Today is Thursday, August 25, the 237th day of 2011. There are 128 days left in the year.

1609 ― Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers

1804 ― Alice Meynell becomes first woman jockey (England)

1814 ― British capture Washington, D.C.

1825 ― Uruguay declares independence from Brazil (National Day)

1830 ― Belgium revolts against Netherlands

1835 ― N.Y. Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel

1944 ― Paris liberated from Nazi occupation

1950 ― President Truman orders army to seize control of RR to avert a strike

1989 ― Voyager 2 makes its closest approach to Neptune (0400 GMT)

1991 ― Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds