January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 343 days remaining until the end of the year (344 in leap years).
Holidays
In 565, – Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus.
In 613, – Constantine (8-month-old) is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
In 1506, – The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican.
In 1517, – The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya.
In 1521, Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms
In 1555, – The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now present-day Burma.
In 1689, – The Convention Parliament convenes to determine if James II and VII, the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Ireland and Scotland, had vacated the thrones when he fled to France in 1688.
In 1779, – Claudius Smith, American guerrilla leader (b. 1736) was hanged on January 22, 1779 in the town of Goshen, Orange County, New York. He was a notorious Loyalist guerrilla leader during the American Revolution. He led a band of irregulars who were known locally as the ‘cowboys’. Claudius was the eldest son of David Smith (1701–1787), a respected tailor, cattleman, miller, constable, clergyman, and finally judge in Brookhaven, New York. His mother was Meriam (Williams) Carle, a daughter of Samuel Williams of Hempstead, New York. David Smith was the son of a Samuel Smith, but the identity of this Samuel is not certain.
In 1824, – The Ashantis defeat British forces in the Gold Coast.
In 1849, – Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender.
In 1863, – The January Uprising breaks out in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The aim of the national movement is to regain Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation by Russia.
In 1877, – Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman is taken into custody after being prosecuted for using ritualist practices.
In 1879, – Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Isandlwana – Zulu troops defeat British troops.
In 1879, – Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Rorke’s Drift – 139 British soldiers successfully defend their garrison against an onslaught by three to four thousand Zulu warriors. The Battle of Rorke’s Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke’s Drift, was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke’s Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army‘s defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, and continued into the following day, 23 January. Just over 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The massive, but piecemeal, Zulu attacks on Rorke’s Drift came very close to defeating the tiny garrison but were ultimately repelled. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours.
In 1889, – Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C.
In 1890, – The United Mine Workers of America is founded in Columbus, Ohio.
In 1899, – Leaders of six Australian colonies meet in Melbourne to discuss confederation.
In 1901, – Edward VII is proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
In 1905, – Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg, beginning of the 1905 revolution.
In 1906, – SS Valencia runs aground on rocks on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, killing more than 130.
In 1915, – Over 600 people are killed in Guadalajara, Mexico, when a train plunges off the tracks into a deep canyon.
In 1917, – World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for “peace without victory” in Europe.
In 1919, – Act Zluky is signed, unifying the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
In 1924, – Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In 1927, Teddy Wakelam gives the first live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United at Highbury.
In 1930, Stephen Mather, American businessman and conservationist, co-founded the Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company (b. 1867)
In 1941, World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.
In 1944, World War II: The Allies commence Operation Shingle, an assault on Anzio, Italy.
In 1946, In Iran, Qazi Muhammad declares the independent people’s Republic of Mahabad at Chuwarchira Square in the Kurdish city of Mahabad. He is the new president and Hadschi Baba Scheich is the prime minister.
In 1946, Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1947, KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood, California.
In 1950, Alan Hale, Sr., American actor (b. 1892) died. He was an American movie actor and director, most widely remembered for his many supporting character roles, in particular as frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn, as well as movies supporting Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Douglas Fairbanks, James Cagney, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Reagan, among dozens of others.
Hale was born Rufus Edward Mackahan in Washington, D.C.. He studied to be an opera singer and also had successes as an inventor. Among his innovations were the folding theatre-seat, the hand fire extinguisher, and greaseless potato chips.
His first film role was in the 1911 silent movie The Cowboy and the Lady. He played “Little John” in the 1922 film Robin Hood, with Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery, reprised the role sixteen years later in The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone, then played him yet again in Rogues of Sherwood Forest in 1950 with John Derek as Robin Hood‘s son, a 28-year span of portrayals of the same character.
In 1957, Israel withdraws from the Sinai Peninsula.
In 1957, The New York City “Mad Bomber“, George P. Metesky, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and is charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
In 1959, Knox Mine Disaster: Water breaches the River Slope Mine near Pittston City, Pennsylvania in Port Griffith; 12 miners are killed.
In 1962, The Organization of American States suspends Cuba‘s membership.
In 1963, The Elysée treaty of cooperation between France and Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.
In 1968, Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space. Apollo 5 was the first unmanned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM), which would later carry astronauts to the lunar surface. It lifted off on January 22, 1968, with a Saturn IB rocket on an Earth-orbital flight.
In 1968, Operation Igloo White, a US electronic surveillance system to stop communist infiltration into South Vietnam begins installation.
In 1969, A gunman attempts to assassinate Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
In 1970, The Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
In 1971, The Singapore Declaration, one of the two most important documents to the uncodified constitution of the Commonwealth of Nations, is issued.
In 1973, The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.
In 1973, Lyndon B. Johnson, American politician, 36th President of the United States (b. 1908) died. He often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969), a position he assumed after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States (1961–1963). He is one of only four people who served in all four elected federal offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President, and President. Johnson, a Democrat from Texas, served as a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and as a Senator from 1949 to 1961, including six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election. After their election, Johnson succeeded to the presidency following President Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, completed Kennedy’s term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election.
In 1973, A chartered Boeing 707 explodes in flames upon landing at Kano Airport, Nigeria, killing 176.
In 1984, The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous “1984“ television commercial.
In 1987, Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself during a televised press conference, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism.
In 1987, Philippine security forces open fire on a crowd of 10,000–15,000 demonstrators at Malacañan Palace, Manila, killing 13.
In 1990, Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet Computer worm.
In 1991, Gulf War: Three SCUDs and one Patriot missile hit Ramat Gan in Israel, injuring 96 people. Three elderly people die of heart attacks.
In 1992, Rebel forces occupy Zaire‘s national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government’s resignation.
In 1994, Telly Savalas, American actor (b. 1924) died.
In 1995, Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Beit Lid massacre – In central Israel, near Netanya, two suicide bombers from the Gaza Strip blow themselves up at a military transit point killing 19 Israelis.
In 1995, Rose Kennedy, American philanthropist (b. 1890) died from complications from pneumonia at the age of 104½. She was an American philanthropist and socialite. She was deeply embedded in the “lace curtain” Irish Catholic community in Boston, where her father was mayor. She was the wife of businessman and investor Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., who was United States Ambassador to the Court of St James’s. Their nine children included President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and longtime Senator Ted Kennedy.
In 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons are burned alive by radical Hindus while sleeping in their car in Eastern India.
In 2002, Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In 2004, Ann Miller, American actress and dancer (b. 1923) died.
In 2006, Evo Morales is inaugurated as President of Bolivia, becoming the country’s first indigenous president.
In 2007, At least 88 people are killed when two car bombs explode in the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, Iraq.
In 2008, Heath Ledger, Australian actor and director (b. 1979) dies on 22 January 2008 from an accidental intoxication from prescription drugs. He was an Australian actor and director. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger left for the United States in 1998 to develop his film career. His work comprised nineteen films, including 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight’s Tale (2001), Monster’s Ball (2001), Ned Kelly (2003), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Casanova (2005), Candy (2006), I’m Not There (2007), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director.
For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and Best International Actor from the Australian Film Institute, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Posthumously he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the ensemble cast, the director, and the casting director for the film I’m Not There, which was inspired by the life and songs of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In the film, Ledger portrayed a fictional actor named Robbie Clark, one of six characters embodying aspects of Dylan’s life and persona. A few months before his death, Ledger had finished filming his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. His death occurred during editing of The Dark Knight and in the midst of filming his last role as Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. His untimely death cast a somber shadow over the subsequent promotion of the $185 million Batman production. Ledger received numerous posthumous accolades for his critically acclaimed performance in the film, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards (for which he became the first actor to win an award posthumously), the 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2010, Jean Simmons, English-American actress (b. 1929) dies from lung cancer at her home on 22 January 2010, nine days before her 81st birthday, surrounded by her family. She was a British actress. One of J. Arthur Rank‘s “well-spoken young starlets”, she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and after the Second World War, followed mainly by Hollywood films from 1950 onwards. Simmons was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Hamlet (1948), and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Guys and Dolls (1955). Other notable film appearances included Young Bess (1953), The Robe (1953), Elmer Gantry (1960), Spartacus (1960), and the 1969 film The Happy Ending, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won an Emmy Award for the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds.
In 2010, Conan O’Brien performs his last Tonight Show on NBC as a part of the Tonight Show conflict of 2010.
In 2012, Joe Paterno, American football player and coach (b. 1926) dies of complications relating to his lung cancer treatment. He was sometimes referred to as “JoePa“, was an American college football player, and later athletic director and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2011. With 409 victories, Paterno is the most victorious coach in NCAA FBS history.
In 2015, An explosion near a civilian trolleybus in the city of Donetsk kills at least thirteen people.