Friday, 22nd May 2026 in Lisbon

22nd May in the Stars – Star Sign Gemini

Today, the zodiac sign Gemini celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on May 22nd embody the curious Gemini with innovative Uranus influence. They are lively, versatile, and constantly seeking new ideas and experiences. Their restless energy drives them to explore the world and push boundaries.

Strengths & Weaknesses These individuals shine through flexibility, communication skills, and original thinking. Their weakness lies in a tendency toward superficiality and inconsistency. They often struggle with impatience and difficulty committing long-term.

Love In relationships, May 22nd natives need mental stimulation and freedom. They thrive on vibrant conversations and partners who appreciate their innovative ideas. Emotional depth develops slowly, yet their loyalty runs deeper than their reputation suggests.

Caree & Finance These natives flourish in careers combining creativity and communication—journalism, technology, design, or research. They're brilliant problem-solvers but must learn to complete projects. Financially, they tend toward impulsiveness rather than planning.

Health May 22nd individuals benefit from mental and physical challenges. Their restlessness demands regular movement and intellectual engagement. Nervous tension and sleep issues can emerge when overstretched.

That night, the moon was in its waning gibbous phase.

Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).

Fun Facts About 22nd May

Name Days in Your Language: Jolee, Joleen, Jolene, Jolie, Marshall

Someone born on this day would be just 9 days old today — roughly 230 hours, 13,847 minutes, or 830,856 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 142. day of the year. In 2026, 22nd May falls on a Friday.

There are 223 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 21 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 22nd May

On this day, 206 notable people were born on 22nd May — spanning from 626 to 2004. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

22/05/2004

Peyton Elizabeth Lee, American actress

Peyton Elizabeth Lee is an American actress. She is known for starring in the title role of the Disney Channel comedy-drama series Andi Mack (2017–2019). She has continued to work with Disney in the films Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020), Prom Pact (2023), Pizza Movie (2026), and the series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021–2023). Lee will make her theatrical debut in Laika’s Wildwood (2026).

22/05/2002

Anthony Richardson, American football player

Anthony Dashawn Richardson Sr. is an American professional football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators and was selected by the Colts fourth overall in the 2023 NFL draft.

22/05/2001

Enzo Barrenechea, Argentine footballer

Enzo Alan Tomás Barrenechea is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa.

Emma Chamberlain, American internet personality

Emma Frances Chamberlain is an American influencer, podcaster, businesswoman, and model. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 Next list, and its list of The 25 Most Influential People On The Internet, writing that "Chamberlain pioneered an approach to vlogging that shook up YouTube's unofficial style guide."

Joshua Zirkzee, Dutch footballer

Joshua Orobosa Zirkzee is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and the Netherlands national team.

22/05/2000

Julián Carranza, Argentine footballer

Julián Simón Carranza is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Necaxa.

22/05/1999

Samuel Chukwueze, Nigerian footballer

Samuel Chimerenka Chukwueze is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Fulham, on loan from Serie A club AC Milan. He also plays for the Nigeria national team.

Femke Huijzer, Dutch model

Femke Huijzer is a Dutch female fashion model.

Hōshōryū Tomokatsu, Mongolian sumo wrestler

Hōshōryū Tomokatsu is a Mongolian professional sumo wrestler and the 74th yokozuna. Wrestling for Tatsunami stable, he made his professional debut in January 2018. He is especially known for his throws; Mongolian sumo wrestlers are often skilled throwers, reflecting the skills used in Mongolian wrestling.

22/05/1998

Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model

Samile Bermannelli is a Brazilian fashion model.

22/05/1997

Lauri Markkanen, Finnish basketball player

Lauri Elias Markkanen is a Finnish professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and for the Finland national team. Nicknamed "the Finnisher", he is the son of Finnish basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen, and the younger brother of footballer Eero Markkanen.

22/05/1994

Florian Luger, Austrian male model

Florian Luger is an Austrian male fashion model.

Athena Manoukian, Greek-Armenian singer and songwriter

Athena Manoukian is a Greek singer and songwriter. She was set to represent Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Chains on You" prior to the contest's cancellation.

22/05/1992

Anna Baryshnikov, American actress

Anna Katerina Baryshnikova is an American actress. Following her film debut in Wiener-Dog (2016), Baryshnikov had supporting roles in films such as Manchester by the Sea (2016), The Kindergarten Teacher (2018), and Love Lies Bleeding (2024). She is best known for her lead roles as Maya on the first season of the CBS sitcom series Superior Donuts (2017) and Lavinia Norcross Dickinson on the Apple TV+ comedy drama series Dickinson (2019–2021).

22/05/1991

Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer

Joel Chukwuma Obi, known as Joel Obi, is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.

Suho, South Korean singer and actor

Kim Jun-myeon, known professionally as Suho, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He is the leader of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo and its sub-unit Exo-K. He debuted as a soloist on March 30, 2020, with the release of his extended play (EP) Self-Portrait. Outside of his musical career, Suho has also starred in various television dramas and movies such as One Way Trip (2016), The Universe's Star (2017), Rich Man (2018), Middle School Girl A (2018), How Are U Bread (2020), Behind Your Touch (2023), and Missing Crown Prince (2024).

22/05/1990

Wyatt Roy, Australian politician

Wyatt Beau Roy is a former Australian parliamentarian. He served as the Assistant Minister for Innovation from September 2015 to the July 2016 federal election. He was a Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) member of the Australian House of Representatives from August 2010 to July 2016, representing the electorate of Longman. At 20 years of age, he was the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament. The federal record was previously held by Edwin Corboy, who was 22 when elected in 1918. He also became the youngest Minister in the history of the Commonwealth, being appointed to the ministry at the age of 25.

22/05/1989

Corey Dickerson, American baseball player

McKenzie Corey Dickerson is an American professional baseball coach and former left fielder who currently serves as the first base coach for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Colorado Rockies (2013–2015), Rays (2016–2017), Pittsburgh Pirates (2018–2019), Philadelphia Phillies (2019), Miami Marlins (2020–2021), Toronto Blue Jays (2021), St. Louis Cardinals (2022), and Washington Nationals (2023).

22/05/1988

Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress

Heiða Rún Sigurðardóttir, known professionally as Heida Reed, is an Icelandic actress and model. She is known for playing parts in One Day (2011), Jo (2013), Silent Witness (2014), the BBC drama Poldark (2015–2019) and the CBS drama FBI: International (2021–2024).

22/05/1987

Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player

Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player. Djokovic has been ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a record 428 weeks, finished as the year-end No. 1 a record eight times, and has been ranked No. 1 at least once in a year for a record 13 different years. He has won 101 ATP Tour–level singles titles, including a record 24 majors, a record 40 Masters, a record seven year-end championships, and an Olympic gold medal. Djokovic is the only man in tennis history to be the reigning champion of all four majors at once across three different surfaces. In singles, he is the only man to achieve a triple Career Grand Slam, and the first player to complete a Career Golden Masters, and the only player to accomplish it twice. Djokovic is the only player in singles to have won all of the Big Titles over the course of his career.

Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga de Primera club Colo-Colo and captains the Chile national team. His displays during his time at Juventus led him to be nicknamed Il Guerriero, Rey Arturo and La Piranha by the Italian press due to his hard-tackling and aggressive, tenacious style of play. He is regarded as one of the greatest Chilean players of all time.

22/05/1986

Julian Edelman, American football player

Julian Francis Edelman is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes as a quarterback and was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Patriots, where he transitioned to a return specialist and wide receiver. Edelman became a primary offensive starter in 2013 and was a staple of the Patriots' receiving corps until his retirement after the 2020 season.

Matt Jarvis, English footballer

Matthew Thomas Jarvis is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger.

Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater

Tatiana Andreyеvna Volosozhar is a Ukrainian-born Russian pair skater. With Maxim Trankov, she is the two-time 2014 Olympic champion in the pairs and in team events, the 2013 World champion, a four-time European champion, the 2012 Grand Prix Final champion, and a three-time Russian national champion. They have also won six events on the Grand Prix series.

22/05/1985

Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer

Tranquillo Barnetta is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Mauro Boselli, Argentine footballer me

Mauro Boselli is an Argentine former professional footballer who played in the position striker.

Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress

Tao Okamoto , also known professionally by the mononym Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is considered one of the biggest models from Japan alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren.

22/05/1984

Clara Amfo, English television and radio presenter

Clara Amfo is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1.

Karoline Herfurth, German actress

Karoline Herfurth is a German actress and filmmaker.

Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer

Didier Ya Konan is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook

Dustin Aaron Moskovitz is an American internet entrepreneur who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms with Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes. In 2008, he left Facebook to co-found Asana with Justin Rosenstein. In March 2011, Forbes reported Moskovitz to be the youngest self-made billionaire in the world, on the basis of his then 2.34% share in Facebook. According to Forbes, as of April 2026, Moskovitz's estimated net worth stood at US$10.2 billion.

22/05/1983

Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist

Natasha Kanani Janine Kai is an American professional soccer forward and Olympic gold medalist who played professionally most recently in 2019. She previously played for Sky Blue FC and the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer and National Women's Soccer League as well as the United States women's national soccer team. In 2011, Kai was also part of the first US women's rugby union sevens team to play in the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup held in Dubai.

22/05/1982

Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress

Erin McNaught is an Australian model, actress, presenter, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder. McNaught grew up in Australia alongside her older brothers and began playing in a band named "Short Straw" in her teenage years. After starting a career in modelling she represented Australia at the Miss Universe 2006 competition. After her participation McNaught went on to secure more modelling contracts and television jobs. In 2007 she took acting classes and secured a part in the soap opera Neighbours playing the role of Sienna Cammeniti. In 2010, she was employed by MTV and fronted their MTV Hits Weekly Hot30 Countdown show.

Apolo Ohno, American speed skater

Apolo Anton Ohno is an American retired short-track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Ohno was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019.

Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer

Hong Yong-jo is a North Korean former footballer who played as a midfielder. He captained North Korea at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

22/05/1981

Bryan Danielson, American wrestler

Bryan Lloyd Danielson is an American sports commentator and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he serves as a color commentator for its flagship show Dynamite and is a part-time in-ring performer. He is also known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Daniel Bryan from 2010 to 2021.

Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (died 2015)

Bassel Khartabil, also known as Bassel Safadi, was a Palestinian-Syrian open-source software developer. He was detained without trial by the Syrian government in 2012 and was secretly executed in 2015. Human rights organizations say that he was detained for his activities in support of freedom of expression, and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered his detention to have been arbitrary.

Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player

Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Gerald Melzer, with whom he played doubles in several tournaments.

Mark O'Meley, Australian rugby league player

Mark O'Meley is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Irish descent who played as a prop in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s he also played junior rugby league for the Northern Lakes Warriors and the Wyong Roos. He also went on to coach the Wyong Roos.

22/05/1980

Tarin Bradford, Australian rugby league player

Tarin Bradford is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. He primarily played on the wing.

Sharice Davids, American politician

Sharice Lynnette Davids is an American politician, attorney, and former mixed martial artist serving as the U.S. representative from Kansas's 3rd congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that includes most of the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Kansas City, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Leawood, Lenexa, and Olathe.

Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (died 2009)

Lucy Imogen Gordon was an English actress and model. She became a face of CoverGirl in 1997 before starting an acting career. Her first film was Perfume in 2001 before going on to have small roles in Spider-Man 3, Serendipity, and The Four Feathers. Gordon had played the actress and singer Jane Birkin in the film Gainsbourg, a biopic of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Before the film was released, she hanged herself in her flat in Paris on 20 May 2009.

22/05/1979

Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress

Nazanin Boniadi is a British actress and activist. Born in Tehran and raised in London, she attended university in the United States, where she landed her first major acting role as Leyla Mir in the soap opera General Hospital (2007–2009) and its spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift (2007). Since then, Boniadi has played Nora in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2011), Fara Sherazi in the spy thriller series Homeland (2013–2014), Esther in the historical drama film Ben-Hur (2016), Clare Quayle in the sci-fi thriller series Counterpart (2017–2018), Zahra Kashani in the action thriller film Hotel Mumbai (2018), and Bronwyn in the first season of the fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022).

Tihomir Dovramadjiev, Bulgarian Chess boxer

Tihomir Atanassov Dovramadjiev, also known as Tihomir Tishko and as TigerTAD on the Playchess server, is a Bulgarian chess FIDE master and chess boxer. He became the first European chess boxing champion from Berlin, Germany, in 2005. with both World Chess Boxing Organisation - WCBO and World Chess Boxing Association - WCBA acknowledgments. He has held the International Chess Federation - FIDE title of FIDE master since 2004. Currently, he holds the position of associate professor in the Department of Industrial Design at the Technical University of Varna.

Maggie Q, American actress

Margaret Denise Quigley, known professionally as Maggie Q, is an American actress. She began her professional career in Hong Kong, with starring roles in the action films Gen-Y Cops (2000) and Naked Weapon (2002), before appearing in the American productions Mission: Impossible III (2006), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Priest (2011) and The Protégé (2021). She portrayed Tori Wu in the dystopian science-fiction action film Divergent (2014), and reprised her role in the sequels, Insurgent (2015) and Allegiant (2016). Q starred in the title role on the CW action-thriller series Nikita (2010–2013), and also had a main role as FBI special agent Hannah Wells in the ABC/Netflix political thriller series Designated Survivor (2016–2019). She provided the voice of Wonder Woman on the animated series Young Justice (2012–2019). In 2025, Q began starring in the lead role of Detective Renée Ballard on the Prime Video series Ballard, a spinoff of the television series Bosch: Legacy.

22/05/1978

Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress

Ginnifer Goodwin is an American actress. She starred as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018), Judy Hopps in Zootopia (2016) and its 2025 sequel, and Beth Ann Stanton in Why Women Kill (2019).

Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model

Katie Price is an English media personality, model, and businesswoman. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her glamour modelling work in British tabloid newspapers, including Page 3 in The Sun and the Daily Star, under the pseudonym Jordan.

22/05/1977

Pat Smullen, Irish jockey (died 2020)

Patrick Joseph Smullen, was an Irish jockey who won the Irish flat racing Champion Jockey title nine times. In a career running from 1992 to 2018 he rode 1,845 winners in Ireland and 47 in Britain. Amongst his biggest successes were riding Harzand to victories in the Epsom Derby and Irish Derby in 2016. He was stable jockey to Dermot Weld from 1999 until 2018.

22/05/1976

Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist

Christian Vande Velde is a retired American professional road racing cyclist who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the U.S. Postal Service, Liberty Seguros, Team CSC and Garmin–Sharp squads. He has been a cycling analyst for NBC Sports since 2014. He is the son of cyclist John Vande Velde.

22/05/1975

Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager

Salvador Ballesta Vialcho, commonly known as Salva, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager.

22/05/1974

Sean Gunn, American actor

Sean Gunn is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Kirk Gleason on The WB series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), and Kraglin Obfonteri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this role, he has been in the films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), as well as the animated series What If...? (2021–2024), and television special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). He also played Weasel and Calendar Man in the Warner Bros./DCEU film The Suicide Squad (2021). He reprised the role of Weasel in the DCU HBO Max series Creature Commandos (2024), where he also plays G.I. Robot. He is the younger brother of director James Gunn and often appears in his productions.

Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer

Garba Lawal is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a winger. From 2014 to 2015, he was general manager at Kaduna United. He is with the technical department of the Nigeria Football Federation.

Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast

Henrietta Ónodi is a Hungarian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal in 1992. After retiring from gymnastics in 1997 she moved to the United States, married American Olympic pentathlete James Haley, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, having three children together. In 2010, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician

Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served two terms as Prime Minister of Ukraine – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and from 27 November 2014 to 14 April 2016. He was the youngest foreign affairs minister in Ukraine's history.

Canek Sánchez Guevara, Cuban author and dissident (died 2015)

Canek Sánchez Guevara (1974–2015) was a Cuban author, photographer, musician and dissident. The grandson of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara, he grew up in the upper crust of post-revolutionary Cuban society, but soon became disillusioned with the government of Fidel Castro. After his mother's death, he went into exile in Mexico, where he worked as a writer for Proceso, penning criticisms of the Cuban government from a left-wing anarchist perspective. He died in 2015, following complications with cardiac surgery.

Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Norwegian politician

Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim is a Norwegian politician and diplomat who servied as the Minister of International Development and Minister of Nordic Cooperation from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Centre Party, she also served as the party's second deputy leader from 2014 to 2025.

22/05/1973

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor

Nikolaj Lie Kaas is a Danish actor whose career began in the 1990s. Kaas graduated from the National Theater School in Denmark in 1998. He first appeared on screen in Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's film The Boys from St. Petri in 1991 as Otto, the rebel son of a traitor.

22/05/1972

Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter

Maximilian Michael Brooks is an American writer. He is the son of actors Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. Much of Brooks' writing focuses on zombie stories. He was a senior fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, New York.

22/05/1970

Naomi Campbell, English model

Naomi Elaine Campbell is a British model and former singer. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was the first black woman to appear as a model on the covers of Time and Vogue France.

Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (died 2019)

Steven James Brody, known professionally as Brody Stevens, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in the Comedy Central reality series Brody Stevens: Enjoy It!, and was known for appearances on Chelsea Lately and other comedy shows as well as roles in films such as The Hangover (2009) and Due Date (2010).

22/05/1969

Michael Kelly, American actor

Michael Kelly is an American actor, widely known for his role as Doug Stamper in the Netflix drama series House of Cards. He played a regular role as CIA Agent Mike November in the Prime Video thriller series Jack Ryan. He also appeared on The Sopranos as FBI Agent Ron Goddard.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician

Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for Washington's 5th congressional district, which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest city. A Republican, McMorris Rodgers previously served in the Washington House of Representatives. From 2013 to 2019, she chaired the House Republican Conference.

22/05/1968

Graham Linehan, Irish comedy writer and activist

Graham George Linehan is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms Father Ted (1995–1998), Black Books (2000–2004), The IT Crowd (2006–2013), and Count Arthur Strong (2013–2017), and has contributed to other comedy shows, including The Fast Show, The Day Today, and Brass Eye. During the 1990s, his writing partner was Arthur Mathews, with whom he created Father Ted.

22/05/1966

Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer

Johnny Gill Jr. is an American singer and songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released eight solo albums, three albums with New Edition, two albums with LSG, and one collaborative album with Stacy Lattisaw. Gill has sold over 15 million copies worldwide as a solo artist.

Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter

Wang Xiaoshuai is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is commonly grouped under the loose association of filmmakers known as the "Sixth Generation" of the Cinema of China. Like others in this generation, and in contrast with earlier Chinese filmmakers who produced mostly historical drama, Wang proposed a “new urban Chinese cinema [that] has been mainly concerned with bearing witness of a fast- paced transforming China and producing a localized critique of globalization.”

22/05/1965

Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary

Jay Carney is an American public relations officer and former journalist who served as the 28th White House press secretary from 2011 to 2014. He worked as Amazon's senior vice president of global corporate affairs from 2015 to 2022. Since 2022, he has been Global Head of Policy and Communications at Airbnb.

22/05/1963

Claude Closky, French contemporary artist

Claude Closky is a French artist who lives and works in Paris.

22/05/1962

Andrew Magee, French-American golfer

Andrew Donald Magee is an American professional golfer who played for more than 20 years on the PGA Tour.

Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (died 1997)

Brian William Pillman was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1990s.

22/05/1960

Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, actor, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Evangelion franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industry and Japanese popular culture. Anno's style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions.

22/05/1959

David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach

David Michael Blatt is an Israeli-American professional basketball executive. He is also a former coach and player.

Olin Browne, American golfer

Olin Douglas Browne is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.

Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer

Steven Patrick Morrissey, mononymously known as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of the rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then he has pursued a successful solo career. Morrissey's music is characterised by his baritone voice and distinctive lyrics with anti-establishment stances and recurring themes of emotional isolation, sexual longing, self-deprecation, and dark humour.

Kwak Jae-yong, South Korean director and screenwriter

Kwak Jae-yong is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He studied physics at Kyung Hee University. He achieved success with his debut film Watercolor Painting in a Rainy Day in 1989, but the failure of his next two movies led to eight years of unemployment before a comeback with the smash-hit film My Sassy Girl in 2001. He is known for his fondness of love stories set in a mix of different genres.

Mehbooba Mufti, Indian politician

Mehbooba Mufti Sayed is an Indian politician and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP), who served as the 9th chief minister of the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir from 4 April 2016 to 19 June 2018. She is the first female chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. After the revocation of Article 370 of the constitution in August 2019, Mufti was detained without any charges at first and later under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.

22/05/1957

Lisa Murkowski, American lawyer and politician

Lisa Ann Murkowski is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from the state of Alaska, having held the seat since 2002. She is the first woman to represent Alaska in the U.S. Congress and is the Senate's second-most senior Republican woman. Murkowski became dean of Alaska's congressional delegation upon Representative Don Young's death.

22/05/1956

Lucie Brock-Broido, American poet (died 2018)

Lucie Brock-Broido born "Lucy Brock" was an American poet, widely acclaimed as one of the most distinctive and influential voices of her generation. Noteworthy for her work as a teacher, Brock-Broido served as a visiting professor of creative writing at Princeton University, the Briggs-Copeland Poet in Residence and director of creative writing at Harvard University, and as professor of creative writing and director of poetry at Columbia University. Throughout her career, she mentored multiple generations of new American poets, including Tracy K. Smith, Timothy Donnelly, Kevin Young, Mary Jo Bang, Stephanie Burt, and Max Ritvo.

22/05/1955

Iva Davies, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Ivor Arthur Davies, AM, known professionally as Iva Davies, is an Australian singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

22/05/1954

Barbara May Cameron, Native American human rights activist (died 2002)

Barbara May Cameron was a Native American photographer, poet, writer, and human rights activist in the fields of lesbian/gay rights, women's rights, and Native American rights.

Shuji Nakamura, Japanese-American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate

Shuji Nakamura is a Japanese–American electronics engineer and co-inventor of the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology. For this achievement, Nakamura, together with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014.

22/05/1953

François Bon, French writer

François Bon is a French writer and translator.

Cha Bum-kun, South Korean footballer and manager

Cha Bum-kun is a South Korean former football manager and player. A forward, he was nicknamed Tscha Bum or "Cha Boom" in Germany because of his name and thunderous ball striking ability. Known for his explosive pace and finishing, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest Asian footballers of all time.

Paul Mariner, English footballer, coach, and manager (died 2021)

Paul Mariner was an English football player and coach.

22/05/1951

Kenneth Bianchi, American serial killer and rapist

Kenneth Alessio Bianchi is an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist. He is known for the Hillside Strangler murders which he committed with his cousin Angelo Buono Jr. in Los Angeles, as well as for two more murders in Washington State as the sole perpetrator. Bianchi is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Washington State Penitentiary for these crimes. He was also at one time a suspect in the Alphabet murders, three unsolved murders in his home city of Rochester, New York, from 1971 to 1973. Bianchi was most recently denied parole in 2025.

22/05/1950

Bernie Taupin, English singer-songwriter and poet

Bernard John Taupin is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote the majority of John's songs, dating back to the 1960s.

22/05/1949

Cheryl Campbell, English actress

Cheryl Campbell is an English actress. She starred opposite Bob Hoskins in the 1978 BBC drama Pennies From Heaven, before going on to win the 1980 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Testament of Youth and Malice Aforethought, and the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for A Doll's House. Her film appearances include Chariots of Fire (1981), Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) and The Shooting Party (1985).

Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat

Valentin Inzko is an Austrian diplomat who served as the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to 2021. He also served as the European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to 2011.

22/05/1948

Tomás Sánchez, Cuban painter and engraver

Tomás Sánchez is a Cuban painter and engraver, known for his landscapes. Sánchez is the most expensive living Cuban painter.

Nedumudi Venu, Indian actor and screenwriter (died 2021)

Kesavan Venugopal, better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Malayalam and also in Tamil, in a career spanning nearly five decades. He wrote screenplays and directed one film. Nedumudi Venu won three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Award South and six Kerala State Film Awards for his performances in various movies.

22/05/1946

George Best, Northern Irish footballer and manager (died 2005)

George Best was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a right winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A skillful dribbler, he is considered one of the greatest players of all time, along with being considered one of the most talented to play. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968 and came fifth in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. Best received plaudits for his playing style, which combined pace, skill, balance, feints, the ability to get past defenders and goalscoring. In 1999 he was on the six-man shortlist for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century. He was an inaugural inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Michael Green, English physicist and academic

Michael Boris Green is a British physicist and a pioneer of string theory. He is a professor of theoretical physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at Queen Mary University of London, emeritus professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. He was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 2009 to 2015.

Howard Kendall, English footballer and manager (died 2015)

Howard Kendall was an English footballer and manager.

Andrei Marga, Romanian philosopher, political scientist, politician

Andrei Marga is a Romanian philosopher, political scientist, and politician. Rector – for the second time – of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, he was a member of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD), serving as Minister of Education in the Democratic Convention (CDR) coalition governments of Victor Ciorbea, Radu Vasile, and Mugur Isărescu (1997–2000). In January 2001, he replaced Ion Diaconescu as PNȚCD president, but resigned from this position in July 2001, amid political tensions within the party. He subsequently formed a new political party, more specifically the Popular Christian Party later during the same year. Later on, he became a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL).

Lyudmila Zhuravleva, Russian-Ukrainian astronomer

Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva is a Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian astronomer, who worked at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyi, where she discovered 213 minor planets. She also serves as president of the Crimean branch of the "Prince Clarissimus Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov Foundation". She has discovered a number of asteroids, including the Trojan asteroid 4086 Podalirius and asteroid 2374 Vladvysotskij. Zhuravleva is ranked 43rd in the Minor Planet Center's list of those who have discovered minor planets. She is credited with having discovered 200 and co-discovered an additional 13 between 1972 and 1992. In the rating of minor planet discoveries, she is listed in 57th place out of 1,429 astronomers. The main-belt asteroid 26087 Zhuravleva, discovered by her colleague Lyudmila Karachkina at Nauchnyi, was named in her honour.

22/05/1945

Bob Katter, Australian politician

Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter is an Australian politician who has served as the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Kennedy since 1993 and father of the House since 2022. He was previously active in Queensland state politics from 1974 to 1992, holding various ministerial positions in the Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern, and Cooper governments.

22/05/1944

John Flanagan, Australian fantasy author (died 2026)

John Anthony Flanagan was an Australian fantasy author best known for his medieval fantasy series, the Ranger's Apprentice, and its sister series, the Brotherband Chronicles. Some of his other works include his Storm Peak duology, as well as the adult novel The Grey Raider.

22/05/1943

Betty Williams, Northern Irish peace activist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2020)

Elizabeth Williams was a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, an organisation dedicated to promoting a peaceful resolution to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Tommy John, American baseball player

Thomas Edward John Jr., nicknamed "the Bionic Man," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels, and Oakland Athletics. He was a four-time MLB All-Star and has the second-most wins (288) of any pitcher since 1900 not in the Hall of Fame. Known for his longevity, John was the Opening Day starter six times – three for the White Sox and three times for the Yankees.

22/05/1942

Roger Brown, American basketball player (died 1997)

Roger William Brown was an American professional basketball player and councilman.

Ted Kaczynski, American academic and mathematician turned anarchist and serial murderer (Unabomber) (died 2023)

Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. A mathematics prodigy, he abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusive primitive lifestyle and lone wolf terrorism campaign.

Barbara Parkins, Canadian actress

Barbara Parkins is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer.

Richard Oakes, Native American civil rights activist (died 1972)

Richard Oakes was a Mohawk American Indian activist and academic. He spurred American Indian studies in university curricula and is credited for helping to change US federal government termination policies of American Indian peoples and culture. Oakes led a nineteen-month occupation of Alcatraz Island with LaNada Means, approximately 50 California State University students, and 37 others. The Occupation of Alcatraz is credited for opening a rediscovered unity among all American Indian tribes.

22/05/1941

Menzies Campbell, Scottish sprinter and politician (died 2025)

Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, was a Scottish politician, advocate and athlete. A senior figure in the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from 1987 to 2015 and led the party from 2006 to 2007. He held prominent frontbench roles in foreign affairs and defence, and was deputy leader under Charles Kennedy.

