August 22

Events

• 1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field decisively ends the Wars of the Roses
• 1559 - Bartholome de Carranza, Spanish archbishop, is arrested for heresy
• 1642 - Charles I calls the English Parliament traitors. Beginning of the English Civil War
• 1654 - Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first Jewish immigrant to what is later the United States
• 1717 - Spanish troops land on Sardinia
• 1770 - James Cook's expedition lands on the east coast of Australia
• 1775 - King George III declares the American colonies to be in open rebellion
• 1780 - James Cook's ship Resolution returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage)
• 1791 - Beginning of the Haitian Slave Revolution
• 1846 - The United States annexes New Mexico
• 1851 - Gold is discovered in Australia
• 1851 - The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America
• 1864 - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross is formed
• 1901 - Cadillac Motor Company founded
• 1902 - Theodore Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to ride in an automobile
• 1910 - Japan annexes Korea
• 1911 - The Mona Lisa is stolen
• 1914 - In Belgium, British and German troops meet for the first time in World War I
• 1926 - Gold discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa
• 1941 - German troops reach Leningrad, leading to the siege of Leningrad
• 1942 - Brazil declares war on the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan)
• 1944 - Last transport of French Jews to concentration camps in Germany
• 1944 - 32 Spaniards & 4 Frenchmen tackle a German column (1,300 men in 60 lorries, with 6 tanks & 2 self propelled guns), at La Madeiline, France. Three Maquis wounded, 110 Germans killed, 200 wounded.
• 1950 - Althea Gibson becomes the first black competitor in international tennis
• 1953 - The jail on Devil's Island is closed
• 1962 - An attempt to assassinate French president Charles De Gaulle fails
• 1962 - The Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered ship, completes its maiden voyage
• 1968 - Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogota, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America
• 1972 - Rhodesia is expelled by the International Olympic Committee for its racist policies
• 1975 - An attempt to assassinate president Gerald Ford fails
• 1988 - The Australian koala, the first platinum coin, is issued
• 1989 - The first ring of Neptune is discovered
• 1992 - FBI HRT sniper Lon Horiuchi shot and killed Vicki Weaver during an 11 day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho
• 2001 - the Trojan room coffee pot is switched off for the last time.

Births

• 1647 - Denis Papin, inventor of the piston steam engine
• 1760 - Pope Leo XII
• 1771 - Henry Maudslay, inventor and tool-maker
• 1854 - King Milan I of Serbia
• 1860 - Paul Nipkow, inventor, television pioneer
• 1862 - Claude Debussy, composer (+ 1918)
• 1867 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and Muesli inventor (+ 1939)
• 1874 - Max Scheler, philosopher
• 1880 - George Herriman, cartoonist (Krazy Kat)
• 1893 - Dorothy Parker, writer (+ 1967)
• 1902 - Leni Riefenstahl, film director (+ 2003)
• 1904 - Deng Xiaoping, leader of the People's Republic of China (1976-1983) (+ 1997)
• 1915 - Hugh Paddick, British actor (+ 2000)
• 1917 - John Lee Hooker, blues guitarist/singer (+ 2001)
• 1920 - Ray Bradbury, science fiction author and fantasy author (Fahrenheit 451)
• 1920 - Doctor Denton Cooley, heart surgeon
• 1924 - James Kirkwood Jr., novelist (+ 1989)
• 1928 - Karlheinz Stockhausen, composer
• 1929 - Honor Blackman, actress
• 1934 - Norman Schwarzkopf, US general
• 1935 - E. Annie Proulx, Pulitzer Prize winning author
• 1939 - Carl Yastrzemski, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1940 - Valerie Harper, actress
• 1947 - Cindy Williams, actress
• 1955 - Will Shetterly, fantasy author
• 1956 - Paul Molitor, Baseball Hall of Famer
• 1958 - Vernon Reid, musician (Living Colour)
• 1960 - Debbi Peterson, drummer (The Bangles)
• 1961 - Roland Orzabal, singer, guitarist (Tears for Fears)
• 1963 - Tori Amos, singer/songwriter, pianist
• 1964 - Mats Wilander, tennis player

Deaths

• 408 - Stilicho, military strongman of the Roman Empire (legal murder)
• 1188 - King Ferdinand II of Leon
• 1280 - Pope Nicholas III
• 1286 - Erik V Klipping, king of Denmark (murder)
• 1350 - Philip VI of France, king of France
• 1485 - Richard III of England,
• 1553 - John Dudley, English admiral and politician (beheaded)
• 1818 - Warren Hastings, governor-general of India (1773-1784)
• 1891 - Jan Neruda, author
• 1903 - Robert Salisbury, British prime minister
• 1904 - Kate Chopin, author
• 1912 - Pope Gregory IX
• 1922 - Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary (killed in an ambush)
• 1977 - Sebastian Cabot, actor
• 1978 - Jomo Kenyatta, first prime minister of Kenya (1963-1978)
• 1989 - Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers
• 1991 - Colleen Dewhurst, actress
• 2003 - Arnold Gerschwiler, figure skating trainer

Holidays and observances

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By