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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