GMT

Today in History: August 25

0357
Julian Caesar defeats the Alamanni at Strasbourg in Gaul.

1830
The "Tom Thumb" steam locomotive runs its famous race with a horse-drawn car. The horse wins because the engine, which had been ahead, breaks down.

1862
Union and Confederate troops skirmish at Waterloo Bridge, Virginia, during the Second Bull Run Campaign.

1916
The National Park Service is established as part of the Department of the Interior.

1921
The United States, which never ratified the Versailles Treaty ending World War I, finally signs a peace treaty with Germany.

1944
Paris is liberated from German occupation by Free French Forces under General Jacques LeClerc.

1950
President Harry Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.

1991
Belarus gains independence from the USSR.

2019
NASA investigates possibly the 1st crime in space over astronaut Anne McClain illegally accessing bank a/c from space

Today in History: Born on August 25

1930
Sean Connery, Scottish actor famous for playing the character James Bond in the Ian Flemming movie series.

1949
John Savage, actor (The Deer Hunter).

1949
Gene Simmons, singer, songwriter; member of the band Kiss, one of the top-selling bands of all time.

1954
Elvis Costello, Grammy Award–winning singer, songwriter ("Watching the Detectives").

1964
Blair Underwood, actor, director (L.A. Law TV series, The Second Coming); won Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album, An Inconvenient Truth.

1968
Rachel Ray, chef, author, TV host.

JOTD
"I'm groping the balls of the storm."

The manager hesitated for a moment on the phone. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" he asked the newly hired immigrant worker.

"I...rub the storm...balls?" the man said, coughing.

Before he could ask again, the manager heard a little commotion on the line, followed by a younger voice.

"I'm so sorry, my father has been learning English. He won't be making it into work today because he's feeling sick."

"Oh! That's perfectly fine, but...what was the part about rubbing...storm balls...?"

The kid laughed. "We were working on popular English idioms this week. He was trying to say he's feeling under the weather."