Wednesday, 22nd April 2026 in Stockholm
Welcome to your daily snapshot of Stockholm! It's Earth Day and International Mother Earth Day. Explore 35 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day in Stockholm. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Today's weather in Stockholm brings cloudy with temperatures between 0°C and 11°C. Tonight's moon is in its waning gibbous phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Taurus. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this Wednesday, 22nd April in Stockholm, SE.

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is located on the east coast of Sweden where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea, comprising fourteen islands connected by bridges and ferries. On Wednesday, 22 April 2026, cloudy conditions are expected over the city. The date falls under the zodiac sign of Taurus, and the moon will be in its waning gibbous phase, nearing its last quarter.
On this day
The date 22 April carries significant weight in environmental history. In 2016, the Paris Agreement, a landmark international treaty addressing climate change, opened for signature with 175 parties committing to limiting global temperature rise. This moment represented unprecedented global consensus on the need to transition away from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, establishing binding commitments from nations across all continents.
Climate activism reached a stark turning point on this date in 2022 when American climate activist Wynn Bruce set himself on fire outside the United States Supreme Court Building in protest against inaction on the climate crisis. Earlier in 1993, Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager, was murdered while waiting for a bus in Eltham, London. His death became a watershed moment in British society, prompting significant cultural shifts in attitudes towards racism and leading to major reforms in police practice and the criminal justice system.
Earth Day
Earth Day is observed on 22 April each year to mark support for environmental protection. The date was chosen to coincide with the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and has been celebrated since 1970, following the first Earth Day movement in the United States. The observance has grown to encompass over 190 countries and represents a global commitment to addressing environmental challenges including climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
International Mother Earth Day
International Mother Earth Day is also recognised on 22 April, reflecting a holistic perspective on environmental protection that acknowledges the Earth as a living system. Officially designated by the United Nations in 2009, the day emphasises the need to recognise the Earth's ecosystems and their intrinsic value. It complements Earth Day by promoting recognition of humanity's dependence on the planet's natural resources and the responsibility to protect them for future generations.
DayAtlas provides detailed information for any date and location, including weather conditions, significant historical events, and notable births and deaths. Users can explore what happened on this day throughout history whilst discovering current weather patterns and astrological data for their chosen date and place.
Find out what's happening today in Stockholm.
What the Weather Had in Store for Stockholm on 22nd April 2026
Small consistency outweighs grand gestures.
Fortune of the Day
22nd April in the Stars – Star Sign Taurus
Personality Profile
Personality Those born on April 22nd blend typical Taurus steadiness with Saturn's disciplined influence, creating grounded individuals free from stereotypical laziness. Venus-ruled, they are charming and harmony-seeking with structured drive. Their sensuality combines with practical wisdom and unusual organizational clarity.
Strengths & Weaknesses These natives display remarkable endurance, practical skill and financial acumen. Their stubborn inflexibility and control tendencies limit relationships; Saturn amplifies resistance to change. Occasional impatience with less methodical people tests their otherwise stable connections.
Love April 22nd individuals require security and emotional reliability in partnerships. They love sensually and loyally but demand consistency and tangible proof of affection. Their Saturn influence makes them responsible—sometimes uncomfortably reserved in romantic expression.
Caree & Finance Professionally, these people excel in structured, financially rewarding fields like finance or skilled trades. Numerology 8 intensifies ambition and success-drive. They build solid wealth but may be overly risk-averse, missing growth opportunities.
Health Regular physical activity—yoga, hiking, manual work—suits these natives well. Their security-focus can lead to weight gain; conscious nutrition matters. Emotionally, they benefit from relaxation practices that soften Saturn's rigid tendencies.
That night, the moon was in its waning gibbous phase.
Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).
Fun Facts About 22nd April
Name Days in Your Language: Caia, Caissa, Kai, Kaila, Kailey, Kaleigh, Kaley, Kay, Kayla, Kaylee, Kayleigh, Kayley, Kaylie, Kaylin, Kaylyn, Leonidas, Makayla, Mckayla
Someone born on this day would be just 41 days old today — roughly 1,003 hours, 60,224 minutes, or 3,613,453 seconds spent on Earth so far.
It's the 112. day of the year. In 2026, 22nd April falls on a Wednesday.
There are 253 days still to come.
We’re currently in Week 17 — the year marches on.
Famous Birthdays on 22nd April
On this day, 157 notable people were born on 22nd April — spanning from 1412 to 2011. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
22/04/2011
Violet McGraw, American actress
Violet Elizabeth McGraw is an American actress. Her acting debut was a recurring role in the 2016 television series Love as Nina, and her first feature film was 2018's Ready Player One. In 2019 she was nominated for an OFTA Television Award for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series for The Haunting of Hill House. She is also known for her roles as a young Yelena Belova in the Marvel Studios superhero films Black Widow (2021) and Thunderbolts* (2025), and as Cady in the horror films M3GAN (2022) and M3GAN 2.0 (2025).
22/04/1992
Adam Lanza, American mass murderer (died 2012)
Adam Peter Lanza was an American mass murderer who perpetrated the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the US. On December 14, 2012, he fatally shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 children aged six and seven, and six adult staff members. He then killed himself as law enforcement arrived at the school.
22/04/1991
Danni Wyatt, English cricketer
Danielle Nicole Wyatt-Hodge is an English cricketer who plays for Surrey, Southern Brave, England and Gujarat Giants. She plays as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm off break. She made her England debut against India in Mumbai on 1 March 2010.
22/04/1990
Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
Colson Baker, known professionally as MGK and formerly Machine Gun Kelly, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor. His original stage name "Machine Gun Kelly" was derived from the nickname of Prohibition-era gangster George Kelly Barnes.
Kevin Kiermaier, American baseball player
Kevin James Kiermaier is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2013 to 2024 for the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Known for his strong defense, Kiermaier won the Gold Glove Award for center fielders in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2023, and the Platinum Glove Award in 2015.
Eve Muirhead, Scottish curler
Eve Muirhead is a Scottish former curler from Perth and a former skip of the British Olympic curling team. Muirhead and the GB team became Olympic champions at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
22/04/1988
Dee Strange-Gordon, American baseball player
Devaris "Dee" Strange-Gordon, formerly known as Dee Gordon, is an American former professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and center fielder. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, and Washington Nationals.
22/04/1987
David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
David Luiz Moreira Marinho is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Cypriot First Division club Pafos. He is primarily a centre-back, but has also been deployed as a defensive midfielder. Noted for his presence on the pitch as well as his specialty in taking free-kicks, David Luiz is considered amongst the best defenders of his generation.
22/04/1986
Amber Heard, American actress
Amber Laura Heard is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), and went on to star in films such as The Ward (2010), Drive Angry (2011), and London Fields (2018).
Marshawn Lynch, American football player
Marshawn Terrell Lynch is an American actor and former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. Nicknamed "Beast Mode", he spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for the California Golden Bears, earning first-team All-American honors and winning Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2006. Lynch was selected in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, where he played three full seasons and earned Pro Bowl honors in 2008. He was traded to the Seahawks during the 2010 season.
22/04/1983
Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
Sam W. Heads is a British palaeontologist, a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, as well as a former Officer and Editor-in-Chief at the Orthopterists' Society.
Shkëlzen Shala, Albanian entrepreneur and veganism activist
Shkëlzen Shala is a Kosovo Albanian entrepreneur, gastronome and veganism activist based in Pristina, Kosovo.
22/04/1982
Kaká, Brazilian footballer
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaká or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Kaká was known for his explosive pace, dribbling, passing, and goalscoring, and is considered one of the greatest players of all time. With success for both club and country, he is one of the ten players to win the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the Ballon d'Or.
22/04/1980
Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
Quincy Zuma Wambitta Timberlake is a Kenyan political activist, occultist, and former presidential candidate, now resident in Australia. Along with Esther Arunga and Joseph Hellon, he is the co-founder of the PlaCenta Party of Kenya, which according to its manifesto aims "to promote and protect individual rights and freedoms set forth in the Kenyan Constitution and to limit the scope of national government authority and spending."
22/04/1979
Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
Zoltán Gera is a Hungarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Fulham, Pécsi Mecsek and Harkány SE, as well as enjoying two spells at Ferencváros and West Bromwich Albion.
Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
Daniel Paul Johns is an Australian musician, best known as the frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the rock band Silverchair. Johns is also a member of The Dissociatives with Paul Mac and a member of Dreams with Luke Steele. On March 13, 2015 Johns released his first solo EP Aerial Love and on March 22, 2015, he released his first solo LP Talk. Johns' second solo album FutureNever was released on 22 April 2022.
22/04/1978
Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
Paul Malakwen Kosgei is a Kenyan long-distance and marathon runner. He first came to prominence in athletics by taking the World Junior Record of 3000m steeple in 1997, and later with consecutive medals at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships from 1998 to 2000.
22/04/1976
Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
Daniel Cloutier is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player. Previously a goaltender, he holds an executive position with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Guelph Storm, the team with which he completed his junior career. In his 10-year National Hockey League (NHL) career, Cloutier played with the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings, spending the majority of his career in Vancouver. He employed a combination of both butterfly and stand-up goaltending and was known for wearing the uncommon birdcage-style helmet.
