# On this day: April 22

April 22 is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years), with 253 days left until the end of the year.

## April 22 in one line

Headline entries for April 22, from Wikipedia: in 2016, The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, opened for signature and was signed by 175 parties; born 1870: Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (died 1924); died 1616: Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1547). In 2026 it is a Wednesday, in 2027 a Thursday.

## Events on April 22

- 960 Basil II is crowned co-Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire)
- 1073 Gregory VII was elected pope following the death of Alexander II. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_VII)
- 1500 A fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral anchored off present-day Brazil; he later claimed the land for the Portuguese Empire. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral)
- 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Zaragoza)
- 1622 Anglo-Persian forces combined to capture the Portuguese garrison at Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Persian_capture_of_Hormuz)
- 1864 U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized the minting of the two-cent piece, the first U.S. coin to bear the phrase "In God We Trust". [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-cent_piece_(United_States))
- 1885 The first meeting of the Colonial Defence Committee, a standing committee of the British Colonial Office, was held to discuss the defence of Barbados. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Defence_Committee)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley)
- 1906 The 1906 Intercalated Games open in Athens. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_Intercalated_Games)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Ypres)
- 1918 The short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was established on territory formerly part of the Russian Empire. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcaucasian_Democratic_Federative_Republic)
- 1930 The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Naval_Treaty)
- 1945 About 600 prisoners of the Jasenovac concentration camp in the Independent State of Croatia revolted, but only 80 managed to escape while the remainder were killed by the Ustaše regime. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasenovac_concentration_camp)
- 1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine: The Jewish paramilitary group Haganah captured Haifa from the Arab Liberation Army. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Haifa_(1948))
- 1951 Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacked positions occupied mainly by Australian and Canadian forces, starting the Battle of Kapyong. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kapyong)
- 1970 The first Earth Day is celebrated. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day)
- 1977 Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_fiber)
- 1993 Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager, was murdered while waiting for a bus in Eltham, London, leading to cultural changes of attitudes on racism and the police, and to the law and police practice. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Stephen_Lawrence)
- 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli%C3%A1n_Gonz%C3%A1lez)
- 2004 Flammable cargo exploded at a railway station in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than a thousand others. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryongchon_disaster)
- 2013 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested two men who were plotting to commit terrorist attacks against Via Rail operations. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Via_Rail_Canada_terrorism_plot)
- 2016 The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, opened for signature and was signed by 175 parties. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement)
- 2020 A truck struck and killed four Victoria Police officers on the Eastern Freeway, Australia, the force's deadliest single incident. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Eastern_Freeway_truck_crash)
- 2022 American climate activist Wynn Bruce set himself on fire outside the United States Supreme Court Building in an apparent protest against the climate crisis. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_of_Wynn_Bruce)
- 2025 At least 26 people are killed in a terrorist attack on a group of tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Pahalgam_attack)

## Born on April 22

- 1451 Isabella I of Castile (died 1504) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile)
- 1610 Pope Alexander VIII (died 1691) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VIII)
- 1707 Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (died 1754) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fielding)
- 1724 Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (died 1804) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant)
- 1766 Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (died 1817) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_de_Sta%C3%ABl)
- 1854 Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1943) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_La_Fontaine)
- 1870 Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (died 1924) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin)
- 1876 Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1936) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_B%C3%A1r%C3%A1ny)
- 1899 Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (died 1977) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov)
- 1904 J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (died 1967) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer)
- 1909 Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Levi-Montalcini)
- 1916 Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (died 1999) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudi_Menuhin)
- 1919 Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2001) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Cram)
- 1928 Estelle Harris, American actress and comedian (died 2022) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estelle_Harris)
- 1929 Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (died 2019) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Atiyah)
- 1937 Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Nicholson)
- 1942 Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Agamben)
- 1943 Louise Glück, American poet (died 2023) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Gl%C3%BCck)
- 1957 Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Tusk)
- 1982 Kaká, Brazilian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kak%C3%A1)
- 1986 Amber Heard, American actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Heard)
- 1987 David Luiz, Brazilian footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Luiz)

## Died on April 22

- 296 Pope Caius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Caius)
- 536 Pope Agapetus I [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Agapetus_I)
- 835 Kūkai, Japanese Buddhist monk, founder of Esoteric (Shingon) Buddhism (born 774) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%ABkai)
- 1616 Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1547) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes)
- 1833 Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (born 1771) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Trevithick)
- 1908 Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1836) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Campbell-Bannerman)
- 1933 Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (born 1863) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Royce)
- 1945 Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (born 1867) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A4the_Kollwitz)
- 1980 Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (born 1902) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Strassmann)
- 1984 Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (born 1902) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Adams)
- 1986 Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (born 1907) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade)
- 1989 Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Segr%C3%A8)
- 1994 Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (born 1913) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon)
- 2006 Alida Valli, Italian actress (born 1921) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alida_Valli)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acepsimas_of_Hnaita)
- Christian feast day: Arwald [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arwald)
- Christian feast day: Epipodius and Alexander [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipodius_and_Alexander)
- Christian feast day: Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Stuck)
- Christian feast day: John Muir (Episcopal Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir)
- Christian feast day: Opportuna of Montreuil [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportuna_of_Montreuil)
- Christian feast day: Pope Caius [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Caius)
- Christian feast day: Pope Soter [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Soter)
- Christian feast day: St Senorina [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senhorinha_of_Basto)
- Christian feast day: Theodore of Sykeon [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_of_Sykeon)
- Christian feast day: April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_22_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Discovery Day (Brazil) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Day)
- Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance: International Mother Earth Day [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Earth_Day)
- Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holocaust_memorial_days)
- From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Stephen_Lawrence)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “April 22”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_22) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/April 22”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/April_22) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“April 22”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_22) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_22?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for April 22 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## April 22 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Wednesday | 2026-W17 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2027 | Thursday | 2027-W16 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2028 | Saturday | 2028-W16 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2029 | Sunday | 2029-W16 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2030 | Monday | 2030-W17 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on April 22

None of the 28 countries we track has a public holiday on April 22 in 2026 or 2027.

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← April 21](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-21/) · [April 23 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-23/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

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Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/april-22/