August 22 :: Historical Events

Famous Events

• 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor.


• 476 - Odoacer is named Rex italiae by his troop.


• 565 - St. Columba reports seeing a monster in Loch Ness, Scotland.


• 851 - Erispoe defeats Charles the Bald near the Breton town of Jengland.


• 1138 - Battle of the Standard between Scotland and England.


• 1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field death of Richard III and end of the House of Plantagenet.


• 1559 - Bartolomé Carranza, Spanish archbishop, is arrested for heresy.


• 1639 - Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company after buying a sliver of land from local Nayak rulers.


• 1642 - Charles I calls the English Parliament traitors. Beginning of the English Civil War.


• 1654 - Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first known Jewish immigrant to America.


• 1717 - Spanish troops land on Sardinia.


• 1770 - James Cook's expedition lands on the east coast of Australia.


• 1775 - King George III declares the American colonies to be in open rebellion.


• 1780 - James Cook's ship HMS Resolution returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage).


• 1791 - Beginning of the Haitian Slave Revolution in Saint-Domingue.


• 1798 - French troops land in Kilcummin harbour, County Mayo, Ireland to aid Wolfe Tone's United Irishmen's Irish Rebellion.


• 1827 - José de La Mar becomes President of Peru.


• 1831 - Nat Turner's slave rebellion revolt commences just after midnight in Southampton, Virginia, leading to the deaths of more than 50 whites and several hundred African Americans who were killed in retaliation for the uprising.


• 1848 - The United States annexes New Mexico.


• 1849 - First air raid in history. Austria launched pilotless balloons against the Italian city of Venice.


• 1851 - The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America.


• 1875 - The Treaty of Saint Petersburg between Japan and Russia is ratified, providing for the exchange of Sakhalin for the Kuril Islands.


• 1864 - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross is formed.


• 1901 - Cadillac Motor Company founded.


• 1902 - Theodore Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to ride in an automobile.


• 1902 - The German Luger becomes the official German sidearm for both World Wars.


• 1910 - Japan illicitly annexes Korea with the signing of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. The name Korea was abolished and replaced with the ancient name Joseon.


• 1911 - Theft of the Mona Lisa is discovered.


• 1914 - World War I: In Belgium, British and German troops clash for the first time in the war.


• 1922 - Michael Collins, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army is shot dead during an Anti-Treaty ambush at Beal na mBlath, County Cork, during the Irish Civil War.


• 1926 - Gold discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa.


• 1932 - The BBC first experiments with television broadcasting. See also Timeline of the BBC


• 1941 - World War II: German troops reach Leningrad, leading to the siege of Leningrad.


• 1942 - World War II: Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy.


• 1944 - World War II: Thirty-two Spaniards & four French Maquis tackle a German column (1,300 men in 60 lorries, with 6 tanks & 2 self-propelled guns), at La Madeiline, France. Three Maquis are wounded, with 110 Germans killed and 200 wounded.


• 1944 - World War II: Romania captured by the Soviet Union.


• 1949 - Queen Charlotte earthquake: Canada's largest earthquake since the 1700 Cascadia earthquake


• 1950 - Althea Gibson becomes the first black competitor in international tennis.


• 1952 - The penal colony on Devil's Island is permanently closed.


• 1962 - An attempt to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle fails.


• 1962 - The NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered cargo ship, completes its maiden voyage.


• 1963 - Joe Walker in X-15 test plane reaches altitude of 106 km (67 miles).


• 1966 - Labor movements NFWA and AWOC merge to become the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers.


• 1968 - Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogotá, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America.


• 1971 - J. Edgar Hoover and John Mitchell announce the arrest of 20 of the Camden 28.


• 1972 - Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies.


• 1978 - The Frente Sandinista de Liberacion or FSLN occupies national palace in Nicaragua.


• 1989 - The first ring of Neptune is discovered.


• 1989 - Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts.


• 1992 - FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and kills Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.


• 2003 - Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.


• 2004 - A version of The Scream and Madonna, two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.


• 2007 - The Texas Rangers rout the Baltimore Orioles 30-3, the most runs scored by a team in modern MLB history.