22/04/1970
Regine Velasquez, Filipino singer and actress
Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez is a Filipino singer and actress. She is considered one of the most influential figures in Philippine popular culture and is known for her vocal range and belting technique. She had unorthodox voice training during her childhood, where she was immersed neck-deep in the sea. Velasquez rose to prominence after winning the television talent show Ang Bagong Kampeon in 1984 and the Asia Pacific Singing Contest in 1989. Under the name Chona, she signed a recording contract with OctoArts International in 1986 and released the single "Love Me Again", which was commercially unsuccessful. The following year, she adopted the stage name Regine Velasquez for her debut studio album, Regine (1987), under the guidance of Viva Records executive Vic del Rosario and producer Ronnie Henares. She explored Manila sound and kundiman genres on her second and third studio albums, Nineteen 90 (1990) and Tagala Talaga (1991).
22/04/1967
David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic (died 2016)
Sir David John Cameron MacKay was a British physicist, mathematician, and academic. He was the Regius Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and from 2009 to 2014 was Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). MacKay wrote the book Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air.
Sherri Shepherd, American actress, comedian, and television personality
Sherri Evonne Shepherd is an American actress, comedian, author, podcaster, television presenter and talk show host. From 2007 to 2014, Shepherd was a co-host of the daytime talk show The View, for which she received multiple Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 2009. She hosted Dish Nation from 2019 to December 2022 and the daily syndicated daytime talk show Sherri from 2022 to 2026. She also starred in the sitcoms The Jamie Foxx Show (1999-2001), Less than Perfect (2002–2006), Sherri (2009), Trial & Error (2017–2018), and Mr. Iglesias (2019–2020).
22/04/1966
Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
Michael Robert "Mickey" Morandini, is an American former professional baseball second baseman and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Toronto Blue Jays. His career highlights include selection as a 1995 National League (NL) All-Star, playing for the Phillies in the 1993 NL Championship Series and World Series, and appearing for the Cubs in the 1998 NL Division Series.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor. He is best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2016–2022) and its spin-off The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023–present), for both of which he has received critical acclaim. He also appeared in television roles including: John Winchester in the CW fantasy horror series Supernatural, Denny Duquette in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2006–2009), Jason Crouse in the CBS political drama series The Good Wife (2015–2016), Joe Kessler in the Amazon Prime Video adult superhero series' The Boys (2024–2026), and Conquest in Invincible (2025–2026). His film roles include: William Gallagher in P.S. I Love You (2007), the Comedian in the superhero film Watchmen (2009), Clay in The Losers (2010), Sgt. Maj Andrew Tanner in Red Dawn (2012), and Agent Harvey Russell in Rampage (2018). He also starred as a pivotal character in the History Channel's miniseries about the war with Mexico for the creation of Texas, Texas Rising (2015).
22/04/1963
Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
Rosalind Clair Gill is a British sociologist and feminist cultural theorist. She is currently Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at City, University of London. Gill is author or editor of ten books, and numerous articles and chapters, and her work has been translated into Chinese, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.
Sean Lock, English comedian and actor (died 2021)
Sean Lock was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian. In 2000, Lock won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award. He was a team captain on the Channel 4 comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats from 2005 to 2015, and on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown from 2012 until his death in 2021.
22/04/1962
Jeff Minter, British video game designer and programmer
Jeff Minter is an English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the nickname Yak. He co-founded independent video game developer Llamasoft in 1982 and was the sole game designer and programmer until Ivan Zorzin started being co-credited in 2008. Minter has created dozens of games, starting in 1981 for the ZX80, then later the ZX Spectrum, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, Amiga, Atari ST, Jaguar, and other systems. A majority of Minter's projects are shoot 'em ups, often based on games from the golden age of arcade video games such as Defender, Tempest, and Robotron: 2084. Minter has evolved a game design style which combines psychedelic visuals, references to ruminants, and quirky audio samples.
Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
Danièle Sauvageau is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former coach. Sauvageau was the head coach of the Canadian national women's hockey team that won the gold medal in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Sauvageau was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2025 as a builder.
22/04/1961
Jeff Hostetler, American football player
William Jeffrey Hostetler is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins. He won Super Bowl XXV with the Giants after taking over late in the regular season for an injured Phil Simms. His nickname is "Hoss."
Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (died 1996)
Alo Mattiisen was an Estonian musician and composer.
22/04/1960
Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
Mart Laar is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's rapid economic development during the 1990s. He is a member of the centre-right Isamaa party.
22/04/1959
Terry Francona, American baseball player and manager
Terry Jon Francona, nicknamed "Tito", is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously managed the Cleveland Indians/Guardians, Boston Red Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies. Francona played in MLB from 1981 to 1988 for the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Milwaukee Brewers.
Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and comedian
Ryan Lee Stiles is an American-Canadian comedian and actor. His work is often associated with improvisational comedy. He is best known for his work on Whose Line Is It Anyway and for his role as Lewis Kiniski on The Drew Carey Show. He also played Herb Melnick on the CBS comedy Two and a Half Men and was a performer on the show Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza.
22/04/1957
Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014. Tusk was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019 and led the European People's Party from 2019 to 2022. He co-founded the Civic Platform (PO), one of the dominant Polish political parties, and was its longtime leader – from 2003 to 2014 and again from 2021 to 2025 – before it merged into the Civic Coalition (KO) party. He is the longest-serving prime minister of the Third Polish Republic.
22/04/1952
Marilyn Chambers, American actress
Marilyn Ann Taylor, known professionally as Marilyn Chambers, was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress, singer, and vice-presidential candidate. She was known for her 1972 hardcore film debut, Behind the Green Door, and her 1980 pornographic film Insatiable. She ranked at No. 6 on the list of Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time by AVN, and ranked as one of Playboy's Top 100 Sex Stars of the Century in 1999. Although she was primarily known for her adult film work, she made a successful transition to mainstream projects and has been called "porn's most famous crossover".
22/04/1951
Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
Aivars Kalējs is a Latvian composer, organist and pianist.
Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
Ana María Shua is an Argentine writer. She is particularly well known for her work in microfiction.
22/04/1950
Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands The Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a solo artist. He has released several albums, including his breakthrough album, the live recording Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), which spawned several hit singles and has been certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA in the United States. He has also worked with various other acts such as Ringo Starr, John Entwistle of the Who, David Bowie, Joe Bonamassa, and both Matt Cameron and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam.
Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She provided advice for the wine cellar of Queen Elizabeth II.
Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director (died 2025)
Warren Lee Tamahori was a New Zealand film director.
22/04/1949
Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
Spencer Haywood is an American former professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist. Haywood is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2015.
22/04/1948
John Pritchard, English bishop
John Lawrence Pritchard is a Church of England bishop. He was the Bishop of Oxford from 2007 to 2014. He is in the Open Evangelical tradition.
22/04/1946
Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1972)
Steven Logan Bennett was a United States Air Force pilot who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Vietnam War.
Paul Davies, English physicist and author
Paul Charles William Davies is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute for Quantum Studies in Chapman University in California. He previously held academic appointments in the University of Cambridge, University College London, King's College London, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, University of Adelaide and Macquarie University. His research interests are in the fields of cosmology, quantum field theory, and astrobiology.
Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
Louise Harel is a Quebec politician. In 2005 she served as interim leader of the Parti Québécois following the resignation of Bernard Landry. She was also interim leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Quebec. She represented the riding of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in the Montreal region, and its predecessors, from 1981 to 2008. She ran for Mayor of Montreal as the representative of the Vision Montreal municipal political party in the 2009 election, but was defeated by incumbent Gérald Tremblay. In the 2013 Montreal election, Harel supported federalist Marcel Côté for mayor but failed to be elected to her own council seat.
Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
Archibald Johnstone Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope,, is a British Liberal Democrat politician.
Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
Nicholas Herbert Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford,, is a British economist, banker, and academic. He is the IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE), and 2010 Professor of Collège de France. He was President of the British Academy from 2013 to 2017, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014.
John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
John Samuel Waters Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including Multiple Maniacs (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), and Female Trouble (1974). Waters wrote and directed the comedy film Hairspray (1988), which was later adapted into a hit Broadway musical and a 2007 musical film. His other films include Desperate Living (1977), Polyester (1981), Cry-Baby (1990), Serial Mom (1994), Pecker (1998), and Cecil B. Demented (2000), each containing elements of post-modern comedy and surrealism.
22/04/1945
Eddy Baldewijns, Belgian politician
Edouard S. L. L. J. Baldewijns is a Belgian politician, member of the Chamber of Representatives and Flemish Government minister. A member of the Belgian Socialist Party and its successor the Flemish Socialist Party, he represented Hasselt from April 1977 to May 1995 and Hasselt-Tongeren-Maaseik from June 1999 to December 1999. He was the Flemish Minister of Public Works, Transport and Spatial Planning from June 1995 to September 1998 and Minister of Education and Civil Service Affairs from September 1998 to July 1999. He was also a member of the Flemish Parliament and its predecessors, the Flemish Council and the Cultural Council for the Dutch Cultural Community, from May 1977 to July 1995.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
Gopalkrishna Devadas Gandhi is a former administrator and diplomat who served as the 22nd Governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). As a former IAS officer he served as Secretary to the President of India and as High Commissioner to South Africa and Sri Lanka, among other administrative and diplomatic posts. He was the United Progressive Alliance nominee for Vice President of India in the 2017 vice-presidential elections and lost with 244 votes against NDA candidate Venkaiah Naidu, who got 516 votes.
Demetrio Stratos, Greek-Egyptian singer-songwriter (died 1979)
Efstratios Dimitriou, known professionally as Demetrio Stratos, was a Greek-Italian vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music researcher, best known as the co-founder, frontman and lead singer of the Italian progressive rock band Area – International POPular Group.
22/04/1944
Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (died 2007)
James Stephen Fossett was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraft. He made his fortune in the financial services industry and held world records for five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo flight fixed-wing aircraft pilot.
Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2014)
Douglas William Jarrett was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers.
Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
Joshua Rifkin is an American conductor, pianist, and musicologist. He is currently a professor of music at Boston University. As a performer, he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestre Revueltas; as a scholar he has published research on composers from the Renaissance to the 20th century.
22/04/1943
Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (died 2014)
John Keith Crisco Sr. was an American businessman and public official from the State of North Carolina.
Janet Evanovich, American author
Janet Evanovich is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job. The novels in this series have been on The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debut at #1 on the NY Times Best Sellers list and eleven of them have hit #1 on USA Today Best-Selling Books list. She has over two hundred million books in print worldwide, and her books have been translated into over 40 languages.
Louise Glück, American poet (died 2023)
Louise Elisabeth Glück was an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". Her other awards include the Pulitzer Prize, National Humanities Medal, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Bollingen Prize. From 2003 to 2004, she was Poet Laureate of the United States.
John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (died 2012)
John Cradock Maples, Baron Maples was a British politician and life peer who served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 1989 to 1992 and Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1999 to 2000. He is a former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham West from 1983 to 1992 and Stratford-upon-Avon from 1997 to 2010.
Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
Scott Williams is a professor of mathematics at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. He was recognized by Mathematically Gifted & Black as a Black History Month 2017 Honoree.
22/04/1942
Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
Giorgio Agamben is an Italian philosopher whose work spans political theory, ontology, aesthetics, and literature. He is best known for developing the concepts of the state of exception and homo sacer, which explore the relationship between sovereignty, legal authority, and what he calls 'bare life'. His writings draw on sources including Aristotle, Roman law, Christian theology, Martin Heidegger, Walter Benjamin, Ludwig Wittgenstein, St. Augustine and Carl Schmitt among others, and engage critically with Michel Foucault’s account of biopolitics and biopower. Agamben’s multi-volume Homo Sacer project has been widely discussed within political philosophy, jurisprudence, anthropology, and the humanities, and he is considered one of the most influential writers in contemporary continental philosophy.
Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
Alice Mary Prior served as Lord Lieutenant of Bristol from 2007 to 2017. She is currently the Pro-chancellor of University of Bristol and a trustee of the environmental fund Viridor Credits.
22/04/1941
Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
Greville Patrick Charles Howard, Baron Howard of Rising is a British Conservative politician and, before the 2010 general election, was variously an Opposition Whip and Shadow Minister for Cabinet Office, for Treasury and for Culture, Media and Sport.
22/04/1939
Mel Carter, American singer and actor
Mel Carter is an American soul and pop singer and actor. He is best known for his 1965 million-selling recording "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me".
John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
Lieutenant-General Sir John Paul Foley, is a retired British Army officer with a long career in military intelligence. He is the great-grandson of Henry Hodgetts-Foley, and was educated at Bradfield College.
Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (died 2013)
Ray Guy was a Canadian journalist and humourist, best known for his satirical newspaper and magazine columns.
Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (died 2001)
Jason Miller was an American playwright and actor. He won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play for his play That Championship Season, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Father Damien Karras in the 1973 horror film The Exorcist, a role he reprised in The Exorcist III (1990). He later became artistic director of the Scranton Public Theatre in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where That Championship Season was set.
Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
Theodor Waigel is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002.
22/04/1938
Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (died 2015)
Alan Bond was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history; and also his criminal conviction that saw him serve four years in prison. He is also remembered for bankrolling the successful challenge for the 1983 America's Cup, the first time the New York Yacht Club had lost it in its 132-year history. He also founded Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia.
Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (died 2009)
Chief Abdul-Ganiyu "Gani" Oyesola Fawehinmi,, SAN, was a Nigerian author, publisher, philanthropist, social critic, human and civil rights lawyer, and politician.
Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer (died 2022)
Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer. He was known for his technology-driven clothing designs, notably the Pleats, Please line, exhibitions and fragrances such as L'eau d'Issey.
Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
Adam Eliot Geoffrey Raphael is an English journalist and author. In the British Press Awards of 1973, he was named Journalist of the Year for his work on labour conditions in South Africa, and he has also been a presenter of BBC Television's Newsnight. Since 2004, he has edited The Good Hotel Guide. He is not to be confused with a BBC producer of the same name, Adam Jocelyn Raphael (1937–1999).
22/04/1937
Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
John Joseph Nicholson is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing charismatic rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-decade-long career, he received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award.
Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (died 2000)
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spector, and went on to work with the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, and others. He worked extensively in film scores for the films Performance, The Exorcist and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. In 1983, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for co-writing "Up Where We Belong" with Buffy Sainte-Marie.
22/04/1936
Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2017)
Glen Travis Campbell was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from 1969 until 1972. A revered session guitarist before breaking through as a solo performer, Campbell released 64 albums in a career that spanned five decades, selling over 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.
Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (died 1998)
Pierre Hétu was a conductor and pianist. He studied music from 1955–57 at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Germaine Malépart (piano) and at the University of Montreal with Jean Papineau-Couture (acoustics), Gabriel Cusson and Conrad Letendre and Jean Vallerand.
22/04/1935
Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
Sir Christopher John Elinger Ball is a British academic, who served as Warden of Keble College, Oxford, from 1980 to 1988, and as the first Chancellor of the University of Derby, from 1995 to 2003.
Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (died 1969)
Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop era. He was also known for his bowed solos. Chambers recorded about a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader, and more than 100 as a sideman, especially as the anchor of trumpeter Miles Davis's "first great quintet" (1955–63) and with pianist Wynton Kelly (1963–68).
Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic (died 2025)
Bhama Srinivasan was a mathematician known for her work in the representation theory of finite groups. Her contributions were honored with the 1990 Noether Lecture. She served as president of the Association for Women in Mathematics from 1981 to 1983.
22/04/1933
Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (died 2013)
John Anthony Llewellyn was a Welsh chemist and a NOAA aquanaut. In August 1967, Llewellyn was one of only two non-American astronaut candidates selected by NASA as part of NASA Astronaut Group 6.
22/04/1931
John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (died 2019)
John MacLennan Buchanan was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th premier of Nova Scotia from 1978 to 1990 and as a member of the Senate of Canada from 1990 to 2006.
Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
Ronald Hynd is an English choreographer and former ballet dancer.
22/04/1930
Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (died 2016)
Enno Penno was an Estonian politician, who was acting as Acting Prime Minister of Estonia in exile from 1 March 1990 to 20 June 1992.
22/04/1929
Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (died 2019)
Sir Michael Francis Atiyah was a British-Lebanese mathematician specialising in geometry. His contributions include the Atiyah–Singer index theorem and co-founding topological K-theory. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 and the Abel Prize in 2004.
Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (died 2015)
Sir Robert Wade-Gery was a British diplomat who was High Commissioner to India 1982–87.
22/04/1928
Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian (died 2022)
Estelle Harris was an American actress and comedian, known for her exaggeratedly shrill voice. She was best known for her role as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld. Her other roles included the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise, Muriel in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and Mama Gunda in Tarzan II. During her career, Harris starred in various television commercials.
22/04/1927
Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (died 2005)
Lorenzo "Laurel" Aitken was a Cuban-Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of ska music. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Ska".
22/04/1926
Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (died 2018)
Charlotte Rae Lubotsky was an American comedic actress and singer whose career spanned 66 years.
James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (died 1992)
Sir James Frazer Stirling was a British architect.
22/04/1924
Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (died 2013)
Nam Duck-woo was the prime minister of South Korea from 1980 to 1982.
22/04/1923
Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (died 2013)
Peter Kane Dufault was an American poet. He was born in New Jersey.
Bettie Page, American model and actress (died 2008)
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who gained recognition in the 1950s for her pin-up photos. She was often referred to as the "Queen of Pinups": her long jet-black hair, blue eyes, and trademark bangs have influenced artists for generations. After her death, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her "a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society".
Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006)
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the television series Family (1976–1980); Charlie's Angels (1976–1981); The Love Boat (1977–1986); Hart to Hart (1979–1984); Dynasty (1981–1989); Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–2000); Melrose Place (1992–1999); 7th Heaven (1996–2007); and Charmed (1998–2006). He also served as producer of The Mod Squad (1968–1973), The Rookies (1972–1976) and Sunset Beach (1997–1999).
22/04/1922
Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (died 1993)
Richard Diebenkorn was an American painter and printmaker. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s, he began his extensive series of geometric, lyrical abstract paintings. Known as the Ocean Park paintings, these paintings were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.
Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (died 1979)
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz greats, such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Max Roach, and Eric Dolphy. Mingus's work ranged from advanced bebop and avant-garde jazz with small and midsize ensembles to pioneering the post-bop style on seminal recordings like Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959) and progressive big band experiments such as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963).
Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (died 1973)
Wolf Vladimir Vishniac was an American microbiologist. He was the son of photographer Roman Vishniac and the father of astronomer Ethan Vishniac. Educated at Brooklyn College and Stanford University, he was a professor of biology at the University of Rochester. He died on a research trip to the Antarctic attempting to retrieve equipment in a crevasse. The crater Vishniac on Mars is named in his honor.
22/04/1919
Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2001)
Donald James Cram was an American chemist who shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Jean-Marie Lehn and Charles J. Pedersen "for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity." They were the founders of the field of host–guest chemistry.
Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (died 2011)
Carl Henry Lindner Jr. was an American businessman from Norwood, Ohio, a member of the Lindner family, and one of the world's richest people. According to the 2010 issue of Forbes Billionaires List, Lindner was worth an estimated $1.7 billion.
22/04/1918
William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (died 2015)
William Jay Smith was an American poet. He was appointed the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970.
Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (died 2008)
James Barton "Mickey" Vernon was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox (1956–1957), Milwaukee Braves (1959) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1960). He also was the first manager in the history of the expansion edition of the Senators, serving from 1961 through May 21, 1963, and was a coach for four MLB teams between 1960 and 1982.
22/04/1917
Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (died 2016)
Yvette Chauviré was a French prima ballerina assoluta and actress. She is often described as France's greatest ballerina, and was the mentor of another pair of well-known prima ballerinas named, Sylvie Guillem and Marie-Claude Pietragalla. She was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 1964.
Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (died 1992)
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan was one of the leading Australian artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of media, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known for his series of paintings on legends from Australian history, most famously that of Ned Kelly, the bushranger and outlaw. Nolan's stylised depiction of Kelly's armour has become an icon of Australian art.
22/04/1916
Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (died 2013)
Hanfried Lenz was a German mathematician, who is mainly known for his work in geometry and combinatorics.
Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (died 1999)
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, was an American-born British and Swiss violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century.
22/04/1914
Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (died 2008)
Baldev Raj Chopra was a prolific Indian director and producer noted for pioneering the Hindi film industry and television series. He's known for directing notable films, such as Afsana, Ek Hi Raasta, Naya Daur, Sadhna, Kanoon, Gumrah, Hamraaz, Dhund, Pati Patni Aur Woh, Insaf Ka Tarazu and Nikaah. He also produced hit films, including Dhool Ka Phool, Waqt, Ittefaq, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Chhoti Si Baat, The Burning Train, Aaj Ki Awaaz, Baghban and the TV series, Mahabharat. He was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema, for the year 1998, and Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 2001.
Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (died 2002)
Jan de Hartog was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker.
José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (died 1941)
José Abelardo Quiñones Gonzáles was a Peruvian military aviator who posthumously became a national hero for his actions at the Battle of Zarumilla during the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941.
Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (died 1944)
Michael Wittmann was a German Waffen-SS tank commander during the Second World War. He is known for his ambush of elements of the British 7th Armoured Division during the Battle of Villers-Bocage on 13 June 1944. While in command of a Tiger I tank, Wittmann destroyed up to 14 tanks, 15 personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns within 15 minutes before the loss of his own tank.
22/04/1912
Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (died 1953)
Kathleen Mary Ferrier was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the classical works of Bach, Brahms, Mahler and Elgar. Her death from cancer, at the height of her fame, was a shock to the musical world and particularly to the general public, which was kept in ignorance of the nature of her illness until after her death.
Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)
Kaneto Shindō was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include Children of Hiroshima, The Naked Island, Onibaba, Kuroneko and A Last Note. His screenplays were filmed by directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Kōzaburō Yoshimura, Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Seijun Suzuki, and Tadashi Imai.
22/04/1910
Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (died 1971)
Norman Earl Steenrod was an American mathematician most widely known for his contributions to the field of algebraic topology.
22/04/1909
Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)
Rita Levi-Montalcini was an Italian neurobiologist. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF).
Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (died 2001)
Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli was an Italian journalist, historian, and writer.
Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (died 2000)
Spyridon "Spyros" Markezinis was a Greek politician, longtime member of the Hellenic Parliament, and briefly the Prime Minister of Greece during the aborted attempt at metapolitefsi (democratization) of the Greek military regime in 1973.
22/04/1906
Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (died 1997)
Eric William Fenby OBE was an English composer, conductor, pianist, organist and teacher, born in Scarborough, Yorkshire. He is best known for being Frederick Delius's amanuensis from 1928 to 1934. He helped Delius realise a number of works that would not otherwise have been forthcoming as the composer was too ill to write them down, and between them they devised a way for Fenby to take dictation from Delius.
Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (died 1947)
Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Duke of Västerbotten was a Swedish prince who for most of his life was second in the line of succession to the Swedish throne with the title of Hereditary Prince.
22/04/1905
Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (died 1991)
Robert Guy Choquette was a Canadian novelist, poet and diplomat.
22/04/1904
J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (died 1967)
J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons.
22/04/1900
Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester (died 1988)
Nellie Beer, OBE, JP, was a Conservative member of Manchester City Council from 1937 to 1972. She was Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966 to 1967.
22/04/1899
Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (died 1977)
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist.
22/04/1892
Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (died 1965)
Dr. Vernon Johns was an American minister based in the South and a pioneer in the civil rights movement. He is best known as the pastor (1947–52) of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was succeeded there by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
22/04/1891
Laura Gilpin, American photographer (died 1979)
Laura Gilpin was an American photographer.
Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (died 1965)
Vittorio Jano was an Italian automobile designer of Hungarian descent, active in European racing car engine design from the 1920s through 1960s.
Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (died 1989)
Sir Harold Jeffreys, FRS was a British geophysicist who made significant contributions to mathematics and statistics. His book, Theory of Probability, which was first published in 1939, played an important role in the revival of the objective Bayesian view of probability.
Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (died 1927)
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and anarchists, controversially accused of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a guard and a paymaster, during the April 15, 1920, armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. Seven years later, they were executed in the electric chair at Charlestown State Prison. Most historians consider their conviction unfair due to prejudice against immigrants and radicals.
22/04/1889
Richard Glücks, German SS officer and major contributor to the concentration camp system and the Holocaust (died 1945)
Richard Glücks was a high-ranking German SS functionary during the Nazi era. From November 1939 until the end of World War II, he commanded the Concentration Camps Inspectorate, later integrated into the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office as "Amt D". Reporting first to Theodor Eicke, then to SS chief Heinrich Himmler and finally to Oswald Pohl, he became Inspector of Concentration Camps. He retained this position despite Himmler, in whose presence Glücks would panic, having little confidence in him. Glücks was responsible for the forced labour of camp inmates and was the supervisor for the medical practices in the camps, ranging from Nazi human experimentation to the implementation of the "Final Solution", in particular the mass murder of inmates with Zyklon B gas. After Germany capitulated, Glücks committed suicide by swallowing a potassium cyanide capsule.
22/04/1887
Harald Bohr, Danish mathematician and footballer (died 1951)
Harald August Bohr was a Danish mathematician and footballer. After receiving his doctorate in 1910, Bohr became an eminent mathematician, founding the field of almost periodic functions. His brother was the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr. He was on the Denmark national team for the 1908 Summer Olympics, where he won a silver medal.
22/04/1886
Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (died 1958)
Izidor Cankar was a Slovenian author, art historian, diplomat, journalist, translator, and liberal conservative politician. He was one of the most important Slovenian art historians of the first part of the 20th century, and one of the most influential cultural figures in interwar Slovenia.
22/04/1884
Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (died 1939)
Otto Rank was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, and philosopher. Born in Vienna, he became one of Sigmund Freud's closest collaborators, served as secretary of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, and edited leading psychoanalytic journals while publishing studies of myth and creativity. His book The Trauma of Birth (1924) proposed that the anxiety of birth precedes the Oedipus complex, coined the term "pre-Oedipal," and triggered a decisive break with Freud's developmental theory. Rank established psychotherapy practices in Paris and New York, where he promoted relationship-based treatment that emphasized emotional presence in the analytic encounter. He influenced existential and humanistic therapy, social work, and action learning, and his ideas on creativity and the double continue to inform psychological and cultural criticism.
22/04/1879
Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (died 1939)
Bernhard Gregory was a Baltic German chess master.
22/04/1876
Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936)
Robert Bárány was an Austrian-born otologist. He received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus.
Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (died 1920)
Georg Lurich was an Estonian Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman of the early 20th century. Lurich was also the trainer of Estonian wrestlers and weightlifters Georg Hackenschmidt and Aleksander Aberg.
22/04/1874
Wu Peifu, Chinese warlord, politician, and marshal of the Beiyang Army (died 1939)
Wu Peifu (traditional Chinese: 吳佩孚; simplified Chinese: 吴佩孚; pinyin: Wú Pèifú; Wade–Giles: Wu2 P'ei4-fu2; 22 April 1874 – 4 December 1939) was a Chinese warlord and major figure in the Warlord Era in China from 1916 to 1927.
22/04/1873
Ellen Glasgow, American author (died 1945)
Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow was an American novelist who won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1942 for her novel In This Our Life. She published 20 novels, as well as short stories, to critical acclaim. A lifelong Virginian, Glasgow portrayed the changing world of the contemporary South in a realistic manner, differing from the idealistic escapism that characterized Southern literature after Reconstruction.
22/04/1872
Princess Margaret of Prussia (died 1954)
Margaret of Prussia was the youngest child of Frederick III, German Emperor, and Victoria, Princess Royal. She was also the younger sister of Emperor Wilhelm II and the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She married Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, the elected King of Finland, making her the would-be Queen of Finland had he not decided to renounce the throne on 14 December 1918. In 1926, they assumed the titles of Landgrave and Landgravine of Hesse. The couple had six sons and lost three of them in wartime, two during the First and one during the Second World War.
22/04/1870
Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (died 1924)
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 then of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924. As the Bolsheviks' founder, Lenin led the October Revolution, which established the world's first communist state. His government won the Russian Civil War and created a one-party state under the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called Leninism.
22/04/1858
Ethel Smyth, English composer (died 1944)
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas.
Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, Belgian art collector and art historian (died 1901)
Frédéric Henri Godefroid Émile Constantin (Fritz) ridder Mayer van den Bergh was a Belgian art collector and art historian.
22/04/1854
Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1943)
Henri La Fontaine, was a Belgian international lawyer and president of the International Peace Bureau. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1913 because "he was the effective leader of the peace movement in Europe."
