August 22nd is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining.
Events:
- 1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field decisively ends the Wars of the Roses
- 1559 - Bartholome de Carranza, Spanish archbishop, is arrested for heresy
- 1642 - Charles I calls the English Parliament traitors. Beginning of the English Civil War
- 1654 - Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first Jewish immigrant to what is later the United States
- 1717 - Spanish troops land on Sardinia
- 1770 - James Cook's expedition lands on the east coast of Australia
- 1775 - King George III declares the American colonies to be in open rebellion
- 1780 - James Cook's ship Resolution returns to England (Cook having been killed on Hawaii during the voyage)
- 1791 - Beginning of the Haitian Slave Revolution
- 1846 - The United States annexes New Mexico
- 1851 - Gold is discovered in Australia
- 1851 - The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America
- 1864 - Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross is formed
- 1910 - Japan annexes Korea
- 1911 - The Mona Lisa is stolen
- 1914 - In Belgium, British and German troops meet for the first time in World War I
- 1926 - Gold discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa
- 1941 - German troops reach Leningrad
- 1942 - Brazil declares war on the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan)
- 1943 - Kharkov is liberated
- 1944 - Last transport of French Jews to concentration camps in Germany
- 1950 - Althea Gibson becomes the first black competitor in international tennis
- 1953 - The jail on Devil's Island is closed
- 1962 - An attempt to assassinate French president Charles De Gaulle fails
- 1962 - The Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered ship, completes its maiden voyage
- 1968 - Pope Paul VI arrives in Bogota, Colombia. It is the first visit of a pope to Latin America
- 1972 - Rhodesia is expelled by the International Olympic Committee for its racist policies
- 1975 - An attempt to assassinate president Gerald Ford fails
- 1988 - The Australian koala, the first platinum coin, is issued
- 1989 - The first ring of Neptune is discovered
Births:
- 1760 - Pope Leo XII
- 1854 - Milan I, king of Serbia
- 1862 - Claude Debussy, composer
- 1874 - Max Scheler, philosopher
- 1880 - George Herriman, cartoonist (Krazy Kat)
- 1893 - Dorothy Parker, writer
- 1902 - Leni Riefenstahl, film director
- 1904 - Den Xiaoping, leader of the People's Republic of China (1976-1983)
- 1917 - John Lee Hooker, blues guitarist/singer
- 1920 - Ray Bradbury, science fiction author and fantasy writer (Fahrenheit 451)
- 1928 - Karlheinz Stockhausen, composer
- 1934 - Norman Schwarzkopf, US general
- 1956 - Paul Molitor, baseball player
- 1940 - Valery Harper, actress
- 1958 - Vernon Reid, musician (Living Colour)
- 1960 - Debbi Peterson, drummer (The Bangles)
- 1961 - Roland Orzabal, singer, guitarist (Tears for Fears)
- 1963 - Tori Amos, singer, pianist
- 1964 - Mats Wilander, tennis player
Deaths:
- 1188 - Ferdinand II, king of Castilia, Leon, Asturia and Galicia
- 1280 - Pope Nicholas III
- 1286 - Erik V Klipping, king of Denmark (murder)
- 1350 - Philip VI of France, king of France
- 1485 - Richard III of England,
- 1553 - John Dudley, English admiral and politician (beheaded)
- 1818 - Warren Hastings, governor-general of India (1773-1784)
- 1903 - Robert Salisbury, British prime minister
- 1912 - Pope Gregory IX
- 1922 - Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary (killed in an ambush)
- 1978 - Jomo Kenyatta, first prime minister of Kenya (1963-1978)
- 1989 - Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers
Holidays:
August 21 - August 23 - July 22 - September 22 - more historical anniversaries
See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December