April 22
is the 112th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (113th in
leap years). There are 253 days remaining.
*
1500 -
Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first
European to sight
Brazil.
*
1509 -
Henry VIII ascends the
throne of
England after the death of his father.
*
1529 -
Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between
Spain and
Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the
Moluccas.
*
1836 -
Texas Revolution: A day after the
Battle of San Jacinto forces under
Texas General Sam Houston capture
Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
*
1863 -
American Civil War:
Grierson's Raid begins – troops under
Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central
Mississippi.
*
1864 - The
U.S. Congress passes the
Coinage Act which mandates that the inscription "
In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as
United States currency.
*
1889 - At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the
Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of
Oklahoma City and
Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
*
1898 -
Spanish-American War: The
United States Navy begins a
blockade of
Cuban ports and the
USS Nashville captures a
Spanish merchant ship.
*
1912 -
Pravda, the "voice" of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publications in
Saint Petersburg.
*
1915 - The
use of poison gas in World War I escalates when
chlorine gas is released as a
chemical weapon in the
Second Battle of Ypres.
*
1930 - The
United Kingdom,
Japan and the
United States sign the
London Naval Treaty regulating
submarine warfare and limiting
shipbuilding.
*
1944 -
World War II:
Operation Persecution initiated –
Allied forces land in the
Hollandia area of
New Guinea.
*
1945 -
World War II: After learning that
Soviet forces have taken
Eberswalde without a fight,
Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground
bunker and states that
suicide is his only recourse.
*
1946 - The first installment of the popular
Japanese comic strip,
Sazae-san, is published in the
Fukunichi Shimbun.
*
1954 -
Red Scare:
Army-McCarthy Hearings begin.
*
1964 - The
1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
*
1970 - First
Earth Day celebrated.
*
1971 -
John Kerry, dressed in combat fatigues, testifies on his views of the
Vietnam War before the
United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee*
1972 -
Vietnam War: Increased
American bombing in
Vietnam prompts antiwar protests in
New York City,
San Francisco, and
Los Angeles.
*
1975 -
Barbara Walters signs a five-year $5 million contract with the
American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), becoming the highest paid
television newsperson.
*
1978 -
One Love Peace Concert held at
National Heroes Stadium in
Kingston, Jamaica.
Bob Marley united the two opposing political leaders at this concert bringing peace to the civil war ridden streets of
Kingston, Jamaica.
*
1992 -
1992 explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico ; 206 people were killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 were left homeless
*
1993 - The
Holocaust Memorial Museum in
Washington, DC is dedicated.
* 1993 - The
web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.
*
1997 -
Haouch Khemisti massacre in
Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
* 1997 - A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the
Japanese
ambassador in
Lima,
Peru ends after
government commandos storm and capture the building, rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a
heart attack, two soldiers are killed from rebel fire, and all 14 rebels are slain.
*
2000 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old
Elián González from his relatives' home in
Miami, Florida.
* 2000 - The
Big Number Change takes place in the
United Kingdom.
*
2004 - Two fuel trains collide in
Ryongchon,
North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
*
2006 - 243 people were injured in pro-democracy protest in
Nepal after Nepali security forces opened fire on protesters against
King Gyanendra.
* 2006 - Four
Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of
Kandahar,
Afghanistan by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants, the worst single day combat loss for the Canadian army since the
Korean War.
*
1451 - Queen
Isabella of Castile and Leon (d.
1504)
*
1550 -
Edward de Vere, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (d.
1604)
*
1610 -
Pope Alexander VIII (d.
1691)
*
1658 -
Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (d.
1709)
*
1690 -
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (d.
1763)
*
1692 -
James Stirling, Scottish mathematician (d.
1770)
*
1707 -
Henry Fielding, English author (d.
1754)
*
1711 -
Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (d.
1779)
*
1724 -
Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (d.
1804)
*
1766 -
Madame de Staël, French author (d.
1817)
*
1812 -
Solomon Caesar Malan, British orientalist (d.
1894)
*
1816 -
Charles Denis Bourbaki, French general
*
1840 -
Odilon Redon, French painter (d.
1916)
*
1844 -
Lewis Thornton Powell, would-be
assassin of
Secretary of State William Seward (d.
1865)
*
1852 -
Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d.
1912)
*
1854 -
Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer,
Nobel laureate (d.
1943)
*
1860 -
Ada Rehan, American stage actress (d.
1916)
*
1870 (N.S.) -
Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary (d.
1924)
*
1873 -
Ellen Glasgow, American author (d.
1945)
*
1876 -
Robert Bárány, American physician,
Nobel laureate (d.
1936)
* 1876 -
Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (d.
1920)
*
1881 -
Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician (d.
1970)
*
1884 -
Otto Rank, Austrian psychologist (d.
1939)
*
1889 -
Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d.
1945)
*
1891 -
Harold Jeffreys, English astronomer (d.
1989)
*
1899 -
Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer (d.
1977)
*
1904 -
Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (d.
1967)
*
1906 -
Eddie Albert, American actor (d.
2005)
* 1906 -
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Westrobothnia, second in line to the Swedish throne (d.
1946)
*
1907 -
Ivan Efremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d.
1972)
*
1909 -
Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist,
Nobel laureate*
1910 -
Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (d.
1971)
*
1912 -
Kathleen Ferrier, British singer (d.
1953)
*
1914 -
Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d.
2002)
*
1916 -
Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist (d.
1999)
*
1918 -
Mickey Vernon, baseball player
*
1919 -
Donald J. Cram, American chemist,
Nobel laureate (d.
2001)
*
1922 -
Charles Mingus, American musician (d.
1979)
* 1922 -
Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist (d.
1973)
*
1923 -
Bettie Page, American model
* 1923 -
Aaron Spelling, American television producer (d.
2006)
*
1925 -
George Cole, British actor
*
1926 -
Charlotte Rae, American actress
* 1926 -
James Stirling, British architect (d.
1992)
*
1935 -
Paul Chambers, American jazz bassist (d.
1969)
*
1936 -
Glen Campbell, American musician
*
1937 -
Jack Nicholson, American actor
* 1937 -
Jack Nitzsche, American composer (d.
2000)
*
1939 -
Jason Miller, American playwright (d.
2001)
*
1943 -
Louise Glück, American poet
*
1944 -
Steve Fossett, American adventurer
*
1946 -
John Waters, American film writer
*
1950 -
Peter Frampton, British musician
* 1950 -
Zygi Wilf, owner of the
Minnesota Vikings*
1951 -
Paul Carrack, British musician
*
1952 -
Marilyn Chambers, American actress
*
1958 -
Ken Olandt, American actor
*
1959 -
Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
* 1959 -
Ryan Stiles, Canadian-born actor
*
1962 -
Jeff Minter, British video game programmer
*
1965 -
Lauri Hendler, Actress
* 1965 -
Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey player
*
1966 -
Mariana Levy, Mexican actress (d.
2005)
*
1967 -
Sheryl Lee, American actress
* 1967 -
Harvey Williams, American football player
*
1968 -
Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
*
1969 -
Dion Dublin, English footballer
*
1970 -
Andrea Giani, Italian volleyball player
*
1970 -
Regine Velasquez, Filipino singer
*
1971 -
Daisuke Enomoto, first
Japanese space tourist*
1972 -
Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player
*
1974 -
Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-born bassist (
System of a Down)
*
1975 -
Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d.
1999)
*
1976 -
Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
*1976 -
Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
*
1979 -
Daniel Johns, Australian musician (
Silverchair)
*
1980 -
Courtney Friel, presenter of
World Poker Tour*
1981 -
Ken Dorsey, American football player
*
1982 -
Kaká, Brazilian footballer
*
1983 -
Matt Jones, American football player
*
1984 -
Amelle Berrabah, British singer (
Sugababes)
*
1986 -
Justin Pogge, Ice hockey player
*
296 -
Pope Caius*
455 -
Petronius Maximus, Roman Emperor
*
536 -
Pope Agapetus I*
1592 -
Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect (b.
1511)
*
1672 -
Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet (b.
1598)
*
1699 -
Hans Erasmus Aßmann, Freiherr von Abschatz, German statesman (b.
1646)
*
1758 -
Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist (b.
1686)
*
1778 -
James Hargreaves, English inventor (b.
1720)
*
1806 -
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (stabbed) (b.
1763)
*
1833 -
Richard Trevithick, English inventor (b.
1771)
*
1839 -
Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b.
1784)
*
1892 -
Edouard Lalo, French composer (b.
1823)
*
1896 -
Thomas Meik, British civil engineer (b.
1812)
*
1908 -
Henry Campbell-Bannerman,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b.
1836)
*
1925 -
André Caplet, French composer (b.
1878)
*
1930 -
Jeppe Aakjaer, Danish poet (b.
1866)
*
1945 -
Käthe Kollwitz, German artist (b.
1867)
*
1946 -
Harlan F. Stone,
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b.
1872)
*
1951 -
Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (b.
1870)
*
1968 -
Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (b.
1911)
*
1978 -
Will Geer, American actor (b.
1902)
*
1980 -
Jane Froman, American actor (b.
1907)
* 1980 -
Fritz Strassmann, German physicist (b.
1902)
*
1983 -
Earl "Fatha" Hines, British jazz pianist (b.
1903)
* 1983 -
John Louis Evans, convicted murderer (executed) (b.
1950)
*
1984 -
Ansel Adams, American photographer (b.
1902)
*
1985 -
Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer (b.
1900)
*
1986 -
Mircea Eliade, Romanian writer (b.
1907)
*
1994 -
Richard Nixon,
President of the United States (b.
1913)
*
1995 -
Maggie Kuhn, American activist (b.
1905)
*
1996 -
Erma Bombeck, American humorist (b.
1927)
*
2002 -
Linda Lovelace, American adult actress (b.
1949)
*
2003 -
Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman (b.
1912)
* 2003 -
Michael Larrabee, American athlete (b.
1933)
*
2004 -
Pat Tillman, American football player and U.S. Army Ranger (killed in action) (b.
1976)
*
2005 -
Philip Morrison, American physicist (b.
1915)
* 2005 -
Erika Fuchs, German translator (b.
1906)
*
2006 -
Alida Valli, Italian actress (b.
1921)
*
Earth Day.
*
Brazil -
Discovery Day.
Liturgical feasts
*
Saint Leonidas (died 202)
*
Saints Soter and Caius *Saint Theodorus (d. 613)
*
BBC: On This DayApril 21 -
April 23 -
March 22 -
May 22 –
listing of all days
