February 22
is the 53rd day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 312 days remaining, 313 in
leap years.
*
1295 BC - The coronation of
Ramses II, on whose face the sun's rays fall each year in
Abu Simbel temple.
*
1281 -
Martin IV becomes
Pope.
*
1288 -
Nicholas IV becomes
Pope.
*
1495 - King
Charles VIII of France enters
Naples to claim the city's throne.
*
1632 -
Galileo's
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
*
1744 - The
Battle of Toulon begins.
*
1819 - By the
Adams-Onís Treaty,
Spain sells
Florida to the
United States for five million
U.S. dollars.
*
1847 -
Mexican-American War: The
Battle of Buena Vista - 5,000
American troops drive off 15,000
Mexican.
*
1853 - The
Washington University is founded in
St.Louis as Eliot Seminary.
*
1855 - The
Pennsylvania State University is founded.
*
1856 - The
Republican Party opens its first national meeting in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
*
1865 -
Tennessee adopts a new
constitution that abolishes
slavery.
*
1876 -
Johns Hopkins University is founded in
Baltimore, Maryland.
*
1879 - In
Utica, New York,
Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10-cent
Woolworth stores.
*
1882 - Serbian kingdom refounded.
*
1889 -
President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting
North Dakota,
South Dakota,
Montana and
Washington as
U.S. states.
*
1904 -
UK recognises the
South Orkney Islands as part of
Argentina, in
1908 claims them again.
*
1915 -
Germany institutes
unrestricted submarine warfare.
*
1920 - In
Emeryville, California, the first
dog race track to employ an imitation
rabbit opens.
*
1923 - The
United States begins the first transcontinental
air mail route.
*
1924 -
Calvin Coolidge becomes the first
President of the United States to deliver a
radio broadcast from the
White House.
*
1942 -
World War II:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders
General Douglas MacArthur out of the
Philippines as
American defense collapses.
*
1943 - Members of
White Rose are executed in
Nazi Germany.
*
1944 - American aircraft bombard the Dutch towns of
Nijmegen,
Arnhem,
Enschede and
Deventer by mistake, resulting in 800 dead in
Nijmegen alone.
*
1948 - Start of the
Czechoslovak Revolution.
*
1949 -
Grady the Cow, a 1,200-pound cow gets stuck inside a silo on a farm in
Yukon, Oklahoma and garners national media attention.
*
1956 -
Elvis Presley enters the music charts for the first time, with "
Heartbreak Hotel".
*
1958 -
Egypt and
Syria join to form the
United Arab Republic.
*
1959 -
Lee Petty wins the first
Daytona 500.
*
1969 -
Barbara Jo Rubin wins a
United States thoroughbred
horse race making history as the first woman to do so.
*
1973 -
Cold War: Following
President Richard Nixon's
visit to
China, the
United States and the
People's Republic of China agree to establish liaison offices.
*
1974 -
Organization of the Islamic Conference (
OIC) summit conference starts in
Lahore,
Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries are attending. Twenty-two heads of state and government participate.
*
1979 - Independence of
Saint Lucia from the
United Kingdom.
*
1980 - The
United States ice hockey team defeats the
Soviet Union team at the
1980 Winter Olympic Games in an upset dubbed the "
Miracle on Ice".
*
1983 - Kamal Tiwari(the great chatter) was born
*
1994 -
Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the
United States Department of Justice with spying for the
Soviet Union.
*
1997 - In
Roslin,
Scotland, scientists announce that an adult
sheep named
Dolly had been successfully
cloned.
*
2002 - A
MH-47E Chinook helicopter crashes into the ocean near the
Philippines, killing all 10 aboard.
*
2006 -
Al Askari Mosque bombed.
* 2006 -
Dushanbe synagogue demolished.
* 2006 - At least six men stage Britain's
biggest ever robbery, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in
Tonbridge,
Kent.
*
2006 - The 1 Billionth song was downloaded on
ITunes.
*
1040 -
Rashi, French rabbi and commentator (d.
1105)
*
1403 - King
Charles VII of France (d.
1461)
*
1440 - King
Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary (d.
1457)
*
1500 -
Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d.
1564)
*
1612 -
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d.
1677)
*
1705 -
Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist (d.
1735)
*
1714 -
Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (d.
1795)
*
1732 (N.S.) -
George Washington, first
President of the United States, in
Westmoreland County, Virginia. (d.
1799)
*
1778 -
Rembrandt Peale, American artist (d.
1860)
*
1788 -
Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (d.
