December 22


{{pp-move-indef|small=yes}}{{DecemberCalendar|float=right}}{{ThisDateInRecentYears|Month=December|Day=22}} {{Day}}This is the most common day for winter solstice to occur in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice to occur in the southern hemisphere, heralding various cultural observances.

Events

• 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 - The premiere of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, Fifth and Sixth symphonies amongst other pieces.
• 1809 - The Non-Intercourse Act, lifting the Embargo Act except for the United Kingdom and France, is passed by the U.S. Congress.
• 1849 - The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second.
• 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.
• 1894 - The Dreyfus affair begins, in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason, on antisemitic grounds.
• 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.
• 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 Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indo-China, now Vietnam.
• 1947 - The Constituent Assembly of Italy approves its constitution.
• 1956 - Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity.
• 1963 - The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
• 1964 - Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity.
• 1964 - First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
• 1965 - In the United Kingdom, a 70mph 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 Ted Heath house 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 - Subway vigilante Bernhard Hugo Goetz shoots four African-American men on an express train in The Bronx borough of New York City.
• 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 dictatorship.
• 1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
• 1989 - Kempsey bus crash: Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey, New South Wales
• 1990 - Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
• 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 (Wiktionary:massacre|massacred) by paramilitary forces.
• 1999 - The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21, 1999).
• 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.
• 2003 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits near San Simeon, California.

Births

• 1095 - Roger II of Sicily, King of Sicily (d. 1154)
• 1178 - Emperor Antoku of Japan (d. 1185)
• 1546 - Kuroda Yoshitaka, Japanese Daimyo (d. 1604)
• 1550 - Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)
• 1639 - Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699)
• 1666 - Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh guru (d. 1708)
• 1690 - Meidingnu Pamheiba, King of Manipur (d. 1751)
• 1694 - Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (d. 1768)
• 1696 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (d. 1785)
• 1723 - Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer (d. 1787)
• 1765 - Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician (d. 1825)
• 1805 - John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (d. 1893)
• 1807 - Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (d. 1873)
• 1819 - Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (d. 1870)
• 1819 - Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician (d. 1892)
• 1853 - Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist (d. 1917)
• 1853 - Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1919)
• 1856 - Frank B. Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel laureate (d. 1937)
• 1858 - Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924)
• 1860 - Austin Norman Palmer, American penmanship innovator (d. 1927)
• 1862 - Connie Mack, American baseball executive (d. 1956)
• 1869 - Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet (d. 1935)
• 1869 - Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
• 1872 - Camille Guérin, French veterinarian and bacteriologist (d. 1961)
• 1874 - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (d. 1939)
• 1876 - Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor (d. 1944)
• 1883 - Edgard Varèse French-born composer (d. 1965)
• 1887 - Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (d. 1920)
• 1888 - J. Arthur Rank, British film producer (d. 1972)
• 1898 - Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fock, Russian physicist (d. 1974)
• 1899 - Gustav Gründgens, German actor (d. 1963)
• 1900 - Marc Allégret, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1973)
• 1901 - André Kostelanetz, American popular music orchestra leader and arranger (d. 1980)
• 1903 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1983)
• 1905 - Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)
• 1905 - Pierre Brasseur, French actor (d. 1972)
• 1907 - Dame Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (d. 1991)
• 1909 - Patricia Hayes, English actress (d. 1998)
• 1912 - Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (d. 2007)
• 1914 - Swami Satchidananda, Yogi and Spiritual teacher (d. 2002)
• 1915 - Barbara Billingsley, American actress
• 1917 - Gene Rayburn, American game show host (d. 1999)
• 1921 - Hawkshaw Hawkins, American country singer (d. 1963)
• 1922 - Jack Brooks, American politician
• 1922 - Ruth Roman, American actress (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Frank Corsaro, American stage director
• 1925 - Lewis Glucksman, American financier (d. 2006)
• 1934 - David Pearson, American racecar driver
• 1936 - James Burke, British writer
• 1936 - Hector Elizondo, American actor
• 1936 - Wojciech Frykowski, Polish actor (d. 1969)
• 1937 - Eduard Uspensky, Russian writer
• 1938 - Matty Alou, Dominican baseball player
• 1938 - Lucien Bouchard, Quebec politician
• 1939 - James Gurley, American musician
• 1942 - Dick Parry, English musician (Pink Floyd)
• 1943 - Paul Wolfowitz, American politician
• 1944 - Steve Carlton, American baseball player
• 1945 - Diane Sawyer, American journalist
• 1946 - Rick Nielsen, American musician (Cheap Trick)
• 1948 - Noel Edmonds, English game show host
• 1948 - Steve Garvey, American baseball player
• 1948 - Chris Old, English cricketer
• 1948 - Lynne Thigpen, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1949 - Maurice Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees) (d. 2003)
• 1949 - Robin Gibb, English musician (The Bee Gees)
• 1951 - Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster
• 1953 - Bern Nadette Stanis, actress
• 1953 - Ian Turnbull, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1954 - Hideshi Matsuda, Japanese racing driver
• 1955 - Lonnie Smith, American baseball player
• 1957 - Carole James, Canadian politician
• 1958 - Frank Gambale, Australian musician
• 1958 - David Heavener, American actor and musician
• 1959 - Bernd Schuster, German footballer
• 1960 - Wakin Chau, Chinese singer
• 1960 - Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (d. 1988)
• 1960 - Luther Campbell (Luke), American rap artist (2 Live Crew)
• 1960 - Patrick Fitzgerald, American attorney
• 1961 - Andrew Fastow, American businessman
• 1962 - Ralph Fiennes, English actor
• 1963 - Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer
• 1963 - Luna H. Mitani, Japanese American surrealism painter
• 1963 - Brian McMillan, former South African cricketer
• 1966 - Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
• 1966 - Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer, German singer and bassplayer (Destruction)
• 1967 - Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
• 1967 - Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995)
• 1967 - Stéphane Gendron, Quebec politician
• 1967 - Paul Morris, Australian racing driver
• 1968 - Dina Meyer, American actress
• 1968 - Lauralee Bell, American actress
• 1969 - Myriam Bédard, Canadian athlete
• 1971 - Pat Mastroianni, Canadian actor
• 1972 - Big Tigger, television host
• 1972 - Vanessa Paradis, French singer
• 1974 - Heather Donahue, American actress
• 1975 - Chris Adler, American actor
• 1975 - Crissy Moran, American erotic actress
• 1975 - Dmitri Khokhlov, Russian footballer
• 1975 - Stanislav Neckář, Czech ice hockey player
• 1975 - Sergei Aschwanden, Swiss judoka
• 1976 - Brian A. Alexander, American screenwriter and director
• 1976 - Katleen De Caluwé, Belgian athlete
• 1976 - Jason Lane, American Baseball Player
• 1977 - Steve Kariya, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 - Chris Carmack, American actor
• 1983 - Jennifer Hawkins, Australian Miss Universe
• 1984 - Basshunter, popular Swedish singer
• 1984 - Festus, American professional wrestler
• 1986 - Dennis Armfield, Australian rules footballer
• 1989 - Jordin Sparks, American singer and American Idol winner
• 1990 - Jean-Baptiste Maunier, French actor

Deaths

• 1100 - Duke Bretislaus II of Bohemia
• 1550 - Richard Plantagenet (Richard of Eastwell) possibly a son of Richard III
• 1603 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (b. 1566)
• 1646 - Peter Mogila, Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (b. 1596)
• 1660 - André Tacquet, Flemish mathematician (b. 1612)
• 1681 - Richard Alleine, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1611)
• 1708 - Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (b. 1681)
• 1738 - Constantia Jones, British prostitute (executed)
• 1767 - John Newbery, English publisher (b. 1713)
• 1788 - Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
• 1806 - William Vernon, American merchant (b. 1719)
• 1828 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)

• 1867 - Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician (b. 1788)
• 1870 - Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1836)
• 1880 - George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819)
• 1899 - Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (b. 1837)
• 1902 - Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German psychiatrist (b. 1840)
• 1917 - Mother Cabrini, first American citizen canonized by the Catholic Church (b. 1850)
• 1939 - Ma Rainey, American singer (b. 1886)
• 1940 - Nathanael West, American writer (b. 1903)
• 1942 - Franz Boas, German anthropologist (b. 1858)
• 1943 - Beatrix Potter, English writer (b. 1866)
• 1944 - Harry Langdon, American silent film actor (b. 1884)
• 1959 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born American dancer and actress (b. 1901)
• 1965 - Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and broadcaster (b. 1913)
• 1971 - Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (b. 1913)
• 1979 - Darryl F. Zanuck, American producer (b. 1902)
• 1985 - D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (The Minutemen) (b. 1958)
• 1987 - Luca Prodan, Italian-Scottish singer (Sumo) (b. 1953)
• 1988 - Chico Mendes, Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist, and environmental activist (assassinated) (b. 1944)
• 1989 - Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 1992 - Frederick Franz, Watchtower president (b. 1893)
• 1993 - Don DeFore, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1995 - Butterfly McQueen, American actress (b. 1911)
• 1995 - James Meade, English economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (b. 1907)
• 2001 - Ovidiu Iacov, Romanian footballer (b. 1981)
• 2002 - Desmond Hoyte, President of Guyana (b. 1929)
• 2002 - Joe Strummer, English musician (The Clash) (b. 1952)
• 2003 - Dave Dudley, American singer (b. 1928)
• 2004 - Doug Ault, American baseball player (b. 1950)
• 2006 - Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)
• 2006 - Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer (b. 1919)
• 2006 - Dennis Linde, American songwriter (b. 1943)
• 2007 - Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

• In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time.
• R.C. Saints - commemoration of Frances Xavier Cabrini, O Rex, Anastasia of Sirmium
• Japan - Tōji (winter solstice)

External links

{{commons}}

• BBC: On This Day
• {{NYT On this day|month=12|day=22}}
• On This Day in Canada

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(...as imported from WP)

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