• 2007 - The Storm botnet, a botnet created by the Storm Worm, sends out a record 57 million e-mails in one day

Famous Births

• 1601 - Georges de Scudéry, French writer (d. 1667)


• 1624 - Jean Renaud de Segrais, French writer (d. 1701)


• 1647 - Denis Papin, French physicist and inventor (d. c. 1712)


• 1679 - Pierre Guérin de Tencin, French cardinal (d. 1758)


• 1760 - Pope Leo XII (d. 1829)


• 1764 - Charles Percier, French architect (d. 1838)


• 1771 - Henry Maudslay, English inventor (d. 1831)


• 1773 - Aimé Bonpland, French explorer (d. 1858)


• 1779 - James Kirke Paulding, American author (d. 1860)


• 1800 - William S. Harney, U.S. general (d. 1889)


• 1800 - Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian-Jewish scholar (d. 1865)


• 1811 - William Kelly, American inventor (d. 1888)


• 1822 - Virginia Clemm Poe, wife of Edgar Allan Poe (d. 1847)


• 1827 - Ezra Butler Eddy, Canadian businessman, industrialist and politician (d. 1906)


• 1834 - Samuel Pierpont Langley, American astronomer (d. 1906)


• 1836 - Archibald MacNeal Willard, American artist (d. 1918)


• 1845 - William Lewis Douglas, 42^nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1924)


• 1848 - Melville E. Stone, American newspaper publisher (d. 1929)


• 1854 - Milan I, King of Serbia (d. 1901)


• 1857 - Ned Hanlon, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937)


• 1860 - Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, German inventor (d. 1940)


• 1860 - Eleonore of Reuss-Köstritz, tsaritsa of Bulgaria (d. 1917)


• 1862 - Claude Debussy, French composer (d. 1918)


• 1867 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (d. 1939)


• 1873 - Alexander Bogdanov, Russian physician and philosopher (d. 1928)


• 1874 - Max Scheler, German philosopher (d. 1928)


• 1880 - George Herriman, American cartoonist (d. 1944)


• 1880 - Gorch Fock, German author and poet (d. 1916)


• 1887 - Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German minister of finance (d. 1977)


• 1891 - Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-born American sculptor (d. 1973)


• 1893 - Dorothy Parker, American writer (d. 1967)


• 1893 - Wilfred Kitching, British Salvation Army general (d. 1977)


• 1895 - Paul Comtois, French Canadian politician (d. 1966)


• 1900 - Sergei Ozhegov, Russian lexicographer (d. 1964)


• 1902 - Leni Riefenstahl, German film director (d. 2003)


• 1902 - Thomas Pelly, American politician (d. 1973)


• 1904 - Deng Xiaoping, Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1997)


• 1908 - Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer (d. 2004)


• 1909 - Julius J. Epstein, American screenwriter (d. 2000)


• 1909 - Mel Hein, American football player (d. 1992)


• 1909 - Lucille Ricksen, American actress (d. 1925)


• 1913 - Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian physicist (d. 1993)


• 1915 - David Dellinger, American social rights and peace movement leader (d. 2004)


• 1915 - Hugh Paddick, British actor (d. 2000)


• 1915 - James Hillier, Co-inventor of the electron microscope (d. 2007)


• 1915 - Edward Szczepanik, former Polish Prime Minister (d. 2005)


• 1917 - John Lee Hooker, American guitarist and singer (d. 2001)


• 1918 - Mary McGrory, American journalist (d. 2004)


• 1920 - Ray Bradbury, American writer


• 1920 - Denton Cooley, American heart surgeon


• 1922 - Micheline Presle, French actress


• 1925 - Honor Blackman, English actress


• 1925 - James Kirkwood, Jr., American playwright and author (d. 1989)


• 1928 - Tinga Seisay, Sierra Leonean diplomat and pro-democracy advocate


• 1928 - Karlheinz Stockhausen, German composer (d. 2007)


• 1930 - Gilmar, Brazilian football player


• 1932 - Gerald P. Carr, American astronaut


• 1934 - Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. general


• 1934 - Sir Donald McIntyre, English bass-baritone


• 1935 - E. Annie Proulx, American author


• 1936 - Dale Hawkins, American singer and songwriter


• 1938 - Paul Maguire, American football commentator


• 1939 - George Reinholt, American actor


• 1939 - Carl Yastrzemski, baseball player


• 1940 - Valerie Harper, American actress


• 1940 - Bill McCartney, former college football coach


• 1941 - Bill Parcells, American football coach


• 1942 - Uğur Mumcu, Turkish journalist and writer (d. 1993)


• 1943 - Masatoshi Shima, Japanese computer scientist


• 1945 - Ron Dante, American songwriter and record producer (The Archies)


• 1945 - Erol Gelenbe, Turkish computer scientist and mathematician


• 1947 - Cindy Williams, American actress


• 1947 - Donna Godchaux, singer (Grateful Dead)


• 1948 - Eleonora Brown, Italian actress


• 1949 - Diana Nyad, American swimmer, world record holder


• 1949 - Doug Bair, baseball player


• 1949 - Þórarinn Eldjárn, an Icelandic writer


• 1949 - Alfred Musema, Rwandan genocidaire


• 1950 - Ray Burris, baseball player


• 1951 - Chandra Prakash Mainali, Nepalese politician


• 1952 - Peter Laughner, American singer and guitarist (Rocket From the Tombs, Pere Ubu) (d. 1977)


• 1953 - Paul Ellering, American wrestling manager


• 1955 - Will Shetterly, writer


• 1955 - Chiranjeevi, Telugu film actor


• 1956 - Paul Molitor, baseball player


• 1957 - Steve Davis, English snooker player


• 1958 - Colm Feore, American-born actor


• 1958 - Lane Huffman, American professional wrestler


• 1958 - Vernon Reid, American musician (Living Colour)


• 1959 - Juan Croucier, American musician


• 1959 - Pia Gjellerup, Danish politician


• 1961 - Roland Orzabal, British musician (Tears for Fears)


• 1961 - Debbi Peterson, American singer (The Bangles)


• 1963 - Tori Amos, American singer/songwriter


• 1963 - Terry Catledge, American basketball player


• 1964 - Mats Wilander, Swedish tennis player


• 1965 - Tom Gibis, American voice actor


• 1966 - Eric Andolsek, American football player (d. 1992)


• 1966 - GZA, American rapper


• 1966 - Rob Witschge, Dutch footballer


• 1967 - Layne Staley, American musician (Alice in Chains) (d. 2002)


• 1967 - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, British actor


• 1967 - Ant, American comedian


• 1967 - Ty Burrell, American actor


• 1967 - Alfred Gough, American screenwriter


• 1967 - Yukiko Okada, Japanese singer (d. 1986)


• 1968 - Paul Colman, Australian guitarist (Newsboys)


• 1968 - Alexander Mostovoi, Russian footballer


• 1968 - Horst Skoff, Austrian tennis player


• 1968 - Rich Lowry, American magazine editor


• 1970 - Charlie Connelly, English writer


• 1970 - Giada De Laurentiis, Italian-born American chef and television host


• 1971 - Richard Armitage, English actor


• 1971 - Rick Yune, Korean American actor


• 1972 - Steve Kline, American baseball player


• 1972 - Okkert Brits, South African pole vaulter


• 1972 - Max Wilson, Brazilian racing driver


• 1973 - Kristen Wiig, American comedian


• 1973 - Howie Dorough, American singer (Backstreet Boys)


• 1974 - William Kucmierowski, American professional wrestler


• 1974 - Agustín Pichot, Argentine rugby player


• 1974 - Stefano Verderi, Italian guitarman


• 1975 - Clint Bolton, Australian footballer


• 1975 - Sheree Murphy, British actress


• 1975 - Rodrigo Santoro, Brazilian actor


• 1977 - Heiðar Helguson, Icelandic footballer


• 1977 - Keren Cytter, Israeli visual artist


• 1977 - Jenna Leigh Green, American actress


• 1978 - Jeff Stinco, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)


• 1980 - Christi Shake, American model and actress


• 1980 - Roland Benschneider, German footballer


• 1980 - Nicolas Macrozonaris, French-Canadian track-and-field athlete


• 1981 - Alex Holmes, American football player


• 1982 - Heather Campbell, Canadian writer


• 1983 - Theo Bos, Dutch cyclist


• 1983 - Laura Breckenridge, American actress


• 1984 - Lee Camp, English football goalkeeper


• 1986 - Keiko Kitagawa, Japanese actress

Famous Deaths

• 408 - Stilicho, Roman general (b. 359)


• 1155 - Konoe, Emperor of Japan (b. 1139)


• 1188 - Ferdinand II, King of Leon (b. 1137)


