#TodayInHistory – February 25

February 25 – Some important events on this day

1570 👉🏼 Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England for heresy and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. Also absolves her subjects from allegiance to the crown.
1793 👉🏼 1st US cabinet meeting, held at George Washington’s home
1836 👉🏼 Showman P. T. Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth, claiming she was the 161 year-old nursemaid to George Washington

1862 👉🏼 First Legal Tender Act 1862 is passed by the US Congress, authorizing the United States note (greenback) into circulation, the first fiat paper money that was legal tender in America.
It was not until the American Civil War that the US had paper money in circulation as we think of it today. During the early phase of the conflict, the government issued Demand Notes. These were slightly different to the legal tender we know today, as they were paid directly to creditors who had to redeem them for coin currency.
To meet financial obligations imposed by the civil war, the government introduced the First Legal Tender Act in 1862. Abraham Lincoln signed the bill, creating the United States Notes, the first legal tender fiat paper money in America.
The bill was not without controversy – some in Congress believed the Constitution did not give the federal government the right to issue a paper currency, but the bill was passed and signed by President Lincoln.
They became known as ‘greenbacks’ due to their distinctive green design on the reverse of the notes. United States Notes are still legal tender in American and are still in circulation although originals are extremely rare, and no new Notes have been issued since 1971. The currency used at the moment are Federal Reserve Notes, which were authorized in 1913.

1910 👉🏼 Dalai Lama flees Tibet for British India to escape Chinese troops
1932 👉🏼 Austrian immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship
1956 👉🏼 Nikita Khrushchev denounces Joseph Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1964 👉🏼 Muhammad Ali [Cassius Clay] wins his first world heavyweight boxing title when Sonny Liston fails to come out for round 7 at the Convention Center, Miami Beach
2020 👉🏼 Iran emerges as a newCOVID-19 hotspot, recording 95 cases and 11 deaths as a deputy health minister that appeared on TV confirmed as also infected
2020 👉🏼 Memorial service for NBA star Kobe Byrant held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles