By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Monday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2019. There are 309 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 25, 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency.

On this date:

In 1570, England’s Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by Pope Pius V, who accused the monarch of heresy.

In 1793, President George Washington held the first Cabinet meeting on record at his Mount Vernon home; attending were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.

In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.

In 1862, Nashville, Tenn., became the first Confederate state capital to be occupied by the North during the Civil War.

In 1901, United States Steel Corp. was incorporated by J.P. Morgan.

In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox.

In 1919, Oregon became the first state to tax gasoline, at one cent per gallon.

In 1922, French serial killer Henri Landru, convicted of murdering 10 women and the son of one of them, was executed in Versailles.

In 1964, Eastern Airlines Flight 304, a DC-8, crashed shortly after taking off from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 58 on board.