Historical Events on October 22

  • 1730: The Ladoga Canal is finished.
  • 1746: A charter is granted for the College of New Jersey. This college would eventually be renamed to Princeton University.
  • 1777: Hessian attacks against Fort Mercer on the Delaware River are driven back by the American defenders at the Battle of Red Bank during the American Revolutionary War.
  • 1784: A colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska is founded by Russia.
  • 1836: Sam Houston becomes the first President of the newly formed Republic of Texas.
  • 1877: Over 200+ miners are killed in Scotland during the Blantyre Mining Disaster.
  • 1927: Six new inventions – including single phase electric power – is introduced by Nikola Tesla on this day.
  • 1934: Infamous bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd is shot down and killed by FBI agents in East Liverpool, Ohio.
  • 1941: In retaliation for the death of a German officer, 30 French resistance members are executed – including Guy Moquet.
  • 1943: Over one hundred and fifty thousand people are left homeless and another ten thousand are killed when the Royal Air Force conduct a firestorm raid on the German town of Kassel.
  • 1966: The Supremes’ A’ Go-Go becomes the first album by an all-female musical group to hit number 1.
  • 1966: Luna 12 is launched by the Soviet Union.
  • 1968: After orbiting the Earth over 160+ times, Apollo 7 lands in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1975: Vernera 9 – an unmanned Soviet space lander – lands on Venus.
  • 1978: John Paul II is inaugurated as Pope.
  • 1983: Two guards at the U.S Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois are killed by inmates. This would lead to a Supermax model being developed for future U.S prisons.
  • 2001: Grand Theft Auto III is released on this day.

Famous Birthdays on October 22

  • British-American actress Joan Fontaine is born in 1917.
  • British novelist, playwright, poet and Novel Prize laureate, Doris Lessing is born in 1919.
  • American psychologist and author, Timothy Leary is born in 1920.