February 22

Historic Events

2022

Twosday, the name given to Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 2:22:22, occurs. ›

2018

A man throws a grenade at the U.S. embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt. ›

2015

A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people. ›

2014

President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion. ›

2012

A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others. ›

2011

New Zealand's second deadliest earthquake, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, kills 185 people. ›

2011

Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests. ›

2006

At approximately 6:44 a.m. local Iraqi time, explosions occurred at the al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, caused the escalation of sectarian tensions in Iraq into a full-scale civil war. ›

2006

The Securitas depot robbery was the UK's largest heist. Almost £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) was stolen from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent. ›

2005

The 6.4 Mw Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured. ›

2002

Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush. ›

1997

In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned. ›

1995

The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified. ›

1994

Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union. ›

1986

Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines. ›

1983

The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. ›

1980

Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3. ›

1979

Saint Lucia gains independence from the United Kingdom. ›

1974

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh. ›

1974

Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but commits suicide after being wounded by police. ›

1973

Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices. ›

1972

The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others. ›

1959

Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500. ›

1958

Following a plebiscite in both countries the previous day, Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic. ›

1957

Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột. ›

1946

The "Long Telegram", proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow. ›

1944

World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone. ›

1944

World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog. ›

1943

World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany. ›

1943

Yankee Clipper crashes while landing on the Tagus in Lisbon, killing 24. ›

1942

World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable. ›

1921

After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.[citation needed] ›

1909

The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world. ›

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. ›

1899

Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans. ›

1889

President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states. ›

1881

Cleopatra's Needle, a 3,500-year-old Ancient Egyptian obelisk is erected in Central Park, New York. ›

1879

In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores. ›

1872

The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee. ›

1862

American Civil War: 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. ›

1856

The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh. ›

1848

The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins. ›

1847

Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops. ›

1819

By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars. ›

1797

The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales. ›

1770

British customs officer Ebenezer Richardson fires blindly into a crowd during a protest in North End, Boston, fatally wounding 11-year-old Christopher Seider; the first American fatality of the American Revolution. ›

1744

War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended. ›

1651

St. Peter's Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people. ›

1632

Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. ›

1495

King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne. ›

1371

Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty. ›

1316

The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand. ›

1288

The Franciscan Girolamo Maschi is elected pope, choosing the name Nicholas IV. ›

1076

Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. ›

896

Pope Formosus crowns Arnulf of Carinthia as Emperor in Rome. Arnulf suffers a stroke soon after and retreats from Italy. ›