April 25

1859 - Ground was broken for the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

The canal was a great project, creating a direct waterway between Europe and Asia...Prior to the Suez Canal, trade between the East and west required sea trips around Africa, or overland transport between the two continents. Both were dangerous, and cost much in the form of money and human lives to get through/around.

Amazingly, this canal-link wasn’t the first in the area. As early as 1900 B.C. the Egyptians linked the Nile with the Red Sea, a canal which was in various states of use (and disuse) until around 700 A.D.

1507 - Martin Waldeseemueller named America in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

The name 'America' is a thing of beauty, but the New World should have been named Columbia after Christopher Columbus.

1792 - Execution by guillotine was used for the first time, to execute Nicolas J. Pelletier.

The first of many...In a little over a year the guillotine became a favorite tool for the French Revolution's ‘Reign of Terror.'
 
1862 - The Battle of New Orleans ended.  U.S. Admiral David Farragut occupied New Orleans:  U.S. Civil War.

The Civil War was far from over, and at this time the Confederates were routinely whipping the Union troops, but this event more or less was the doom of the Confederacy...New Orleans was the only great port in Southern hands, and it was their lifeline to European and South American supply.  It was also their last hope for European support.

As a result of capturing New Orleans, the Union was able to strangle the South and convince the Brits, French, etc., to mind their own business...As such, the Battle of New Orleans is one of the great turning points of the U.S. Civil War.

1928 - Buddy, a German Shepherd, became the first guide dog for the blind.

This is a minor event for most of us, but an immeasurable one for anyone requiring the services of such dogs.

1904 - New York Yankees pitcher Jack Chesbro won the first of his 41 wins for the year.

This is one of the few sports records which will likely stand for all time...If for no other reason, pitchers don't even get 40 starts per year anymore - even if they were to go undefeated they'd still be short of the record.

For those who are baseball junkies, the all time record for wins in a season by a pitcher is actually 59, by Old Hoss Radbourn in 1884...But this was before the rules and regulations of modern baseball were truly defined - anything before 1900 is considered before the modern era.

1945 - The Soviet Red Army completely surrounded Berlin:  WWII.

The war was all but over, but there were still plenty of lives to be lost.

1945 - U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting which dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany's defenses:  WWII.

A great symbolic event, but in reality it was nothing more than the beginning of the Cold War.