Happy Birthday February 25

The tenor singer Enrico Caruso was born in Naples, Italy on February 25, 1873. He was the 18th of 21 children, only three of whom lived beyond infancy. Determined to be a singer, he sang in churches and on street corners to earn money for lessons. When he was called into the army, a high officer was so impressed by Caruso's powerful yet melodic voice that he released him to continue studying. The operatic tenor was one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, his 1904 recording of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was the first sound recording to sell a million copies.

George Harrison of The Beatles was born on February 25, 1943 at 12 Arnold Grove,  a house near Picton Clock Tower in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree. George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney first played together as schoolboys with the Quarrymen. They had been performing in small clubs in Liverpool and in Hamburg, West Germany, when the original drummer was replaced in 1962 by Ringo Starr.

For more February 25 anniversaries, including the patenting of the first production-model revolver, the first public performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' humorous musical suite The Carnival of the Animals and the release of Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, check out OnThatDay.