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Today in History, January 25th

On January 25, 1924, the first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France. Plus JFK's first live TV news conference and Shirley Chisholm's run.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published January 25, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

January 25 is best known for 1924, when the event later recognized as the first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France. The date also saw John F. Kennedy hold the first live televised presidential news conference in 1961 and Shirley Chisholm launch her run for the White House in 1972.

The big story: The first Winter Olympics open in Chamonix (1924)

When the games opened in the French Alps on January 25, 1924, they were not officially Olympics at all. Organizers billed them as “International Winter Sports Week,” and the International Olympic Committee had not yet given them its blessing. Athletes from 16 nations competed in six sports (counts of the athletes vary, from about 250 to nearly 300), with events ranging from ski jumping to bobsled. Women could compete only in figure skating. American Charles Jewtraw won the 500-meter speed skating race, and it turned out to be the only gold medal the U.S. took home. Norway dominated, taking 17 medals, and its skier Thorleif Haug won three events. The week proved popular enough that in 1925 the International Olympic Committee created a separate Winter Olympics and declared that Chamonix had been the first. From that modest week in the mountains, the Winter Games grew into an event of their own.

More events on January 25

Year	What happened
1776	The Continental Congress ordered the first national memorial of the Revolutionary War, honoring Gen. Richard Montgomery, killed in the attack on Quebec. It was later installed at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City.
1919	Delegates at the Paris Peace Conference approved a commission to create the League of Nations, with President Woodrow Wilson as its chair.
1942	Thailand, whose government had chosen to cooperate with invading Japanese forces, declared war on the United States and Britain.
1949	The first Emmy Awards were presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
1961	John F. Kennedy held the first live televised news conference by a U.S. president, in the State Department auditorium.
1968	The Israeli submarine Dakar vanished in the Mediterranean with 69 sailors aboard. Its wreck was not found until 1999.
1972	Shirley Chisholm announced her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Brooklyn, the first African American to seek a major party’s nomination for president.
1981	A Chinese court sentenced Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong’s widow and a member of the “Gang of Four,” to death. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
1995	Russian radar mistook a Norwegian science rocket for a possible missile attack, and President Boris Yeltsin’s nuclear briefcase was activated before the alarm was called off.
2011	Mass protests began in Cairo’s Tahrir Square against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. He stepped down on February 11.