• 1241 - Gregory IX, Italian religious leader, 178th Pope (b. c. 1143)


• 1280 - Nicholas III, Italian religious leader, 188th Pope (b. c. 1216)


• 1304 - John II, Count of Hainaut (b. 1247)


• 1350 - Philip VI, King of France (b. 1293)


• 1358 - Isabella, Queen of England (b. circa 1295)


• 1485 - Richard III, King of England (b. 1452)


• 1553 - John Dudley, English admiral and politician (b. 1501)


• 1572 - Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland (b. 1528)


• 1584 - Jan Kochanowski, Polish writer (b. 1530)


• 1599 - Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman (b. 1577)


• 1599 - Luca Marenzio, Italian composer (b. c. 1553)


• 1607 - Bartholomew Gosnold, English explorer and privateer (b. 1572)


• 1609 - Maharal of Prague, Jewish mystic and philosopher (b. 1525)


• 1652 - Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and statesman (b. 1583)


• 1680 - John George II, Elector of Saxony (b. 1613)


• 1701 - John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English royalist statesman (b. 1628)


• 1711 - Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French marshal (b. 1644)


• 1752 - William Whiston, English mathematician (b. 1667)


• 1773 - George Lyttelton, English writer and politician (b. 1709)


• 1793 - Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, Marshal of France (b. 1713)


• 1797 - Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Alsatian-born Austrian general (b. 1724)


• 1806 - Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French artist (b. 1732)


• 1818 - Warren Hastings, British Governor-General of India (b. 1732)


• 1828 - Franz Joseph Gall, Austrian neuroscientist (b. 1758)


• 1850 - Nikolaus Lenau, Austrian poet (b. 1802)


• 1861 - Xianfeng, Emperor of China (b. 1831)


• 1891 - Jan Neruda, Czech author (b. 1834)


• 1903 - Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1830)


• 1914 - Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi bishop of Bergamo


• 1918 - Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist (b. 1868)


• 1922 - Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary (b. 1890)


• 1926 - Charles W. Eliot, American President of Harvard University (b. 1834)


• 1940 - Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, English physicist, spiritualist, pioneer in wireless telegraphy (b. 1851)


• 1942 - Michel Fokine, Russian choreographer and dancer (b. 1880)


• 1950 - Kirk Bryan, American geologist (b. 1888)


• 1953 - Jim Tabor, baseball player (b. 1916)


• 1958 - Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)


• 1960 - Eduard Pütsep, Estonian wrestler and Olympic medalist (b. 1898)


• 1965 - Ellen Church, First American airline stewardess (b. 1904)


• 1967 - Gregory Goodwin Pincus, American endocrinologist (b. 1903)


• 1970 - Vladimir Propp, Russian structuralist scholar (b. 1895)


• 1973 - Louise Huff, American actress (b. 1895)


• 1974 - Jacob Bronowski, Polish-English mathematician & TV presenter (b. 1908)


• 1976 - Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, President of Brazil (b. 1902)


• 1976 - Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist (b. 1913)


• 1977 - Sebastian Cabot, English-born actor (b. 1918)


• 1978 - Jomo Kenyatta, first President of Kenya (b. c. 1892)


• 1979 - James T. Farrell, American novelist (b. 1904)


• 1980 - James Smith McDonnell, American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1899)


• 1980 - Alfred Neubauer, German racing team manager (Mercedes Benz) (b. 1891)


• 1989 - Huey P. Newton, American activist (b. 1942)


• 1991 - Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian actress (b. 1924)


• 1994 - Gilles Groulx, French Canadian film director (b. 1931)


• 2003 - Arnold Gerschwiler, Swiss-born figure skating trainer (b. 1914)


• 2003 - Generosa Ammon, widow of Ted Ammon (b. 1956)


• 2003 - Imperio Argentina, Argentinian singer and actress (b. 1906)


• 2004 - Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player (b. 1960)


• 2004 - Daniel Petrie, Canadian-born television and movie director (b. 1920)


• 2004 - Al Dvorin, American announcer on Elvis Presley's shows (b. c.1923)


• 2005 - Luc Ferrari, French composer (b. 1929)


• 2006 - Bruce Gary, American rock drummer, producer (The Knack) (b. 1951)

Famous Holidays and observances

• RC feasts - Mary Queen of angels, Immaculate Heart