22/04/1852
William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (died 1912)
William IV was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 17 November 1905 until his death in 1912. He succeeded his father, Adolphe. Like his father, William did not participate in politics, despite being vested with considerable power by the Constitution.
22/04/1844
Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (died 1865)
Lewis Thornton Powell was an American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot. Wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, he later served in Mosby's Rangers before working with the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland. John Wilkes Booth recruited him into a plot to kidnap Lincoln and turn the president over to the Confederacy, but then decided to assassinate Lincoln, Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson instead, and assigned Powell the task to kill Seward.
22/04/1832
Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (died 1902)
Julius Sterling Morton was a Nebraska newspaper editor and politician who served as President Grover Cleveland's secretary of agriculture. He was a prominent Bourbon Democrat, taking a conservative position on political, economic, and social issues, and opposing agrarianism. Among his most notable achievements was the founding of Arbor Day in 1872. In 1897 he started a weekly magazine entitled The Conservative.
22/04/1830
Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University (died 1921)
Sarah Emily Davies was an English feminist who founded Girton College, Cambridge. She campaigned as a suffragist and for women's rights to university education.
22/04/1816
Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (died 1897)
Charles Denis Sauter Bourbaki was a French general.
22/04/1812
Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (died 1894)
Solomon Caesar Malan D.D., Vicar of Broadwindsor, Prebendary of Sarum, was a Geneva-born Anglican divine, a polyglot and orientalist. He published around 50 works related to biblical studies and translations.
22/04/1766
Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (died 1817)
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a prominent French novelist, woman of letters, philosopher, and political theorist in both Parisian and Genevan intellectual circles. She was the daughter of banker and French finance minister Jacques Necker and Suzanne Curchod, a respected salonist and writer. Throughout her life, she held a moderate stance during the tumultuous periods of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, persisting until the time of the French Restoration.
22/04/1744
James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1808)
James Sullivan was an American lawyer and politician in Massachusetts. He was an early associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, served as the state's attorney general for many years, and as governor of the state from 1807 until his death.
22/04/1732
John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (died 1814)
John Johnson was an English architect and surveyor to the county of Essex. He is best known for designing the Shire Hall, Chelmsford.
22/04/1724
Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (died 1804)
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher. Born in Königsberg in the Kingdom of Prussia, he is considered one of the central thinkers of the Enlightenment. His comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, political theory, and the philosophy of religion have made him one of the most influential and highly discussed figures in modern Western philosophy.
22/04/1711
Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (died 1762)
Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy de Galántha was a Hungarian prince, soldier and patron of music from the Esterházy family.
22/04/1707
Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (died 1754)
Henry Fielding was an English writer and judge known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His famous novels include Shamela (1741), Joseph Andrews (1742), The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) and Amelia (1751). Along with Samuel Richardson, Fielding is seen as the founder of the traditional English novel. As well as being a novelist, Fielding was also a playwright, known for his satirical comedies The Author's Farce (1730), Tom Thumb (1730), The Letter Writers (1731) and The Tragedy of Tragedies (1731). He also played an important role in the history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom, using his authority as a magistrate to found the Bow Street Runners, London's first professional police force.
22/04/1690
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1763)
John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark, commonly known by his earlier title Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763 and worked closely with the Prime Minister of the country, Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, to manage the various factions of the Government. He was Seigneur of Sark from 1715 to 1720, when he sold the fief. He held the office of Bailiff of Jersey from 1715 to 1763.
22/04/1658
Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (died 1709)
Giuseppe Torelli was an Italian violinist, teacher and composer of the middle Baroque era.
22/04/1610
Pope Alexander VIII (died 1691)
Pope Alexander VIII, born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is the most recent pope to take the pontifical name "Alexander".
22/04/1592
Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (died 1635)
Wilhelm Schickard was a German professor of Hebrew and astronomy who became famous in the second part of the 20th century after Franz Hammer, a biographer of Johannes Kepler, claimed that the drawings of a calculating clock, predating the public release of Pascal's calculator by twenty years, had been discovered in two unknown letters written by Schickard to Johannes Kepler in 1623 and 1624.
22/04/1518
Antoine of Navarre (died 1562)
Antoine, sometimes called Antoine of Bourbon, was King of Navarre from 1555 until his death in 1562 as the husband and co-ruler of Queen Jeanne III. He was the first monarch of the House of Bourbon, of which he became head in 1537. Despite being first prince of the blood in France, Navarre lacked political influence and was dominated by King Henry II of France's favourites, the Montmorency and Guise families. When Henry II died in 1559, Navarre found himself sidelined in the Guise-dominated government, and then compromised by his brother's treason. When Henry's son, King Francis II of France, soon died in turn, Navarre returned to the centre of politics, becoming Lieutenant-General of France and leading the army of the crown in the first of the French Wars of Religion. He died of wounds sustained during the Siege of Rouen. He was the father of King Henry IV, France's first Bourbon king.
22/04/1451
Isabella I of Castile (died 1504)
Isabella I, also known as Isabella the Catholic, was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs. Her reign marked the end of the Reconquista and also the start of the Spanish Empire, allowing Spain to dominate European politics for the next century.
22/04/1444
Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (died 1503)
Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk also known as Elizabeth Plantagenet was the fifth child and second daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville. She was thus a sister of Edward IV and Richard III.
22/04/1412
Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (died 1452)
Count Reinhard III of Hanau was Count of Hanau from 1451 until his death. He was the son of Count Reinhard II of Hanau and his wife, Catherine of Nassau-Beilstein.
Lives Remembered on 22nd April
On 22nd April, 73 remarkable people passed away — from 296 to 2023. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
22/04/2023
Len Goodman, English ballroom dancer and television personality (born 1944)
Leonard Gordon Goodman was an English professional ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance competition adjudicator. He appeared as head judge on the British television programme Strictly Come Dancing – in which various celebrities compete for the glitterball trophy – from its beginning in 2004 until 2016, and on the American television programme Dancing with the Stars from 2005 until 2022. He also ran a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent.
22/04/2022
Guy Lafleur, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1951)
Guy Damien Lafleur, nicknamed "the Flower" and "Le Démon Blond", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was the first player in National Hockey League (NHL) history to score 50 goals in six consecutive seasons as well as 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons. Between 1971 and 1991, Lafleur played right wing for the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Quebec Nordiques in an NHL career spanning 17 seasons, and five Stanley Cup championships in 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. Lafleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history in 2017, and was named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2022.
22/04/2021
Adrian Garrett, American professional baseball player (born 1943)
Henry Adrian Garrett Jr., nicknamed "Pat" and "Smokey", was an American professional baseball player and coach. A utility man in Major League Baseball, he appeared in 163 total games during eight seasons between 1966 and 1976 for the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and California Angels. He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).
22/04/2020
Shirley Knight, American actress (born 1936)
Shirley Knight Hopkins was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and character roles. She was a member of the Actors Studio.
22/04/2017
Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, and activist (born 1963)
Donna Leanne Williams, also known by her married name Donna Leanne Samuel and as Polly Samuel, was an Australian writer, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and sculptor.
22/04/2015
Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (born 1937)
Richard Balharry was a Scottish conservationist, writer, and wildlife photographer.
22/04/2014
Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (born 1926)
Oswaldo Vigas was a Venezuelan artist who worked as a painter, muralist, and sculptor. His body of work encompassed paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics, and tapestries. He integrated pre-Columbian with modernist and contemporary artistic currents. He lived and worked in France and Venezuela.
22/04/2013
Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1941)
Richard Pierce Havens was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul, and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style. He was the opening act at Woodstock, sang many jingles for television commercials, and was also the voice of the GeoSafari toys.
Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (born 1930)
Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin trinity of Carnatic music. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001.
Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1936)
Robert Charles Suderburg was an American composer, conductor, and pianist.
22/04/2012
George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (born 1927)
George Blatz Rathmann (1927–2012) was an American chemist, biologist, pioneer in biotechnology and corporate executive. In 1980 he co-founded and served as the first CEO of Amgen, and later founded Icos.
22/04/2010
Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (born 1943)
Richard Barrett was an American white nationalist, lawyer and self-proclaimed leader in the nationalist Skinheadz movement. Barrett was a speaker and editor of the All The Way monthly newsletter. He was general counsel of the white nationalist organisation, Nationalist Movement, which he founded in Mississippi.
22/04/2009
Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (born 1914)
Jack Cardiff was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to filmmaking more than half a century later.
22/04/2007
Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (born 1938)
Juanita Millender-McDonald was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional district, which includes most of South Central Los Angeles and the city of Long Beach, California. She was a member of the Democratic Party.
22/04/2006
Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (born 1919)
Henriette Davidson Avram was a computer programmer and systems analyst who developed the MARC format, the international data standard for bibliographic and holdings information in libraries. Avram's development of the MARC format in the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the Library of Congress had a revolutionizing effect on the practice of librarianship, making possible the automation of many library functions and the sharing of bibliographic information electronically between libraries using pre-existing cataloging standards.
Alida Valli, Italian actress (born 1921)
Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg, better known by her stage name Alida Valli, or simply Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, spanning from the 1930s to the early 2000s. She was one of the biggest stars of Italian film during the Fascist era, once being called "the most beautiful woman in the world" by Benito Mussolini, and was internationally successful post-World War II.
22/04/2005
Erika Fuchs, German translator (born 1906)
Erika Fuchs, née Petri, was a German translator. She is largely known in Germany for her major involvement in the localization process of American Disney comics, especially Carl Barks' stories about Duckburg and its inhabitants, as well the effects on the German language as a whole caused thereby.
Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (born 1915)
Philip Morrison was a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is known for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, and for his later work in quantum physics, nuclear physics, high energy astrophysics, and SETI.
Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (born 1924)
Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art.
22/04/2003
Felice Bryant, American songwriter (born 1925)
Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They are best known for songs such as "Rocky Top", "We Could", "Love Hurts", and numerous hits by the Everly Brothers, including "All I Have to Do Is Dream" and "Bird Dog", "Bye Bye Love", and "Wake Up Little Susie".
22/04/1999
Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (born 1926)
Munir Ahmad Khan, NI, HI, FPAS, was a Pakistani nuclear engineer who is credited, among others, with being the "father of the atomic bomb program" of Pakistan for his leading role in developing the nation's nuclear weapons.
22/04/1996
Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (born 1927)
Erma Louise Bombeck was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. Fifteen books of her humor have been published; most became bestsellers.
Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (born 1908)
Harold Lee "Jug" McSpaden was an American professional golfer, and golf course architect.
22/04/1995
Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (born 1947)
Jane Kenyon was an American poet and translator. Her work is often characterized as simple, spare, and emotionally resonant. Kenyon was the second wife of poet, editor, and critic Donald Hall who made her the subject of many of his poems.
22/04/1994
Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (born 1913)
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he represented California in both houses of the United States Congress before serving as the 36th vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal.
22/04/1990
Albert Salmi, American actor (born 1928)
Albert Salmi was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Best known for his work as a character actor, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions.
22/04/1989
Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905)
Emilio Gino Segrè was an Italian-American nuclear physicist and radiochemist who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton, a subatomic antiparticle, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959, along with Owen Chamberlain.
22/04/1988
Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (born 1917)
Grigori Kuzmin was an Estonian astronomer, who worked mainly in the field of stellar dynamics.
Irene Rich, American actress (born 1891)
Irene Frances Rich was an American actress who worked in both silent films, talkies, and radio.
22/04/1987
Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (born 1905)
Erika Nõva née Volberg was an Estonian architect, remembered mainly for her farmhouse designs. She was the first woman to graduate as an architect in Estonia.
22/04/1986
Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (born 1907)
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and interpreter of religious experience, he established paradigms in religious studies. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proved influential. One of his most instrumental contributions to religious studies was his theory of eternal return, which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but actually participate in them.
22/04/1985
Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (born 1900)
Paul Hugh Emmett was an American chemist best known for his pioneering work in the field of catalysis and for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II. He spearheaded the research to separate isotopes of uranium and to develop a corrosive uranium gas. Emmett also made significant contributions to BET Theory which explains the relationship between surface area and gas adsorption. He served on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University for 23 years throughout his scientific career.
Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (born 1921)
Jacques Ferron was a Canadian physician and author.
22/04/1984
Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (born 1902)
Ansel Easton Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating "pure" photography which favored sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph. He and Fred Archer developed a system of image-making called the Zone System, a method of achieving a desired final print through a technical understanding of how the tonal range of an image is the result of choices made in exposure, negative development, and printing.
22/04/1983
Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (born 1903)
Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".
22/04/1980
Jane Froman, American actress and singer (born 1907)
Ellen Jane Froman was an American actress and singer. During her 30-year career, she performed on stage, radio, and television despite chronic health problems due to injuries sustained in a 1943 plane crash.
Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (born 1902)
Friedrich Wilhelm Strassmann was a German chemist who, with Otto Hahn in December 1938, identified the element barium as a product of the bombardment of uranium with neutrons. Their observation was the key piece of evidence necessary to identify the previously unknown phenomenon of nuclear fission, as was subsequently recognized and published by Lise Meitner and Robert Frisch.
22/04/1978
Will Geer, American actor (born 1902)
Will Geer was an American actor, musician, and social activist who was active in labor organizing and communist movements in New York City and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940s. In California, he befriended rising singer Woody Guthrie. They both lived in New York City for a time in the 1940s. He was blacklisted in the 1950s by Hollywood after refusing, in testimony before Congress, to name persons who had joined the Communist Party USA.
22/04/1951
Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (born 1870)
Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist, memorable in part for his enthusiastic championing of the renaming of the genus Lasius after him as Donisthorpea, and for his many claims of discovering new species of beetles and ants.
22/04/1950
Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (born 1895)
Charles Hamilton Houston Sr. was an American lawyer. He was the dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP first special counsel. A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School, Houston played a significant role in dismantling Jim Crow laws, especially combating segregation in schools and racial housing covenants. He earned the title "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow".
22/04/1945
Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (born 1900)
Wilhelm Cauer was a German mathematician and scientist. He is most noted for his work on the analysis and synthesis of electrical filters and his work marked the beginning of the field of network synthesis. Prior to his work, electronic filter design used techniques which accurately predicted filter behaviour only under unrealistic conditions. This required a certain amount of experience on the part of the designer to choose suitable sections to include in the design. Cauer placed the field on a firm mathematical footing, providing tools that could produce exact solutions to a given specification for the design of an electronic filter.
Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (born 1867)
Käthe Kollwitz was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including The Weavers and The Peasant War, depict the effects of poverty, hunger and war on the working class. Despite the realism of her early works, her art is now more closely associated with Expressionism. Kollwitz was the first woman not only to be elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts but also to receive honorary professor status.
22/04/1933
Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (born 1863)
Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet was an English engineer famous for his designs of car and aeroplane engines that had a reputation for reliability and longevity. He and his two business associates Charles Rolls (1877–1910) and Claude Johnson (1864–1926) together founded the Rolls-Royce Limited company in 1904.
22/04/1932
Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (born 1883)
Ferenc Oslay was a Hungarian-Slovene historian, writer, Trianon irredentist, and propagandist.
22/04/1929
Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (born 1848)
Henry Lerolle was a French painter, art collector and patron, born in Paris. He studied at Académie Suisse and in the studio of Louis Lamothe.
22/04/1925
André Caplet, French composer and conductor (born 1878)
André Léon Caplet was a French composer and conductor of classical music. He was a friend of Claude Debussy who orchestrated several of his compositions, as well as arrangements of several of them for different instruments.
22/04/1908
Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1836)
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also was Secretary of State for War twice, in the cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery. He was the first First Lord of the Treasury to be officially called the "Prime Minister", the term only coming into official usage five days after he took office. He remains the only person to date to hold the positions of Prime Minister and Father of the House at the same time, and the last Liberal leader to gain a UK parliamentary majority.
22/04/1896
Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (born 1812)
Thomas Meik was a 19th-century Scottish engineer.
22/04/1894
Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (born 1868)
Kostas Krystallis was an ethnic Aromanian, Greek author and poet, representative of 19th century Greek pastoral literature. He was born an Ottoman subject in Epirus, but escaped to Greece after being denounced to the authorities for writing a patriotic collection of poetry. Krystallis initially wrote his works in archaic language, but after 1891 he adopted the vernacular (Demotic) Greek language and became influenced by the New Athenian school. He was a pictorial writer, with a love of nature, while most of his work was based on traditional folk poetry.
22/04/1893
Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (born 1825)
Chaim Aronson was a Lithuanian Jewish inventor and memoirist.
22/04/1892
Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (born 1823)
Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo was a French composer, violist, violinist, and academic teacher. His most celebrated piece is the Symphonie Espagnole, a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra that remains a popular work in the standard repertoire.
22/04/1877
James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (born 1807)
James Pugh Kirkwood was a 19th-century American civil engineer, and general superintendent of the Erie Railroad in the year 1849–1850. He left the Erie to go to the southwest to construct railroads, and he made the first survey for the Pacific Railroad west from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. The towns of Kirkwood, Missouri and Kirkwood, New York are named in his honor. He served as president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) from 1867 to 1868.
22/04/1871
Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (born 1806)
Antonio Martín Mariano Carrera Sabat was a Mexican general, senator, and interim president of the country for about a month in 1855. He was a moderate liberal.
22/04/1854
Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (born 1786)
Nicolás Bravo Rueda was a Mexican soldier and politician who served as interim President of Mexico three times, in 1839, 1842, and 1846. Previously, he fought in the Mexican War of Independence, and served as Mexico's first Vice President under President Guadalupe Victoria from 1824 until 1827, when he attempted to overthrow Victoria. He was also the fourth vice president under President Mariano Paredes in 1846, and served in the Mexican–American War.
22/04/1850
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (born 1798)
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (Fählmann) was an Estonian writer, medical doctor and philologist. He was a co-founder of the Learned Estonian Society and its chairman (1843-1850).
22/04/1833
Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (born 1771)
Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He was an early pioneer of steam-powered road and rail transport, and his most significant contributions were the development of the first high-pressure steam engine and the first working railway steam locomotive. The world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place on 21 February 1804, when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
22/04/1821
Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (born 1746)
Gregory V of Constantinople, born Georgios Angelopoulos, was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808, and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, which had been badly damaged by fire in 1738.
22/04/1806
Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (born 1763)
Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve was a French Navy officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of a Franco-Spanish fleet which was defeated by the British Royal Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
22/04/1778
James Hargreaves, British inventor (born 1720)
James Hargreaves was an English weaver, carpenter and inventor who lived and worked in Lancashire, England. Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764.
22/04/1758
Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (born 1686)
Antoine de Jussieu was a French naturalist, botanist, and physician. The standard author abbreviation Ant.Juss. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
22/04/1699
Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (born 1646)
Hans Erasmus Aßmann, Freiherr von Abschatz was a statesman and poet from the second Silesian school. He lived in Bohemia.
22/04/1672
Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (born 1598)
Georg Stiernhielm was a Swedish civil servant, mathematician, linguist and poet. He has been called "the father of the Swedish skald art".
