What happened on December 22? There are more than 237 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About December 22
December 22 is the 357th day of the year 2024. There are 9 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday. This day falls under the 51st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Cedar Island, North Carolina 28520 sunrise will occur at 07:08 AM and sunset will occur at 04:59 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Capricorn. The modern birthstone for this month is Turquoise while the mystical birthstone is Onyx.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 38 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 26 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For December 22
- 69Emperor Vitellius is captured and murdered at the Gemonian stairs in Rome.
- 1769Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769) ends with an uneasy truce.
- 1790The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies.
- 1807The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
- 1808Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).
- 1851The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
- 1864Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his “March to the Sea”.
- 1885Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.
- 1890Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport and Kentville, Nova Scotia.
- 1894The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason.
- 1920The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
- 1937The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
- 1939Indian Muslims observe a “Day of Deliverance” to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with Britain.
- 1940World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
- 1942World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
- 1944World War II: Battle of the Bulge – German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: “Nuts!”
- 1944World War II: The People’s Army of Vietnam is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
- 1947The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution of Italy.
- 1951The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.
- 1956Colo, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity, is born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.
- 1963The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 mi north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
- 1964The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif.
- 1965In the United Kingdom, a 70 mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time. Previously, there had been no speed limit.
- 1974Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
- 1974The house of former British Prime Minister Ted Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
- 1978The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
- 1984Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American would-be muggers on an express train in Manhattan, New York City.
- 1988Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
- 1989After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu’s Communist authoritarian regime.
- 1989Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
- 1990Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
- 1990The Parliament of Croatia adopts the current Constitution of Croatia.
- 1991Armed opposition groups launch a military coup against President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
- 1992The Archives of Terror are discovered.
- 1997Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
- 1997Hussein Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
- 1998Hurricane Quinto strikes the Cayman Islands, knocking out power to the entire island for 2 days. Looting is rampant, but contained after 12 hours.
- 1999Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747-200F crashes shortly after take-off from London Stansted Airport due to pilot error. All 4 crew members are killed.
- 2001Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
- 2001Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
- 2008An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 e9USgal of coal fly ash slurry.
- 2010The repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning on homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Who Were Born On December 22?
- 244Diocletian, Roman Emperor (d. 311)
- 1095Roger II of Sicily, King of Sicily (d. 1154)
- 1178Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
- 1546Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese Daimyo (d. 1604)
- 1550Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)
- 1639Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699)
- 1666Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh guru (d. 1708)
- 1690Meidingnu Pamheiba, King of Manipur (d. 1751)
- 1694Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (d. 1768)
- 1696James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)
- 1723Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer (d. 1787)
- 1765Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician (d. 1825)
- 1805John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (d. 1893)
- 1807Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (d. 1873)
- 1819Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (d. 1870)
- 1819Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician (d. 1892)
- 1853Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (d. 1917)
- 1853Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1919)
- 1856Frank B. Kellogg, 45th U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (d. 1937)
- 1858Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924)
- 1860Austin Norman Palmer, American penmanship innovator (d. 1927)
- 1862Connie Mack, American baseball executive (d. 1956)
- 1869Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
- 1869Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (d. 1935)
- 1872Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
- 1874Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (d. 1939)
- 1876Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor (d. 1944)
- 1883Edgard Varèse French-born composer (d. 1965)
- 1885Abe Manley, Negro League Baseball owner (d. 1952)
- 1885Deems Taylor American conductor and music critic (d. 1966)
- 1887Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
- 1888J. Arthur Rank, British film producer (d. 1972)
- 1889Minor Watson, American actor d.1965
- 1892Herman Potočnik Noordung, Slovenian rocket engineer (d. 1929)
- 1898Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (d. 1974)
- 1899Gustav Gründgens, German actor (d. 1963)
- 1900Marc Allégret, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1973)
- 1901André Kostelanetz, American popular music orchestra leader and arranger (d. 1980)
- 1903Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1983)
- 1905Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
- 1905Pierre Brasseur, French actor (d. 1972)
- 1907Dame Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
- 1909Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)
- 1912Elias Degiannis, Greek navy officer and Resistance fighter (d. 1943)
- 1912Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)
- 1914Swami Satchidananda, Yogi and Spiritual teacher (d. 2002)
- 1915Barbara Billingsley, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1917Gene Rayburn, American game show host (d. 1999)
- 1919Lil Green, American Blues Singer (d. 1954)
- 1921Dimitri Fampas, Greek classical guitarist (d. 1996)
- 1921Hawkshaw Hawkins, American country singer (d. 1963)
- 1922Jack Brooks, American politician
- 1922Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1924Frank Corsaro, American stage director
- 1925Lewis Glucksman, American financier (d. 2006)
- 1934David Pearson, American racecar driver
- 1936Hector Elizondo, American actor
- 1936James Burke, British writer
- 1936Wojciech Frykowski, Polish actor (d. 1969)
- 1937Eduard Uspensky, Russian writer
- 1938Lucien Bouchard, Canadian politician
- 1938Matty Alou, Dominican baseball player
- 1939James Gurley, American musician (d. 2009)
- 1940Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (d. 2009)
- 1942Dick Parry, English saxophonist
- 1943Paul Wolfowitz, American politician
- 1943Stefan Janos, Slovak-Swiss physicist
- 1944Guido De Angelis, Italian musician
- 1944Steve Carlton, American baseball player
- 1945Diane Sawyer, American journalist
- 1946Rick Nielsen, American musician (Cheap Trick)
- 1947Brian Daley, American science-fiction writer (d. 1996)
- 1948Chris Old, English cricketer
- 1948Flip Mark, American actor
- 1948Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1948Noel Edmonds, English game show host
- 1948Steve Garvey, American baseball player
- 1949Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
- 1949Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)
- 1951Dan Martin, American voice actor
- 1951Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster
- 1953Bern Nadette Stanis, actress
- 1953Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1954Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese racing driver
- 1955Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
- 1957Carole James, Canadian politician
- 1958David Heavener, American actor and musician
- 1958Frank Gambale, Australian musician
- 1959Bernd Schuster, German footballer
- 1960Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (d. 1988)
- 1960Luther Campbell (Luke), American rap artist (2 Live Crew)
- 1960Mark Brydon, British musician (Moloko)
- 1960Patrick Fitzgerald, American attorney
- 1960Wakin Chau, Chinese singer
- 1961Andrew Fastow, American businessman
- 1962Ralph Fiennes, English actor
- 1963Brian McMillan, South African cricketer
- 1963Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer
- 1963Luna H. Mitani, Japanese American surrealism painter
- 1966Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
- 1966Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer, German singer and bassplayer (Destruction)
- 1967Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
- 1967Paul Morris, Australian racing driver
- 1967Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995)
- 1967Stéphane Gendron, Quebec politician
- 1968Dina Meyer, American actress
- 1968Lauralee Bell, American actress
- 1969Greg Biffle, American racecar driver
- 1969Myriam Bédard, Canadian athlete
- 1970Gary Anderson, Scottish darts player
- 1971Pat Mastroianni, Canadian actor
- 1972Big Tigger, television host
- 1972Vanessa Paradis, French singer
- 1974Heather Donahue, American actress
- 1975Chris Adler, American actor
- 1975Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer
- 1975Sergei Aschwanden, Swiss judoka
- 1975Stanislav Neckář, Czech ice hockey player
- 1976Jason Lane, American baseball player
- 1976Katleen De Caluwé, Belgian athlete
- 1977Steve Kariya, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978Emmanuel Olisadebe, Nigerian/Polish footballer
- 1979Jamie Langfield, Scottish football player
- 1980Chris Carmack, American actor
- 1982Brooke Nevin, Canadian actress
- 1983Drew Hankinson, American professional wrestler
- 1983Jennifer Hawkins, Australian beauty pageant contestant
- 1984Basshunter, Swedish singer
- 1986Dennis Armfield, Australian footballer
- 1986Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Nigerian terrorist suspect
- 1987Éderzito António Macedo Lopes, Guinea-Bissaun footballer
- 1988Leigh Halfpenny, Welsh rugby player
- 1989Jharal Yow Yeh, professional rugby league player
- 1989Jordin Sparks, American singer
- 1989Logan Huffman, American actor
- 1990Jean-Baptiste Maunier, French actor and singer
- 1993Ali Lohan, American singer
- 1995Remy Thorne, American actor and writer
- 1996Makisig Morales, Filipino child actor
- 1998G. Hannelius, American child actress
Who Died On December 22?
- 69Vitellius (b. 15)
- 1100Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia
- 1550Richard Plantagenet, British bricklayer and claimant to the House of Plantagenet
- 1603Mehmed III of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1566)
- 1646Petru Movilă, Moldavian religious figure (b. 1596)
- 1660André Tacquet, Flemish mathematician (b. 1612)
- 1681Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
- 1708Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)
- 1738Constantia Jones, British prostitute (b. c. 1708)
- 1767John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)
- 1788Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
- 1806William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)
- 1828William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)
- 1867Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician (b. 1788)
- 1870Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)
- 1880George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)
- 1899Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
- 1902Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)
- 1917Saint Francesca Xavier Cabrini, American Catholic saint (b. 1850)
- 1918Aristeidis Moraitinis, pioneer Greek military aviator (b. 1891)
- 1939Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)
- 1940Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)
- 1942Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)
- 1943Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)
- 1944Eleni Papadaki, Greek actress (b. 1903)
- 1944Harry Langdon, American film actor (b. 1884)
- 1959Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)
- 1960Ninian Comper, Scottish architect (b. 1864)
- 1965Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)
- 1968Raymond Gram Swing, American journalist and broadcaster (b. 1887)
- 1971Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (b. 1913)
- 1974Sterling North, American author (b. 1906)
- 1979Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)
- 1985D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)
- 1986Ida Cook (aka Mary Burchell), British heroine and novelist (b. 1904)
- 1987Luca Prodan, Italian-Scottish singer (Sumo) (b. 1953)
- 1988Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper and environmental activist (b. 1944)
- 1989Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1992Frederick Franz, Watchtower president (b. 1893)
- 1992Harry Bluestone, Film music Composer (b. 1907)
- 1995Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1995James Meade, English economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1907)
- 2001Ovidiu Iacov, Romanian footballer (b. 1981)
- 2002Desmond Hoyte, Guyanan politician (b. 1929)
- 2002Joe Strummer, English musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)
- 2003Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)
- 2004Doug Ault, American baseball player (b. 1950)
- 2006Dennis Linde, American songwriter (b. 1943)
- 2006Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
- 2006Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer (b. 1919)
- 2007Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (b. 1932)
- 2009Albert Scanlon, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2009Christos Lambrakis, Greek businessman, owner of the Lambrakis Press Group (b. 1934)
- 2009Luis Francisco Cuéllar, Colombian politician (b. 1940)
- 2010Fred Foy, American radio and television announcer (b. 1921)
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