Today in History: February 25

1570

Pope Pius V issues the bull Regnans in Excelsis which excommunicates Queen Elizabeth of England.

1601

Robert Devereux, the second Earl of Essex and former favorite of Elizabeth I, is beheaded in the Tower of London for high treason.

1642

Dutch settlers slaughter lower Hudson Valley Indians in New Netherland, North America, who sought refuge from Mohawk attackers.

1779

The British surrender the Illinois country to George Rogers Clark at Vincennes.

1781

American General Nathaniel Greene crosses the Dan River on his way to attack Cornwallis.

1791

President George Washington signs a bill creating the Bank of the United States.

1804

Thomas Jefferson is nominated for president at the Democratic-Republican caucus.

1815

Napoleon leaves his exile on the island of Elba, returning to France.

1831

The Polish army halts the Russian advance into their country at the Battle of Grochow.

1836

Samuel Colt patents the first revolving cylinder multi-shot firearm.

1862

Confederate troops abandon Nashville, Tennessee, in the face of Grant's advance. The ironclad Monitor is commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

1865

General Joseph E. Johnston replaces John Bell Hood as Commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

1904

J.M. Synge's play Riders to the Sea opens in Dublin.

1910

The 13th Dalai Lama flees from the Chinese and takes refuge in India.

1913

The 16th Amendment to the constitution is adopted, setting the legal basis for the income tax.

1919

Oregon introduces the first state tax on gasoline at one cent per gallon, to be used for road construction.

1926

Poland demands a permanent seat on the League of Nations council.

1928

Bell Labs introduces a new device to end the fluttering of the television image.

1943

U.S. troops retake the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, where they had been defeated five days before.

1944

U.S. forces destroy 135 Japanese planes in Marianas and Guam.

1952

French colonial forces evacuate Hoa Binh in Indochina.

1956

Stalin is secretly disavowed by Khrushchev at a party congress for promoting the "cult of the individual."

1976

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states may ban the hiring of illegal aliens.