Today in History - History - June 25th

1929President Hoover authorizes building of Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam)

1941FDR issues Executive Order 8802 forbidding discrimination

1938"A Tisket A Tasket" by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb hits #1

1935Joe Louis defeats Primo Carnera at Yankee Stadium

1991Martina Navratilova wins record 100th singles match at Wimbledon

1989Betsy King wins LPGA McDonald's Golf Championship

1888Republican Convention in Chicago nominates Benjamin Harrison

1934NY Yankee Lou Gehrig hits for the cycle beating White Sox 11-2

1940Adolf Hitler views Eiffel tower & grave of Napoleon in France

1948Joe Louis KOs Jersey Joe Walcott in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

1963George Michael [Panos], London, British rock vocalist (Wham-I Want Your Sex)

1903George Orwell, [Eric A Blair], Bihar, British India, British writer (Animal Farm, 1984), (d. 1950)

1942Willis Reed, Hico Louisiana, NBA hall of fame MVP center/coach (NY Knicks)

1961Ricky Gervais, Reading England, actor and comedian (The Office)

1983Actor Denzel Washington (28) weds actress Pauletta Pearson (33)

1938Economist Milton Friedman (25) weds Rose Friedman at the Jewish Seminary in New York City

2006Actress Nicole Kidman (45) weds country music singer-songwriter Keith Urban (44) at Cardinal Ceretti Memorial Chapel in Manly, Australia

1967MLB pitcher Nolan Ryan (20) weds his high school sweetheart Ruth Holdorff (18)

1999Business magnate Rupert Murdoch (68) weds businesswoman Wendi Deng (30) at the yacht Morning Glory in New York harbor

1960NBA player Oscar Robertson (21) weds teacher Yvonne Crittenden in Cincinnati, Ohio

1927Pediatrician Benjamin Spock (24) weds civil liberties advocate Jane Cheney

1999"Sudden Death" action star Jean-Claude Van Damme (38) weds Gladys Portugues in Knokke-Heist, Belgium

1997Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer, dies of heart attack at 87

1876George Armstrong Custer, US General, dies at the Battle of Little Bighorn aged 36

1968Tony Hancock, actor/writer (Call Me Genius, Rebel), dies at 43

2009Farrah Fawcett, American actress and pop culture figure (b.1947)

1976Johnny Mercer, US songwriter (That old Black Magic), dies at 66

2009Michael Jackson, American recording artist, entertainer and King of Pop music (The Jackson 5, Thriller, Dangerous) dies of cardiac arrest at 50