On this day in history

December 22

28 births · 13 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

111

Battle of Sarikamish

111 years ago

Born this day

1984

Basshunter

Turns 41

Oldest record

1956th

Vitellius

death anniversary

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Famous births28

AD 244 · 1781 yrs

Diocletian

Diocletian ( DY-ə-KLEE-shən; Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus; Ancient Greek: Διοκλητιανός, romanized: Diokletianós; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 71

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Photo: G.dallorto · Attribution

1095 · 930 yrs

Roger II of Sicily

Roger II or Roger the Great (Italian: Ruggero II, Sicilian: Ruggeru II, Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 - 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 58

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Photo: Matthias Süßen · CC BY-SA 2.5

1183 · 842 yrs

Chagatai Khan

Chagatai Khan (Mongolian: ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠲᠠᠶ; c. 1184 – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan, a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire, and the first khan of the Chagatai Khanate.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 58

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Photo: Enerelt at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

1639 · 386 yrs

Jean Racine

Jean-Baptiste Racine ( rass-EEN, US also rə-SEEN; French:; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tradition and world literature.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 59

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Photo: After Jean-Baptiste Santerre · Public domain

1666 · 359 yrs

Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh (Punjabi pronunciation:; born Gobind Das; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 41

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1790 · 235 yrs

Jean-François Champollion

Jean-François Champollion (French:), also known as Champollion le jeune ('the Younger'; 23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure in the field of Egyptology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 41

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Photo: Léon Cogniet · Public domain

1856 · 169 yrs

Frank B. Kellogg

Frank Billings Kellogg (December 22, 1856 – December 21, 1937) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of State. He co-authored the Kellogg–Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 80

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Photo: Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress · Public domain

1858 · 167 yrs

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (1858 – 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Widely regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late Baroque era.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 65

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1876 · 149 yrs

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (Italian:; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye de Créteil between 1907 and 1908.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 149

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Photo: Emilio Sommariva · Public domain

1887 · 138 yrs

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician who worked during the early 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 138

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Photo: Konrad Jacobs · Public domain

1912 · 113 yrs

Lady Bird Johnson

Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (née Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was the first lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 113

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Photo: Robert Knudsen, White House Press Office (WHPO) · Public domain

1941 · 84 yrs

M. Stanley Whittingham

Sir Michael Stanley Whittingham (born 22 December 1941) is a British-American chemist. He is a professor of chemistry and past founding director of both the Institute for Materials Research and the Materials Science and Engineering program at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceAge 84

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Photo: Stanford Energy · CC BY 3.0

Showing 12 of 28

Famous deaths13

AD 69 · 1956 yrs

Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius (Latin:; 24 September 15 – 20 December 69) was Roman emperor, ruling for eight months from 19 April to 20 December AD 69. Vitellius became emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 54

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Photo: Didier Descouens · Public domain

1603 · 422 yrs

Mehmed III

Mehmed III (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثالث, Meḥmed-i sālis; Turkish: III. Mehmed; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 37

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Photo: 1598 · Public domain

1828 · 197 yrs

William Hyde Wollaston

William Hyde Wollaston (6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 62

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Photo: John Jackson · Public domain

1870 · 155 yrs

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (Spanish pronunciation:), was a Spanish Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, literary columnist, and talented in drawing.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 34

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Photo: Valeriano Bécquer · Public domain

1880 · 145 yrs

George Eliot

Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 61

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Photo: replica by François D’Albert Durade (1804–1886) · Public domain

1936 · 89 yrs

Nikolai Ostrovsky

Nikolai Alekseyevich Ostrovsky (Russian: Николай Алексеевич Островский; Ukrainian: Микола Олексійович Островський, romanized: Mykola Oleksiiovych Ostrovskyi; 29 September 1904 – 22 December 1936) was a Soviet socialist realist writer. He is best known for his novel How the Steel Was Tempered.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 122

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1943 · 82 yrs

Beatrix Potter

Helen Beatrix Heelis (née Potter; 28 July 1866 – 22 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( BEE-ə-triks), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 77

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Photo: Charles G.Y. King (1854-1937) · Public domain

1988 · 37 yrs

Chico Mendes

Francisco Alves Mendes Filho (15 December 1944 – 22 December 1988), better known as Chico Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese:), was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader, and environmentalist who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous people.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 81

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Photo: Miranda Smith, Miranda Productions, Inc. · CC BY-SA 3.0

1989 · 36 yrs

Samuel Beckett

Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. Written in both English and French, his literary and theatrical works feature bleak, impersonal, and tragicomic episodes of life, coupled with black comedy and literary nonsense.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 120

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Photo: Roger Pic · Public domain

1995 · 30 yrs

James Meade

James Edward Meade (23 June 1907 – 22 December 1995) was a British economist who made major contributions to the theory of international trade and welfare economics. Along with Richard Kahn, James Meade helped develop the concept of the Keynesian multiplier while participating in the Cambridge circus.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 119

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Photo: LSE Library · Public domain

2014 · 11 yrs

Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 82

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Photo: Thesupermat · CC BY-SA 3.0

2025 · 0 yrs

Chris Rea

Christopher Anton Rea ( REE-ə; 4 March 1951 – 22 December 2025) was an English rock and blues singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He was known for his distinctive gravelly voice, slide guitar playing, and a music style blending soft rock with blues.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 75

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Photo: Andrzej Barabasz (Chepry) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 13

Events5

1135 · 890 yrs

The Anarchy

The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153 which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin—the only legitimate son of King Henry I—who drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1914 · 111 yrs

Battle of Sarikamish

The Battle of Sarikamish was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman Empires during World War I. It took place from 22 December 1914, to 17 January 1915, as part of the Caucasus campaign. The battle resulted in a decisive Russian victory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1941 · 84 yrs

Arcadia Conference

The First Washington Conference, also known as the Arcadia Conference (ARCADIA was the code name used for the conference), was held in Washington, D.C., from December 22, 1941, to January 14, 1942. President Roosevelt of the United States and Prime Minister Churchill of the United Kingdom attended the conference.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

2018 · 7 yrs

2018 FIFA Club World Cup Final

The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup final was the final match of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, an international club association football tournament hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2024 · 1 yrs

Proposed United States acquisition of Greenland

The United States has discussed obtaining Greenland from Denmark since the 19th century. There were talks within the US federal government about purchasing Greenland in 1867, advocated by Secretary of State William H. Seward, and again in 1910.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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