February 25

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.

Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.

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.

In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounces Stalin.

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

In a coup d'état led by Klement Gottwald, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia takes control of government in Prague to end the Third Czechoslovak Republic.

The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council, the Prussian government having already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.

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.

Launch of the USS Ranger at Newport News, Virginia. It is the first purpose-built aircraft carrier to be commissioned by the US Navy.

Adolf Hitler, having been stateless for seven years, obtains German citizenship when he is appointed a Brunswick state official by Dietrich Klagges, a fellow Nazi. As a result, Hitler is able to run for Reichspräsident in the 1932 election.

Georgian capital Tbilisi falls to the invading Russian forces after heavy fighting and the Russians declare the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

World War I: German forces capture Tallinn to virtually complete the occupation of Estonia.

World War I: In the Battle of Verdun, a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight.

Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi's regency.

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress.

Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair.

Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.

George Frideric Handel's opera Nero premieres in Hamburg.

Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.

Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.