March 22 is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 284 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperors.
- 1621 - The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
- 1622 - Jamestown massacre: Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population.
- 1630 - Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.
- 1638 - Anne Hutchinson is expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent.
- 1765 - The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Stamp Act, which introduced a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.
- 1784 - The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
- 1809 - Charles XIII succeeds Gustav IV Adolf to the Swedish throne.
- 1829 - The three protecting powers (Britain, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.
- 1849 - The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.
- 1861 - Charles Darwin's buldog Thomas Henry Huxley updates his wife Henrietta on his working mans' series of lectures promoting Darwinism. "By next Friday evening they will all be convinced that they are monkeys."[1]
- 1871 - In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.
- 1873 - A law is approved by the Spanish National Assembly in Puerto Rico to abolish slavery.
- 1888 - The Football League is formed.
- 1894 - The first playoff game for the Stanley Cup starts.
- 1895 - First display (a private screening) of motion pictures by Auguste and Louis Lumière.
- 1923 - The first radio broadcast of ice hockey is made by Foster Hewitt.
- 1933 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs into law a bill legalizing the sale of beer and wine.
- 1939 - World War II: Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
- 1941 - Washington's Grand Coulee Dam begins to generate electricity.
- 1942 - World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, Britain's Royal Navy confronts Italy's Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.
- 1943 - World War II: the entire population of Khatyn in Belarus is burnt alive by German occupation forces.
- 1945 - The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.
- 1954 - Closed since 1939, the London bullion market reopens.
- 1960 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow & Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
- 1975 - A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama causes dangerous lowering of cooling water levels.
- 1978 - Karl Wallenda of the The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- 1979 - Margaret Thatcher puts down an early day motion censuring the government, which leads to the defeat of the Labour government of James Callaghan.
- 1984 - Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the children in the school. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded.
- 1989 - Clint Malarchuk of the Buffalo Sabres suffers a near-fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat in one of the most gruesome sports injuries of all time.
- 1993 - The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.
- 1995 - Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in space.
- 1997 - Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.
- 1997 - The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth.
- 2004 - Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist militant group Hamas, and bodyguards are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache fired Hellfire missiles.
- 2006 - ETA, armed Basque separatist group, declares permanent ceasefire.
- 2006 - BC Ferries' M/V Queen of the North runs aground on Gil Island British Columbia and sinks; 101 on board, 2 presumed deaths.
- 2006 - Three Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox.
Births
- 841 - Bernard Plantapilosa, Count of Auvergne (d. 885)
- 1212 - Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (d. 1235)
- 1366 - Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician (d. 1399)
- 1459 - Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1519)
- 1503 - Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian writer (d. 1583)
- 1599 - Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (d. 1641)
- 1609 - King John II Casimir of Poland (d. 1672)
- 1663 - August Hermann Francke, German Protestant minister (d. 1727)
- 1712 - Edward Moore, English writer (d. 1757)
- 1720 - Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect (d. 1799)
- 1723 - Charles Carroll, American statesman (d. 1783)
- 1759 - Hedwig Elizabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden and Norway (d. 1818)
- 1797 - King Wilhelm I of Germany (d. 1888)
- 1812 - Stephen Pearl Andrews, American abolitionist (d. 1886)
- 1817 - Bahá'u'lláh, Persian prophet of the Bahá'í Faith (d. 1892)
- 1817 - Braxton Bragg, American Confederate general (d. 1876)
- 1818 - John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-born explorer of South Australia (d. 1846)
- 1857 - Paul Doumer, French President (d. 1932)
- 1860 - Alfred Ploetz, German physician (d. 1940)
- 1866 - Jack Boyle, American baseball player (d. 1913)
- 1868 - Robert Millikan, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)
- 1869 - Emilio Aguinaldo, 1st President of the Philippines Republic (d. 1964)
- 1878 - Michel Théato, Luxembourgian athlete (d. 1919)
- 1880 - Ernie Quigley, Canadian-American sports official (d. 1960)
- 1887 - Chico Marx, American comedian and actor (d. 1961)
- 1896 - He Long, Chinese marshal (d. 1969)
- 1901 - Greta Kempton, American artist (d. 1991)
- 1907 - James Gavin, American general and ambassador (d. 1990)
- 1907 - Lúcia Santos, Portuguese nun (d. 2005)
- 1908 - Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (d. 1991)
- 1908 - Louis L'Amour, American author (d. 1988)
- 1909 - Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (d. 1983)
- 1910 - Nicholas Monsarrat, British novelist (d. 1979)
- 1912 - Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor (d. 1985)
- 1912 - Karl Malden, American actor
- 1913 - Tom McCall, Governor of Oregon (d. 1983)
- 1913 - Lew Wasserman, American film studio executive (d. 2002)
- 1915 - Georgiy Zhzhonov, Russian actor and writer (d. 2005)
- 1917 - Virginia Grey, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1918 - Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (d. 1997)
- 1920 - Werner Klemperer, German-born actor (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Ross Martin, Polish-American actor (d. 1981)
- 1921 - Nino Manfredi, Italian actor (d. 2004)
- 1923 - Marcel Marceau, world renown French Mime (d. 2007)
- 1924 - Allen Neuharth, American businessman
- 1924 - Bill Wendell, American television announcer (d. 1999)
- 1928 - Carrie Donovan, American fashion editor (d. 2001)
- 1928 - Ed Macauley, American basketball player
- 1930 - Derek Bok, American lawyer and educator
- 1930 - Pat Robertson, American televangelist
- 1930 - Stephen Sondheim, American composer and lyricist
- 1931 - Burton Richter, American physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1931 - William Shatner, Canadian actor
- 1933 - Abolhassan Banisadr, former President of Iran
- 1933 - May Britt, Swedish actress
- 1934 - Orrin Hatch, American politician
- 1934 - Larry Martyn, English comedy actor (d. 1994)
- 1935 - M. Emmet Walsh, American actor
- 1936 - Ron Carey, American labor leader
- 1936 - Roger Whittaker, British singer
- 1937 - Armin Hary, German athlete
- 1940 - Dave Keon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 - Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian/American actor (d. 1996)
- 1940 (or 1942) - Jorge Ben Jor, Brazilian musician
- 1941 - Jeremy Clyde, British actor and musician (Chad and Jeremy)
- 1941 - Billy Collins, American poet
- 1941 - Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor
- 1942 - Bernd Herzsprung, German actor
- 1942 - Dick Pound, Canadian chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency
- 1943 - George Benson, American musician
- 1943 - Keith Relf, English musician (The Yardbirds) (d. 1976)
- 1944 - Tony McPhee, English singer and guitarist (The Groundhogs)
- 1946 - Rudy Rucker, American author
- 1948 - Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist
- 1948 - Andrew Lloyd Webber, English theatre composer
- 1949 - Fanny Ardant, French actress
- 1950 - Jocky Wilson, Scottish darts player
- 1952 - Bob Costas, American sports commentator
- 1955 - Pete Sessions, American politician
- 1955 - Lena Olin, Swedish actress
- 1955 - Valdis Zatlers, 7th President of Latvia
- 1956 - Generosa Ammon, widow of Ted Ammon (d. 2003)
- 1957 - Stephanie Mills, American actress and singer
- 1958 - Laurie David, American political activist
- 1958 - Pete Wylie, British singer/songwriter
- 1959 - Carlton Cuse, Mexican-born American TV writer and executive
- 1959 - Matthew Modine, American actor
- 1965 - John Kordic, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)
- 1965 - Emma Wray, English actress
- 1966 - Artis Pabriks, Latvian politician
- 1966 - Song Kwang Sik, Korean singer
- 1967 - Mario Cipollini, Italian cyclist
- 1968 - Euronymous, Norwegian black metal musician (d. 1993)
- 1968 - David Macmillan, Materials Engineer
- 1970 - Andreas Johnson, Swedish singer
- 1970 - Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- 1972 - Shawn Bradley, American basketball player
- 1972 - Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d. 2006)
- 1972 - Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
- 1973 - Joe Nedney, American football player
- 1974 - Marcus Camby, American basketball player
- 1974 - Kidada Jones, American actress
- 1975 - Jiří Novák, Czech tennis player
- 1976 - Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
- 1976 - Reese Witherspoon, American actress
- 1977 - Joey Porter, American football player
- 1978 - Tom Poti, Professional Hockey Player
- 1979 - Aaron North, American musician
- 1979 - Juan Uribe, Dominican baseball player
- 1980 - Shannon Bex, American singer (Danity Kane)
- 1980 - Pamela O'Connor, Scottish ice dancer
- 1981 - Victoria Lanz, Venezuelan porn star
- 1981 - MIMS, American rapper
- 1982 - Pete Bennett, British musician and winner of Big Brother 2006
- 1988 - Tania Raymonde, American actress
Deaths
- 1322 - Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, English politician (b. 1278)
- 1418 - Dietrich of Nieheim, German historian
- 1421 - Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, second son of Henry IV of England (killed in battle) (b. 1388)
- 1544 - Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (b. 1488)
- 1602 - Agostino Carracci, Italian artist (b. 1557)
- 1685 - Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (b. 1638)
- 1687 - Jean Baptiste Lully, Italian-born French composer (b. 1632)
- 1758 - Jonathan Edwards, American minister (b. 1703)
- 1758 - Richard Leveridge, English bass and composer (b. 1670)
- 1772 - John Canton, English physicist (b. 1718)
- 1820 - Stephen Decatur, American naval officer (b. 1779)
- 1832 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer (b. 1749)
- 1840 - Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician (b. 1798)
- 1896 - Thomas Hughes, English novelist (b. 1822)
- 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, Chinese Nationalist (b. 1882)
- 1924 - William Macewen, Scottish surgeon (b. 1848)
- 1934 - Theophilos Hatzimihail, Greek painter (b. 1870)
- 1945 - John Hessin Clarke, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1857)
- 1951 - Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (b. 1871)
- 1952 - Uncle Dave Macon, American musician (b. 1870)
- 1958 - Mike Todd, American film producer (b. 1909)
- 1960 - José Antonio Aguirre, Basque politician (b. 1904)
- 1974 - Peter Revson, American racecar driver (b.1939)
- 1977 - A.K. Gopalan, Indian communist leader (b. 1904)
- 1978 - Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (b. 1905)
- 1981 - James "Jumbo" Elliott, American track coach (b. 1915)
- 1986 - Charles Starrett, American actor (b. 1903)
- 1990 - Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer (b. 1928)
- 1991 - Dave Guard, American folk singer (The Kingston Trio) (b. 1934)
- 1994 - Dan Hartman, American musician, songwriter, and record producer (b. 1950)
- 1994 - Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
- 1999 - David Strickland, American actor (b. 1969)
- 2001 - William Hanna, American animator and studio founder (b. 1910)
- 2003 - Terry Lloyd, English reporter (b. 1952)
- 2004 - Ahmed Yassin, Palestinian co-founder of Hamas (b. ca. 1937)
- 2005 - Kenzo Tange, Japanese architect (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot (b. 1921)
- 2006 - Kurt von Trojan, Australian science fiction author (b. 1937)
- 2007 - Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (b. 1918)
Holidays and observances
- The fourth day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
- World Water Day.
Liturgical feasts
- Easter Sunday - 1818, 2285. In the Gregorian Calendar 22 March is the earliest date on which Easter Sunday can fall (25 April is the latest).
