On this day: April 22

Events on April 22

• 960 Basil II is crowned co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Wikipedia
• 1500 Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil (discovery of Brazil). Wikipedia
• 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. Wikipedia
• 1529 Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas. Wikipedia
• 1622 Anglo-Persian forces combined to capture the Portuguese garrison at Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf. Wikipedia
• 1809 The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg. Wikipedia
• 1864 The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that permitted the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency. Wikipedia
• 1889 At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000. Wikipedia
• 1898 Spanish–American War: President William McKinley calls for 125,000 volunteers to join the National Guard and fight in Cuba, while Congress more than doubles regular Army forces to 65,000. Wikipedia
• 1906 The 1906 Intercalated Games open in Athens. Wikipedia
• 1915 World War I: The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres. Wikipedia
• 1918 The short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was established on territory formerly part of the Russian Empire. Wikipedia
• 1930 The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: Sachsenhausen concentration camp is liberated by soldiers of the Red Army and Polish First Army. Wikipedia
• 1948 Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces. Wikipedia
• 1951 Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacked positions occupied mainly by Australian and Canadian forces, starting the Battle of Kapyong. Wikipedia
• 1951 Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong. Wikipedia
• 1970 Chicano residents in San Diego, California occupy a site under the Coronado Bridge, leading to the creation of Chicano Park. Wikipedia
• 1970 The first Earth Day is celebrated. Wikipedia
• 1974 Pan Am Flight 812 crashes on approach to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, killing all 107 people on board. Wikipedia
• 1992 A series of gas explosions rip through the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 206. Wikipedia
• 2000 In a pre-dawn raid, U.S. federal agents seized six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami and returned him to his Cuban father. Wikipedia
• 2016 The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, opened for signature and was signed by 175 parties. Wikipedia
• 2020 Four police officers are killed after being struck by a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne while speaking to a speeding driver, marking the largest loss of police lives in Victoria Police history. Wikipedia

Born on April 22

• 1451 Isabella I of Castile (died 1504) Wikipedia
• 1610 Pope Alexander VIII (died 1691) Wikipedia
• 1707 Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (died 1754) Wikipedia
• 1724 Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (died 1804) Wikipedia
• 1766 Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (died 1817) Wikipedia
• 1844 Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (died 1865) Wikipedia
• 1854 Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1943) Wikipedia
• 1870 Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (died 1924) Wikipedia
• 1876 Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936) Wikipedia
• 1889 Richard Glücks, German SS officer and major contributor to the concentration camp system and the Holocaust (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1899 Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (died 1977) Wikipedia
• 1900 Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1904 J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (died 1967) Wikipedia
• 1909 Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1914 Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1919 Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1937 Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1943 Louise Glück, American poet (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1957 Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland Wikipedia
• 1982 Kaká, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Amber Heard, American actress Wikipedia
• 1987 David Luiz, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on April 22

• 296 Pope Caius Wikipedia
• 536 Pope Agapetus I Wikipedia
• 835 Kūkai, Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Esoteric (Shingon) Buddhism (born 774) Wikipedia
• 1355 Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (born 1318) Wikipedia
• 1616 Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1547) Wikipedia
• 1833 Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (born 1771) Wikipedia
• 1908 Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1836) Wikipedia
• 1945 Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1980 Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 1984 Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 1986 Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 1989 Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 1994 Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2006 Alida Valli, Italian actress (born 1921) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Arwald Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Epipodius and Alexander Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Muir (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Opportuna of Montreuil Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Caius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Soter Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: St Senorina Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Theodore of Sykeon Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Discovery Day (Brazil) Wikipedia
• Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance: International Mother Earth Day Wikipedia
• Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia) Wikipedia
• From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 22” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.