What Happened on February 22
Significant Events
- 1632 Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
- 1774 British House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright
- 1797 The Last Invasion of Britain by the French, begins near Fishguard, Wales
- 1825 Russia & Britain establish Alaska-Canada boundary
- 1967 25,000 US & South Vietnamese troops launch Operation Junction City against Viet Cong. Largest US airborne assult since WWII
February 22 in Film & TV
- 1934 "It Happened One Night" directed by Frank Capra and starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert opens at NY's Radio City Music Hall (Academy Awards Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay 1935)
February 22 in Music
February 22 in Sport
- 1888 “Father of American Golf” John Reid first demonstrates golf on a Yonkers cow pasture to friends
Famous Birthdays
George Washington
(1732 - 1799)
Robert Baden-Powell
(1857 - 1941)
Alfred J. Gross
(1918 - 2000)
Steve Irwin
(1962 - 2006)
Michael Chang
46 Years Old
Drew Barrymore
43 Years Old
Famous Weddings
- 1767 US Defector General Benedict Arnold (26) weds the daughter of the sheriff of New Haven Margaret Mansfield
- 1941 Future CIA Director William J. Casey (27) weds Sophia Kurz
- 1949 Future Portuguese President Mário Soares (24) weds actress Maria de Jesus Barroso (24) at the 3rd Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon
Famous Divorces
- 1996 Actress Halle Berry files for divorce from David Justice
- 2008 "Baywatch" actress Pamela Anderson (40) divorces Rick Salomon (39) due to irreconcilable differences only 2 months after getting married
Amerigo Vespucci
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Charles Lyell
Andy WarholFebruary in History
Buried at Sea: The Casket That Carried JFK
John F. Kennedy's aides struggling to load the casket containing the slain President aboard Air Force One is an enduring image. But what happened to the casket?
February 18, 1966
Final Deadly Performance of a Twisted Actor
From a celebrated family of actors came a young man with a twisted mind whose last performance involved the death of a president.
February 20, 1817
Wonder of Woolworths Begins its Meteoric Rise
It was a simple idea: opening a store where nothing cost more than five cents. The idea caught on so quickly that Woolworth’s became a retail phenomenon.
February 22, 1878
The Man Who Re-wrote 'Offensive' Shakespeare
Thomas Bowdler, the man who re-wrote Shakespeare to remove the "offensive" bits, died on this day and added a new word – bowdlerise – to the language.
February 24, 1825