Historical Events on February 22

  • 1847: Over fifteen thousand Mexican troops are defeated by five thousand American forces at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican American War.
  • 1848: The French Revolution of 1848 begins on this day.
  • 1853: Eliot Seminary is established in St. Louis, Missouri. This university would later be renamed Washington University.
  • 1855: The Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania is founded. This would eventually become Pennsylvania State University.
  • 1856: The U.S Republican Party holds its first national convention in the city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
  • 1862: Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. 4-days prior, he was elected as provisional president. He’s scheduled to serve a 6-year term.
  • 1872: The first national convention for the Prohibition Party is held in the city of Columbus in the state of Ohio. Its presidential nominees is James Black.
  • 1879: Frank Woolworth opens the first Woolworth store in Utica, New York.
  • 1942: As the Japanese victory in the Philippines becomes apparent, United States’ President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders U.S General Douglas MacArthur to get out.
  • 1943: During World War II, members of the White Rose Resistance are executed in Nazi Germany.
  • 1944: Krivoi Rog is captured by Soviet forces during WWII.
  • 2005: The Kerman Province of Iran is hit with a severe earthquake that kills over 600 people and injurs over 1,400 more.
  • 2006: The largest robbery in Britain is pulled off when 6 men steal £53 million (approximately $92 million USD) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
  • 2012: Over 50 people are killed and over 700 are injured when a train crashes in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Famous Birthdays on February 22

  • American General and First President of the United States, George Washington is born in 1732.
  • American poet James Russell Lowell is born in 1819.
  • American actress Marguerite Clark is born in 1883.
  • American inventor Alfred J. Gross is born in 1918.
  • American basketball player and sportscaster, Julius Erving is born in 1950.
  • Australian zoologist and TV personality, Steve Irwin is born in 1962.
  • American actor and director, Thomas Jane is born in 1969.