February 22

February 22 in recent years

2024 (Thursday)

2023 (Wednesday)

2022 (Tuesday)

2021 (Monday)

2020 (Saturday)

2019 (Friday)

2018 (Thursday)

2017 (Wednesday)

2016 (Monday)

2015 (Sunday)

February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 312 days remain until the end of the year (313 in leap years).

Events

• 1495 – King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
• 1632 – Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
• 1744 – War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon begins.
• 1797 – The Last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
• 1819 – By the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
• 1847 – Mexican-American War: The Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops drive off 15,000 Mexicans.
• 1855 – The Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania (as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania)
• 1856 – The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• 1862 – Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
• 1879 – In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.
• 1882 – The Serbian kingdom is refounded.
• 1889 – President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.
• 1904 – The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina, the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
• 1915 – World War I: Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare.
• 1922 – The British unilaterally declare the independence of Egypt.
• 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge becomes the first President to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House.
• 1942 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapses.
• 1943 – World War II: Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.
• 1944 – World War II: American aircraft bombard the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer by mistake, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
• 1948 – Communist coup in Czechoslovakia.
• 1958 – Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
• 1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
• 1972 – An Official Irish Republican Army car bomb is detonated at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
• 1973 – Cold War: Following United States President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
• 1974 – Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit conference starts in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries are attending. Twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognized Bangladesh.
• 1974 – Samuel Byck tries and fails to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon.
• 1979 – Independence of Saint Lucia from the United Kingdom.
• 1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4-3, in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
• 1983 – The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
• 1986 – Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
• 1994 – Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
• 1995 – The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
• 1997 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned.
• 2002 – Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
• 2006 – At least six men stage Britain's biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

Births

• 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi (d. 1105)
• 1403 – Charles VII of France (d. 1461)
• 1440 – Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1457)
• 1500 – Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)
• 1612 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d. 1677)
• 1705 – Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist (d. 1735)
• 1714 – Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (d. 1795)
• 1732 – George Washington, First President of the United States (d. 1799)
• 1756 – Georg Friedrich von Martens, German diplomat (d. 1821)
• 1778 – Rembrandt Peale, American artist (d. 1860)
• 1788 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (d. 1860)
• 1796 – Alexis Bachelot, French missionary (d. 1837)
• 1796 – Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1874)
• 1806 – Józef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (d. 1875)
• 1817 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880)
• 1819 – James Russell Lowell, American poet and essayist (d. 1891)
• 1824 – Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (d. 1907)
• 1825 – Jean Baptiste Salpointe, second Archbishop of Santa Fe (d. 1898)
• 1839 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor and publisher (d. 1906)
• 1840 – August Bebel, German politician (d. 1913)
• 1849 – Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d. 1915)
• 1857 – Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, English founder of the Scout movement (d. 1941)
• 1857 – Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d. 1894)
• 1864 – Jules Renard, French author (d. 1910)
• 1874 – Bill Klem, American baseball umpire (d. 1951)
• 1878 – Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d. 1909)
• 1879 – Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted, Danish physical chemist (d. 1947)
• 1880 – Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)
• 1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American politician (d. 1956)
• 1881 – Albin Prepeluh, Slovenian author and politician (d. 1937)
• 1882 – Eric Gill, British sculptor (d. 1940)
• 1883 – Marguerite Clark, American actress (d. 1940)
• 1886 – Hugo Ball, German author and poet (d. 1927)
• 1887 – Ksawery Tartakower, Polish chess player (d. 1956)
• 1888 – Owen Brewster, American politician (d. 1961)
• 1889 – Olave Baden-Powell, English founder of the Girl Guide (d. 1977)
• 1890 – Beatriz Michelena, Latin-American silent movie star (d. 1942)
• 1891 – Vlas Chubar, Soviet politician (d. 1939)
• 1892 – Edna St. Vincent Millay, American writer (d. 1950)
• 1895 – Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, Peruvian politician (d. 1979)
• 1897 – Karol Świerczewski, Polish general (d. 1947)
• 1899 – Dwight Frye, American actor (d. 1943)
• 1899 – George O'Hara, American actor (d. 1966)
• 1899 – Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (d. 1986)
• 1900 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish-born film director (d. 1983)
• 1900 – Seán Ó Faoláin, Irish author (d. 1991)
• 1902 – Fritz Strassmann, German physicist (d. 1980)
• 1903 – Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (d. 1990)
• 1903 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian Nazi (d. 1969)
• 1903 – Robert Weede, American baritone (d. 1972)
• 1906 – Humayun Kabir, Indian educationist and politician (d. 1969)
• 1907 – Sheldon Leonard, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1907 – Robert Young, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1908 – Sir John Mills, English actor (d. 2005)
• 1911 – Bill Baker, American baseball player (d. 2006)
• 1913 – Buddy Tate, American jazz musician (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Renato Dulbecco, Nobel laureate
• 1917 – Jane Bowles, American playwright (d. 1973)
• 1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2000)
• 1918 – Charlie Finley, American sports entrepreneur (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Don Pardo, American announcer
• 1918 – Robert Wadlow, American tallest ever-human (d. 1940)
• 1921 – Jean-Bédel Bokassa, Central African Republic leader (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Wayne Booth, American literary critic (d. 2005)
• 1921 – David Greene, British director (d. 2003)
• 1921 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (d. 1994)
• 1922 – Jesús Iglesias, Argentine racing driver (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Bleddyn Williams, British rugby player (d. 2009)
• 1925 – Edward Gorey, American illustrator (d. 2000)
• 1926 – Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)
• 1926 – Bud Yorkin, American film director
• 1928 – Paul Dooley, American actor
• 1928 – Bruce Forsyth, British entertainer
• 1928 – Clarence 13X, American religious leader (d. 1969)
• 1928 – Axel Strøbye, Danish actor (d. 2005)
• 1929 – James Hong, American actor
• 1929 – Rebecca Schull, American actress
• 1930 – Marni Nixon, American singer
• 1930 – James McGarrell, American painter
• 1932 – Ted Kennedy, American politician (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Katharine, Duchess of Kent
• 1933 – Bobby Smith, English footballer
• 1934 – Sparky Anderson, American baseball manager
• 1935 – Sven Inge, Swedish artist (d. 2008)
• 1936 – J. Michael Bishop, Nobel laureate
• 1936 – Ernie K-Doe, American singer (d. 2001)
• 1938 – Steve Barber, American baseball player (d. 2007)
• 1938 – Ishmael Reed, American writer
• 1938 – Pierre Vallières, French-Canadian politician (d. 1995)
• 1940 – Johnson Mlambo, South African politician
• 1940 – Billy Name, American photographer
• 1941 – Hipólito Mejía, Dominican politician
• 1941 – Giorgos Arvanitis, Greek cinematographer
• 1942 – Christine Keeler, English model and showgirl
• 1943 – Terry Eagleton, British theorist
• 1943 – Horst Köhler, President of Germany
• 1944 – Jonathan Demme, American director
• 1944 – Robert Kardashian, American lawyer (d. 2003)
• 1944 – Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
• 1945 – Leslie Charleson, American actress
• 1945 – Oliver, American singer (d. 2000)
• 1947 – Carol Burns, Australian actress
• 1947 – Harvey Mason, Jazz drummer
• 1947 – Frank P. Tomasulo, American film professor and critic
• 1947 – Maurizio De Angelis, Italian musician
• 1948 – John Ashton, American actor
• 1949 – Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver and entrepreneur
• 1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player
• 1950 – Julius Erving, American basketball player
• 1950 – Ellen Greene, American actress
• 1950 – Lenny Kuhr, Dutch singer
• 1950 – Miou-Miou, French actress
• 1950 – Genesis P-Orridge, English musician and performer
• 1950 – Julie Walters, English actress
• 1952 – Cyrinda Foxe, American model (d. 2002)
• 1952 – Bill Frist, American politician
• 1953 – Graham Lewis, English musician (Wire)
• 1953 – Nigel Planer, British actor
• 1955 – David Axelrod, American political consultant
• 1955 – Tim Young, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1955 – Gordon Banks, American guitarist
• 1959 – Jiří Čunek, Czech politician
• 1959 – Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
• 1961 – Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist
• 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian herpetologist (d. 2006)
• 1962 – Lenda Murray, American bodybuilder
• 1962 – Les Wallace, Scottish darts player
• 1963 – Devon Malcolm, English Cricketer
• 1963 – Vijay Singh, Fijian golfer
• 1964 – Gigi Fernandez, Puerto Rican tennis player
• 1965 – Chris Dudley, American basketball player
• 1965 – Dean Karr, American director and photographer
• 1965 – Pat LaFontaine, American ice hockey player
• 1966 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedienne
• 1966 – Brian Greig, Australian politician
• 1966 – Thorsten Kaye, German actor
• 1966 – Aiden Shaw, English pornographic actor
• 1967 – Alf Poier, Austrian comedian
• 1968 – Shawn Graham, Canadian politician
• 1968 – Bradley Nowell, American musician (d. 1996)
• 1968 – Elna Reinach, South African tennis player
• 1968 – Jeri Ryan, American actress
• 1968 – Jayson Williams, American basketball player
• 1969 – Joaquín Cortés, Spanish dancer
• 1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor
• 1969 – Clinton Kelly, American TV personality
• 1969 – Hans Klok, Dutch illusionist
• 1969 – Brian Laudrup, Danish footballer
• 1970 – Dominic Roussel, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Ravi Vakil, Canadian-American mathematician
• 1971 – Lea Salonga, Filipina actress and singer
• 1972 – Michael Chang, American tennis player
• 1972 – Laurence Leboucher, French cyclist
• 1973 – Claus Lundekvam, Norwegian footballer
• 1973 – Juninho Paulista, Brazilian footballer
• 1973 – Einar Kristian Tveitå, Norwegian athlete
• 1974 – James Blunt, English musician
• 1974 – Chris Moyles, English DJ
• 1975 – Drew Barrymore, American actress
• 1976 – Faan Rautenbach, South African rugby player
• 1977 – Timo Rose, German filmmaker
• 1977 – Hakan Yakin, Swiss footballer
• 1978 – Jenny Frost, British singer/presenter/model/DJ (Atomic Kitten)
• 1978 – Peter Madsen, Danish football player
• 1979 – Brett Emerton, Australian footballer
• 1979 – Lee Na-young, South Korean actress
• 1981 – Fredson Camara, Brazilian footballer
• 1982 – Dichen Lachman, Australian Actress
• 1982 – Jenna Haze, American pornographic actress
• 1982 – Robert Weiner, Jr., American water polo player
• 1982 – Shawntae Spencer, American football player
• 1983 – Penny Flame, American pornographic actress
• 1983 – Shaun Tait, Australian cricketer
• 1984 – Venetian Princess (Jodie-Amy Rivera), YouTube celebrity
• 1984 – Branislav Ivanović, Serbian footballer
• 1984 – Giorgos Printezis, Greek basketball player
• 1985 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer
• 1985 – Sean Garballey, American politician
• 1986 – Miko Hughes, American actor
• 1986 – Rajon Rondo, American basketball player
• 1987 – Han Hyo-joo, South Korean actress and model
• 1988 – Kevin Borlée, Belgian athlete
• 1988 – Przemysław Kazimierczak, Polish footballer
• 1989 – Alia Sabur, American college educator
• 1994 – Ellen Marlow, American actress (Claire Lyons in The Clique)

