On this day: March 22

Events on March 22

• 1668 Notable Privateer Henry Morgan lands in Cuba to raid and plunder the inland town of Puerto del Príncipe during the latter stages of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660). Wikipedia
• 1739 Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne. Wikipedia
• 1794 The Slave Trade Act, which banned the export of slaves from the United States, was signed by George Washington Wikipedia
• 1829 In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece. Wikipedia
• 1871 In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment. Wikipedia
• 1895 Before the Société pour L'Encouragement à l'Industrie, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology publicly for the first time. Wikipedia
• 1906 The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris. Wikipedia
• 1920 Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attack the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh). Wikipedia
• 1933 Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of "3.2 beer" (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines. Wikipedia
• 1934 In golf, the first Masters Tournament was held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, United States. Wikipedia
• 1934 The first Masters Tournament is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1942 Second World War: British and Italian naval forces fought the Second Battle of Sirte in the Gulf of Sidra north of Libya. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy's Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The entire village of Khatyn (in present-day Republic of Belarus) is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Almost the entire population of the village of Khatyn, in present-day Belarus, were massacred by Ukrainian and Belarusian Nazi collaborators. Wikipedia
• 1945 The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt. Wikipedia
• 1946 The United Kingdom grants full independence to Transjordan. Wikipedia
• 1957 A United States Air Force aircraft disappears with all 67 people on board somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Wikipedia
• 1963 Please Please Me, the first album recorded by the Beatles, was released. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Beatles release their debut album Please Please Me. Wikipedia
• 1982 NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3. Wikipedia
• 1988 The United States Congress votes to override President Ronald Reagan's veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987. Wikipedia
• 2004 Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force Hellfire missiles. Wikipedia
• 2006 Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox. Wikipedia
• 2013 At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand. Wikipedia
• 2019 Two buses crash in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana's capital Accra, killing at least 50 people. Wikipedia

Born on March 22

• 1394 Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (died 1449) Wikipedia
• 1459 Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1519) Wikipedia
• 1599 Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (died 1641) Wikipedia
• 1609 John II Casimir Vasa, Polish king (died 1672) Wikipedia
• 1728 Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter and theorist (died 1779) Wikipedia
• 1797 William I, German Emperor (died 1888) Wikipedia
• 1857 Paul Doumer, French mathematician, journalist, and politician, 14th President of France (died 1932) Wikipedia
• 1868 Robert Andrews Millikan, American colonel and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1953) Wikipedia
• 1869 Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1924 Yevgeny Ostashev, Russian test pilot, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite (died 1960) Wikipedia
• 1929 P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer (died 1973) Wikipedia
• 1931 Burton Richter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1931 William Shatner, Canadian actor Wikipedia
• 1933 Abolhassan Banisadr, Iranian economist and politician, 1st President of Iran (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1941 Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1943 George Benson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia
• 1948 Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and director Wikipedia
• 1949 Fanny Ardant, French actress Wikipedia
• 1955 Valdis Zatlers, Latvian physician and politician, 7th President of Latvia Wikipedia
• 1963 Martín Vizcarra, Peruvian engineer and politician, 67th President of Peru Wikipedia
• 1976 Reese Witherspoon, American actress Wikipedia
• 1999 Mick Schumacher, German racing driver Wikipedia

Died on March 22

• 235 Severus Alexander, Roman emperor (born 208) Wikipedia
• 880 Carloman of Bavaria, Frankish king Wikipedia
• 1454 John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury Wikipedia
• 1602 Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and educator (born 1557) Wikipedia
• 1687 Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and conductor (born 1632) Wikipedia
• 1758 Jonathan Edwards, English minister, theologian, and philosopher (born 1703) Wikipedia
• 1832 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat (born 1749) Wikipedia
• 2001 Sabiha Gökçen, Turkish soldier and pilot (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2001 William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and voice actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (born 1910) Wikipedia
• 2004 Ahmed Yassin, Co-founded Hamas (born 1937) Wikipedia
• 2005 Kenzō Tange, Japanese architect, designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2010 James Black, Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2018 Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 2026 Lionel Jospin, French civil servant and politician, 165th Prime Minister of France (born 1937) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Bihar Day (Bihar, India) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Basil of Ancyra Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Darerca of Ireland Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Epaphroditus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Jonathan Edwards (Lutheranism) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lea of Rome Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nicholas Owen Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Paul of Narbonne Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Earliest day on which Easter Sunday can fall (last in 1818, will not happen again until 2285), while April 25 is the latest. (Christianity) Wikipedia
• Emancipation Day or Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Puerto Rico) Wikipedia
• World Water Day (International) Wikipedia

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