December 22 facts for kids

December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; nine days remain until the end of the year.

Every day, history is made! December 22nd has seen many important events happen around the world, from ancient Roman times to modern discoveries. Let's explore some of the exciting and significant moments that took place on this date throughout history.

What Happened on December 22nd?

Ancient and Medieval Times (Before 1600)

• In AD 69, Vespasian was declared the new Emperor of Rome. This was a big moment for the Roman Empire!
• In 401, Pope Innocent I was chosen as the leader of the Catholic Church. He's special because he was the only pope to follow his own father in that role.
• A huge earthquake hit near the city of Damghan in Persia in 856. It sadly killed about 200,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.
• In 880, the city of Luoyang, an important capital of the Tang dynasty in China, was taken over by a rebel leader named Huang Chao.
• After King Henry I of England died in 1135, Stephen of Blois claimed the throne and became the new King of England. This started a period of conflict known as the English Anarchy.
• In 1216, Pope Honorius III officially approved the Dominican Order, a group of religious people, through a special document called a papal bull.
• The armies of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, took control of Almería from the ruler of Granada in 1489.

Later History (1601–1900)

• The war between China and Burma ended in 1769. The Chinese Qing dynasty decided to leave Burma for good.
• In 1788, Nguyễn Huệ declared himself Emperor Quang Trung in Vietnam, which meant the old Lê dynasty was no longer in power.
• The strong Turkish fortress of Izmail was captured by Alexander Suvorov and his Russian armies in 1790.
• The Embargo Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1807. This law stopped all trade with other countries, as suggested by President Thomas Jefferson.
• In 1808, the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven led a concert in Vienna. During this concert, his amazing Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, and Fourth Piano Concerto were performed for the very first time!
• India's first train for carrying goods started running in Roorkee in 1851. It was used to transport materials for building the Ganges Canal.
• Also in 1851, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. had a fire.
• During the American Civil War in 1864, the city of Savannah, Georgia, was taken by the Union army. General Sherman famously told President Abraham Lincoln he was giving him Savannah as a "Christmas gift."
• Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, became the very first Prime Minister of Japan in 1885.
• The Christmas Meeting of 1888 happened in 1888. Many people see this as the official start of the movement for the Faroe Islands to become independent.
• An asteroid named 323 Brucia was discovered in 1891. It was the first asteroid found using photography, which was a big step for astronomy!
• The Dreyfus affair began in France in 1894. Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly accused of a serious crime, which caused a lot of debate and controversy.

Modern History (1901–Present)

• A powerful earthquake, measuring 7.9, hit Xinjiang, China, in 1906, sadly killing at least 280 people.
• In 1920, the GOELRO plan, an important economic development plan for Russia, was officially approved.
• Visva-Bharati College, now known as Visva Bharati University, opened in India in 1921.
• The Lincoln Tunnel, a major tunnel in New York City, opened to traffic in 1937.
• In 1939, Indian Muslims observed a "Day of Deliverance." They celebrated the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress who were upset about India entering World War II without their input.
• During World War II in 1940, the Greek army captured Himara.
• In 1942, Adolf Hitler signed an order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon during World War II.
• The Battle of the Bulge was happening in 1944. German troops demanded that United States soldiers in Bastogne, Belgium, surrender. General Anthony McAuliffe famously replied with just one word: "Nuts!"
• Also in 1944, the People's Army of Vietnam was created to fight against the Japanese occupation of what is now Vietnam.
• U.S. President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order in 1945. This order gave refugees from World War II priority for visas to enter the U.S.
• In 1948, Sjafruddin Prawiranegara set up the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia in West Sumatra. This was an important step for Indonesia's independence.
• The cruise ship Lakonia caught fire in 1963 near Madeira, Portugal. Sadly, 128 lives were lost.
• The very first test flight of the super-fast SR-71 Blackbird spy plane happened in 1964 in Palmdale, California.
• In 1965, a speed limit of 70 mph (110 km/h) was put in place on all rural roads and motorways in the United Kingdom for the first time.
• During China's Cultural Revolution in 1968, Mao Zedong gave instructions that young educated people should go to the countryside to learn from rural life.
• The international aid group Doctors Without Borders was started in 1971 in Paris, France, by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists.
• A Royal Air Maroc plane crashed near Tangier-Boukhalef Airport in Tangier, Morocco, in 1973, killing 106 people.
• In 1974, the islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli voted to become the independent nation of Comoros. However, Mayotte chose to remain under French rule.
• U.S. President Gerald Ford created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 1975. This was done to help the country have enough oil in case of future energy problems.
• The important Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing in 1978. Here, Deng Xiaoping changed many of Mao's old policies to start new economic reforms in China.
• In 1984, a man named Bernhard Goetz shot four people who tried to rob him on a subway train in Manhattan, New York. This event became very famous and was debated a lot.
• In 1987, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU in Zimbabwe reached an agreement. This helped to end the violence in the Matabeleland region.
• The Romanian Revolution reached a turning point in 1989. Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown after many days of fighting. He and his wife tried to escape but were captured.
• Also in 1989, Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate re-opened after almost 30 years. This was a huge step towards East and West Germany becoming one country again.
• Lech Wałęsa was elected President of Poland in 1990.
• The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia became fully independent in 1990, ending their trusteeship.
• In 1992, a Boeing 727 plane collided in the air with a Libyan Air Force jet near Tripoli International Airport. All 157 people on board were sadly killed.
• The Acteal massacre happened in 1997 in Mexico. People attending a prayer meeting were attacked by armed groups.
• In 2001, Richard Reid tried to blow up a passenger plane by lighting explosives hidden in his shoes during American Airlines Flight 63. Luckily, he was stopped.
• A large industrial spill happened in 2008 in Roane County, Tennessee. A wall holding waste from a coal power plant broke, releasing a huge amount of coal fly ash slurry.
• The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was officially ended in 2010 by President Barack Obama. This policy had prevented openly gay people from serving in the United States military.
• A study in 2016 found that the VSV-EBOV vaccine was very effective against the Ebola virus. This was the first proven vaccine for the disease.
• In 2017, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397 against North Korea was approved by everyone.
• Also in 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into law.
• A terrible tsunami hit Indonesia in 2018. It was caused by an eruption of the volcano Anak Krakatoa and sadly killed at least 430 people.
• The 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, began in 2018.

Who Was Born on December 22nd?

Historical Figures (Before 1900)

• 244 – Diocletian, a powerful Roman emperor.
• 948 – Gang Gam-chan, an important official and general in Korea.
• 1095 – Roger II of Sicily, a king of Sicily.
• 1178 – Emperor Antoku of Japan.
• 1183 – Chagatai Khan, a Mongol ruler.
• 1300 – Khutughtu Khan Kusala, a Mongolian emperor.
• 1459 – Sultan Cem, an Ottoman politician.
• 1546 – Kuroda Yoshitaka, a Japanese leader.
• 1550 – Cesare Cremonini, an Italian philosopher.
• 1569 – Étienne Martellange, a French architect.
• 1591 – Tommaso Dingli, a Maltese architect and sculptor.
• 1639 – Jean Racine, a famous French poet and playwright.
• 1666 – Guru Gobind Singh, an important Indian guru and poet.
• 1696 – James Oglethorpe, an English general and the first Colonial Governor of Georgia.
• 1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, a German musician and composer.
• 1799 – Nicholas Callan, an Irish priest and physicist.
• 1808 – Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.
• 1819 – Franz Abt, a German composer and conductor.
• 1839 – John Nevil Maskelyne, an English magician.
• 1850 – Victoriano Huerta, a Mexican general and president.
• 1853 – Teresa Carreño, a Venezuelan-American singer and pianist.
• 1856 – Frank B. Kellogg, an American lawyer and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1858 – Giacomo Puccini, a famous Italian composer.
• 1862 – Connie Mack, an American baseball player and manager.
• 1868 – Jaan Tõnisson, an Estonian journalist and politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia.
• 1869 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, an American poet.
• 1872 – Camille Guérin, a French veterinarian and scientist.
• 1876 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, an Egyptian-Italian poet.
• 1883 & Edgard Varèse, a French-American composer.
• 1884 – St. Elmo Brady, an important African American chemist and educator.
• 1887 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, a brilliant Indian mathematician.
• 1892 – Herman Potočnik, a Slovenian-Austrian engineer who worked on space travel ideas.
• 1894 – Edwin Linkomies, a Finnish academic and Prime Minister of Finland.
• 1899 – Gustaf Gründgens, a German actor and director.

Famous People Born After 1900

• 1907 – Peggy Ashcroft, an English actress.
• 1909 – Patricia Hayes, an English actress.
• 1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, the 38th First Lady of the United States.
• 1915 – Barbara Billingsley, an American actress.
• 1917 – Gene Rayburn, an American game show host.
• 1922 – Ruth Roman, an American actress.
• 1926 – Alcides Ghiggia, an Italian-Uruguayan football player.
• 1936 – James Burke, an Irish historian and author.
• 1936 – Héctor Elizondo, an American actor.
• 1938 – Lucien Bouchard, a Canadian lawyer and Premier of Quebec.
• 1942 – Dick Parry, an English saxophonist.
• 1944 – Steve Carlton, an American baseball player.
• 1945 – Diane Sawyer, a well-known American journalist.
• 1948 – Steve Garvey, an American baseball player.
• 1948 – Rick Nielsen, an American singer and guitarist.
• 1949 – Maurice Gibb and Robin Gibb, twin brothers and famous singers from the band Bee Gees.
• 1951 – Jan Stephenson, an Australian golfer.
• 1952 – Sandra Kalniete, a Latvian politician and diplomat.
• 1955 – Thomas C. Südhof, a German-American scientist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1958 – Frank Gambale, an Australian guitarist.
• 1959 – Bernd Schuster, a German football player and manager.
• 1960 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American painter and poet.
• 1962 – Ralph Fiennes, a famous English actor.
• 1963 – Giuseppe Bergomi, an Italian football player.
• 1967 – Dan Petrescu, a Romanian football player and manager.
• 1968 – Dina Meyer, an American actress.
• 1969 – Myriam Bédard, a Canadian biathlete.
• 1970 – Gary Anderson, a Scottish darts player.
• 1970 – Ted Cruz, a Canadian-American lawyer and politician.
• 1972 – Vanessa Paradis, a French singer and actress.
• 1984 – Basshunter, a Swedish singer and DJ.
• 1987 – Zack Britton, an American baseball player.
• 1987 – Éder, a Portuguese football player.
• 1989 – Jordin Sparks, an American singer and actress.
• 1991 – DaBaby, an American rapper.
• 1992 – Moonbyul, a South Korean rapper and vocalist.
• 1993 – Raphaël Guerreiro, a Portuguese football player.
• 1993 – Meghan Trainor, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1998 – G Hannelius, an American actress and singer.
• 1998 – Casper Ruud, a Norwegian tennis player.
• 2000 – Joshua Bassett, an American actor and singer.

Who Passed Away on December 22nd?

Historical Figures (Before 1900)

• AD 69 – Vitellius, a Roman emperor.
• 731 – Yuan Qianyao, an official of the Tang dynasty in China.
• 1012 – Baha' al-Dawla, a ruler in Iraq.
• 1060 – Cynesige, the Archbishop of York.
• 1100 – Bretislav II of Bohemia, a duke of Bohemia.
• 1115 – Olaf Magnusson, a King of Norway.
• 1419 – Antipope John XXIII, a religious leader.
• 1530 – Willibald Pirckheimer, a German lawyer and author.
• 1554 – Alessandro Bonvicino, an Italian painter.
• 1572 – François Clouet, a French painter.
• 1603 – Mehmed III, an Ottoman sultan.
• 1641 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, the Prime Minister of France.
• 1646 – Petro Mohyla, a Ruthenian religious leader.
• 1660 – André Tacquet, a Flemish priest and mathematician.
• 1666 – Guercino, an Italian painter.
• 1767 – John Newbery, an English publisher.
• 1788 – Percivall Pott, an English physician and surgeon.
• 1828 – William Hyde Wollaston, an English chemist and physicist.
• 1853 – Manuel María Lombardini, a Mexican general and president.
• 1867 – Jean-Victor Poncelet, a French mathematician and engineer.
• 1870 – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, a Spanish poet.
• 1880 – George Eliot, a famous English novelist and poet.
• 1891 – Paul de Lagarde, a German scholar.
• 1899 – Dwight L. Moody, an American evangelist.

Famous People Who Passed Away After 1900

• 1917 – Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian-American nun and saint.
• 1939 – Ma Rainey, an American singer.
• 1940 – Nathanael West, an American author.
• 1942 – Franz Boas, a German-American anthropologist.
• 1943 – Beatrix Potter, a beloved English children's book writer and illustrator.
• 1944 – Harry Langdon, an American actor and comedian.
• 1959 – Gilda Gray, a Polish-American actress and dancer.
• 1965 – Richard Dimbleby, an English journalist.
• 1979 – Darryl F. Zanuck, an American director and producer.
• 1985 – D. Boon, an American musician.
• 1988 – Chico Mendes, a Brazilian activist who worked to protect the environment.
• 1989 – Samuel Beckett, an Irish author and playwright who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1995 – Butterfly McQueen, an American actress.
• 1995 – James Meade, an English economist who won a Nobel Prize in Economics.
• 2002 – Desmond Hoyte, a Guyanese lawyer and President of Guyana.
• 2002 – Joe Strummer, an English singer-songwriter.
• 2006 – Elena Mukhina, a Russian gymnast.
• 2009 – Luis Francisco Cuéllar, a Colombian politician.
• 2012 – Ryan Freel, an American baseball player.
• 2013 – Diomedes Díaz, a Colombian singer-songwriter.
• 2014 – Joe Cocker, an English singer-songwriter.
• 2018 – Paddy Ashdown, a British politician.
• 2018 – Simcha Rotem, one of the last survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
• 2019 – Ram Dass, an American spiritual teacher.

Holidays and Special Days

• Dongzhi Festival (a traditional Chinese holiday)
• Armed Forces Day (Vietnam)
• Christian feast day:
  • Anastasia of Sirmium (Orthodox Church)
  • Frances Xavier Cabrini (outside US)
• Mother's Day (Indonesia)
• National Mathematics Day (India)
• Teachers' Day (Cuba)
• Unity Day (Zimbabwe)