February 22 in History

Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of

1973 — Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices

February 22 spans 55 recorded events across recorded history, from 896 to 2022. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By · — Wikipedia

Historical Events 55 events 896 – 2022

More major events on February 22

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

  1. 1862 American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861. Source
  2. 1848 The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins. Source
  3. 1899 Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War. The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans. Source

Did you know

In 1973, Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

From February 21 to 28, 1972, the President of the United States Richard Nixon visited Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the culmination of his administration's efforts to establish relations with the PRC after years of U.S. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

diplomatic policy that favored the Republic of China in Taiwan. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

president had visited the PRC, with his arrival ending 23 years of no official diplomatic ties between the two countries. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

Nixon visited the PRC to gain more leverage over relations with the Soviet Union, following the Sino-Soviet split. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

896 Pope_Formosus
Pope Formosus crowns Arnulf of Carinthia as Emperor in Rome.
Arnulf suffers a stroke soon after and retreats from Italy.
Pope Formosus was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896.
Wikipedia source
1076 Pope_Gregory_VII
Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
Head of the Catholic Church from 1073 to 1085
Pope Gregory VII, born Hildebrand of Sovana, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
Wikipedia source
1288 Franciscans
The Franciscan Girolamo Maschi is elected pope, choosing the name Nicholas IV.
Group of religious orders within the Catholic Church connected with St. Francis of Assisi
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi.
Wikipedia source
1316 Battle_of_Picotin
The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand of Majorca and the forces of Matilda of Hainaut, ends in victory for Ferdinand.
1316 battle between Achaea and Majorca
The Battle of Picotin was fought on 22 February 1316 between the Catalan forces of the infante Ferdinand of Majorca, claimant to the Principality of Achaea, and the forces loyal to Princess Matilda of Hainaut,…
Wikipedia source
1371 Robert_II_of_Scotland
Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty.
King of Scots from 1371 to 1390
Robert II was King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, he was named Robert Stewart.
Wikipedia source
1495 Charles_VIII_of_France
King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne.
King of France from 1483 to 1498
Charles VIII, called the Affable, was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.
Wikipedia source
1632 Ferdinando_II_de'_Medici
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the dedicatee, receives the first printed copy of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.
Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670
Ferdinando II de' Medici was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria.
Wikipedia source
1651 St._Peter's_flood
St.
Peter's Flood: A storm surge floods the Frisian coast, drowning 15,000 people.
St. Peter's flood refers to two separate storm tides that struck the coasts of Netherlands and Northern Germany in 1651. During the first storm tide, on 22 February, the East Frisian island of Juist was split in two.
Wikipedia source
1744 War_of_the_Austrian_Succession
War of the Austrian Succession: The Battle of Toulon causes several Royal Navy captains to be court-martialed, and the Articles of War to be amended.
1740–1748 war between European powers
The War of the Austrian Succession, 1740 to 1748, was a conflict between the European great powers, fought primarily in Europe, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
Wikipedia source
1770 North_End,_Boston
British customs officer Ebenezer Richardson fires blindly into a crowd during a protest in North End, Boston, fatally wounding 11-year-old Christopher Seider; the first American fatality of the American Revolution.
Neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts
The North End is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the city's oldest residential community, having been inhabited since it was colonized in the 1630s.
Wikipedia source
1797 Battle_of_Fishguard
The last Invasion of Britain begins near Fishguard, Wales.
Part of the War of the First Coalition (1797)
The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition.
Wikipedia source
1819 Adams–Onís_Treaty
By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S.
dollars.
The Adams–Onís Treaty was an agreement between Spain and the United States, signed February 22, 1819, by John Quincy Adams and Luis de Onís respectively.
Wikipedia source
1847 Mexican–American_War
Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
1846–1848 conflict between Mexico and the United States
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, was an invasion of Mexico by the United States.
Wikipedia source
1848 French_Revolution_of_1848
The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
Civil unrest in Paris, France
The French Revolution of 1848, also known as the February Revolution, was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second…
Wikipedia source
1856
The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
Political party in the United States
The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing populist and nationalist political party in the United States, sitting on the right-wing to far-right of the political spectrum.
Wikipedia source
1862 American_Civil_War
American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia.
He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States.
Wikipedia source
1872 Prohibition_Party
The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee.
Political party in the United States
The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement.
Wikipedia source
1879 Utica,_New_York
In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores.
City in New York, United States
Utica is a city in the state of New York, and the county seat of Oneida County. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census.
Wikipedia source
1881 Cleopatra's_Needle_(New_York_City)
Cleopatra's Needle, a 3,500-year-old Ancient Egyptian obelisk is erected in Central Park, New York.
Ancient Egyptian obelisk in New York City's Central Park
Cleopatra's Needle in New York City is one of a pair of obelisks, together named Cleopatra's Needles, that were moved from the ruins of the Caesareum of Alexandria, Ancient Egypt, in the 19th century.
Wikipedia source
1889 President_of_the_United_States
President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S.
states.
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States.
Wikipedia source
1899 Philippine_Revolutionary_Army
Filipino forces led by General Antonio Luna launch counterattacks for the first time against the American forces during the Philippine–American War.
The Filipinos fail to regain Manila from the Americans.
The Philippine Revolutionary Army, later renamed Philippine Republican Army, was the army of the First Philippine Republic from its formation in March 1897 to its dissolution in November of 1899 in favor of guerrilla…
Wikipedia source
1904 South_Orkney_Islands
The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina; the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
Group of islands in the Southern Ocean north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about 604 km (375 mi) north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and 844 km (524 mi) south-west of South Georgia Island.
Wikipedia source
1909 Battleship
The sixteen battleships of the Great White Fleet, led by USS Connecticut, return to the United States after a voyage around the world.
Large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns
A battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of large guns, designed to serve as a capital ship.
Wikipedia source
1921 Roman_von_Ungern-Sternberg
After Russian forces under Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg drive the Chinese out, the Bogd Khan is reinstalled as the emperor of Mongolia.[citation needed]
Russian general and warlord (1886–1921)
Baron Nikolai Robert Maximilian Freiherr von Ungern-Sternberg, often referred to as Roman von Ungern-Sternberg or Baron Ungern, was a Russian military leader in the Russian Civil War and then an independent warlord who…
Wikipedia source
1942 World_War_II
World War II: President Franklin D.
Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as the Japanese victory becomes inevitable.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
Wikipedia source
1943 White_Rose
World War II: Members of the White Rose resistance, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst are executed in Nazi Germany.
Resistance group in Nazi Germany
The White Rose was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one LMU Munich professor: Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, and Hans and…
Wikipedia source
1943 Yankee_Clipper_(flying_boat)
Yankee Clipper crashes while landing on the Tagus in Lisbon, killing 24.
Pan Am Boeing 314 flying boat
The Yankee Clipper was an American Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat, best known for on 20 May 1939 beginning the first scheduled airmail service between the United States and Europe.
Wikipedia source
1944 Bombing_of_Nijmegen
World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.
Allied aerial bombing of Dutch city during World War II
The bombing of Nijmegen on 22 February 1944 was a target-of-opportunity aerial bombing raid by the United States Army Air Forces on the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, then occupied by Nazi Germany.
Wikipedia source
1944 Red_Army
World War II: The Soviet Red Army recaptures Krivoi Rog.
Soviet army and air force from 1918 to 1946
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union.
Wikipedia source
1946 X_Article
The "Long Telegram", proposing how the United States should deal with the Soviet Union, arrives from the US embassy in Moscow.
1947 anti-communist article by American diplomat George F. Kennan
"The Sources of Soviet Conduct", commonly "X Article", is an article written by George F. Kennan and published under the pseudonym "X" in the July 1947 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.
Wikipedia source
1957 Ngo_Dinh_Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam survives a communist shooting assassination attempt in Buôn Ma Thuột.
President of South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963
Ngô Đình Diệm was a South Vietnamese politician who was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955) and later the first president of South Vietnam from 1955 until his capture and assassination during…
Wikipedia source
1958 Egypt
Following a plebiscite in both countries the previous day, Egypt and Syria join to form the United Arab Republic.
Country in North Africa
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula.
Wikipedia source
1959 Lee_Petty
Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
American racing driver (1914–2000)
Lee Arnold Petty was an American stock car racing driver who competed during the 1950s and 1960s. He is the patriarch of the Petty racing family. He was one of the early pioneers of NASCAR and one of its first stars.
Wikipedia source
1972 Official_Irish_Republican_Army
The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
Former Irish republican paramilitary group
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of…
Wikipedia source
1974 Organisation_of_Islamic_Cooperation
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit begins in Lahore, Pakistan.
Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, 48 of which are Muslim-majority.
Wikipedia source
1974 Samuel_Byck
Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an aircraft at Baltimore/Washington International Airport with the intention of crashing it into the White House to assassinate Richard Nixon, but commits suicide after being wounded by police.
American hijacker and would-be assassin of Richard Nixon (1930–1974)
Samuel Joseph Byck was an American hijacker and attempted assassin.
Wikipedia source
1979 Saint_Lucia
Saint Lucia gains independence from the United Kingdom.
Country in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern and southern Caribbean.
Wikipedia source
1980 Miracle_on_Ice
Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
1980 Olympic ice hockey game
The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
Wikipedia source
1983 Broadway_theatre
The notorious Broadway flop Moose Murders opens and closes on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
Type of theatre in New York City
Broadway theatre is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown…
Wikipedia source
1986 People_Power_Revolution
Start of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
1986 demonstrations in the Philippines
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986.
Wikipedia source
1994 Aldrich_Ames
Aldrich Ames and his wife are charged by the United States Department of Justice with spying for the Soviet Union.
American CIA analyst and Soviet spy (1941–2026)
Aldrich Hazen Ames was an American counterintelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency who was convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia in 1994.
Wikipedia source
1995 CORONA_(satellite)
The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.
American reconnaissance satellites (1959–1972)
The CORONA program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directorate of Science and Technology with substantial assistance from the…
Wikipedia source
1997 Roslin,_Midlothian
In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned.
Village in Midlothian, Scotland
Roslin is a village in Midlothian, Scotland, 11 kilometres (7 mi) to the south of the capital city Edinburgh. It stands on high ground, near the northwest bank of the river North Esk.
Wikipedia source
2002 Angola
Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
Country in Southern Africa
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the western coast of Southern Africa.
Wikipedia source
2005
The 6.4 Mw Zarand earthquake shakes the Kerman province of Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 612 people dead and 1,411 injured.
Earthquake in Kerman province, Iran
A moment magnitude (Mw) 6.4 earthquake struck northern Kerman province, Iran on 22 February 2005, at 05:55:22 Iran Standard Time.
Wikipedia source
2006 UTC+03:00
At approximately 6:44 a.m.
local Iraqi time, explosions occurred at the al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, caused the escalation of sectarian tensions in Iraq into a full-scale civil war.
UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Wikipedia source
2006 Securitas_depot_robbery
The Securitas depot robbery was the UK's largest heist.
Almost £53m (about $92.5 million or €78 million) was stolen from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
The 2006 Securitas depot robbery in Tonbridge, England, was the UK's largest cash heist.
Wikipedia source
2011 2011_Christchurch_earthquake
New Zealand's second deadliest earthquake, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, kills 185 people.
February 2011 earthquake in New Zealand
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time.
Wikipedia source
2011 2011_Bahraini_uprising
Bahraini uprising: Tens of thousands of people march in protest against the deaths of seven victims killed by police and army forces during previous protests.
Uprising in Bahrain that started on 14 February 2011
The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014.
Wikipedia source
2012 2012_Buenos_Aires_rail_disaster
A train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 51 people and injures 700 others.
Fatal Argentine train wreck
The 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster, also known as the Once Tragedy, occurred on 22 February 2012, when a train crashed at Once Station in the Balvanera neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Wikipedia source
2014 Viktor_Yanukovych
President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is impeached by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by a vote of 328–0, fulfilling a major goal of the Euromaidan rebellion.
President of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014.
Wikipedia source
2015 Sinking_of_ML_Mostofa-3
A ferry carrying 100 passengers capsizes in the Padma River, killing 70 people.
2015 crash and capsizing of a ferry in Dhaka, Bangladesh
On 22 February 2015, a two-deck ferry traveling on the Padma River in the Manikganj District, Dhaka Division in Dhaka, Bangladesh, capsized. Up to 70 people were killed in the crash when it hit a trawler.
Wikipedia source
2018 2018_United_States_embassy_attack_in_Podgorica
A man throws a grenade at the U.S.
embassy in Podgorica, Montenegro. He dies at the scene from a second explosion, with no one else hurt.
On 22 February 2018, a Serbian-born man threw an explosive grenade inside the embassy of the United States in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. He then blew himself up outside the compound with another explosive.
Wikipedia source
2022
Twosday, the name given to Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at 2:22:22, occurs.
Portmanteau and one-time observance
Twosday was an unofficial one-time secular observance held on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
Wikipedia source

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