A Day in the Past

On this day: 22 June

126 things happened on 22 June, from 217 BC to 2025. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.

Printable worksheet Take the quiz

In the UK 9

UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

1813 213 years ago

UK story

War of 1812: After learning of a forthcoming American attack, Laura Secord walked 20 mi (32 km) from Queenston, Upper Canada, to warn British lieutenant James FitzGibbon (depicted).

War & peace Find out more: War of 1812 (Wikipedia)
1986 40 years ago

UK story

The famous Hand of God goal, scored by Diego Maradona in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and England, ignites controversy. This was later followed by the Goal of the Century. Argentina wins 2–1 and later goes on to win the World Cup.

Sport Find out more: The hand of God (Wikipedia)

Around the world 27

1898 128 years ago

Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings.

War & peace Find out more: Spanish–American War (Wikipedia)
2023 3 years ago

Irish broadcaster RTÉ announced that between 2017 and 2022 it had paid €345,000 more than had been previously disclosed to presenter Ryan Tubridy (pictured).

Find out more: RTÉ (Wikipedia)

Quick quiz

Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!

  1. In which year did this happen: “King George V and Queen Mary were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London”?

    1. 1943
    2. 1911
    3. 1807
    Show the answer

    B: 1911. 1911 — that’s 115 years ago. Find it on the page

  2. In which year did this happen: “War of 1812: After learning of a forthcoming American attack, Laura Secord”?

    1. 1856
    2. 1807
    3. 1813
    Show the answer

    C: 1813. 1813 — that’s 213 years ago. Find it on the page

  3. Which of these happened first?

    1. War of 1812: After learning of a forthcoming American attack, Laura Secord
    2. King George V and Queen Mary were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London
    3. King George VI formally gives up the title "Emperor of India", half a year
    Show the answer

    A: War of 1812: After learning of a forthcoming American attack, Laura Secord. 1813: War of 1812: After learning of a forthcoming American attack, Laura Secord · 1911: King George V and Queen Mary were crowned at Westminster Abbey in London · 1948: King George VI formally gives up the title "Emperor of India", half a year Find it on the page

  4. “King George VI formally gives up the title "Emperor of India", half a year” happened in 1948. How many years ago was that?

    1. 88 years
    2. 78 years
    3. 68 years
    Show the answer

    B: 78 years. 2026 − 1948 = 78. Find it on the page

Born on this day 40

Famous people whose birthday is 22 June.

Remembering 17

Well-known people who died on 22 June.

Special days 11

Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 22 June somewhere in the world.

For older readers 22 Show stories about war, disasters, crime and other difficult history

Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.

Where these facts come from

Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “June 22” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.