Deaths

• 965 – Otto, Duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
• 1071 – Arnulf III, Count of Flanders (killed in battle) (b. c. 1055)
• 1111 – Roger Borsa, King of Sicily
• 1371 – King David II of Scotland (b. 1324)
• 1512 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian merchant and explorer (b. 1454)
• 1627 – Olivier van Noort, Dutch navigator (b. 1558)
• 1674 – Jean Chapelain, French writer (b. 1595)
• 1680 – Catherine Monvoisin, French sorceress (b. c. 1640)
• 1690 – Charles Le Brun, French artist (b. 1619)
• 1727 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer (b. 1661)
• 1731 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch physician and anatomist (b. 1638)
• 1732 – Francis Atterbury, English bishop and man of letters (b. 1663)
• 1742 – Charles Rivington, English publisher (b. 1688)
• 1797 – Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b. 1720)
• 1799 – Heshen, infamous Qing Dynasty Chinese official at court (b. 1750)
• 1816 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (b. 1723)
• 1875 – Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (b. 1796)
• 1875 – Sir Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (b. 1797)
• 1890 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (b. 1822)
• 1890 – Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish painter (b. 1834)
• 1892 – Herman Koeckemann, German Catholic prelate (b. 1828)
• 1903 – Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (b. 1860)
• 1904 – Leslie Stephen, English writer and critic (b. 1832)
• 1913 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist (b. 1857)
• 1921 – Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1864)
• 1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (b. 1852)
• 1934 – Willem Kes, Dutch conductor (b. 1856)
• 1939 – Antonio Machado, Spanish poet (b. 1875)
• 1942 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer (b. 1881)
• 1943 – Hans Scholl, German resistance fighter (b. 1918)
• 1943 – Christoph Probst, German resistance fighter (b. 1919)
• 1943 – Sophie Scholl, German resistance fighter (b. 1921)
• 1944 – Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mohandas Gandhi (b. 1869)
• 1945 – Osip Brik, Russian writer (b. 1888)
• 1958 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian independence movement leader (b. 1888)
• 1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Quebec painter (b. 1905)
• 1961 – Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b. 1889)
• 1965 – Felix Frankfurter, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (b. 1882)
• 1968 – Peter Arno, American cartoonist (b. 1904)
• 1973 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Quebec politician, Premier of Quebec (b. 1916)
• 1973 – Katina Paxinou, Greek actress (b. 1900)
• 1974 – Samuel Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (b. 1930)
• 1976 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (b. 1904)
• 1976 – Florence Ballard, American singer (The Supremes) (b. 1943)
• 1980 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian artist (b. 1886)
• 1982 – Josh Malihabadi, Urdu poet of India and Pakistan (b. 1898)
• 1983 – Sir Adrian Boult, English conductor (b. 1889)
• 1983 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Salvador Espriu, Spanish poet (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Alexander Scourby, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1985 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist (b. 1889)
• 1987 – Andy Warhol, American artist, director, and writer (b. 1928)
• 1989 – Moisés da Costa Amaral, East Timorese leader, UDT President in the exterior (b. 1938)
• 1994 – Papa John Creach, American musician (b. 1917)
• 1995 – Ed Flanders, American actor (b. 1934)
• 1997 – Joseph Aiuppa, American gangster (b. 1907)
• 1998 – Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (b. 1910)
• 1999 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (b. 1964)
• 2000 – Fernando Buesa, Spanish politician (b. 1946)
• 2002 – Chuck Jones, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
• 2002 – Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel and political leader (b. 1934)
• 2002 – Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat and war hero (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist (b. 1963)
• 2003 – Daniel Taradash, American screenwriter (b. 1913)
• 2004 – Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Andy Seminick, American baseball player (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Zdzisław Beksiński, Polish artist (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Simone Simon, French actress (b. 1910)
• 2005 – Lee Eun Ju, Korean actress (b. 1980)
• 2006 – Anthony Burger, American musician and singer (b. 1961)
• 2007 – Dennis Johnson, American basketball player (b. 1954)
• 2007 – Howard Verne Ramsey, oldest U.S. veteran of WWI (b. 1898)
• 2007 – Samuel Hinga Norman, Sierra Leonean alleged war criminal (b. 1940)
• 2007 – George Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords & Special Boat Service veteran (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

• Celebrity Day (Church of Scientology)
• Christian Feast Day
  • Blessed Isabelle of France
  • Margaret of Cortona
• Feast of the Chair (Roman Catholic Church)
• Independence Day (Saint Lucia, from United Kingdom in 1979)
• Washington's Birthday, celebrate George Washington's birthday on February 11, 1732. When the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the English Colonies (1752), he opted to begin observing his birthdate anniversary on the equivalent date of 22 February (United States)
• World Thinking Day, also known as "B.-P. day" or "Founder's Day", the shared birthday of the Scouts' founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell and his wife Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide. (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

---