1719        Apr 25, Daniel Defoe’s novel “Robinson Crusoe” was published in London. Crusoe was based on the story of Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721), a man who was voluntarily put ashore on a desert island (1704-1709).

1792        Apr 25, Highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by guillotine.

1972        Apr 25, George Sanders (b.1906), Russia-born English actor, died of suicide. He received an Academy Award as Best Supporting actor for his role in “All About Eve” (1950).

1982        Apr 25, In accordance with Camp David agreements, Israel completed the Sinai withdrawal. Ariel Sharon, as defense minister, directed the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the Sinai Peninsula. Nearly 5,000 residents and many more sympathizers were dragged off roofs and bundled onto buses. 

1986        Apr 25, In Swaziland King Mswati III was crowned. He succeeded his father Sobhuza II as ruler of the southern African kingdom.

1989        Apr 25, Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita announced his resignation in order to take responsibility for his involvement in Japan’s Recruit stock scandal.

1994        Apr 25, Conservative Tsutomu Hata, former foreign minister, became prime minister of Japan, succeeding Morihiro Hosokawa as political infighting continued.

2001        Apr 25, Ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada became the country’s first leader to be arrested for alleged corruption in office. Estrada was jailed on 8 charges.

2002        Apr 25, Pres. Bush met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who told him bluntly that the US must temper its support of Israel. Abdullah gave Bush an 8-point proposal for Middle East peace.

2002        Apr 25, Former Yugoslav Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic (60) surrendered to the war crimes tribunal. He pleaded not guilty the next day for the murder and forced removal of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

2003        Apr 25, The Pentagon announced that Army Secretary Thomas White, whose tenure as civilian chief of the military’s largest service was marked by tensions with his boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was leaving office.

2003        Apr 25, Farouk Hijazi, who once helped run Saddam Hussein’s intelligence service and was linked to al-Qaida, was delivered by Syria to US forces.

2003        Apr 25, In South Africa Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the fiery anti-apartheid leader and ex-wife of former President Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to four years in prison for her conviction on fraud and theft charges.

2004        Apr 25, Pope John Paul II added six more people to the ranks of Catholics on the path to possible sainthood. Honored were: August Czartoryski (1858-1893) of Poland, a prince who became a Salesian priest; Laura Montoya (1874-1949) of Colombia, who founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Mary; Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala (1878-1963) of Mexico, co-founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Margaret Mary and the Poor; Nemesia Valle (1847-1916) of Italy, a nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Giovanna Antida Thouret; Eusebia Palomino Yenes (1899-1935) of Spain; a nun of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians; and da Costa (1904-1955), who became a lay Salesian cooperator.

2005        Apr 25, President Bush sought relief from record-high gas prices and support for Middle East peace as he opened his Texas ranch to Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

2005        Apr 25, Jiri Paroubek (52) was officially named as the new Czech prime minister. Paroubek, local development minister in Gross’s government and deputy chairman of the Social Democrats (CSSD), became the country’s third prime minister in nine months.

2005        Apr 25, In San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala, gunmen killed Jose Victor Bautista Orozco, a judge who ruled on drug smuggling cases, shooting him as he left his home for work.

2006        Apr 25, Charles Clarke, Britain’s Home Secretary, said that since 1999 Britain had freed 1,023 foreign prisoners, including murderers, rapists and pedophiles, who should have been considered for deportation at the time of their release.

2006        Apr 25, In Puerto Rico Gov. Acevedo Vila warned in a televised address that “Beginning next Monday, May 1, the majority of agencies of the central government will not be able to operate.” Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives wants to impose a 4 percent sales tax instead and has refused to review the governor’s plan. The island now has no sales tax.

2007        Apr 25, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko pushed back the date of snap parliamentary elections until June 24. The move was seen as a conciliatory gesture as the Constitutional Court began deliberations on the legality of his decree dissolving parliament.

2008        Apr 25, Enrico Donati (99), Italian-born American painter, died in Manhattan. He was considered by many to be the last of the Surrealists. Donati had also served as chairman and CEO of Houbignant Inc., one of the oldest purveyors of French perfumes. He had bought the company in 1965.

2009        Apr 25, In Athens, Georgia, Prof. George Zinkhan (57) shot and killed his wife and 2 other people outside the Athens Community Theater. Zinkhan fled the scene. Cadaver dogs found Zinkhan’s body “beneath the earth” in the north Georgia woods on May 9, two weeks after police say he shot his wife and two other people to death outside a community theater.

2011        Apr 25, Abu Dhabi state news agency said five activists, including a blogger and an academic, were detained for “opposing the government” in the oil-rich Gulf country.

2011        Apr 25, Hungarian President Pal Schmitt formally signed the country’s new constitution into law, despite heavy criticism from civil groups, rights organizations and opposition parties.

2012        Apr 25, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a law that ends the state’s death penalty for future crimes, making it the 17th state to abolish capital punishment.

2014        Apr 25, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said that 16 people have been arrested in a new round of inspections to find alleged price gougers whom the socialist government blames for the worst inflation rate in the Americas.