On this day: December 22

Events on December 22

• 1769 Sino-Burmese War: The war ends with the Qing dynasty withdrawing from Burma forever. Wikipedia
• 1807 The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson. Wikipedia
• 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 and Choral Fantasy. Wikipedia
• 1825 The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., burns. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: Savannah, Georgia, falls to the Union's Army of the Tennessee, and General Sherman tells President Abraham Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah". Wikipedia
• 1939 Members of the All-India Muslim League observed a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over the decision to enter the Second World War at the request of the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 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 the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: The People's Army of Vietnam is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indochina, now Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 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 Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!" Wikipedia
• 1945 U.S. President Harry S. Truman issues an executive order giving World War II refugees precedence in visa applications under U.S. immigration quotas. Wikipedia
• 1968 Cultural Revolution: People's Daily posted the instructions of Mao Zedong that "The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty." Wikipedia
• 1971 The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris, France. Wikipedia
• 1974 Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration. Wikipedia
• 1975 U.S. President Gerald Ford creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the 1970s energy crisis. Wikipedia
• 1978 The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for the reform and opening up. Wikipedia
• 1987 In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region known as the Gukurahundi. Wikipedia
• 1989 Romanian Revolution: Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife Elena flee Bucharest in a helicopter as protesters erupt in cheers. Wikipedia
• 1989 German reunification: Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany. Wikipedia
• 1990 Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship. Wikipedia
• 1990 Lech Wałęsa is elected President of Poland. Wikipedia
• 1997 Somali Civil War: Hussein Farrah 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. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 2010 The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama. Wikipedia
• 2012 Bashir Ahmad Bilour of Awami National Party and eight others are killed in a Pakistan Taliban bomber suicide attack in Dhaki Nalbandi area near Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Wikipedia
• 2017 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 against North Korea is unanimously approved. Wikipedia

Born on December 22

• 244 Diocletian, Roman emperor (died 311) Wikipedia
• 1095 Roger II of Sicily (died 1154) Wikipedia
• 1183 Chagatai Khan, Mongol ruler (died 1242) Wikipedia
• 1639 Jean Racine, French poet and playwright (died 1699) Wikipedia
• 1666 Guru Gobind Singh, Indian guru and poet (died 1708) Wikipedia
• 1856 Frank B. Kellogg, American lawyer and politician, 45th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1858 Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer and educator (died 1924) Wikipedia
• 1876 Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Egyptian-Italian poet and composer (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1887 Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and theorist (died 1920) Wikipedia
• 1903 Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1983) Wikipedia
• 1907 Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1912 Lady Bird Johnson, American beautification activist; 38th First Lady of the United States (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1955 Thomas C. Südhof, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1960 Jean-Michel Basquiat, American painter and poet (died 1988) Wikipedia
• 1962 Ralph Fiennes, English actor Wikipedia
• 1963 Giuseppe Bergomi, Italian footballer and coach Wikipedia
• 1970 Ted Cruz, Canadian-American lawyer and politician Wikipedia
• 1972 Vanessa Paradis, French singer-songwriter and actress Wikipedia
• 1984 Basshunter, Swedish singer, record producer and DJ Wikipedia
• 1993 Meghan Trainor, American singer-songwriter and producer Wikipedia
• 1993 Raphaël Guerreiro, Portuguese footballer Wikipedia
• 2000 Joshua Bassett, American actor and singer Wikipedia

Died on December 22

• 69 Vitellius, Roman emperor (born 15) Wikipedia
• 731 Yuan Qianyao, official of the Chinese Tang dynasty Wikipedia
• 1012 Baha' al-Dawla, Buyid amir of Iraq Wikipedia
• 1603 Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (born 1566) Wikipedia
• 1641 Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, 2nd Prime Minister of France (born 1560) Wikipedia
• 1870 Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish journalist, poet, and playwright (born 1836) Wikipedia
• 1880 George Eliot, English novelist and poet (born 1819) Wikipedia
• 1942 Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (born 1858) Wikipedia
• 1943 Beatrix Potter, English children's book writer and illustrator (born 1866) Wikipedia
• 1989 Samuel Beckett, Irish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1995 James Meade, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 2014 Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (born 1944) Wikipedia
• 2018 Simcha Rotem, last survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2025 Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter (born 1951) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Dongzhi Festival Wikipedia
• Armed Forces Day (Vietnam) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Anastasia of Sirmium (Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eimhin Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ernan, Son of Eogan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Frances Xavier Cabrini (outside US) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Hunger Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: O Rex Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Henry Budd (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lottie Moon (Episcopal Church (USA)) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: December 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Mother's Day (Indonesia) Wikipedia
• National Mathematics Day (India) Wikipedia
• Teachers' Day (Cuba) Wikipedia
• Unity Day (Zimbabwe) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “December 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.