► Today is Monday, April 25, the 115th day of 2011. There are 250 days left in the year.
► Today’s birthdays: Director-writer Paul Mazursky is 81. Songwriter Jerry Leiber is 78. Actor Al Pacino is 71. Rock musician Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival) is 66. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) is 66. Actress Talia Shire is 65. Actor Jeffrey DeMunn is 64. Rock musician Michael Brown (The Left Banke) is 62. Rock musician Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) is 61. Country singer Rob Crosby is 57. Actor Hank Azaria is 47. Rock singer Andy Bell (Erasure) is 47. Rock musician Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction) is 46. Country musician Rory Feek (Joey + Rory) is 46. TV personality Jane Clayson is 44. Actress Renée Zellweger is 42. Actress Gina Torres is 42. Actor Jason Lee is 41. Actor Jason Wiles is 41. Actress Emily Bergl is 36. Actress Marguerite Moreau is 34. Singer Jacob Underwood is 31. Actress Sara Paxton is 23. Actress Allisyn Ashley Arm is 15.
► In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller produced a world map containing the first recorded use of the term “America,’’ in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.
► In 1792, highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by the guillotine.
► In 1859, ground was broken for the Suez Canal.
► In 1898, the United States formally declared war on Spain.
► In 1944, the United Negro College Fund was founded.
► In 1945, delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
► In 1959, the
► In 1983, Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov invited Samantha Smith to visit his country after receiving a letter from the Manchester, Maine, schoolgirl.
► In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in orbit from the space shuttle Discovery.
► In 2006, President George W. Bush ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand.