1860)
*
1796 -
Alexis Bachelot, French missionary (d.
1838)
* 1796 -
Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (d.
1874)
*
1806 -
Józef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (d.
1875)
*
1817 -
Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d.
1880)
*
1819 -
James Russell Lowell, American poet and essayist (d.
1891)
*
1825 -
Jean Baptiste Salpointe, second
Archbishop of Santa Fe (d.
1898)
*
1839 -
Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (d.
1906)
*
1840 -
August Bebel, German politician (d.
1913)
*
1849 -
Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d.
1915)
*
1857 -
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English founder of the Boy Scouts (d.
1941) (also of his wife - see 1889)
* 1857 -
Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d.
1894)
*
1878 -
Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d.
1909)
*
1880 -
Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d.
1956)
*
1882 -
Eric Gill, British sculptor and writer (d.
1940)
*
1883 -
Marguerite Clark, American silent film actress (d.
1940)
*
1886 -
Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d.
1927)
*
1887 -
Ksawery Tartakower, Polish chess player (d.
1956)
*
1889 - Lady
Olave Baden-Powell, English Chief Girl Guide (d.
1977) (also of her husband - see 1857)
*
1892 -
Edna St. Vincent Millay, American writer (d.
1950)
*
1897 -
Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d.
1947)
*
1899 -
Dwight Frye, American actor (d.
1943)
* 1899 -
George O'Hara, American actor (d.
1966)
* 1899 -
Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (d.
1986)
*
1900 -
Luis Buñuel, Spanish-born film director (d.
1983)
*
1902 -
Fritz Strassmann, German physicist (d.
1980)
*
1903 -
Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (d.
1990)
*
1907 -
Sheldon Leonard, American actor, writer, director, and producer (d.
1997)
* 1907 -
Robert Young, American actor (d.
1998)
*
1908 - Sir
John Mills, English actor (d.
2005)
*
1911 -
Bill Baker, Baseball player (d.
2006)
*
1914 -
Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born virologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
1918 -
Sid Abel, Canadian hockey player (d.
2000)
* 1918 -
Charlie Finley, American sports entrepreneur (d.
1996)
* 1918 -
Don Pardo, American radio and television announcer
* 1918 -
Robert Wadlow, tallest person in history (d.
1940)
*
1921 -
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Republic (d.
1996)
* 1921 -
Wayne Booth, American literary critic (d.
2005)
*
1925 -
Edward Gorey, American illustrator (d.
2000)
*
1926 -
Kenneth Williams, English actor (d.
1988)
* 1926 -
Bud Yorkin, American film director
*
1928 -
Paul Dooley, American actor
* 1928 -
Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer
*
1929 -
Rebecca Schull, American actress
*
1930 -
Marni Nixon, American singer
*
1932 -
Ted Kennedy, U.S. senator from Massachusetts
*
1933 -
Katharine, The
Duchess of
Kent*
1934 -
Sparky Anderson, American baseball manager
*
1936 -
J. Michael Bishop, American scientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine*
1938 -
Ishmael Reed, American writer
*
1941 -
Hipólito Mejía,
President of the Dominican Republic*
1944 -
Jonathan Demme, American director
* 1944 -
Robert Kardashian, American lawyer
* 1944 -
Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
*
1945 -
Leslie Charleson, American actress
*
1949 -
Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver
* 1949 -
Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player
*
1950 -
Julius Erving, American basketball player
* 1950 -
Ellen Greene, American actress
* 1950 -
Miou-Miou, French actress
* 1950 -
Julie Walters, English actress
* 1950 -
Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer and
Eurovision Song Contest winner
*
1952 -
Bill Frist, U.S. senator from Tennessee
*
1955 -
Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
*
1959 -
Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
*
1962 -
Steve Irwin, Australian herpetologist and television personality
*
1963 -
Vijay Singh, Fijian golfer
*
1965 -
Pat LaFontaine, American
ice hockey player
*
1966 -
Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedienne
* 1966 -
Brian Greig, Australian politician
* 1966 -
Aiden Shaw, British pornographic actor
*
1967 -
Alf Poier, Austrian comedian
*
1968 -
Bradley Nowell, American musician and singer for
Sublime (d.
