25 February

Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Palestinian Muslims praying at the mosque in Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 people and wounding 125 others.

Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were ousted from power by the non-violent People Power Revolution, with Corazon Aquino succeeding as president.

The first prime minister of independent Suriname, Henck Arron (pictured), was deposed in a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.

After being postponed due to World War II, the inaugural edition of the Pan American Games opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Fearful of civil war and Soviet intervention in recent unrest, President Edvard Beneš (pictured) ceded control of the government to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

USS Ranger (pictured), the United States Navy's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, was launched.

Mississippi senator Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first African American to be seated in the U.S. Congress.

Miners in Calaveras County, California, discovered a human skull that was taken to show that humans had existed during the Pliocene, a thesis that was later disproved.

Royal Navy captain Lord George Paulet began a five-month occupation of the Hawaiian Islands.

George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premiered in Hamburg.

Khosrow II, the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, was overthrown by his son Kavad II.

Four people are killed and several more are injured when Cuban Border Guard Troops confront and open fire on a US-registered speedboat violating Cuban waters.

At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.

Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.

Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashes during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.

Alitalia Flight 1553 crashes at Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa, Italy, killing four.

American-Israeli extremist Baruch Goldstein commits a mass shooting at the Cave of the Patriarchs mausoleum, leaving 29 dead and over 100 injured before he is disarmed and beaten to death by survivors.

Disbandment of the Warsaw Pact at a meeting of its members in Budapest.

People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines' first female president.

The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.

The first Pan American Games are officially opened in Buenos Aires by Argentine President Juan Perón.

Soviet NKVD forces in Hungary abduct Béla Kovács—secretary-general of the majority Independent Smallholders' Party—and deport him to the USSR in defiance of Parliament. His arrest is an important turning point in the Communist takeover of Hungary.

The outlawed Communist Party of the Netherlands organises a general strike in German-occupied Amsterdam to protest against Nazi persecution of Dutch Jews.

As part of British air raid precautions, the first of 2.5 million Anderson shelters is constructed in a garden in Islington, north London.