October 22

Historic Events

2019

Same-sex marriage is legalised, and abortion is decriminalised in Northern Ireland as a result of the Northern Ireland Assembly not being restored. ›

2014

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau attacks the Parliament of Canada, killing a soldier and injuring three other people. ›

2013

The Australian Capital Territory becomes the first Australian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage with the Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013. ›

2012

Cyclist Lance Armstrong is formally stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after being charged for doping. ›

2008

India launches its first uncrewed lunar probe mission Chandrayaan-1. ›

2007

A raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base is carried out by 21 Tamil Tiger commandos, with all except one dying in this attack. Eight Sri Lanka Air Force planes are destroyed and ten damaged. ›

2006

A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a national referendum. ›

2005

Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the most active Atlantic hurricane season until surpassed by the 2020 season. ›

2005

Bellview Airlines Flight 210 crashes in Nigeria, killing all 117 people on board. ›

1999

Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity. ›

1997

Danish fugitive Steen Christensen kills two police officers, Chief Constable Eero Holsti and Senior Constable Antero Palo, in Ullanlinna, Helsinki, Finland during his prison escape. ›

1992

Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-52 to deploy the LAGEOS-2 satellite and microgravity experiments. ›

1987

John Adams' opera Nixon in China premiered at the Houston Grand Opera. ›

1983

Two correctional officers are killed by inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois. The incident inspires the Supermax model of prisons. ›

1981

The US Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for its strike the previous August. ›

1975

The Soviet uncrewed space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus. ›

1964

Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he does not accept the prize. ›

1963

A BAC One-Eleven prototype airliner crashes in UK with the loss of all on board. ›

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy, after internal counsel from Dwight D. Eisenhower, announces that American reconnaissance planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval "quarantine" of the Communist nation. ›

1946

Over twenty-two hundred engineers and technicians from eastern Germany are forced to relocate to the Soviet Union, along with their families and equipment. ›

1943

World War II: In the second firestorm raid on Germany, the British Royal Air Force conducts an air raid on the town of Kassel, killing 10,000 and rendering 150,000 homeless. ›

1941

World War II: French resistance member Guy Môquet and 29 other hostages are executed by the Germans in retaliation for the death of a German officer. ›

1936

Dod Orsborne, captain of the Girl Pat is convicted of its theft and imprisoned, having caused a media sensation when it went missing. ›

1934

In East Liverpool, Ohio, FBI agents shoot and kill the notorious bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd. ›

1923

The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d'état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic. ›

1910

Hawley Harvey Crippen (the first felon to be arrested with the help of radio) is convicted of poisoning his wife. ›

1907

A run on the stock of the Knickerbocker Trust Company sets events in motion that will spark the Panic of 1907. ›

1895

In Paris, an express train derails after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing almost 30 metres (100 ft) of concourse before crashing through a wall and falling 10 metres (33 ft) to the road below. ›

1884

The International Meridian Conference designates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich as the world's prime meridian. ›

1883

The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Charles Gounod's Faust. ›

1879

Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb; the bulb lasted 131⁄2 hours before burning out. ›

1877

The Blantyre mining disaster in Scotland kills 207 miners. ›

1866

A plebiscite ratifies the annexation of Veneto and Mantua to Italy, which had occurred three days before on October 19. ›

1859

Spain declares war on Morocco. ›

1844

The Millerites (followers of Baptist preacher William Miller) anticipate the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day becomes known as the Great Disappointment. ›

1836

Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas. ›

1797

André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump, from 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above Paris. ›

1790

Northwest Indian War: Native American forces defeat the United States, ending the Harmar Campaign. ›

1777

American Revolutionary War: American defenders of Fort Mercer on the Delaware River repulse repeated Hessian attacks in the Battle of Red Bank. ›

1746

The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter. ›

1739

The War of Jenkins' Ear begins with the first attack on La Guaira. ›

1730

Construction of the Ladoga Canal is completed in Russia. ›

1724

J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (Adorn yourself, O dear soul) in Leipzig on the 20th Sunday after Trinity, based on the communion hymn of the same name. ›

1721

The Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War. ›

1383

The male line of the Portuguese House of Burgundy becomes extinct with the death of King Fernando, leaving only his daughter Beatrice. Rival claimants begin a period of civil war and disorder. ›

906

Abbasid general Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh leads a raid against the Byzantine Empire, taking 4,000–5,000 captives. ›

794

Japanese Emperor Kanmu relocates his empire's capital to Heian-kyō (now Kyoto). ›

451

The Chalcedonian Creed, regarding the divine and human nature of Jesus, is adopted by the Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council. ›

2137 BC

A solar eclipse occurs over China, one of the earliest recorded in human history, reportedly resulting in the executions of two astronomers who failed to predict it. ›