1996)
* 1968 -
Jeri Ryan, American actress
*
1969 -
Byron Stroud, American bassist (
Fear Factory)
*
1971 -
Lea Salonga, Filipina actress and singer
*
1972 -
Claudia Pechstein, German speed skater
* 1972 -
Michael Chang, American tennis player
*
1974 -
James Blunt, British musician
* 1974 -
Chris Moyles, British DJ
*
1975 -
Drew Barrymore, American actress
*
1976 -
Faan Rautenbach, South African rugby player
*
1979 -
Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
*
1982 -
Jenna Haze, American pornographic actress
*
1984 -
Jason Frazier, American actor
*
1986 -
Miko Hughes, American actor
*
1989 -
Anna Sundstrand, Swedish singer and model (
Play)
*
965 -
Odo, Duke of Burgundy (b.
944)
*
1071 -
Arnulf III, Count of Flanders (killed in battle) (bc.
1055)
*
1111 -
Roger Borsa, King of Sicily
*
1371 - King
David II of Scotland (b.
1324)
*
1512 -
Amerigo Vespucci, Italian merchant and explorer (b.
1454)
*
1627 -
Olivier van Noort, Dutch navigator (b.
1558)
*
1674 -
Jean Chapelain, French writer (b.
1595)
*
1680 -
Catherine Monvoisin, French sorceress (bc.
1640)
*
1690 -
Charles Le Brun, French artist (b.
1619)
*
1727 -
Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer (b.
1661)
*
1731 -
Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b.
1638)
*
1732 -
Francis Atterbury, English bishop and man of letters (b.
1663)
*
1742 -
Charles Rivington, English publisher (b.
1688)
*
1797 -
Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b.
1720)
*
1799 -
Heshen, infamous
Qing Dynasty Chinese official at court (b.
1750)
*
1816 -
Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (b.
1723)
*
1875 -
Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (b.
1796)
* 1875 - Sir
Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (b.
1797)
*
1890 -
John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (b.
1822)
* 1890 -
Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish painter (b.
1834)
*
1892 -
Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (b.
1828)
*
1903 -
Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b.
1860)
*
1913 -
Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist (b.
1857)
*
1919 -
Julia, Princess of Serbia (b.
1831)
*
1921 -
Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b.
1864)
*
1923 -
Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (b.
1852)
*
1939 -
Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (b.
1875)
*
1943 -
Hans Scholl, German resistance fighter (b.
1918)
* 1943 -
Sophie Scholl, German resistance fighter (b.
1921)
*
1945 -
Osip Brik, Russian writer (d.
1888)
*
1961 -
Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b.
1889)
*
1965 -
Felix Frankfurter, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (b.
1882)
*
1968 -
Peter Arno, American cartoonist (b.
1904)
*
1974 -
Samuel Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (b.
1939)
*
1976 -
Angela Baddeley, English actress (b.
1904)
* 1976 -
Florence Ballard, American singer (
The Supremes) (b.
1943)
*
1980 -
Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian artist (b.
1886)
*
1983 - Sir
Adrian Boult, English conductor (b.
1889)
* 1983 -
Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b.
1913)
*
1984 -
Jessamyn West, American writer (b.
1902)
*
1985 -
Alexander Scourby, American actor (b.
1913)
* 1985 -
Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist (b.
1889)
*
1987 -
Andy Warhol, American artist, director, and writer (b.
1928)
*
1994 -
Papa John Creach, American musician (b.
1917)
*
1995 -
Ed Flanders, American actor (b.
1934)
*
1997 -
Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b.
1907)
*
1998 -
Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (b.
1910)
*
2000 -
Fernando Buesa, Spanish politician (b.
1946)
*
2002 -
Chuck Jones, American animator (b.
1912)
* 2002 -
Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel leader (b.
1934)
*
2004 -
Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (b.
1917)
* 2004 -
Andy Seminick, baseball player (b.
1920)
*
2005 -
Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish artist (b.
1929)
* 2005 -
Simone Simon, French actress (b.
1910)
* 2005 -
Lee Eun Ju, Korean actress (b.
1980)
*
United States -
Washington's Birthday (traditionally).
*
Saint Lucia - independence (
1979).
*The
Scouting movement celebrates this day as "
B.-P. day" or "
Founder's Day" as it is the shared birthday of the
Scouts' founder
Sir Robert Baden-Powell and his wife,
Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the
World Chief Guide.
*The
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts celebrates this day as "
Thinking Day" as it is the shared birthday of the
Scouts' founder
Sir Robert Baden-Powell, and his wife,
Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the
World Chief Guide.
Liturgical feasts
*
Roman Catholic Church -
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter.
*Blessed
Saint Isabel of France (+1270)
*
Ash Wednesday in
2023.
*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On This Day in CanadaFebruary 21 -
February 23 -
January 22 -
March 22 --
listing of all days