22/04/1616
Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1547)
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his two-part novel Don Quixote, a work considered to be the first modern novel. Don Quixote has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time" and the "best and most central work in world literature".
22/04/1585
Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (born 1550)
Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, then Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, then Prince-Bishop of Paderborn.
22/04/1355
Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (born 1318)
Eleanor of Woodstock was an English princess and the duchess of Guelders and countess of Zutphen by marriage to Reginald II of Guelders. She was regent as the guardian of their minor son Reginald III from 1343 until 1344. She was a younger sister of Edward III of England.
22/04/1322
Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (born 1251)
Francesco da Fabriano - born Francesco Venimbeni - was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He was a noted writer on various theological and biblical matters and was known for his great breadth of theological knowledge that characterized his religious life.
22/04/1208
Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
Philip of Poitou was Bishop of Durham from 1197 to 1208, and prior to this Archdeacon of Canterbury.
22/04/0846
Wuzong, Chinese emperor (born 814)
Emperor Wuzong of Tang, né Li Chan, later changed to Li Yan just before his death, was an emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 840 to 846. Emperor Wuzong is mainly known in modern times for the religious persecution that occurred during his reign. However, he was also known for his successful reactions against incursions by remnants of the Uyghur Khanate and the rebellion by Liu Zhen, as well as his deep trust and support for chancellor Li Deyu.
22/04/0835
Kūkai, Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Esoteric (Shingon) Buddhism (born 774)
Kūkai , born Saeki no Mao posthumously called Kōbō Daishi , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of Vajrayana Buddhism. With the blessing of several Emperors, Kūkai was able to preach Shingon teachings and found Shingon temples. Like other influential monks, Kūkai oversaw public works and constructions. Mount Kōya was chosen by him as a holy site, and he spent his later years there until his death in 835 CE.
22/04/0613
Saint Theodore of Sykeon
Saint Theodore of Sykeon, also known as Theodore the Sykeote, was a revered Byzantine ascetic, who lived between the first half of the 6th century and the thirteenth year of the Emperor Heraclius' rule in the early 7th century. His hagiography, written after 641, is a key primary source for the reign of Emperor Heraclius. His feast day is 22 April.
22/04/0591
Peter III of Raqqa
Peter III of Callinicum was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 581 until his death in 591. He is commemorated as a saint by the Syriac Orthodox Church in the Martyrology of Rabban Sliba, and his feast day is 22 April.
22/04/0536
Pope Agapetus I
Pope Agapetus I was the bishop of Rome from 13 May 535 to his death on 22 April 536. His father, Gordianus, was a priest in Rome and he may have been related to two popes, Felix III and Gregory I.
22/04/0296
Pope Caius
Pope Caius, also called Gaius, was the bishop of Rome from 17 December 283 to his death in 296. Little information on Caius is available except that given by the Liber Pontificalis, which relies on a legendary account of the martyrdom of Susanna of Rome for its information. According to legend, Caius baptized the men and women who had been converted by Tiburtius and Castulus. His legend states that Caius took refuge in the catacombs of Rome and died a martyr.
Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 22nd April
Christian feast day: Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church)
Acepsimas of Hnaita was a bishop, martyr, and saint.
Christian feast day: Arwald
Arwald was the last pagan Anglo-Saxon king and the last king of the Wihtwara, a people that inhabited the Isle of Wight. He was killed by Cædwalla of Wessex during an invasion of his kingdom, at which point the island was Christianised. During the invasion, his two brothers were baptised before also being killed and are now venerated as saints.
Christian feast day: Epipodius and Alexander
Epipodius and his companion Alexander are venerated as Christian saints. Their feast day is 22 April, and Alexander is additionally commemorated on April 24 in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Epipodius was a native of Lyon; Alexander was said to be a native of Phrygia, and a physician by profession. They were both martyred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
Christian feast day: Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church)
Hudson Stuck was a British native who became an Episcopal priest, social reformer and mountain climber in the United States. With Harry P. Karstens, he co-led the first expedition to successfully climb Denali in June 1913, via the South Summit. He published five books about his years in Alaska. Two memoirs were issued in new editions in 1988, including his account of the ascent of Denali.
Christian feast day: John Muir (Episcopal Church)
John Muir, also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States.
Christian feast day: Opportuna of Montreuil
Opportuna of Montreuil was a Frankish Benedictine nun and abbess. A Vita et miracula Sanctae Opportunae was written within a century of her death by Adalhelm, bishop of Séez, who believed he owed his life and his see to Opportuna.
Christian feast day: Pope Caius
Pope Caius, also called Gaius, was the bishop of Rome from 17 December 283 to his death in 296. Little information on Caius is available except that given by the Liber Pontificalis, which relies on a legendary account of the martyrdom of Susanna of Rome for its information. According to legend, Caius baptized the men and women who had been converted by Tiburtius and Castulus. His legend states that Caius took refuge in the catacombs of Rome and died a martyr.
Christian feast day: Pope Soter
Pope Soter was the bishop of Rome from c. 167 to his death in c. 174. According to the Annuario Pontificio, the dates may have ranged from 162–168 to 170–177. He was born in Fundi, in the Lazio region of Italy. Soter is known for declaring that marriage was valid only as a sacrament blessed by a priest and also for formally inaugurating Easter as an annual festival in Rome. His name, from Greek Σωτήριος from σωτήρ "saviour", would be his baptismal name, as his lifetime predates the tradition of adopting papal names.
Christian feast day: St Senorina
Saint Senhorinha of Basto, also Senorina was a Portuguese Benedictine abbess in what is today northern Portugal. She is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, and was related to Saint Rudesind of Mondoñedo.
Christian feast day: Theodore of Sykeon
Saint Theodore of Sykeon, also known as Theodore the Sykeote, was a revered Byzantine ascetic, who lived between the first half of the 6th century and the thirteenth year of the Emperor Heraclius' rule in the early 7th century. His hagiography, written after 641, is a key primary source for the reign of Emperor Heraclius. His feast day is 22 April.
Christian feast day: April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
April 21 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - April 23
Discovery Day (Brazil)
Discovery Day is the name of several holidays commemorating the discovery of land, gold, and other significant national discoveries.
Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance: International Mother Earth Day
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.
Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia)
A Holocaust memorial day or Holocaust remembrance day is an annual observance to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide of six million Jews and of millions of other Holocaust victims by Nazi Germany and its allies. Many countries, primarily in Europe, have designated national dates of commemoration.
From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom)
Stephen Adrian Lawrence was an 18-year-old black British student from Woolwich, southeast London, England who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road in Eltham, on the evening of 22 April 1993. The case became a cause célèbre; its fallout included changes of attitudes on racism and the police, and to the law and police practice. It also led to the partial revocation of the rule against double jeopardy. Two of the perpetrators were convicted of murder on 3 January 2012.
What Happened on 22nd April?
35 significant events took place on Saturday, 22nd April — stretching from 960 to 2025. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
22/04/2025
At least 26 people are killed in a terrorist attack on a group of tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack.
The 2025 Pahalgam attack, also referred to as the 2025 Pahalgam massacre, was an Islamist terrorist attack on tourists by three armed terrorists near Pahalgam in India's Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed on 22 April 2025. The militants targeted Hindu tourists, though a Christian tourist and a local Muslim pony ride operator were also killed. The attackers, armed with M4 carbines and AK-47s, entered the Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist spot, through the surrounding forests. This incident is considered the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
22/04/2020
Four police officers are killed after being struck by a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne while speaking to a speeding driver, marking the largest loss of police lives in Victoria Police history.
On 22 April 2020, a truck driver under the influence of drugs, Mohinder Singh, crashed his truck into a private vehicle and two police cars on the Eastern Freeway in the suburb of Kew East, Australia, killing four police officers who were on routine highway patrol. Prior to the incident, the officers had pulled over driver Richard Pusey for speeding in his Porsche. After the truck hit the officers, Pusey filmed them for several minutes with vulgar commentary as they lay dying, before fleeing.
22/04/2016
The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was negotiated by 196 parties at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference near Paris, France. As of January 2026, 194 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are parties to the agreement. Of the three UNFCCC member states which have not ratified the agreement, the only major emitter is Iran. The United States, the second largest emitter, withdrew from the agreement in 2020, rejoined in 2021, and withdrew again in 2026.
22/04/2005
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record.
Junichiro Koizumi is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is the sixth-longest serving and second longest-uninterrupted serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.
22/04/1993
Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
Stephen Adrian Lawrence was an 18-year-old black British student from Woolwich, southeast London, England who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road in Eltham, on the evening of 22 April 1993. The case became a cause célèbre; its fallout included changes of attitudes on racism and the police, and to the law and police practice. It also led to the partial revocation of the rule against double jeopardy. Two of the perpetrators were convicted of murder on 3 January 2012.
22/04/1992
A series of gas explosions rip through the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 206.
A gas explosion is the ignition of a mixture of air and flammable gas, typically from a gas leak. In household accidents, the principal explosive gases are those used for heating or cooking purposes such as natural gas, methane, propane, butane. In industrial explosions, many other gases, like hydrogen, as well as evaporated (gaseous) gasoline or ethanol play an important role. Industrial gas explosions can be prevented with the use of intrinsic safety barriers to prevent ignition, or use of alternative energy.
22/04/1977
Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers are widely used in fiber-optic communication, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths than electrical cables. Fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss and are immune to electromagnetic interference. Fibers are also used for illumination and imaging, and are often wrapped in bundles so they may be used to carry light into, or images out of confined spaces, as in the case of a fiberscope. Specially designed fibers are also used for a variety of other applications, such as fiber optic sensors and fiber lasers.
