April 22

April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). There are 253 days remaining.

Events

• 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 of 1864 which mandates that the inscription "In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
• 1889 - Oklahoma land rush : President Benjamin Harrison opens Oklahoma to white settlement.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
• 1913 - Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publications in Saint Petersburg.
• 1914 - Babe Ruth, age 19, pitches his first professional game for the minor league Baltimore Orioles .
• 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.
• 1943 - Albert Hofmann writes his first report about the hallucinogenic properties of LSD.
• 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: Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.
• 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 - The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live
• 1978 - In Paris, France, Izhar Cohen & Alphabeta win the twenty-third Eurovision Song Contest for Israel singing "A-ba-ni-bi".
• 1993 - In Washington, DC, the Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated.
• 1993 - The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.
• 1996 - Cisco Systems acquires StrataCom for $4B
• 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, and fly him to his Cuban father in Washington, DC, ending one of the most publicized custody battles in US history.
• 2004 - Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.

Births

• 1451 - Isabella of Castile (d. 1504)
• 1518 - Antoine de Bourbon, father of Henry IV of France (d. 1562)
• 1550 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England (d. 1604)
• 1610 - Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
• 1707 - Henry Fielding, English author (d. 1754)
• 1724 - Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (d. 1804)
• 1766 - Madame de Staël, French author (d. 1817)
• 1812 - Solomon Caesar Malan, orientalist (d. 1894)
• 1840 - Odilon Redon, French painter (d. 1916)
• 1870 (N.S.) - Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary, state leader, also Vladmir Ilyich Ulynanov (d. 1924)
• 1873 - Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
• 1876 - Robert Bárány, Nobel Prize winner in medicine (d. 1936)
• 1891 - Harold Jeffreys, English astronomer (d. 1989)
• 1899 - Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer (d. 1977)
• 1904 - Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (d. 1967)
• 1906 - Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Westrobothnia, second in line to the Swedish throne (d. 1946)
• 1907 - Ivan Efremov, Russian paleontologist, taphonomist, science fiction author (d. 1972)
• 1910 - Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (d. 1971)
• 1912 - Kathleen Ferrier, American contralto (d. 1953)
• 1914 - Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)
• 1916 - Yehudi Menuhin, violinist (d. 1999)
• 1922 - Charles Mingus, musician (d. 1979)
• 1923 - Louise Glück, US poet
• 1923 - Bettie Page, pin-up model
• 1923 - Aaron Spelling, television producer, writer
• 1926 - James Stirling, British architect (d. 1992)
• 1936 - Glen Campbell, American musician
• 1937 - Jack Nicholson, American actor
• 1944 - Steve Fossett, millionaire adventurer
• 1950 - Peter Frampton, musician
• 1951 - Tony Danza, actor
• 1952 or 1954 - Marilyn Chambers, erotic actress
• 1959 - Ryan Stiles, Canadian-American actor, comedian
• 1974 - Shavo Odadjian, bassist for System of a Down
• 1975 - Greg Moore, race car driver (CART) (d. 1999)
• 1977 - Andruw Jones, baseball player

Deaths

• 296 - Pope Caius
• 536 - Pope Agapetus I
• 1833 - Richard Trevithick, English inventor (b. 1771)
• 1896 - Thomas Meik, civil engineer (b. 1812)
• 1908 - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, British Prime Minister & politician (b. 1836)
• 1946 - Harlan F. Stone, US Chief Justice (b. 1872)
• 1951 - Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (b. 1870)
• 1968 - Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (b. 1911)
• 1983 - Earl 'Fatha' Hines, jazz musician (b. 1903)
• 1984 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (b. 1902)
• 1988 - Irene Rich , actress
• 1994 - Richard Nixon, US president (b. 1913)
• 1996 - Erma Bombeck, humorist, writer (b. 1927)
• 2003 - Martha Griffiths, Congresswoman, women's rights proponent (b. 1912)
• 2003 - Michael Larrabee, US athlete (b. 1933)
• 2004 - Pat Tillman, US football player (b. 1976)

Holidays and observances

• Earth Day
• Brazil - Discovery Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day

April 21 - April 23 - March 22 - May 22 -- listing of all days