History of 22 April
1914 – Babe Ruth made his pitching debut with the Baltimore Orioles.
1915 – At the Second Battle Ypres the Germans became the first country to use poison gas.
1915 – The New York Yankees wore pinstripes and the hat-in-the-ring logo for the first time.
1918 – British naval forces attempted to sink block-ships in the German U-boat bases at the Battle of Zeebrugge.
1930 – The U.S., Britain, and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
1931 – Egypt signed the treaty of friendship with Iraq.
1931 – James G. Ray landed an autogyro on the lawn of the White House.
1944 – During World War II, the Allies launched a major attack against the Japanese in Hollandia, New Guinea.
1952 – An atomic test conducted in Nevada was the first nuclear explosion shown on live network television.
1954 – The U.S. Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings began.
1967 – Randy Matson set a new world record with a shot put toss of 71 feet, and 5 1/2 inches in College Station, TX.
1970 – The first “Earth Day” was observed by millions of Americans.
1976 – Barbara Walters became the first female nightly network news anchor.
1987 – The American Physical Society said that the “Star Wars” missile system was “highly questionable” and would take ten years to research.
1993 – The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, DC.
1997 – In Lima, Peru government commandos storm and capture the residence of the Japanese ambassador ending a 126-day hostage crisis. In the rescue, 71 hostages were saved. Those killed: one hostage (of a heart attack), two soldiers, and all 14 reels.
1999 – The Watson Family received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2000 – Elian Gonzalez was reunited with his father. He had to be taken from his Miami relatives by U.S. agents in a predawn raid.
2000 – ABC-TV aired a small portion of the Clinton-DiCaprio interview.
2002 – Filippino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered a state of emergency in the city of General Santos in response to a series of bombing attacks the day before. The attacks were blamed on Muslim extremists.
2010 – The Boeing X-37 began its first orbital mission. It successfully returned to Earth on December 3, 2010.
2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
2019 – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes the main Philippines island of Luzon, killing at least 8 people.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
- 1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver
- 1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress, and musician
- 1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
- 1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
- 1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
- 1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
- 1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and paleontologist
- 1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
- 1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
- 1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
- 1986 – Amber Heard, American actress, and producer
- 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
- 1986 – Dusan Sakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
- 1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
- 1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
- 1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1990 – Oscar Gonzalez, Mexican boxer
- 1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
- 1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
- 1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer
- 1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
- 1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
- 1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
- 1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
- 1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer