History of 22 May
1900 – The Associated Press was incorporated as a non-profit news cooperative in New York.
1900 – A. DeVilbiss, Jr. patented his pendulum-type computing scale.
1900 – Edwin S. Votey received a patent for the pianola (a pneumatic piano player). It could be attached to any piano.
1906 – The Wright brothers received a patent their flying machine.
1939 – Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini signed a military alliance between Germany and Italy known as the “Pact of Steel.”
1947 – The Truman Doctrine was enacted by the U.S. Congress to appropriate military and economic aid Turkey and Greece.
1955 – A scheduled dance to be headlined by Fats Domino was canceled by police in Bridgeport, Connecticut because “rock and roll dances might be featured.”
1955 – Jack Benny did his last live network radio broadcast after a run of 23 years. He devoted his time fully to TV.
1967 – “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” premiered on PBS.
1967 – The final “To Tell the Truth” program was seen on CBS-TV.
1969 – A lunar module of Apollo 10 flew within nine miles of the moon’s surface. The event was a rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
1972 – U.S. President Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Russia. He met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
1972 – The island Ceylon adopted a new constitution and became the Republic of Sri Lanka.
1977 – Janet Guthrie set the fastest time of the second weekend of qualifying, becoming the first woman to earn a starting spot in the Indianapolis 500 since its inception in 1911.
1985 – Pete Rose passed Hank Aaron as National League run scoring leader with 2,108.
1986 – Sylvester Stallone agreed to a 10-picture, six-year deal with United Artists. He signed for a reported $15 million for each film.
1990 – In the Middle East, North and South Yemen merged to become a single state known as the Republic of Yemen.
1990 – Microsoft released Windows 3.0.
1992 – Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the last time. He had been the host for 30 years.
1997 – Kelly Flinn, the U.S. Air Force’s first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepted a general discharge. She thereby avoided court-martial on charges of adultery, lying and disobeying an order.
1998 – Bolivia was hit with a series of powerful earthquakes. At least 18 were killed. The quakes ranged in magnitude from 5.9 to 6.8.
1998 – New information came to light about the June 1996 bombing that killed 19 American airmen. The information indicated that Saudi citizens had been responsible and not Iranians as once believed.
1998 – A federal judge said that Secret Service agents could be compelled to testify before a grand jury in Monica Lewinsky investigation concerning U.S. President Clinton.
1998 – Voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland turned out to cast ballots giving approval to a Northern Ireland peace accord.
2002 – Chandra Levy’s remains were found in Washington, DC’s Rock Creek Park. She was last seen on April 30, 2001. California Congressman Gary Condit was questioned in the case due to his relationship with Levy.
2002 – In Birmingham, AL, a jury convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in the 1963 church bombing that killed four girls.
2002 – Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) hit his 583rd career home run. He tied Mark McGwire for fifth on the all-time list.
2003 – At the Colonial in Fort Worth, TX, Annika Sorenstam became the first woman to play on the PGA tour in 58 years. She ended the day at 1-over par.
2012 – In Japan, the Tokyo Skytree tower opened.
2014 – General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
2014 – An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
2015 – The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to legalize gay marriage in a public referendum.
2017 – Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
2017 – United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Western Wall.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Daniel Bryan, American wrestler
- 1981 – Bassel Khartabil, Syrian computer programmer and engineer (d. 2015)
- 1981 – Jürgen Melzer, an Austrian tennis player
- 1982 – Erin McNaught, Australian model, and actress
- 1982 – Apolo Ohno, American speed skater
- 1982 – Hong Yong-jo, North Korean footballer
- 1983 – Natasha Kai, American soccer player, and Olympic medalist
- 1984 – Karoline Herfurth, German actress
- 1984 – Didier Ya Konan, Ivorian footballer
- 1984 – Dustin Moskovitz, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
- 1985 – Tranquillo Barnetta, Swiss footballer
- 1985 – Tao Okamoto, Japanese model, and actress
- 1986 – Julian Edelman, American football player
- 1986 – Matt Jarvis, English footballer
- 1986 – Tatiana Volosozhar, Russian figure skater
- 1987 – Novak Djokovic, a Serbian tennis player
- 1987 – Arturo Vidal, Chilean footballer
- 1988 – Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
- 1989 – Corey Dickerson, American professional baseball player
- 1990 – Wyatt Roy, Australian politician
- 1991 – Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
- 1991 – Suho, South Korean singer and actor
- 1994 – Florian Luger, Austrian male model
- 1999 – Camren Bicondova, American actress