25, 1945 – Last German troops retreat from Finland’s soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
April 25, 1953 – Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.
April 25, 1959 – The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
April 25, 1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586) completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
April 25, 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
April 25, 1965 – Teenage sniper Michael Andrew Clark kills three and wounds six others shooting from a hilltop along Highway 101 just south of Santa Maria, California.
April 25, 1966 – The city of Tashkent is destroyed by a huge earthquake.
April 25, 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
April 25, 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the Estado Novo regime.
April 25, 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
April 25, 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
April 25, 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
April 25, 1983 – American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
April 25, 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto’s orbit.
April 25, 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
April 25, 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
April 25, 2003 – The Human Genome Project comes to an end 2.5 years before first anticipated.
April 25, 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
April 25, 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
April 25, 2005 – 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.
April 25, 2007 – Boris Yeltsin’s funeral – the first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

“I don’t need bodyguards. I’m from the South Bronx.” (Al Pacino)