1875 – Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in 21 hours and 45 minutes.

1916 – The United States National Park Service is created.

1981 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.

1989 – Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the last planet in the Solar System at the time, due to Pluto being within Neptune's orbit from 1979 to 1999

1991 – Belarus gains its independence from the Soviet Union.

1991 – Linus Torvalds announces the first version of what will become Linux.

2001 – American singer Aaliyah and several members of her record company are killed as their overloaded aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbour Airport, Bahamas.

2012 – Voyager 1 spacecraft enters interstellar space becoming the first man-made object to do so.

...and if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this special day with...

1530 – Ivan the Terrible, Russian ruler (d. 1584)

1796 – James Lick, American carpenter and piano builder (d. 1876)

1836 – Bret Harte, American short story writer and poet (d. 1902)

1909 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1993)

1911 – Võ Nguyên Giáp, Vietnamese general and politician, 3rd Minister of Defence for Vietnam (d. 2013)

1912 – Erich Honecker, German soldier and politician (d. 1994)

1913 – Walt Kelly, American illustrator and animator (d. 1973)

1917 – Mel Ferrer, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2008)

1918 – Leonard Bernstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)

1919 – George Wallace, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 45th Governor of Alabama (d. 1998)

1921 – Monty Hall, Canadian-American television personality and game show host (d. 2017)

1930 – Sean Connery, Scottish actor and producer

1931 – Regis Philbin, American actor and television host (d. 2020)

1933 – Wayne Shorter, American saxophonist and composer

1937 – Virginia Euwer Wolff, American author

1938 – Frederick Forsyth, English journalist and author

1946 – Rollie Fingers, American baseball player

1948 – Ledward Kaapana, American singer and guitarist

1954 – Elvis Costello, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1958 – Tim Burton, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1961 – Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1962 – Taslima Nasrin, Bangladeshi author

1967 – Jeff Tweedy, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer

1968 – Rachael Ray, American chef, author, and television host

1970 – Claudia Schiffer, German model and fashion designer

Almanac - Tuesday 8/25/20

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