22/04/1974
Pan Am Flight 812 crashes on approach to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, killing all 107 people on board.
Pan Am Flight 812, operated by a Pan Am Boeing 707-321B registered N446PA and named Clipper Climax, was a scheduled international flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, California, with intermediate stops at Denpasar, Sydney, Nadi, and Honolulu. On April 22, 1974, the aircraft crashed into rough mountainous terrain while preparing for a runway 09 approach to Denpasar after a 4-hour 20-minute flight from Hong Kong. All 107 people on board perished. The location of the accident was about 42.5 nautical miles northwest of Ngurah Rai International Airport. Until the 1991 Jakarta Indonesian Air Force C-130 crash, it was the deadliest aviation accident to happen on Indonesian soil.
22/04/1970
The first Earth Day is celebrated.
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.
Chicano residents in San Diego, California occupy a site under the Coronado Bridge, leading to the creation of Chicano Park.
San Diego is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. It is the eighth-most populous city in the U.S. and second-most populous city in California with a population of over 1.4 million, while the San Diego metropolitan area with over 3.3 million residents is the 18th-largest metropolitan area in the country. San Diego is the county seat of San Diego County. It is known for its mild Mediterranean climate, extensive beaches and parks, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a wireless, electronics, healthcare, and biotechnology development center.
22/04/1969
British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston CBE RD* is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won in 1994 the second Jules Verne Trophy, for which they were also given the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards. In 2007, at the age of 67, he set a record as the oldest yachtsman to complete a round the world solo voyage in the Velux 5 Oceans Race.
The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI(ML)) was an Indian communist party formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared by Kanu Sanyal at a mass meeting in Calcutta on 22 April, Vladimir Lenin's birthday. Later the CPI(ML) party splintered into several Naxalite groups.
22/04/1966
American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D crashes on approach to Ardmore Municipal Airport in Ardmore, Oklahoma, killing 83.
American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D was a flight operated on a U.S. Military Air Command contract from Monterey Regional Airport in California to Columbus Airport in Georgia, via Ardmore Municipal Airport, Oklahoma. On April 22, 1966, while approaching Runway 8 at Ardmore, the aircraft overshot the runway and crashed into a hill, bursting into flames. Eighty-three of the 98 passengers and crew on board died as a result of the accident making it the deadliest to have occurred in Oklahoma.
22/04/1954
Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United States during the late 1940s through the 1950s, heavily associated with the Second Red Scare, also known as the McCarthy era. After the mid-1950s, U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy, who had spearheaded the campaign, gradually lost his public popularity and credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false. The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren made a series of rulings on civil and political rights that overturned several key laws and legislative directives, and helped bring an end to the Second Red Scare.
22/04/1951
Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
The Korean War was an armed conflict fought on the Korean Peninsula between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was supported by the United Nations led by the United States under the auspices of the United Nations Command (UNC). The conflict was one of the first major proxy wars of the Cold War and one of its deadliest conflicts on noncombatants, as it is estimated that 1.5 to 3 million civilians were killed during the war. The war was the first time the United Nations Security Council authorized the use of force under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
22/04/1948
Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war became a war of separate states with the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948, the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight, and the invasion by a military coalition of Arab states into the territory of Mandatory Palestine the following morning. The war formally ended with the 1949 Armistice Agreements which established the Green Line.
22/04/1945
World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
Jasenovac was a concentration and extermination camp established in the village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. The concentration camp, one of the ten largest in Europe, was established and operated by the governing Ustaše regime, Europe's only Nazi collaborationist regime that operated its own extermination camps, for Serbs, Romani, Jews, and political dissidents. It quickly grew into the third largest concentration camp in Europe.
World War II: Sachsenhausen concentration camp is liberated by soldiers of the Red Army and Polish First Army.
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May. It mainly held political prisoners throughout World War II. Prominent prisoners included Joseph Stalin's oldest son, Yakov Dzhugashvili; assassin Herschel Grynszpan; Paul Reynaud, the penultimate prime minister of the French Third Republic; Francisco Largo Caballero, prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War; the wife and children of the crown prince of Bavaria; Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera; and several enemy soldiers and political dissidents.
22/04/1944
World War II: The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
The fall of Denmark in April 1940 left the Danish colony of Greenland an unoccupied territory of an occupied nation, under the possibility of seizure by the United Kingdom, United States or Canada, a Dominion of the British Empire.
World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
The Landing at Aitape was a battle of the Western New Guinea campaign of World War II. American and Allied forces undertook an amphibious landing on 22 April 1944 at Aitape on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The amphibious landing was undertaken simultaneously with the landings at Humboldt and Tanahmerah Bays to secure Hollandia to isolate the Japanese 18th Army at Wewak. Operations in the area to consolidate the landing continued until 4 May, although US and Japanese forces fought further actions in western New Guinea following a Japanese counter-offensive that lasted until early August 1944. Aitape was subsequently developed into an Allied base of operations and was used by Australian forces throughout late 1944 and into 1945 during the Aitape–Wewak campaign.
22/04/1930
The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address issues not covered in the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, which had created tonnage limits for each nation's surface warships, the new agreement regulated submarine warfare, further controlled cruisers and destroyers, and limited naval shipbuilding.
22/04/1915
World War I: 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.
World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.
22/04/1906
The 1906 Intercalated Games open in Athens.
The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games, held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. It was at the time considered to be part of the series of the Olympic Games, and was referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games in Athens" by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, the medals that were distributed to the participants during these Games were later not officially recognised by the IOC and are not displayed with the collection of Olympic medals at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
22/04/1898
Spanish–American War: President William McKinley calls for 125,000 volunteers to join the National Guard and fight in Cuba, while Congress more than doubles regular Army forces to 65,000.
The Spanish–American War was fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the U.S. acquiring sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and establishing a protectorate over Cuba. It represented U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and Philippine Revolution, with the latter later leading to the Philippine–American War. The Spanish–American War brought an end to almost four centuries of Spanish presence in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific; the United States meanwhile not only became a major world power, but also gained several island possessions spanning the globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism.
22/04/1889
At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
The Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of the former western portion of the federal Indian Territory, which had decades earlier since the 1830s been assigned to the Creek and Seminole native peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of the Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma. The land run started at high noon on April 22, 1889. An estimated 50,000 people were lined up at the start, seeking to gain a piece of the available two million acres (8,100 km2).
22/04/1876
The first National League baseball game is played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia.
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP) of 1871–1875, the NL is sometimes called the Senior Circuit, in contrast to MLB's other league, the American League, which was founded 25 years later and is called the "Junior Circuit". Each league has 15 teams.
22/04/1864
The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that permitted the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
22/04/1836
Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
The Texas Revolution was a rebellion by Anglo-American immigrants as well as Hispanic Texans against the centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Although the uprising was part of a larger revolt that included other provinces opposed to the regime of President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government believed the United States had instigated the Texas insurrection with the goal of annexation. The Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". Only the province of Texas succeeded in breaking with Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. It was eventually annexed by the United States about a decade later.
22/04/1809
The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 21–22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon I had been unprepared for the start of hostilities on 10 April 1809, by the Austrians under Archduke Charles of Austria, and for the first time since assuming the French Imperial Crown had been forced to give up the strategic initiative to an opponent. Thanks to the dogged defense waged by the III Corps, commanded by Marshal Davout, and the Bavarian VII Corps, commanded by Marshal Lefebvre, Napoleon was able to defeat the principal Austrian army and wrest the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.
22/04/1529
Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
The Treaty of Zaragoza or Saragossa, also called the Capitulation of Zaragoza or Saragossa, was a peace treaty between Castile and Portugal, signed on 22 April 1529 by King John III of Portugal and the Habsburg Emperor Charles V in the Aragonese city of Zaragoza. The treaty defined the areas of Castilian and Portuguese influence in Asia in order to resolve the "Moluccas issue", which had arisen because both kingdoms claimed the lucrative Spice Islands for themselves, asserting that they were within their area of influence as specified in 1494 by the Treaty of Tordesillas. The conflict began in 1520, when expeditions from both kingdoms reached the Pacific Ocean, because no agreed meridian of longitude had been established in the far east.
22/04/1519
Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
Conquistadors or conquistadores were Spanish and Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with, and conquered many parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania during the Age of Discovery. Sailing beyond the Iberian Peninsula, they established numerous colonies and trade routes, and brought much of the New World under the dominion of Spain and Portugal.
22/04/1500
Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil (discovery of Brazil).
Pedro Álvares Cabral was a Portuguese nobleman, colonizer, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in history to ever be on four continents, uniting all of them in his famous voyage of 1500, where he also conducted the first substantial exploration of the northeast coast of South America and claimed it for Portugal. While details of Cabral's early life remain unclear, it is known that he came from a minor noble family and received a good education. He was appointed to head an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gama's newly opened route around Africa. The undertaking had the aim of returning with valuable spices and of establishing trade relations in India—bypassing the monopoly on the spice trade then in the hands of Arab, Turkish and Italian merchants. Although the previous expedition of Vasco da Gama to India, on its sea route, had recorded signs of land west of the southern Atlantic Ocean, Cabral led the first known expedition to have touched four continents: Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia.
22/04/1073
Election of Pope Gregory VII following the death of Pope Alexander II.
Pope Gregory VII, born Hildebrand of Sovana, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
22/04/0960
Basil II is crowned co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
Basil II Porphyrogenitus, given the epithet the Bulgar Slayer, was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne thus went to two generals, Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes before Basil became senior emperor, though his influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos remained as the de facto ruler until 985. His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor.