HISTORY FOR JUNE 25

In 1893, a jury in Fall River, Mass., found Lizzy Borden not guilty in the ax killings of her father and stepmother.

In 1898, the U.S. Navy seized Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, during the Spanish-American War. The people of Guam were granted U.S. citizenship in 1950.

In 1900, in response to widespread foreign encroachment upon China's national affairs, Chinese nationalists launched the so-called Boxer Rebellion in Peking.

In 1963, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to establish a hot line communications link between Washington and Moscow.

In 1967, the American Independent Party was formed to back George Wallace of Alabama for president.

In 1977, oil began to flow through the $7.7 billion, 789-mile Alaska pipeline.

In 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan had two benign polyps removed from his colon at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush broke off U.S. diplomatic contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization after the PLO refused to act against a factional leader who plotted to attack Israel.

Also in 1990, South African nationalist Nelson Mandela began a triumphant U.S. fund-raising tour in New York.

In 1991, the German parliament voted in favor of moving its capital from Bonn to Berlin.

In 1994, O.J. Simpson pleaded "100 percent not guilty" to charges he killed his ex-wife and her friend.

In 1995, a military court acquitted Air Force Capt. James Wang of charges in connection with the April 1994 downing of two U.S Army helicopters over Iraq. He'd been the senior director of an AWACS plane that failed to warn two U.S. jets that the choppers were friendly.

In 1996, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno asked that the Whitewater counsel be allowed to investigate the matter of FBI background checks. A panel of judges agreed the next day.

In 1997, four major U.S. tobacco companies and several state attorneys general, after months of negotiations, agreed to a $368.5 billion settlement to recover the costs of smoking-related illnesses.

In 1999, NATO formally ended its bombing campaign of Yugoslavia as Serb forces completed their withdrawal from Kosovo.

In 2000, Taiwan's new president invited his Chinese counterpart to take part in a peace effort similar to one begun by North and South Korea.

In 2003, a top lieutenant to Saddam Hussein told U.S. interrogators that the Iraqi leader and his two sons survived the war in Iraq. Saddam was later captured and, in a separate incident, his sons died in a raid.

Also in 2003, up to 200 illegal immigrants were feared dead after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia on its way to Italy.

In 2004, Pakistan and India reached agreement on banning nuclear testing.

In 2005, U.S. Senate Democrats temporarily blocked U.S. President George Bush's nomination of John Bolton as envoy to the United Nations.
Notable Birthdays, June 25
Those born on this date include:
- French composer Gustave Charpentier in 1860
- Broadway producer George Abbott in 1887
- English novelist and critic George Orwell, author of "1984," in 1903
- Movie director Sidney Lumet in 1924 (age 82)
- Actress June Lockhart in 1925 (age 81)
- Civil rights advocate James Meredith in 1933 (age 73)
- Actor Jimmie Walker in 1948 (age 58)
- Pop singers Carly Simon in 1945 (age 61) and George Michael in 1963 (age 43)



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