By The Associated Press

  Today is Thursday, Feb. 25, the 56nd day of 1999. There are 309 days
  left in the year.

  - On Feb. 25, 1793, department heads of the U.S. government met
    with President Washington at his home for the first Cabinet meeting
    on record.
  - In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver.
  - In 1899, Paul Julius Reuter, founder of the British news agency
    that bears his name, died in Nice, France.
  - In 1919, Oregon became the first state to tax gasoline.
  - In 1948, Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia.
  - In 1950, "Your Show of Shows" made its debut on NBC.
  - In 1986, In the wake of a tainted election, President Ferdinand
    Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of rule ; Corazon
    Aquino assumed the presidency.
  - In 1990, Nicaraguans went to the polls in an upset election
    victory for opponents of the ruling Sandinistas.
  - In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed
    when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi
    Arabia.
  - Ten years ago: President Bush left Japan, where he had attended
    the funeral of Emperor Hirohito, and arrived in China for a
    three-day visit.
  - Five years ago: American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein
    opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the
    Patriarchs in the West Bank, killing 29 Muslims before he was
    beaten to death by worshippers. At the Winter Olympics in Norway,
    Oksana Baiul of Ukraine won the gold medal in ladies' figure
    skating while Nancy Kerrigan won the silver and Chen Lu of China
    the bronze; Tonya Harding came in eighth.
  - One year ago: The Supreme Court threw out a 16-year-old
    government rule that allowed company credit unions to accept
    members from other companies. Kim Dae-jung, once South Korea's
    leading dissident, was inaugurated as its president. At the Grammy
    Awards, Bob Dylan won best album and best contemporary folk album
    for "Time Out of Mind" while Shawn Colvin won song and record of
    the year for "Sunny Came Home."

  *** Today's Birthdays

  - Producer-writer Larry Gelbart is 71.
  - Musician Tommy Newsom is 70.
  - Actor Tom Courtenay is 62.
  - CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 62.
  - Rock singer-musician George Harrison is 56.
  - Talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 56.
  - Movie director Neil Jordan is 49.
  - Rock singer-musician Mike Peters (The Alarm) is 40.
  - Actress Veronica Webb is 34.
  - Actress Tea Leoni is 33.
  - Actor Sean Astin is 28.
  - Rhythm-and-blues singer Justin Jeffre (98 Degrees) is 26.