22/05/1940

Kieth Merrill, American filmmaker

Kieth W. Merrill is an American filmmaker who has worked as a writer, director, and producer in the film industry since 1967. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America, and received an Academy Award for The Great American Cowboy (1973) and a nomination for Amazon (1997). He is also known for directing The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd, Legacy and Windwalker.

E. A. S. Prasanna, Indian cricketer

Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna is a former Indian cricket player. He was a spin bowler, specialising in off spin and a member of the Indian spin quartet. He is an alumnus of the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. He received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, the highest honour bestowed by BCCI on a former player.

Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (died 2011)

Michael Sarrazin was a French Canadian actor. His most notable film was They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.

Bernard Shaw, American journalist (died 2022)

Bernard Shaw was an American journalist and lead news anchor for CNN from its launch in 1980 until his retirement on March 2, 2001. Prior to his time at CNN, he was a reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS News, and ABC News.

Mick Tingelhoff, American football player (died 2021)

Henry Michael Tingelhoff was an American professional football player who was a center for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 1962 to 1978. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

22/05/1939

Paul Winfield, American actor (died 2004)

Paul Edward Winfield was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder (1972), which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 television miniseries King, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. Winfield was also known for his roles in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Terminator, L.A. Law,, the Magic Mirror in The Charmings, and Julian c. Barlow in the final season of 227. Winfield received four Emmy nominations overall, winning in 1995 for his 1994 guest role in Picket Fences.

22/05/1938

Richard Benjamin, American actor and director

Richard Samuel Benjamin is an American actor and director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Catch-22 (1970), Portnoy's Complaint (1972), Westworld, The Last of Sheila and Saturday the 14th (1981). In 1968, Benjamin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the CBS sitcom He & She, which aired from 1967-1968. In 1976, Benjamin received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture for his performance as aged vaudevillian Willy Clark's comedically long-suffering nephew, confidante and talent agent, Ben Clark, in Herbert Ross' The Sunshine Boys (1975), based on Neil Simon's 1972 hit stage play of the same name.

Susan Strasberg, American actress (died 1999)

Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American stage, film, and television actress. Thought to be the next Hepburn-type ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank. She appeared on the covers of LIFE and Newsweek in 1955. A close friend of Marilyn Monroe, she wrote two best-selling tell-all books. Her later career primarily consisted of slasher and horror films, followed by TV roles, by the 1980s.

22/05/1937

Facundo Cabral, Argentinian singer-songwriter (died 2011)

Facundo Cabral was an Argentine singer-songwriter.

Tomáš Janovic, Slovak writer (died 2023)

Tomáš Janovic was a Slovak writer, songwriter, journalist and poet. He was best known as an aphorist.

22/05/1936

George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (died 2014)

George Harry Heilmeier was an American engineer, manager, and a pioneering contributor to liquid crystal displays (LCDs), for which he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Heilmeier's work is an IEEE Milestone.

22/05/1935

Billy Rayner, Australian rugby league player (died 2006)

Billy Rayner was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.

22/05/1934

Peter Nero, American pianist and conductor (died 2023)

Peter Nero was an American pianist and pops conductor. He directed the Philly Pops from 1979 to 2013, and earned two Grammy Awards, including the award for Best New Artist in 1962, as well as a total of 8 nominations.

22/05/1933

Fred Anderson, Australian-South African rugby league player (died 2012)

Fred Anderson was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.

Chen Jingrun, Chinese mathematician and academic (died 1996)

Chen Jingrun, also known as Jing-Run Chen, was a Chinese mathematician who made significant contributions to number theory, including Chen's theorem and the Chen prime.

22/05/1932

Robert Spitzer, American psychiatrist and academic (died 2015)

Robert Leopold Spitzer was a psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. He was a major force in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

22/05/1930

Kenny Ball, English jazz trumpet player, vocalist, and bandleader (died 2013)

Kenneth Daniel Ball was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen.

Marisol Escobar, French-American sculptor (died 2016)

Marisol Escobar, otherwise known simply as Marisol, was a Venezuelan-American sculptor born in Paris, who lived and worked in New York City. She became world-famous in the mid-1960s, but lapsed into relative obscurity within a decade. She continued to create her artworks and returned to the limelight in the early 21st century, capped by a 2014 major retrospective show organized by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The largest retrospective of Marisol's artwork, Marisol: A Retrospective has been organized by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and curated by Cathleen Chaffee for these museums: the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, and the Dallas Museum of Art . Although it was supplemented by loans from international museums and private collections, the exhibition drew largely on artwork and archival material Marisol left to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum as a bequest upon her death.

Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (died 1978)

Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

22/05/1929

Ahmed Fouad Negm, Egyptian poet (died 2013)

Ahmad Fo'ad Negm, popularly known as El-Fagumi الفاجومي, was an Egyptian vernacular poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Sheikh Imam, as well as his patriotic and revolutionary Egyptian Arabic poetry. Negm has been regarded as "a bit of a folk hero in Egypt."

22/05/1928

Serge Doubrovsky, French theorist and author (died 2017)

Julien Serge Doubrovsky was a French writer and 1989 Prix Médicis winner for Le Livre brisé. He is also a critical theorist, and coined the term "autofiction" in the drafts for his novel Fils (1977).

John Mackenzie, Scottish director and producer (died 2011)

John Leonard Duncan Mackenzie was a Scottish film and television director. He worked in British film from the late 1960s, first as an assistant director and later as an independent director himself.

T. Boone Pickens, American businessman (died 2019)

Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. was an American business magnate and financier. Pickens chaired the hedge fund BP Capital Management. He was a well-known takeover operator and corporate raider during the 1980s. Later in life, he was a prominent conservative activist and philanthropist. At the time of Pickens' death in 2019, his net worth stood at $500 million, after he had given away more than $1 billion to various philanthropic causes.

Hiroshi Sano, Japanese novelist (died 2013)

Ichiro Maruyama, who wrote under the pen name You Sano, was a Japanese mystery writer and critic.

22/05/1927

Michael Constantine, American actor (died 2021)

Michael Constantine was a Greek-American actor. He is most widely recognized for his portrayal of Kostas "Gus" Portokalos, the stubborn Greek father of Toula Portokalos, in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). For his performance, Constantine won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Musical or Comedy.

Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (died 2014)

Peter Matthiessen was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher, and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine The Paris Review, he is the only writer to have won the National Book Award in both nonfiction and fiction. He was also a prominent environmental activist.

George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017)

George Andrew Olah was a Hungarian-American chemist. His research involved the generation and reactivity of carbocations via superacids. For this research, Olah was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1994 "for his contribution to carbocation chemistry." He was also awarded the Priestley Medal, the highest honor granted by the American Chemical Society and F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the American Chemical Society in 1996.

22/05/1925

Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (died 1991)

Jean Tinguely was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art satirized automation and the technological overproduction of material goods.

22/05/1924

Charles Aznavour, French-Armenian singer-songwriter and actor (died 2018)

Charles Aznavour was a French and Armenian singer-songwriter, actor, and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes. In a career as a singer and songwriter, spanning over 70 years, he recorded more than 1,200 songs, in various languages. Moreover, he wrote or co-wrote more than 1,000 songs for himself and others. Aznavour is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters in history and an icon of 20th-century pop culture.

22/05/1922

Quinn Martin, American screenwriter and producer (died 1987)

Quinn Martin was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years. Martin is a member of the Television Hall of Fame, having been inducted posthumously in 1997.

22/05/1921

George S. Hammond, American scientist (died 2005)

George Simms Hammond was an American scientist and theoretical chemist who developed "Hammond's postulate", and fathered organic photochemistry,–the general theory of the geometric structure of the transition state in an organic chemical reaction. Hammond's research is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. His research garnered him the Norris Award in 1968, the Priestley Medal in 1976, the National Medal of Science in 1994, and the Othmer Gold Medal in 2003. He served as the executive chairman of the Allied Chemical Corporation from 1979 to 1989.

22/05/1920

Thomas Gold, Austrian-American astrophysicist and academic (died 2004)

Thomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, who also held British and American citizenship. He was a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in 1948 proposed the now mostly abandoned "steady state" hypothesis of the universe. Gold's work crossed boundaries of academic and scientific disciplines, into biophysics, astronomy, aerospace engineering, and geophysics.

22/05/1919

Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian businessman and politician, 55th Prime Minister of Belgium (died 2001)

Paul Emile François Henri Vanden Boeynants was a Belgian politician. He served as the prime minister of Belgium for two brief periods.

22/05/1917

George Aratani, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2013)

George Tetsuo Aratani was a Japanese American entrepreneur, philanthropist and the founder of Mikasa china and owner of the Kenwood Electronics corporation.

Jean-Louis Curtis, French author (died 1995)

Jean-Louis Curtis, pseudonym of Albert Laffitte, was a French novelist best known for his second novel The Forests of the Night, which won France's highest literary award the Prix Goncourt in 1947. He is the author of over 30 novels.

22/05/1914

Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (died 2010)

Max Kohnstamm was a Dutch historian and diplomat.

Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet (died 1993)

Le Sony'r Ra, better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led The Arkestra, an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up.

22/05/1913

Rafael Gil, Spanish director and screenwriter (died 1986)

Rafael Gil was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. His film I Was a Parish Priest (1953) won the Bronze Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1953 and also won best film and best director at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. His film La noche del sábado (1950) was nominated for the Gold Lion at the 1950 Venice Film Festival and his film El beso de Judas (1954) was also nominated for the Gold Lion at the 1954 festival in Venice. His film Let's Make the Impossible! (1958) was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. He has won nine prizes of the National Syndicate of Spectacle of Spain.

Dominique Rolin, Belgian author (died 2012)

Dominique Rolin was a Belgian novelist.

22/05/1912

Herbert C. Brown, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2004)

Herbert Charles Brown was an American chemist and recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with organoboranes.

22/05/1909

Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (died 1984)

Robert Neal Dyer OBE was a Gold Logie-award-winning American-born vaudeville entertainer and singer, radio and television personality, and radio and television quiz show host who made his name in Australia. Dyer is best known for the long-running radio and then television quiz show, Pick a Box.

Margaret Mee, English illustrator and educator (died 1988)

Margaret Ursula Mee, MBE was a British botanical artist who specialised in plants from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. She was also one of the first environmentalists to draw attention to the impact of large-scale mining and deforestation on the Amazon Basin.

22/05/1908

Horton Smith, American golfer and captain (died 1963)

Horton Smith was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments.

22/05/1907

Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (died 1983)

Georges Prosper Remi, known by the pen name Hergé, from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials RG, was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating The Adventures of Tintin, the series of comic albums that are considered one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. He was also responsible for two other well-known series, Quick & Flupke (1930–1940) and The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko (1936–1957). His works were executed in his distinctive ligne claire drawing style.

Laurence Olivier, English actor, director, and producer (died 1989)

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave and Ralph Richardson made up a quartet of male actors who dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career he had considerable success in television roles.

22/05/1905

Bodo von Borries, German physicist and academic, co-invented the electron microscope (died 1956)

Bodo von Borries in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia) was a German physicist. He worked with Ernst Ruska in the 1930s to build the first practical electron microscopes.

Tom Driberg, British politician (died 1976)

Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 1959 to 1974. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain for more than twenty years, he was first elected to Parliament as an Independent and joined the Labour Party in 1945. He never held any ministerial office, but rose to senior positions within the Labour Party and was a popular and influential figure in left-wing politics for many years.

22/05/1904

Uno Lamm, Swedish electrical engineer and inventor (died 1989)

August Uno Lamm was a Swedish electrical engineer and inventor. He was sometimes called "The Father of High Voltage Direct Current" power transmission. During his career, Lamm obtained 150 patents. In 1980 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) developed the Uno Lamm High Voltage Direct Current Award for contributions to the field of high voltage electrical engineering.

22/05/1902

Jack Lambert, English footballer and manager (died 1940)

John Lambert was an English footballer who played as a centre forward or inside forward. He scored 116 goals from 223 appearances in the Football League playing for Rotherham County, Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers, Arsenal and Fulham. He went on to manage Margate and coach the juniors at Arsenal.

Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (died 1956)

Aloysius Harry Simmons was an American professional baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he had his best years with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics during the late 1920s and early 1930s, winning two World Series with the team. Simmons also played for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. After his playing career ended, Simmons served as a coach for the Athletics and Cleveland Indians. A career .334 hitter, Simmons was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

22/05/1901

Maurice J. Tobin, American politician, 6th United States Secretary of Labor (died 1953)

Maurice Joseph Tobin was an American politician serving as 46th Mayor of Boston, the 56th Governor of Massachusetts and 6th United States Secretary of Labor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and a liberal that supported the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, and was outspoken in his support for labor unions. However, he had little success battling against the conservative majorities in the Massachusetts legislature, and the U.S. Congress.

22/05/1900

Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (died 1985)

Juan Nepomuceno Arvizu Santelices, was an acclaimed lyric tenor in Mexico and a noted interpreter of the Latin American bolero and tango on the international concert stage, on the radio and in film. He was widely noted for his interpretations of the works of Agustin Lara and María Grever and was nicknamed "The Tenor With the Silken Voice".

22/05/1897

Robert Neumann, German and English-speaking author (died 1975)

Robert Neumann was a German and English-speaking writer. He published numerous novels, autobiographical texts, plays and radio plays as well a few scripts. Through his parody collections, Mit fremden Federn (1927) and Unter falscher Flagge (1932), he is considered as the founder of "parody as a critical genre in the literature of the 1920s."

22/05/1894

Friedrich Pollock, German sociologist and philosopher (died 1970)

Friedrich Pollock was a German social scientist and philosopher. He was one of the founders of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, and a member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory.

22/05/1891

Johannes R. Becher, German politician, novelist, and poet (died 1958)

Johannes Robert Becher was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. He was part of the literary avant-garde, writing in an expressionist style.

22/05/1887

A. W. Sandberg, Danish film director and screenwriter (died 1938)

Anders Wilhelm Sandberg was a Danish film director and screenwriter.

22/05/1885

Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (died 1924)

Giacomo Matteotti was an Italian socialist, anti-fascist politician and an opposition leader, who was the secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU) from 1922 to 1924. Born in the province of Rovigo in Fratta Polesine, he was a militant socialist from a young age, joining the youth wing of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) in 1898 and then the main party around 1900. In 1907, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna. A lawyer by degree and a journalist by trade, Matteotti was a follower of Filippo Turati, a co-founder of the PSI and leader of the gradualist wing. Politically, his name is associated with democratic socialism and social democracy, and his thought is summarised as reformist socialist, radical reformist, and revolutionary reformist.

Soemu Toyoda, Japanese admiral (died 1957)

Soemu Toyoda was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II.

22/05/1884

Wilhelmina Hay Abbott, Scottish suffragist and feminist (died 1957)

Wilhelmina Hay Abbott, also known by the name "Elizabeth Abbott," was a Scottish suffragist, editor, and feminist lecturer, and wife of author George Frederick Abbott.

22/05/1880

Francis de Miomandre, French author and translator (died 1959)

Francis de Miomandre was a French novelist and well-known translator from Spanish into French.

22/05/1879

Warwick Armstrong, Australian cricketer and journalist (died 1947)

Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two. Armstrong was captain of the 1920–21 Australian team which defeated the touring English 5–0: one of only three teams to win an Ashes series in a whitewash. In a Test career interrupted by the First World War, he scored 2,863 runs at an average of 38.68, including six centuries, and took 87 wickets. He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2000.

Jean Cras, French admiral and composer (died 1932)

Jean Émile Paul Cras was a 20th-century French composer and career naval officer. His musical compositions were inspired by his native Brittany, his travels to Africa, and most of all, by his sea voyages. As a naval commander he served with distinction in the Adriatic Campaign during World War I.

Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman and independence leader (died 1926)

Symon Vasyliovych Petliura was a Ukrainian revolutionary, politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a part of the wider Russian Civil War.

22/05/1876

Julius Klinger, Austrian painter and illustrator (died 1942)

Julius Klinger was an Austrian painter, draftsman, illustrator, commercial graphic artist, typographer and writer. Klinger studied at the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum HTL in Vienna.

22/05/1874

Daniel François Malan, South African clergyman and politician, 5th Prime Minister of South Africa (died 1959)

Daniël François Malan was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforced racial segregation laws, during his tenure as prime minister.

22/05/1868

Augusto Pestana, Brazilian engineer and politician (died 1934)

Augusto Pestana was a Brazilian engineer and politician. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Pestana moved in the late 1880s to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, where he would become a specialist in railroad engineering and public administration, as well as one of the main leaders of the Republican Party of Rio Grande do Sul (PRR).

22/05/1864

Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (died 1931)

Willy Stöwer was a German artist, illustrator, and author during the Imperial Period. He is best known for nautical paintings and lithographs. Many of his works depict historical maritime events such as the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

22/05/1859

Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (died 1930)

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is best known for his four novels and fifty-six short stories about the fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, which are milestones in crime fiction, and for his first work featuring Professor Challenger, The Lost World (1912), which gave its name to a subgenre of speculative fiction. He was a prolific writer who produced over 200 stories and articles, four volumes of poetry, and a number of works for the stage. He was knighted by King Edward VII in the 1902 Coronation Honours.

Tsubouchi Shōyō, Japanese author, playwright, and educator (died 1935)

Tsubouchi Shōyō was a Japanese author, critic, playwright, translator, editor, educator, and professor at Waseda University. He has been referred to as a seminal figure in Japanese drama.

22/05/1858

Belmiro de Almeida, Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor (died 1935)

Belmiro Barbosa de Almeida was a Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor and caricaturist.

22/05/1849

Aston Webb, English architect and academic (died 1930)

Sir Aston Webb, was a British architect who designed the principal facade of Buckingham Palace and the main building of the Victoria and Albert Museum, among other major works around England, many of them in partnership with Ingress Bell. He was president of the Royal Academy from 1919 to 1924. He was also the founding chairman of the London Society.

22/05/1848

Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (died 1911)

Fritz von Uhde was a German painter of genre and religious subjects. His style lay in-between Realism and Impressionism, he was once known as "Germany's outstanding impressionist" and he became one of the first painters to introduce plein-air painting in his country.

22/05/1846

Rita Cetina Gutiérrez, Mexican poet, educator, and activist (died 1908)

Rita Cetina Gutiérrez was a 19th-century Mexican educator, writer, and feminist who promoted women's education in Mérida, Yucatán. She helped found a literary society, a periodical, and a school with Gertrudis Tenorio Zavala and Cristina Farfán. All three were called La Siempreviva. She also taught at and served as director of the La Siempreviva school.

22/05/1844

Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (died 1926)

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas and exhibited with the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children.

22/05/1841

Catulle Mendès, French poet, author, and playwright (died 1909)

Abraham Catulle Mendès was a French poet and man of letters. He was associated with the Parnassianist school.

22/05/1833

Félix Bracquemond, French painter and etcher (died 1914)

Félix Henri Bracquemond was a French painter, etcher, and printmaker. He played a key role in the revival of printmaking, encouraging artists such as Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro to use this technique.

Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1895)

Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla was a Spanish politician. He served as Prime Minister of Spain for a little over ten weeks, in the summer of 1871, and again for eight months, between June 1872 and February 1873.

22/05/1831

Henry Vandyke Carter, English anatomist and surgeon (died 1897)

Henry Vandyke Carter was an English anatomist, surgeon, and anatomical artist most notable for his illustrations of the book Gray's Anatomy.

22/05/1828

Albrecht von Graefe, German ophthalmologist and academic (died 1870)

Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Gräfe, often Anglicized to Graefe, was a Prussian pioneer of German ophthalmology. Graefe was born in Finkenheerd, Brandenburg, the son of Karl Ferdinand von Graefe (1787–1840). He was the father of the far right politician Albrecht von Graefe (1868–1933).

22/05/1820

Worthington Whittredge, American painter (died 1910)

Thomas Worthington Whittredge was an American artist of the Hudson River School. Whittredge was a highly regarded artist of his time, and was friends with several leading Hudson River School artists including Albert Bierstadt and Sanford Robinson Gifford. He traveled widely and excelled at landscape painting, many examples of which are now in major museums. He served as president of the National Academy of Design from 1874 to 1875 and was a member of the selection committees for the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and the 1878 Paris Exposition, both important venues for artists of the day.

22/05/1814

Amalia Lindegren, Swedish painter (died 1891)

Amalia Euphrosyne Lindegren was a Swedish artist and painter. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (1856).

22/05/1813

Richard Wagner, German composer (died 1883)

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor, best known for his operas, although his mature works are often referred to as music dramas. Unlike most composers, Wagner wrote both the libretti and the music for all of his stage works. He first achieved recognition with works in the Romantic tradition of Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer, but revolutionised the genre through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, which sought to unite poetic, musical, visual, and dramatic elements. In this approach, the drama unfolds as a continuously sung narrative, with the music evolving organically from the text rather than alternating between arias and recitatives. Wagner outlined these ideas in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852, most fully realising them in the first half of his four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.

22/05/1811

Giulia Grisi, Italian soprano (died 1869)

Giulia Grisi was an Italian opera singer. She performed widely in Europe, the United States and South America and was among the leading sopranos of the 19th century.

Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, English politician (died 1864)

Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne,, styled Earl of Lincoln before 1851, was a British politician and aristocrat. He sat in Parliament for South Nottinghamshire (1832–46) and for Falkirk Burghs (1846–51) until inheriting the dukedom.

22/05/1808

Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator (died 1855)

Gérard de Nerval was the pen name of Gérard Labrunie, a French travel writer, essayist, poet, and translator. He was a major figure during the era of French romanticism, and best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection Les Filles du feu, which included the novella Sylvie and the poem "El Desdichado". Through his translations, Nerval played a major role in introducing French readers to the works of German Romantic authors, including Klopstock, Schiller, Bürger and Goethe. His later work merged poetry and journalism in a fictional context and influenced Marcel Proust. His last novella, Aurélia ou le rêve et la vie, influenced André Breton and Surrealism.

22/05/1783

William Sturgeon, English physicist and inventor, invented the electromagnet and electric motor (died 1850)

William Sturgeon was an English electrical engineer and inventor who made the first electromagnet and the first practical electric motor.

22/05/1782

Hirose Tansō, Japanese neo-Confucian scholar, teacher, writer (died 1856)

Hirose Tanso was a neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and writer in late Edo Period Japan.

22/05/1779

Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger, Austrian painter (died 1853)

Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger was an Austrian painter who specialized in landscapes; often with figures. He was largely self-taught.

22/05/1772

Ram Mohan Roy, Indian philosopher and reformer (died 1833)

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian social reformer and writer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent. He has been dubbed the "Father of the Indian Renaissance." He was given the title of Raja by Mughal emperor Akbar II.

22/05/1770

Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (died 1840)

Princess Elizabeth, called Eliza, was the seventh child and third daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte. After marrying the Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Frederick VI, she took permanent residence in Germany as landgravine.

22/05/1762

Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, English politician (died 1834)

Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst was a British Tory politician. He was an MP for thirty years before ennoblement. A personal friend of William Pitt the Younger, he became a broker of deals across cabinet factions during the Napoleonic era. After the Napoleonic Wars, Bathurst was on the conservative wing of the Tory party.

22/05/1752

Louis Legendre, French butcher and politician (died 1797)

Louis Legendre was a French politician of the Revolution period.

22/05/1733

Hubert Robert, French painter (died 1808)

Hubert Robert was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.

22/05/1715

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and diplomat (died 1794)

François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, comte de Lyonnais was a French cardinal and diplomat. He was the sixth member elected to occupy Seat 3 of the Académie française in 1744. Bernis was a prominent figure in the autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, Histoire de ma vie, starting from the chapter on "Convent Affairs".

22/05/1694

Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (died 1757)

Daniel Gran was an Austrian painter. His pictures ornament several public buildings in his native city. He was of some consideration in his time and after a century of Italian dominance one of the first important painters of the German-speaking countries, but his works are relatively unknown outside of Austria and Germany today.

22/05/1665

Magnus Stenbock, Swedish field marshal and Royal Councillor (died 1717)

Count Magnus Stenbock was a Swedish field marshal (Fältmarskalk) and Royal Councillor. A commander of the Carolean Army during the Great Northern War, he was a prominent member of the Stenbock family. He studied at Uppsala University and joined the Swedish Army during the Nine Years' War, participating in the Battle of Fleurus in 1690. After the battle, he was appointed lieutenant colonel, entered Holy Roman service as Adjutant General, and married Eva Magdalena Oxenstierna, daughter of statesman Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna. Returning to Swedish service he received colonelcy of a regiment in Wismar, and later became colonel of the Kalmar and then Dalarna regiments.

22/05/1650

Richard Brakenburgh, Dutch Golden Age painter (died 1702)

Richard Brakenburgh or Brakenburg, was a Dutch Golden Age painter.

22/05/1644

Gabriël Grupello, Flemish Baroque sculptor (died 1730)

Gabriël Grupello was a Flemish Baroque sculptor who produced religious and mythological sculptures, portraits and public sculptures. He worked in Flanders, France and Germany. He was a virtuoso sculptor who enjoyed the patronage of several European rulers.

22/05/1622

Louis de Buade de Frontenac, French soldier and governor (died 1698)

Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France in North America from 1672 to 1682, and again from 1689 to his death in 1698. He established a number of Forts on the Great Lakes and engaged in a series of battles against the English and the Iroquois.

22/05/1539

Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (died 1621)

Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Baron Beauchamp, KG, of Wulfhall and Totnam Lodge in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, of Netley Abbey, Hampshire, and of Hertford House, Cannon Row in Westminster, is most noted for incurring the displeasure of Queen Elizabeth I by taking part in more than one clandestine marriage.

22/05/1408

Annamacharya, Hindu saint (died 1503)

Tallapaka Annamacharya, also known as Annamayya, was a Telugu composer and Hindu saint. Born in Thallapaka, he composed devotional songs known as saṁkīrtanas in praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. He is the earliest known Indian musician to utilize this song form.

22/05/1009

Su Xun, Chinese writer (died 1066)

Su Xun was a scholar, essayist and philosopher during the Song dynasty, listed as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song, along with his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe.

22/05/0626

Itzam K'an Ahk I, Mayan king (died 686)

Itzam Kʼan Ahk I, also known as Ruler 2, was an ajaw of Piedras Negras, an ancient Maya settlement in Guatemala. He ruled during the Late Classic Period, from AD 639–686. The son of Kʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk I, Itzam Kʼan Ahk I took the throne when he was only 12 years old. His reign was marked by several wars, and he seems to have had a special connection with Calakmul. Itzam Kʼan Ahk I died just a few days before the marriage of his son, who succeeded him as ajaw of Piedras Negras and took on the name Kʼinich Yoʼnal Ahk II. Itzam Kʼan Ahk I left behind several monuments, including eight stelae, three panels, a throne, and a short stela-like column; this made him the most active of Piedras Negras's leaders in regards to erecting monuments.

Lives Remembered on 22nd May

On 22nd May, 85 remarkable people passed away — from 192 to 2024. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

22/05/2024

David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer (born 1954)

David Andrew Wilkie was a Scottish swimmer who was the Olympic 200m breaststroke champion in 1976, the first British swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960, and the first British man to do so since Henry Taylor in 1908. He is the only person to have held British, Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic swimming titles at the same time. Wilkie, a member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame, has been described as Scotland's greatest and Britain's finest swimmer. Fellow Olympic breaststroke gold medallist Duncan Goodhew considered him an "extraordinary talent" and "one of Britain's greatest ever athletes".

22/05/2022

Dervla Murphy, Irish touring cyclist and author (born 1931)

Dervla Murphy was an Irish touring cyclist and author of adventure travel books, writing for more than 50 years.

22/05/2020

Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (born 1938)

Denise Cronenberg was a Canadian costume designer.

22/05/2019

Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (born 1923)

Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world. She created both enduring picture books such as the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came to Tea and acclaimed novels for older children such as the semi-autobiographical When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, which gave a child's-eye view of escaping Hitler's persecution in the Second World War. Born in the Weimar Republic, she came to Britain with her family in 1935 to escape persecution during the rise of the Nazis.

22/05/2017

Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (born 1981)

Nicholas Patrick Hayden, nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his road racing career in the CMRA before progressing to the AMA Supersport Championship and then to the AMA Superbike Championship. He won the AMA title in 2002 and was approached by the Repsol Honda team to race for them in MotoGP in 2003.

22/05/2016

Velimir "Bata" Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (born 1933)

Velimir "Bata" Živojinović was a Yugoslav and Serbian actor and politician. He appeared in more than 340 films and TV series, and is regarded as one of the best actors in former Yugoslavia.

22/05/2015

Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (born 1926)

Marques Haynes was an American professional basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters, notable for his ability to dribble the ball and keep it away from defenders. According to the 1988 film Harlem Globetrotters: Six Decades of Magic, Haynes could dribble the ball as many as 348 times a minute.

Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (born 1921)

Volodymyr Katriuk was a Ukrainian-Canadian soldier and beekeeper, who was accused of having taken part in the Khatyn massacre and other massacres under the cover of anti-partisan warfare as a member of the Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118 during World War II. In the annual Nazi War Criminal Report for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, Katriuk was ranked number three under the list of most-wanted Nazi war criminals as determined by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Katriuk denied any involvement in war crimes. On 18 March 2024, the Supreme Court of Belarus ruled that Katriuk was guilty of the "genocide of the Belarusian people".

22/05/2013

Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (born 1922)

Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt was a Russian historian, ethnographer and teacher.

22/05/2012

Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (born 1970)

Muzafar Bhutto was a Sindhi nationalist politician, who served as the Secretary General of the Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM). His body was found at a roadside near Hatri bypass, in Hyderabad, Pakistan after he went missing on 25 February 2011. Following his death, JSMM members resorted to heavy aerial firing in different areas of Sindh. The heavy aerial firing created fear and panic among the people in Sindh and forced many business to close down.

Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (born 1927)

Wesley Anthony Brown was the first African-American graduate of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland. He served in the United States Navy from May 2, 1949, until June 30, 1969. He was involved in both the Korean and Vietnam wars.

22/05/2011

Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (born 1938)

Joseph Brooks was a serial rapist, American songwriter, composer, and filmmaker. He was a successful author of commercial jingles during the 1960s, before pivoting to a filmmaking career. His 1977 romantic drama You Light Up My Life, which he wrote, directed, produced, and scored; spawned the hit song of the same name, earning Brooks an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award.

22/05/2010

Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (born 1914)

Martin Gardner was an American writer on popular mathematics and popular science. His interests also encompassed magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literature – especially the writings of Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and G. K. Chesterton. He was a leading authority on Lewis Carroll; The Annotated Alice, which incorporated the text of Carroll's two Alice books, was his most successful work and sold over a million copies. He had a lifelong interest in magic and illusion and in 1999, MAGIC magazine named him as one of the "100 Most Influential Magicians of the Twentieth Century". He was considered the doyen of American puzzlers. He was a prolific and versatile author, publishing more than 100 books.

22/05/2008

Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (born 1946)

Robert Lynn Asprin was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, known best for his humorous series MythAdventures and Phule's Company.

22/05/2007

Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (born 1970)

Pemba Doma Sherpa was the first Nepalese female mountaineer to climb Mount Everest via its north face, was the second Nepali woman to summit from both the north and south faces, and is one of six women to have summited Everest twice. She was the leader of the 2002 Nepalese Woman Everest Expedition. Pemba Doma Sherpa climbed Cho Oyu from the Tibetan side on 28 September 2005.

22/05/2006

Lee Jong-wook, South Korean physician and diplomat (born 1945)

Lee Jong-wook was a South Korean physician. He was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years. Lee joined the WHO in 1983, working on a variety of projects including the Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations and Stop Tuberculosis. He began his term as director-general in 2004, and was the first figure from Korea to lead an international agency.

22/05/2005

Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (born 1914)

Charilaos Florakis was a leader of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (born 1914)

Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft was an American actor and bass singer best known for providing the voice of Tony the Tiger in Kellogg's Frosted Flakes commercials from the 1950s until his death and for singing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in the 1966 Christmas television special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.

22/05/2004

Richard Biggs, American actor (born 1960)

Richard James Biggs II was an American television and stage actor, known for his roles on the television series Days of Our Lives and Babylon 5.

Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (born 1945)

Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin was a Soviet and Russian gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won seven medals, including two gold, at the 1968 Summer Olympics, as well as two silver medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

22/05/2000

Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1916)

Edmund Davie Fulton was a Canadian Rhodes Scholar, politician and judge. He was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, the son of politician/lawyer Frederick John Fulton and Winnifred M. Davie, daughter of A. E. B. Davie. He was the youngest of 4 children.

22/05/1998

John Derek, American actor, director, and photographer (born 1926)

John Derek was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He was also known for launching the career of his fourth wife, Bo Derek.

José Enrique Moyal, Israeli physicist and engineer (born 1910)

José Enrique Moyal was an Australian mathematician and mathematical physicist who contributed to aeronautical engineering, electrical engineering and statistics, among other fields.

22/05/1997

Alziro Bergonzo, Italian architect and painter (born 1906)

Alziro Bergonzo was an Italian architect and painter. His primary style was the rationalized Stile Littorio.

Alfred Hershey, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1908)

Alfred Day Hershey was an American Nobel Prize–winning bacteriologist and geneticist.

22/05/1993

Mieczysław Horszowski, Polish-American pianist and composer (born 1892)

Mieczysław Horszowski was a Polish and American pianist who had one of the longest careers in the history of the performing arts.

22/05/1992

Zellig Harris, American linguist and academic (born 1909)

Zellig Sabbettai Harris was an American linguist, mathematical syntactician, and methodologist of science widely considered to have been influential in his fields. Originally a Semiticist, he is best known for his work in structural linguistics and discourse analysis and for the discovery of transformational structure in language. These developments from the first 10 years of his career were published within the first 25. His contributions in the subsequent 35 years of his career include transfer grammar, string analysis, elementary sentence-differences, algebraic structures in language, operator grammar, sublanguage grammar, a theory of linguistic information, and a principled account of the nature and origin of language.

22/05/1991

Lino Brocka, Filipino director and screenwriter (born 1939)

Catalino Ortiz Brocka was a Filipino film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of Philippine cinema. His filmography often addressed the country's societal issues, and despite his initial closeness with the Marcos family, his work eventually grew to have anti-authoritarian themes in opposition to the dictatorship of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Shripad Amrit Dange, Indian lawyer and politician (born 1899)

Shripad Amrit Dange was an Indian politician who was a founding member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and a stalwart of Indian trade union movement. During the 20th century, Dange was arrested by the authorities for communist and trade union activities and was jailed for an overall period of 13 years. His early years were marked by the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Trial, and later by internal controversy over alleged 1924 letters in which he sought leniency from the British colonial administration.

Stan Mortensen, English footballer and manager (born 1921)

Stanley Harding Mortensen was an English professional footballer, notable for his part in the 1953 FA Cup final, in which he became the only player ever to score a hat-trick in a Wembley FA Cup Final. He was also both the first player to score for England in a FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and the first England player to score in the tournament proper.

22/05/1990

Rocky Graziano, American boxer (born 1922)

Thomas Rocco Barbella, better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions. He held the lineal World Middleweight title from 1947 to 1948.

22/05/1989

Steven De Groote, South African pianist and educator (born 1953)

Steven De Groote was a South African classical pianist.

22/05/1988

Giorgio Almirante, Italian journalist and politician (born 1914)

Giorgio Almirante was an Italian politician who founded the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, which he led until his retirement in 1987.

22/05/1985

Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (born 1909)

Wolfgang Reitherman, also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a German-American animator, director and producer. As a member of the "Nine Old Men" at Walt Disney Productions, Reitherman was known for his action-oriented animation.

22/05/1984

Karl-August Fagerholm, Finnish politician, valtioneuvos, the Speaker of the Parliament and the Prime Minister of Finland (born 1901)

Karl-August Fagerholm was a Finnish politician. Fagerholm served as Speaker of Parliament and three times as Prime Minister of Finland. Fagerholm became one of the leading politicians of the Social Democrats after the armistice in the Continuation War. As a Scandinavia-oriented Swedish-speaking Finn, he was believed to be more to the taste of the Soviet Union's leadership than his predecessor, Väinö Tanner. Fagerholm's postwar career was, however, marked by fierce opposition from both the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Finland. He narrowly lost the presidential election to Urho Kekkonen in 1956.

22/05/1983

Albert Claude, Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)

Albert Claude was a Belgian-American cell biologist and medical doctor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 with Christian de Duve and George Emil Palade. His elementary education started in a comprehensive primary school at Longlier, his birthplace. He served in the British Intelligence Service during the First World War, and got imprisoned in concentration camps twice. In recognition of his service, he was granted enrolment at the University of Liège in Belgium to study medicine without any formal education required for the course. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1928. Devoted to medical research, he initially joined German institutes in Berlin. In 1929 he found an opportunity to join the Rockefeller Institute in New York. At Rockefeller University he made his most groundbreaking achievements in cell biology. In 1930 he developed the technique of cell fractionation, by which he discovered the agent of the Rous sarcoma, as well as components of cell organelles such as the mitochondrion, chloroplast, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, ribosome, and lysosome. He was the first to employ the electron microscope in the field of biology. In 1945 he published the first detailed structure of cell. His collective works established the complex functional and structural properties of cells.

Erna Scheffler, German lawyer and justice of the Federal Constitutional Court (born 1893)

Erna Scheffler was a German senior judge.

22/05/1982

Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (born 1899)

Ahmet Cevdet Sunay was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the president of Turkey from 1966 to 1973.

22/05/1975

Lefty Grove, American baseball player (born 1900)

Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the American League's Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox. One of the greatest pitchers in history, Grove led the American League in wins in four separate seasons, in strikeouts seven consecutive seasons, and had the league's lowest earned run average a record nine times. Over the course of the three years from 1929 to 1931, he twice won the pitcher's Triple Crown, leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, while amassing a 79–15 record and leading the Athletics to three straight AL championships. Overall, Grove won 300 games in his 17-year MLB career. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947.

22/05/1974

Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer (born 1903)

Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, née Lotz was a German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer. She was a pioneer in the development of the theory of discontinuous automatic control, which has found wide application in hysteresis control systems; such applications include guidance systems, electronics, fire-control systems, and temperature regulation.

22/05/1972

Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (born 1904)

Cecil Day-Lewis, often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Anglo-Irish poet and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1968 until his death. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake, most of which feature the fictional detective Nigel Strangeways, starting with A Question of Proof (1935).

Margaret Rutherford, English actress (born 1892)

Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford was an English actress of stage, films and television.

22/05/1967

Langston Hughes, American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright (born 1902)

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

Charlotte Serber, American Librarian of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos site (born 1911)

Charlotte Serber was an American journalist, statistician and librarian. She was the librarian of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, and the laboratory's only female group leader. After the war she attempted to secure a position as a librarian at the Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, but was rejected for lack of a security clearance; the likely reason was due to her political views. She later became a production assistant for the Broadway Theatre, and an interviewer for Louis Harris.

22/05/1966

Tom Goddard, English cricketer (born 1900)

Thomas William John Goddard was an English cricketer and the fifth-highest wicket taker in first-class cricket.

22/05/1965

Christopher Stone, English radio host (born 1882)

Christopher Reynolds Stone was a British radio broadcaster who in 1927 became the first disc jockey in the United Kingdom. He was co-founder of the music magazine The Gramophone. In addition to his reviews and articles in the magazine he wrote eight novels between 1907 and 1927, and edited collections of poetry and letters.

22/05/1954

Chief Bender, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1884)

Charles Albert "Chief" Bender was a Native American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball during the 1900s and 1910s. In 1911, Bender tied a record by pitching three complete games in a single World Series. He finished his career with a 212–127 win–loss record for a .625 winning percentage and a career 2.46 earned run average (ERA).

22/05/1950

Alfonso Quiñónez Molina, Salvadoran politician, physician, and three-time president of El Salvador (born 1874)

Alfonso Quiñónez Molina was a Salvadoran politician and physician who served as the 24th President of El Salvador from 1923 to 1927. He also served as the country's acting president on two separate occasions and twice served as Vice President of El Salvador under his brothers-in-law Carlos and Jorge Meléndez. The presidencies of Quiñónez and the Meléndez brothers from 1913 to 1927 are collectively known as the Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty.

22/05/1948

Claude McKay, Jamaican writer and poet (born 1889)

Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet. He was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

22/05/1939

Ernst Toller, German playwright and author (born 1893)

Ernst Toller was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, after which he became the head of its army. He was imprisoned for five years for his part in the armed resistance by the Bavarian Soviet Republic to the central government in Berlin. While in prison Toller wrote several plays that gained him international renown. They were performed in London and New York City as well as in Berlin.

Jiří Mahen, Czech author and playwright (born 1882)

Jiří Mahen was a Czech novelist and playwright. He was a prolific author and his literary work also includes essays, poetry, scientific articles, manuals and fairy tales. He was a significant figure in cultural life in the city of Brno.

22/05/1938

William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (born 1870)

William James Glackens was an American realist painter and one of the founders of the Ashcan School, which rejected the formal boundaries of artistic beauty laid down by the conservative National Academy of Design. He is also known for his work in helping Albert C. Barnes to acquire the European paintings that form the nucleus of the famed Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. His dark-hued, vibrantly painted street scenes and depictions of daily life in pre-WW I New York and Paris first established his reputation as a major artist. His later work was brighter in tone and showed the strong influence of Renoir. During much of his career as a painter, Glackens also worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines in Philadelphia and New York City.

22/05/1933

Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav, Mongolian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Mongolia (born 1894)

Tsengeltiin Jigjidjav was prime minister of Mongolia from 1930 to 1932.

22/05/1932

Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish activist, landlord, and playwright, co-founded the Abbey Theatre (born 1852)

Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory was an Anglo-Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of books of retellings of stories taken from Irish mythology. Born into a class that identified closely with British rule, she turned against it. Her conversion to cultural nationalism, as evidenced by her writings, was emblematic of many of the political struggles that occurred in Ireland during her lifetime.

22/05/1910

Jules Renard, French author and playwright (born 1864)

Pierre-Jules Renard was a French author and member of the Académie Goncourt, most famous for the works Poil de carotte and Les Histoires Naturelles. Among his other works are Le Plaisir de rompre and the posthumously published Huit Jours à la campagne.

22/05/1901

Gaetano Bresci, Italian-American anarchist, assassin of Umberto I of Italy (born 1869)

Gaetano Bresci was an Italian anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy. His experience of working as a young weaver led him to realize he was exploited in the workplace, which attracted him to anarchism. Bresci emigrated to the United States, where he became involved with other Italian immigrant anarchists in Paterson, New Jersey. News of the Bava Beccaris massacre motivated him to return to Italy, where he planned to assassinate Umberto in response. Local police knew of his return but did not mobilize. Bresci killed the king in July 1900 during Umberto's scheduled appearance in Monza amid a sparse police presence.

22/05/1885

Victor Hugo, French novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1802)

Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo was a French Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician.

22/05/1868

Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (born 1801)

Julius Plücker was a German mathematician and physicist. He made fundamental contributions to the field of analytical geometry and was a pioneer in the investigations of cathode rays that led eventually to the discovery of the electron. He also vastly extended the study of Lamé curves.

22/05/1861

Thornsbury Bailey Brown, American soldier (born 1829)

Thornsbury Bailey Brown of Taylor County, Virginia, is generally considered the first Union soldier killed by a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War. Brown, a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Union with the grade of private, was killed by a member of a Virginia militia or volunteer company which supported the Confederacy at Fetterman, Virginia on May 22, 1861. The members of both companies were from the same general vicinity of Taylor County.

22/05/1859

Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (born 1810)

Ferdinand II was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death in 1859.

22/05/1851

Mordecai Manuel Noah, American journalist and diplomat (born 1755)

Mordecai Manuel Noah was an American sheriff, playwright, diplomat, journalist, and utopian. He was born in a family of mixed Ashkenazi and Portuguese Sephardic ancestry and was the grandson of Jonas Phillips. He was the most important Jewish lay leader in New York in the early 19th century, and one of the first Jews born in the United States to reach national prominence. He is best known for envisioning a homeland for the Jewish people in upstate New York. Long taken by the idea of a Jewish territorial restoration, in 1825 Noah purchased a tract of land on Grand Island in the Niagara River near Buffalo, New York, which he named Ararat. He erected a monument on the island and envisioned the establishment of a Jewish colony there. Though the proposal elicited much discussion, the attempt was not a success. After the failure of the Ararat experience, Noah turned more strongly to the idea of Palestine as a national home for Jews. As the best-known American Jew of his time, Noah in 1840 delivered the principal address at a meeting at B’nai Jeshurun in New York protesting the Damascus Affair.

22/05/1802

Martha Washington, First, First Lady of the United States (born 1731)

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, who was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the inaugural first lady of the United States, defining the role of the president's wife and setting many precedents that future first ladies observed. During her tenure, she was referred to as "Lady Washington". Washington is consistently ranked in the upper half of first ladies by historians.

22/05/1795

Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg, Prussian politician, Foreign Minister of Prussia (born 1725)

Ewald Friedrich Graf von Hertzberg was a Prussian statesman.

22/05/1772

Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian and academic (born 1687)

Durastante Tommaso Francesco Emiliano Natalucci was an Italian historian who specialized in history of Trevi, in Umbria.

22/05/1760

Baal Shem Tov, Polish rabbi and author (born 1700)

Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov or BeShT (בעש״ט), was a Jewish mystic and healer regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. A baal shem tov is a "Master of the Good Name"—that is, one able to work miracles using a secret name of God. Other sources explain his sobriquet as arising from a reputation of being a saintly, or superior, Baal Shem ('miracle-worker'); hence, he was given the nickname Baal Shem Tov.

22/05/1745

François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French general (born 1671)

François Marie de Broglie, 1st Duke of Broglie was a French Royal Army officer and diplomat.

22/05/1667

Pope Alexander VII (born 1599)

Pope Alexander VII, born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667.

22/05/1666

Gaspar Schott, German physicist and mathematician (born 1608)

Gaspar Schott was a German Jesuit and scientist, specializing in the fields of physics, mathematics and natural philosophy, and known for his industry.

22/05/1609

Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff, Dutch captain (born 1573)

Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff was a Dutch admiral of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, notable for his voyage to Asia between 1607 and 1612.

22/05/1602

Renata of Lorraine (born 1544)

Renata of Lorraine was a noblewoman of the House of Lorraine who became a Duchess of Bavaria by her marriage to Duke William V.

22/05/1553

Giovanni Bernardi, Italian sculptor and engraver (born 1495)

Giovanni Bernardi, also known as Giovanni da Castel Bolognese and as Giovanni da Castelbolognese, was an Italian gem engraver and medallist who was born in Castel Bolognese, Italy. He was the son of a goldsmith and by 1530 had moved to Rome, where he had a position in the Papal mint, which also allowed him time to work for other patrons. These included Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici (1511–35), Pope Clement VII (1523–34), Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III, as well as his grandson, also called Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. He was "a skillful composer of elegant nudes in elaborate scenes".

22/05/1545

Sher Shah Suri, Indian ruler (born 1486)

Sher Shah Suri, also known by his title Sultan Adil, was the Sultan of Hindustan, as the first Sur Emperor, from 1540 until his death in 1545. Prior to his ascension, he also served as the ruler of Bihar (1530–1540) and Bengal (1538–1540). He established the Sur Empire after defeating the Mughal Empire and declaring Delhi his seat of power. The influence of his innovations and reforms extended far beyond his brief reign, being recognized as one of the greatest administrative rulers in India. Sher Shah is renowned as one of the most skillful Afghan generals in history, and by the end of his reign, his empire covered nearly all of Northern India.

22/05/1540

Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (born 1483)

Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. In his masterpiece, The History of Italy, Guicciardini paved the way for a new style in historiography with his use of government sources to support arguments and the realistic analysis of the people and events of his time.

22/05/1538

John Forest, English friar and martyr (born 1471)

John Forest was an English Franciscan friar and martyr. Confessor to Catherine of Aragon, Forest was burned to death at Smithfield for "heresy", in that he refused to acknowledge the King as head of the church.

22/05/1490

Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, English administrator, nobleman and magnate (born 1416)

Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, KB, English administrator, nobleman and magnate, was the son of Sir John Grey, KG and Constance Holland. His main residence was at Wrest near Silsoe, Bedfordshire.

22/05/1457

Rita of Cascia, Italian nun and saint (born 1381)

Rita of Cascia, OSA, was an Italian Catholic widow and Augustinian nun. After Rita's husband died, she joined a small community of nuns who later became Augustinians. Therein, she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh and for the efficacy of her prayers. Various miracles are attributed to her intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate partial stigmata.

22/05/1455

Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (born 1406)

Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, 4th Earl of Somerset, 1st Earl of Dorset, 1st Marquess of Dorset styled 1st Count of Mortain,, was an English nobleman and an important figure during the Hundred Years' War. His rivalry with Richard, Duke of York, was a leading cause of the Wars of the Roses.

Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, Lancastrian commander (born 1414)

Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, also 8th Lord of Skipton, was the elder son of John, 7th Baron de Clifford, and Elizabeth Percy.

Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English commander (born 1393)

Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland was an English nobleman and military commander in the lead up to the Wars of the Roses. He was the son of Henry "Hotspur" Percy, and the grandson of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. His father and grandfather were killed in different rebellions against Henry IV in 1403 and 1408, respectively, and the young Henry spent his minority in exile in Scotland. Only after the death of Henry IV in 1413 was he reconciled with the Crown, and in 1414 he was created Earl of Northumberland.

22/05/1409

Blanche of England, sister of King Henry V (born 1392)

Blanche of England, also known as Blanche of Lancaster, was a member of the House of Lancaster, the daughter of King Henry IV of England by his first wife Mary de Bohun.

22/05/1310

Saint Humility, founder of the Vallumbrosan religious order of nuns (born c.1226)

Saint Humility, known as Saint Roxanne was the founder of the Vallumbrosan Nuns.

22/05/1068

Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (born 1025)

Emperor Go-Reizei was the 70th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

22/05/0748

Empress Genshō of Japan (born 683)

Empress Genshō was the 44th monarch of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Her reign spanned the years 715 through 724.

22/05/0337

Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (born 272)

Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, the Edict of Milan decriminalising Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution. This was a turning point in the Christianisation of the Roman Empire. He founded the city of Constantinople and made it the capital of the Empire, which it remained for over a millennium.

22/05/0192

Dong Zhuo, Chinese warlord and politician (born 138)

Dong Zhuo, courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minister of the imperial government. Originally from Liang Province, Dong Zhuo seized control of the imperial capital Luoyang in 189 when it entered a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling of Han and a massacre of the eunuch faction by the court officials.

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 22nd May

Abolition Day (Martinique)

Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. It gained momentum in the western world in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Aromanian National Day (marginal, celebration on May 23 is more common)

The Aromanian National Day is the national day of the Aromanians, an ethnic group of the Balkans scattered in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. It is normally celebrated by Aromanians from various countries in which they are native and also by the Aromanian diaspora, but many Greek-Aromanians do not observe it.

Christian feast day: Castus and Emilius

Saints Castus and Emilius are venerated as saints and martyrs by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.

Christian feast day: Fulk

Saint Fulk was an English pilgrim who was beatified for his selfless assistance of plague victims even when this was a risk to himself. He was travelling to Rome sometime in the 12th century, when he stopped at Santopadre, or Castrofuli, in southern Italy, to help plague victims. He died of the plague, and was beatified and adopted as the patron saint of Castrofuli. His cult was approved in 1572, and his feast day is May 22.

Christian feast day: Humilita

Saint Humility, known as Saint Roxanne was the founder of the Vallumbrosan Nuns.

Christian feast day: Blessed John Forest

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".

Christian feast day: Blessed Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".

Christian feast day: Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)

Michael Hồ Đình Hy was a Vietnamese mandarin official who was martyred for his Roman Catholic belief during the persecutions by Emperor Tự Đức. He was canonized in 1988 along with another 116 Vietnamese Martyrs.

Christian feast day: Quiteria

Quiteria was a fifth-century saint and virgin martyr about whom little is certain except her name, the date, place, and cause of her death, and existence of her cult. She is listed under the date of 22 May in the Roman Martyrology. She is one of the patron saints of Toledo, Spain. Accounts of her life include refusal to marry, protection for the vulnerable, and waging a guerilla war against the Roman Empire.

Christian feast day: Rita of Cascia

Rita of Cascia, OSA, was an Italian Catholic widow and Augustinian nun. After Rita's husband died, she joined a small community of nuns who later became Augustinians. Therein, she was known both for practicing mortification of the flesh and for the efficacy of her prayers. Various miracles are attributed to her intercession, and she is often portrayed with a bleeding wound on her forehead, which is understood to indicate partial stigmata.

Christian feast day: Romanus of Subiaco

Saint Romanus of Subiaco was a hermit in the area around Subiaco, Italy.

Christian feast day: May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

May 21 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 23

Harvey Milk Day (California)

Harvey Milk Day is organized by the Harvey Milk Foundation and celebrated each year on May 22, especially in California, in memory of Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist who was assassinated in 1978. Milk was a prominent gay activist during the 20th century. He ran for office three times before becoming the first openly gay person elected to California public office, where he served as a San Francisco city supervisor. Harvey Milk Day came about as a day to remember and teach about Milk's life and his work to stop discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community.

International Day for Biological Diversity (International)

The International Day for Biological Diversity is a United Nations–sanctioned international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues. It is currently held on May 22.

United States National Maritime Day

National Maritime Day is a United States federal observance created to recognize the maritime industry. It is observed on May 22, the date in 1819 that the American steamship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. The holiday was created by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933.

National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)

The following are public holidays in Haiti. Many Vodou holidays are also celebrated, but are not considered public holidays.

Republic Day (Sri Lanka)

The culture of Sri Lanka mixes modern elements with traditional aspects and is known for its regional diversity. Sri Lankan culture has long been influenced by the heritage of Theravada Buddhism and the religion's legacy is particularly strong in Sri Lanka below the northern region. South Indian cultural influences are especially pronounced in the northernmost reaches of the country. The history of colonial occupation has also left a mark on Sri Lanka's identity, with Portuguese, Dutch, and British elements having intermingled with various traditional facets of Sri Lankan culture. Culturally, Sri Lanka possesses strong links to both India and Southeast Asia. For over 5000 years, India and Sri Lanka have nurtured a legacy of historical, cultural, religious, spiritual, and linguistic connections.

Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari (Ukraine)

The Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari is a religious and folk holiday among the East Slavs and, to a lesser extent, the South Slavs and Eastern Romance peoples. It is celebrated on May 9 each year. For Old (Julian) Calendar churches, May 9 falls on May 22 of the New (Gregorian) Calendar. The feast commemorates the translation (movement) of the relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari, on the Italian Peninsula. To this day, the relics remain at the Basilica of Saint Nicholas.

Unity Day (Yemen), celebrates the unification of North and South Yemen into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.

Unity Day of Yemen is a Yemeni national holiday held on 22 May. It commemorates the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen, which took place on this date in 1990. On this day, the president makes a speech broadcast on television and radio, and awards state decorations and orders to Yemeni citizens.

World Goth Day

World Goth Day is an event observed annually on 22 May, defined by the World Goth Day website as "a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world."

What Happened on 22nd May?

78 significant events took place on Monday, 22nd May — stretching from 192 to 2021. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

22/05/2021

Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China.

On 22 May 2021, twenty-one professional runners died from hypothermia while competing in a government-run 100-kilometre (62 mi) trail running race held in the Yellow River Stone Forest in Jingtai County, Gansu, China.

22/05/2020

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.

On 22 May 2020, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303, a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Lahore to Karachi, crashed while on approach to Jinnah International Airport Karachi, killing 97 out of the 99 people on board as well as an additional person on the ground. The aircraft, an Airbus A320 with 91 passengers and 8 crew members on board, was on an unstable approach to Jinnah International Airport excessively high airspeed and altitude. The aircraft subsequently belly landed nearly half-way down the airport runway before the flight crew conducted a go-around. During the go-around, both engines started to fail due to damage sustained during the belly landing. Whilst attempting to land back on the runway, the aircraft lost airspeed and crashed into buildings in Model Colony. All 8 crew members and 89 out of the 91 passengers on board were killed by the impact and post-crash fire. One person who was inside the buildings died ten days after the crash due to burn injuries.

22/05/2017

Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.

Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle register, she is an influential figure in popular music. Publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard have deemed Grande one of the greatest artists in history, while Time included her on its list of the world's 100 most influential people in 2016 and 2019.

United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.

Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

22/05/2015

The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to utilise a public referendum to legalise gay marriage.

Ireland, additionally described as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in Northwestern Europe. It consists of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. Its capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island, with a population of over 1.5 million. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann; an upper house, Seanad Éireann; and an elected president who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, elected by the Dáil and appointed by the president, who appoints other government ministers.

22/05/2014

General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d'état, following six months of political turmoil.

Prayut Chan-o-cha is a Thai former politician and military officer who became the 29th prime minister of Thailand after seizing power in the 2014 coup d'état and served until 2023. He was concurrently the minister of defence in his own government from 2019 to 2023. Prayut served as commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army from 2010 to 2014 and led the coup d'état which installed the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta which governed Thailand between 22 May 2014 and 10 July 2019.

An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.

On the morning of 22 May 2014, two sport utility vehicles (SUVs) carrying five assailants were driven into a busy street market in Ürümqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Up to a dozen explosives were thrown at shoppers from the windows of the SUVs. The SUVs crashed into shoppers, then collided with each other and exploded. Forty-three people were killed, including four of the assailants; more than 90 were wounded, making this the deadliest attack of the Xinjiang conflict. The event was designated as a terrorist attack.

22/05/2013

Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered by two Islamic extremists in Woolwich, Southeast London.

Fusilier is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While fusilier is derived from the 17th-century French word fusil – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in contrasting ways in different countries and at different times, including soldiers guarding artillery, various elite units, ordinary line infantry and other uses.

22/05/2012

Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).

Tokyo Skytree , a.k.a Tokyo Sky Tree, is a broadcasting and observation tower, located in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It has been the tallest tower in Japan since opening in 2012, and reached its full height of 634 metres in early 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the third tallest structure in the world behind Merdeka 118 and Burj Khalifa.

SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 launches a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.

SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2, also known as Dragon C2+, was the second test-flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Cargo Dragon spacecraft. It launched in May 2012 on the third flight of the company's two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The flight was performed under a funded agreement from NASA as the second Dragon demonstration mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The purpose of the COTS program is to develop and demonstrate commercial sources for cargo re-supply of the International Space Station (ISS). The Dragon C2+ spacecraft was the first American vehicle to visit the ISS since the end of the Space Shuttle program. It was also the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with another spacecraft.

22/05/2011

An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.

The Joplin tornado was an extremely devastating EF5 tornado that struck the city of Joplin, Missouri during the early evening hours of May 22, 2011, causing catastrophic damage to it and surrounding regions. As part of a larger late-May sequence of tornadic activity, the extremely violent tornado began just west of Joplin at about 5:34 p.m. CDT (UTC–05:00) and quickly reached a peak width of nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) as it tracked through the southern part of the city, before later impacting rural Jasper and Newton counties and dissipating after 38 minutes on the ground at 6:12 p.m. The tornado was on the ground for a total of 21.62 miles (34.79 km).

22/05/2010

Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610.

Air India Express Flight 812 was a scheduled international flight from Dubai International Airport, Dubai, to Mangalore International Airport, Mangalore. On 22 May 2010, the Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operating the flight crashed on landing at Mangalore. The captain had continued an unstabilised approach, despite three calls from the first officer to initiate a "go-around", resulting in the aircraft overshooting the runway, falling down a hillside, and bursting into flames. Of the 166 passengers and crew on board, 158 were killed ; only eight survived. This was the first fatal accident involving Air India Express.

Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).

Football Club Internazionale Milano, widely referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, and commonly known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is the only team to have an unbroken presence in the top division of Italian football, currently Serie A, since its debut in 1909, having never been relegated to Serie B. Since 1947, Inter has shared the San Siro stadium, the largest stadium in Italy, with AC Milan, with whom it contests the long-standing Derby della Madonnina, one of the most widely followed rivalries in world football.

22/05/2002

Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

The civil rights movement was a social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country, which most commonly affected African Americans. The movement had origins in the Reconstruction era in the late 19th century, and modern roots in the 1940s and in Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent movement in India. After years of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience campaigns, the civil rights movement achieved many of its legislative goals in the 1960s, during which it secured new protections in federal law for the civil rights of all Americans, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

22/05/2000

In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It is located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with the Maldives to the southwest and India to the northwest, and lies across the Bay of Bengal from Bangladesh and Myanmar to the northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India to the east. Its capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, while Colombo is its largest city and the political, financial and cultural centre. Sri Lanka's population is 22 million; with the Sinhalese people, who speak the Sinhala language, forming the vast majority—while Tamil is spoken by the large Tamil minority. Other long-established ethnic groups include the Moors, Indian Tamils, Burghers, Malays, Chinese, and Vedda.

22/05/1998

A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.

The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government.

22/05/1996

The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician, diplomat and author who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since the party's founding in 1988 and was registered as its chairperson while it was a legal party from 2011 to 2023. She played a vital role in Myanmar's transition from military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s. She has been widely described as the de facto leader of Myanmar from 2016 to 2021. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

22/05/1994

A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country in the Caribbean on the island of Hispaniola in both Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western side of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean by area, and with an estimated population of 11.4 million, it is the most populous Caribbean country. The capital and largest city is Port-au-Prince.

22/05/1992

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, often referred to as Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north and southwest, with a 20-kilometre-long (12-mile) coast on the Adriatic Sea in the south. Bosnia has a moderate continental climate with hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Its geography is largely mountainous, particularly in the central and eastern regions, which are dominated by the Dinaric Alps. Herzegovina, the smaller, southern region, has a Mediterranean climate and is mostly mountainous. Sarajevo is the capital and the largest city.

22/05/1990

North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.

The Yemen Arab Republic, also known as Yemen (Sanaʽa) and commonly referred to as North Yemen, was a country that existed from 1962 until its unification with the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in 1990, in the northwestern part of what is now Yemen. Its capital was Sana'a. It bordered South Yemen to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the north and the Red Sea to the west, sharing maritime borders with Djibouti and the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

22/05/1987

Hashimpura massacre occurs in Meerut, India.

The Hashimpura massacre was the killing of 42 Indian Muslim men by police on or around 22 May 1987 near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh state, India, during the 1987 Meerut communal riots. Around 19+ personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded up 42 Indian Muslim youths from the Hashimpura mohalla (locality) of the city, took them to the outskirts of the city, shot them in cold blood and dumped their bodies in a nearby irrigation canal. A few days later, the dead bodies were found floating in the canal and a case of murder was registered. Eventually, 19 personnel of the provincial constabulary were accused of committing the massacre. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 accused surrendered and were later released on bail. The other three accused died in the intervening period. In 2002, the Supreme Court of India ordered that the case trial should be transferred from the Ghaziabad district court to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari court complex in Delhi.

First ever Rugby World Cup kicks off with New Zealand playing Italy at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches while Australia hosted 11 matches. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who were the strong favourites and won all their matches comfortably. New Zealand defeated France 29–9 in the final at Eden Park in Auckland. The New Zealand team was captained by David Kirk and included such rugby greats as Sean Fitzpatrick, John Kirwan, Grant Fox and Michael Jones. Wales finished third, and Australia fourth, after conceding crucial tries in the dying seconds of both their semi-final against France and the third-place play-off against Wales.

22/05/1972

Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a republic and changing its name to Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 was a constitution of Sri Lanka, replaced by the 1978 constitution currently in force. It was Sri Lanka's first republican constitution, and its second since independence in 1948. The constitution changed the country's name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, and established it as an independent republic. The country was officially designated as the "Republic of Sri Lanka," leading to the constitution being known as the 1972 Republican Constitution. The constitution was promulgated on 22 May 1972.

Over 400 women in Derry, Northern Ireland attack the offices of Sinn Féin following the shooting by the Irish Republican Army of a young British soldier on leave.

Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Foyle. Cityside and the old walled city are on the west bank and Waterside is on the east, with two road bridges and one footbridge crossing the river in-between.

22/05/1969

Apollo 10's Lunar Module flies within 8.4 nautical miles (16 km) of the Moon's surface.

Apollo 10 was the fourth human spaceflight in the United States' Apollo program and the second to orbit the Moon. NASA, the mission's operator, described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing. It was designated an "F" mission, intended to test all spacecraft components and procedures short of actual descent and landing.

22/05/1968

The nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 nautical miles (740 km) southwest of the Azores.

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or informally to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, or to medium-sized or smaller vessels. Submarines are referred to as boats rather than ships regardless of their size.

22/05/1967

Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.

The Straits of Tiran are the narrow sea passages between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas that connect the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. The distance between the two peninsulas is about 13 km. The Multinational Force and Observers monitors the compliance of Egypt in maintaining freedom of navigation of the straits, as provided under the Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.

The L'Innovation fire was a fire that took place at the À L'Innovation department store on the Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat in central Brussels, Belgium, on 22 May 1967. More than 150 firefighters were mobilised to fight it, 251 people were killed, 62 injured, and the department store itself, the work of the Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta, was destroyed.

22/05/1964

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson launches his Great Society program.

Lyndon Baines Johnson, also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. Johnson was vice president under John F. Kennedy from 1961 until Kennedy's assassination in 1963, when he assumed the presidency. Before becoming vice president, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress, representing Texas as a member of the Democratic Party.

22/05/1963

Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is clubbed over the head, causing his death five days later.

Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician, physician, athlete, and lecturer. He participated in track and field sports and was a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens. A member of the Greek resistance to Axis rule during World War II, he later became a prominent anti-war activist. His assassination by right-wing zealots that were covertly supported by the police and military provoked mass protests and led to a political crisis.

22/05/1962

Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes in Unionville, Missouri after bombs explode on board, killing 45.

Continental Airlines Flight 11, registration N70775, was a Boeing 707 aircraft which exploded in the vicinity of Centerville, Iowa, United States, while en route from O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to Kansas City, Missouri, on May 22, 1962. The aircraft crashed in a clover field near Unionville, in Putnam County, Missouri, killing all 45 crew and passengers on board. The investigation determined the cause of the crash was a suicide bombing, committed as insurance fraud.

22/05/1960

The Great Chilean earthquake, measuring 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale, hits southern Chile, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.

The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami or the Great Chilean earthquake occurred on 22 May 1960. Most studies have placed it at 9.4–9.6 on the moment magnitude scale, making it the strongest earthquake ever recorded, while some studies have placed the magnitude lower than 9.4. It occurred in the afternoon, and lasted 10 minutes. The resulting tsunamis affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands.

22/05/1958

The 1958 riots in Ceylon become a watershed in the race relations of various ethnic communities of Sri Lanka. The total deaths are estimated at 300, mostly Tamils.

The 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom and riots in Ceylon, also known as the 58 riots, refer to the first island-wide ethnic riots and pogrom to target the minority Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon after it became an independent dominion from Britain in 1948. The riots lasted from 22 May until 29 May 1958 although sporadic disturbances happened after the declaration of emergency on 27 May 1958. The estimates of the murders range, based on recovered bodies, from 158 to 1,500. Although most of the victims were Tamils, Sinhalese and their property were also affected by retaliatory attacks by Tamil mobs throughout the Batticaloa and Jaffna districts. As the first full-scale race riot in the country in over forty years, the events of 1958 shattered the trust the communities had in one another and led to further polarisation.

22/05/1957

South Africa's government approves of racial separation in universities.

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. Under this minoritarian system, white citizens held the highest status, followed by Indians, Coloureds and black Africans, in that order. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.

22/05/1948

Finnish President J. K. Paasikivi releases Yrjö Leino from his duties as interior minister after the Finnish parliament adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945.

Juho Kusti Paasikivi was a Finnish politician who served as the president of Finland from 1946 to 1956. Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalition Party, he previously served as senator, member of parliament, envoy to Stockholm (1936–1939) and Moscow (1940–1941), and Prime Minister of Finland. He also held several other positions of trust, and was an influential figure in Finnish economics and politics for over fifty years.

22/05/1947

Cold War: The Truman Doctrine goes into effect, aiding Turkey and Greece.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

22/05/1943

Joseph Stalin disbands the Comintern.

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held office as the General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 to 1952 and as the premier from 1941 until his death. Despite initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he eventually consolidated power to become a dictator by the 1930s. Stalin codified the Communist Party's official interpretation of Marxism as Marxism–Leninism, and his version of it is referred to as Stalinism.

22/05/1942

Mexico enters the Second World War on the side of the Allies.

The history of Mexico spans over three millennia, with the earliest evidence of hunter-gatherer settlement 13,000 years ago. Central and southern Mexico, known as Mesoamerica, saw the rise of complex civilizations that developed glyphic writing systems to record political histories and conquests. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century established New Spain, bringing Spanish rule, Christianity, and European influences.

22/05/1941

During the Anglo-Iraqi War, British troops take Fallujah.

The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq, then ruled by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état with assistance from Germany and Italy. The campaign resulted in the downfall of Gaylani's government, the re-occupation of Iraq by the British, and the return to power of the Regent of Iraq, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, a British ally.

22/05/1939

World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.

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.

22/05/1927

Near Xining, China, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake causes 200,000 deaths in one of the world's most destructive earthquakes.

Xining is the capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants, of whom 1,954,795 lived in the built-up area made of 5 urban districts. The city lies in the Huangshui River Valley, also known as Tsongkha, and owing to its high altitude, has a cool climate on the borderline between cool semi-arid and dry winter humid continental.

22/05/1926

Chiang Kai-shek replaces the communists in Kuomintang China.[vague]

Chiang Kai-shek was a Chinese military commander, revolutionary, and statesman who was President of the Republic of China from 1948 to 1975 and head of the Nationalist government from 1925 to 1948. As the de facto leader of the Republic of China (ROC), he ruled the country through World War II and oversaw the relocation of its government to Taiwan following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War.

22/05/1916

A British army defeats a force of the Darfur Sultanate under Sultan Ali Dinar due to its superior firepower in the battle of Beringia.

The British Army during the First World War fought the largest and most costly war in its long history. Unlike the French and German Armies, the British Army was made up exclusively of volunteers, as opposed to conscripts, at the beginning of the conflict. Furthermore, the British Army was considerably smaller than its French and German counterparts. During the First World War, there were four distinct British armies. The first comprised approximately 247,000 soldiers of the regular army, over half of whom were posted overseas to garrison the British Empire, supported by some 210,000 reserves and a potential 60,000 additional reserves.

22/05/1915

Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, the only volcano besides Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous U.S. during the 20th century.

Lassen Peak, commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is a 10,457-foot (3,187 m) lava dome volcano in Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. Located in the Shasta Cascade region above the northern Sacramento Valley, it is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range of the Western United States, and part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc stretching from southwestern British Columbia to Northern California. It supports many flora and fauna among its diverse habitats, which reach high elevations and are subject to frequent snowfall.

Three trains collide in the Quintinshill rail disaster near Gretna Green, Scotland, killing 227 people and injuring 246.

The Quintinshill rail disaster was a multi-train rail crash which occurred on 22 May 1915 outside the Quintinshill signal box near Gretna Green in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It resulted in the deaths of over 200 people and remains the worst rail disaster in British history.

22/05/1906

The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".

The Wright brothers, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. They made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills. In 1904 the Wright brothers developed the Wright Flyer II, which made longer-duration flights including the first circle, followed in 1905 by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III.

22/05/1905

The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II establishes the Ullah millet for the Aromanians of the empire. For this reason, the Aromanian National Day is sometimes celebrated on this day, although most do so on May 23 instead, which is when this event was publicly announced.

The sultans of the Ottoman Empire, who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty, ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spanned an area from Hungary in the north to Yemen in the south and from Algeria in the west to Iraq in the east. Administered at first from the city of Söğüt from before 1280 and then from the city of Bursa from 1323 or 1324, the empire's capital was moved to Adrianople in 1363 following its conquest by Murad I and then to Constantinople in 1453 following its conquest by Mehmed II.

22/05/1874

Verdi's Requiem is first performed at San Marco in Milan on the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.

The Messa da Requiem is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass (Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired, and is therefore also referred to as the Manzoni Requiem. The first performance, at the San Marco church in Milan on 22 May 1874, conducted by the composer, marked the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. It was followed three days later by the same performers at La Scala. Verdi conducted his work at major venues in Europe.

22/05/1872

Reconstruction Era: President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law, restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.

The Reconstruction era, often simply called Reconstruction, was a period in United States history that followed the American Civil War (1861–1865) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the abolition of slavery and federal control over, and reintegration of, the former Confederate States into the United States. Three amendments were added to the United States Constitution to grant citizenship and equal civil rights to the newly freed slaves. To circumvent these, former Confederate states imposed poll taxes and literacy tests and sought to intimidate and control the Black population and discourage or prevent them from voting.

22/05/1866

Oliver Winchester founds the Winchester Repeating Arms.

Oliver Fisher Winchester was an American businessman and politician, best known as being the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

22/05/1864

American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends in failure.

During the American Civil War, the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the collective Union of the states, was often referred to as the Union army, Federal army, or Northern army. It proved essential to the restoration and preservation of the United States as a working, viable republic.

22/05/1863

American Civil War: Union forces begin the Siege of Port Hudson which lasts 48 days, the longest siege in U.S. military history.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

22/05/1856

Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.

The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the U.S. Constitution in enumerated matters to pass or defeat federal legislation, known as bills. Those that are also passed by the Senate are sent to the president for signature or veto. The House's exclusive powers include initiating all revenue bills, impeaching federal officers, and electing the president if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College.

22/05/1849

Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.

The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

22/05/1848

Slavery is abolished in Martinique.

This is a page on the history of the island of Martinique.

22/05/1846

The Associated Press is formed in New York City as a non-profit news cooperative.

The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major U.S. daily newspapers and radio and television broadcasters. Since the Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917, the AP has earned 60 of them, including 36 for photography. The AP distributes its widely used AP Stylebook, its AP polls tracking NCAA sports, and its election polls and results during U.S. elections. It sponsors the National Football League's annual awards.

22/05/1840

The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.

Penal transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their destination. While the prisoners may have been released once the sentences were served, they generally did not have the resources to return home.

22/05/1826

HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.

HMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803, was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of George IV, passing under the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge. There was no immediate need for Beagle, so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.

22/05/1819

SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

SS Savannah was an American hybrid sailing ship/sidewheel steamer built in 1818. She was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, transiting mainly under sail power from May to June 1819. In spite of this historic voyage, the great space taken up by her large engine and its fuel at the expense of cargo, and the public's anxiety over embracing her revolutionary steam power, kept Savannah from being a commercial success as a steamship. Originally laid down as a sailing packet, she was, following a severe and unrelated reversal of the financial fortunes of her owners, converted back into a sailing ship shortly after returning from Europe.

22/05/1816

A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs, and the riots spread to Ely the next day.

Littleport is a town in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Ely and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and Mare Fen. It is served by Littleport railway station. There are two primary schools, Millfield Primary and Littleport Community, and a secondary, Vista Academy. The Littleport riots of 1816 influenced the passage of the Vagrancy Act 1824.

22/05/1809

On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna, Austria), Napoleon I is defeated in a major battle for the first time in his career, and repelled by an enemy army for the first time in a decade.

In the Battle of Aspern–Essling, Napoleon crossed the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were attacked and forced back across the river by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. It was the first time Napoleon had been personally defeated in a major battle, as well as his first battle defeat in 10 years since the siege of Acre, and his first battle defeat as head of state, although he did suffer a tactical defeat in the Battle of Caldiero and in the Second Battle of Bassano. Archduke Charles drove out the French but fell short of destroying their army. The French lost over 20,000 men, including one of Napoleon's ablest field commanders and closest friends, Marshal Jean Lannes.

22/05/1807

A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.

A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning.

22/05/1804

The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select group of U.S. Army and civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. Clark, along with 30 others, set out from Camp Dubois, Illinois, on May 14, 1804, met Lewis and ten other members of the group in St. Charles, Missouri, then went up the Missouri River. The expedition crossed the Continental Divide of the Americas near the Lemhi Pass, eventually coming to the Columbia River, and the Pacific Ocean in 1805. The return voyage began on March 23, 1806, at Fort Clatsop, Oregon, ending six months later on September 23.

22/05/1766

A large earthquake causes heavy damage and loss of life in Istanbul and the Marmara region.

The 1766 Istanbul earthquake was a strong earthquake with epicenter in the eastern part of the Sea of Marmara, in the Çınarcık Basin which occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, 22 May 1766. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.1 on the surface-wave magnitude scale, and caused effects in a vast area extending from Izmit to Rodosto. In this area, the earthquake was followed by a tsunami which caused significant damage. The earthquake of 1766 was the last major earthquake to rock Istanbul because of a rupture of the North Anatolian Fault in the Marmara region.

22/05/1762

Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg.

Prussia was a German state centred on the North European Plain. It originated from the 1525 secularization act of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, expanding its size with the Prussian Army. Prussia, with its capital at Königsberg and then, when it became the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, Berlin, decisively shaped the history of Germany. Prussia formed the German Empire when it united the German states in 1871. It was de facto dissolved by an emergency decree transferring powers of the Prussian government to German Chancellor Franz von Papen in 1932 and de jure by an Allied decree in 1947.

Trevi Fountain is officially completed and inaugurated in Rome.

The Trevi Fountain is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762. Standing 26.3 metres (86 ft) high and 49.15 metres (161.3 ft) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

22/05/1629

Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Danish King Christian IV sign the Treaty of Lübeck ending Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.

The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period, was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. The title was held in conjunction with the title of King of Italy from the 8th to the 16th century, and, almost without interruption, with the title of King of Germany throughout the 12th to 18th centuries.

22/05/1520

The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.

The Massacre in the Great Temple, also called the Toxcatl Massacre, or the Alvarado Massacre, was an event on 22 May 1520, in the Mexica, also known as the Aztec, capital of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, in which the celebration of the Feast of Toxcatl ended in a massacre of Mexica elites.

22/05/1455

Start of the Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.

The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, and also the Cousins' War, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought for control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fought between supporters of the House of Lancaster and House of York, two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit, through the female line, the Lancaster claim to the throne. Conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England.

22/05/1377

Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.

Pope Gregory XI was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, Gregory XI returned the papal court to Rome, ending nearly 70 years of papal residency in Avignon, in modern-day France. His death was swiftly followed by the Western Schism involving two Avignon-based antipopes.

22/05/1370

Brussels massacre: An estimated 13 Jews are murdered and the rest of the Jewish community is banished from Brussels, Belgium, in an anti-Semitic attack, for allegedly desecrating consecrated Host.

The Brussels massacre was an anti-Semitic episode in Brussels in 1370 in connection with an alleged host desecration at the Brussels synagogue. In May 22, a number of Jews, variously given as six or about twenty, were executed or otherwise killed, while the rest of the small community was banished.

22/05/1254

Serbian King Stefan Uroš I and the Republic of Venice sign a peace treaty.

The Kingdom of Serbia, also known by historical exonym Rascia, was a medieval Serbian kingdom in Southern Europe comprising most of what is today Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro, as well as southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, parts of coastal Croatia south of the Neretva river, Albania north of the Drin River, North Macedonia, and a small part of western Bulgaria.

22/05/1246

Henry Raspe is elected anti-king of the Kingdom of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV.

Henry Raspe was the Landgrave of Thuringia from 1231 until 1239 and again from 1241 until his death. In 1246, with the support of the Papacy, he was elected King of Germany in opposition to Conrad IV, but his contested reign lasted a mere nine months.

22/05/1200

King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.

John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered a foundational milestone in English and later British constitutional history.

22/05/1176

The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo.

The Order of Assassins was a Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islamic military order founded by Hasan-i Sabbah in 1090. Based in the Nizari Isma'ili state, which comprised a network of mountain castles in Persia and Syria, they conducted several high-profile assassinations throughout the Levant during the Crusades. The Assassins held a strict subterfuge policy in the region and are believed to have killed hundreds of people who were deemed enemies of their state over the course of 200 years, including other Shias, as well as Sunnis and Christians alike.

22/05/0853

A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.

The Sack of Damietta was a successful raid on the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta by the Byzantine navy on 22–24 May 853. The city, whose garrison was absent at the time, was sacked and plundered, yielding not only many captives but also large quantities of weapons and supplies intended for the Arab Emirate of Crete. The Byzantine attack, which was repeated in the subsequent years, shocked the Abbasid authorities, and urgent measures were taken to refortify the coasts and strengthen the local fleet, beginning a revival of the Egyptian navy that culminated in the Tulunid and Fatimid periods.

22/05/0760

Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.

Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing roughly every 75–76 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions occurring after 75–77 years. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061. Officially designated 1P/Halley, it is also commonly called Comet Halley, or sometimes simply Halley.

22/05/0192

Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.

Dong Zhuo, courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minister of the imperial government. Originally from Liang Province, Dong Zhuo seized control of the imperial capital Luoyang in 189 when it entered a state of turmoil following the death of Emperor Ling of Han and a massacre of the eunuch faction by the court officials.

On this day

International Day for Biological Diversity

What the Weather Had in Store for Lissabon on 22nd May 2026

22nd May in the Stars – Star Sign Gemini

Personality Profile

Fun Facts About 22nd May

Famous Birthdays on 22nd May

Peyton Elizabeth Lee, American actress

Anthony Richardson, American football player

Enzo Barrenechea, Argentine footballer

Emma Chamberlain, American internet personality

Joshua Zirkzee, Dutch footballer

Julián Carranza, Argentine footballer

Samuel Chukwueze, Nigerian footballer

Femke Huijzer, Dutch model

Hōshōryū Tomokatsu, Mongolian sumo wrestler

Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model

Lauri Markkanen, Finnish basketball player

Florian Luger, Austrian male model

Athena Manoukian, Greek-Armenian singer and songwriter

Anna Baryshnikov, American actress

Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer

Suho, South Korean singer and actor

Wyatt Roy, Australian politician

Corey Dickerson, American baseball player

Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress

Novak Djokovic, Serbian tennis player

Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer

Julian Edelman, American football player

Matt Jarvis, English footballer

Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater

Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer

Mauro Boselli, Argentine footballer me

Tao Okamoto, Japanese model and actress

Clara Amfo, English television and radio presenter

Karoline Herfurth, German actress

Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer

Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook

Natasha Kai, American soccer player and Olympic medalist

Erin McNaught, Australian model and actress

Apolo Ohno, American speed skater

Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer

Bryan Danielson, American wrestler

Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (died 2015)

Jürgen Melzer, Austrian tennis player

Mark O'Meley, Australian rugby league player

Tarin Bradford, Australian rugby league player

Sharice Davids, American politician

Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (died 2009)

Nazanin Boniadi, Iranian-American actress

Tihomir Dovramadjiev, Bulgarian Chess boxer

Maggie Q, American actress

Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress

Katie Price, English television personality and glamour model

Pat Smullen, Irish jockey (died 2020)

Christian Vande Velde, American cyclist

Salva Ballesta, Spanish footballer and manager

Sean Gunn, American actor

Garba Lawal, Nigerian footballer

Henrietta Ónodi, Hungarian Olympic gymnast

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian politician

Canek Sánchez Guevara, Cuban author and dissident (died 2015)

Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Norwegian politician

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Danish actor

Max Brooks, American author and screenwriter

Naomi Campbell, English model

Brody Stevens, American comedian and actor (died 2019)

Michael Kelly, American actor

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, American lawyer and politician

Graham Linehan, Irish comedy writer and activist

Johnny Gill, American singer-songwriter and producer

Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese director and screenwriter

Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary

Claude Closky, French contemporary artist

Andrew Magee, French-American golfer

Brian Pillman, American football player and wrestler (died 1997)

Hideaki Anno, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter

David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach

Olin Browne, American golfer

Morrissey, English singer-songwriter and performer