A Blast from the Past

Today is Feb. 25.

This is the anniversary of the Hebron massacre. On this date in 1994, 29 Muslim worshippers were killed and three more trampled to death when an American-born Jewish settler opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank town of Hebron. The settler was overpowered and beaten to death. The assault triggered widespread violent demonstrations by Palestinians.

President Andrew Johnson became the first U.S. president to be impeached on this date in 1868 when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach him for violation of the Tenure of Office Act. He was acquitted of the charges the following May.

Changes in leadership:

On this day in 1986, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos left his Manila palace for Hawaii, ending 20 years in power. The United States recognized Corazon Aquino as president of the Philippines.

And in 1990, U.S.-backed opposition presidential candidate Violeta Chamorro won an upset victory over President Daniel Ortega, leader of the leftist Sandinista Liberation Front.

In a different kind of leadership change, 22-year-old Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, upset the odds by scoring a seventh round TKO over Sonny Liston to win the world heavyweight championship on this date in 1964.

Samuel Colt patented a "revolving gun" on this date in 1836. It was the first of the six-shooters.

And in 1994, 16-year-old Oksana Baiul of Ukraine won the gold medal in the women's figure skating competition at the winter Olympics in Norway. Nancy Kerrigan of the United States took the silver, competing despite having been injured in an attack a little more than a month earlier. Her rival, Tonya Harding, placed eighth.

We now return you to the present, already in progress.