On This Day: Thursday August 25, 2005 This is the 237th day of the year, with 128 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: archaeology Archaeology as a discipline has its origins in 15th-16th centuries in Europe, when people of the Renaissance wanted to know more about the glories of Greece and Rome. Popes, cardinals, and noblemen in Italy began to collect antiquities and to sponsor excavations to find more works of ancient art. These collectors were imitated by others in northern Europe who were similarly interested in antique culture. All this activity, however, was still not archaeology in the strict sense. Archaeology proper began with an interest in the Greeks and Romans and first developed in 18th-century Italy with the excavations of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The first archaeologists to use scientific principles and organized excavations included Heinrich Schliemann, Arthur Evans, Flinders Petrie, and Howard Carter. Holidays Feast Day of St. Ebba, St. Genesius the Comedian, St. Gregory of Utrecht, St. Louis IX, King of France, St. Mennas of Constantinople, and St. Patricia. Uruguay: Independence Day. Philippines: National Heroes' Day. Events 1718 - Hundreds of French colonists arrived in Louisiana, some settling in what is now New Orleans. 1825 - Uruguay declared independence from Brazil. 1875 - Navy Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel (in 21 hours, 45 minutes). 1916 - The National Park Service was established. 1944 - Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation. 1950 - President Harry Truman ordered the Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike. 1980 - The Broadway musical "42nd Street" opened; the show's director, Gower Champion, died earlier that day. Births 1530 - Ivan IV "Ivan the Terrible," Czar of Russia. 1819 - Allan Pinkerton, American, started first private detective agency. 1900 - Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, German-born English Nobel Prize-winning biochemist. 1909 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian-born American dancer, actress. 1913 - Walt Kelly, American cartoonist, creator of the character Pogo. 1916 - Van Johnson, American actor. 1918 - Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer. 1930 - Sean Connery, Scottish-born Academy Award-winning actor. Deaths 1900 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher. 1984 - Truman Capote, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright.