December
22
Events
December 22
69 – Emperor
Vitellius is captured and murdered at the Gemonian stairs in
Rome.
1769 – Sino-Burmese War (1765–1769) ends with an uneasy truce.
1790 – The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured
by Suvorov and his Russian armies.
1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries,
is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas
Jefferson.
1808 – Ludwig 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).
1851 – The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.
1864 – Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman,
concluding his "March to the Sea".
1885 – Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister
of Japan.
1890 – Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kingsport
and Kentville, Nova Scotia.
1891 – Asteroid 323 Brucia becomes the first asteroid discovered
using photography.
1894 – The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus
is wrongly convicted of treason.
1920 – The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the
8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
1939 – Indian 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.
1940 – World War II: Himarë is captured by the Greek army.
1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop
the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1944 – World 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!"
1944 – World War II: The People's Army of Vietnam is formed
to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
1947 – The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves the Constitution
of Italy.
1951 – The Selangor Labour Party is founded in Selangor, Malaya.
1956 – Colo, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity, is born
at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.
1963 – The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north
of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
1964 – The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place
at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif.
1965 – In 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.
1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the
independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French
administration.
1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath
is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
1978 – The 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.
1984 – Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American would-be
muggers on an express train in Manhattan, New York City.
1987 – In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach
an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region
known as the Gukurahundi.
1988 – Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and
environmental activist, is assassinated.
1989 – After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes
over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist
authoritarian regime.
1989 – Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years,
effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
1990 – Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated
States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
1990 – The Parliament of Croatia adopts the current Constitution
of Croatia.
1991 – Armed opposition groups launch a military coup against
President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
1992 – The Archives of Terror are discovered.
1997 – Acteal 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.
1997 – Hussein 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.
1998 – Hurricane Quinto strikes the Cayman Islands, knocking
out power to the entire island for 2 days. Looting is rampant,
but contained after 12 hours.
1999 – Korean 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.
2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern
Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government
headed by President Hamid Karzai.
2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner
by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines
Flight 63.
2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area
in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons
(4,200,000 m³) of coal fly ash slurry.
2010 – The 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.
Holidays
and observances
Armed Forces
Day (Vietnam)
Christian Feast Day:
Anastasia of Sirmium (Orthodox Church)
Frances Xavier Cabrini
O Rex
December 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Mother's Day (Indonesia)
National Mathematics Day (India)
Unity Day (Zimbabwe)
Winter solstice related observance (see December 21):
Dongzhi Festival (East Asia)
For details, contact Datacentre
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