123 things happened on 22 October, from 2,137 BC to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1727 · 299 years ago
George II and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach, were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain in Westminster Abbey. George had become king that June. As well as Great Britain and Ireland, he also ruled Hanover, a land in what is now Germany. He reigned until his …
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
George II and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach, were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain in Westminster Abbey. George had become king that June. As well as Great Britain and Ireland, he also ruled Hanover, a land in what is now Germany. He reigned until his death in 1760.
UK story
A war between Great Britain and Spain began with an attack on La Guaira, and most of the fighting took place around the Caribbean Sea. The war's strange name comes from Robert Jenkins, a British sea captain. He claimed that a Spanish coastguard captain had cut off his ear in 1731. Politicians in Parliament later used his story to stir up support for war.
UK story
The Royal Navy withdrew the cutlass, a short sword with a wide blade, from combat service. Royal Navy sailors had carried them since the early 1700s. The first standard Navy cutlass, the 1804 Pattern, was fairly blunt. It may have been meant for cutting through canvas sails and ropes rather than for fighting.
UK story
The first volume of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, a children's story by Ian Fleming, was published. It tells the adventures of a car with hidden powers and its owners, the Pott family. The story first came out in three parts, with pictures by John Burningham. Fleming, best known for his James Bond spy novels, had died before it was published.
Tsar Peter I, known as Peter the Great, proclaimed the Russian Empire after Sweden was defeated in the Great Northern War. He became the first emperor of Russia. At its largest, the empire covered about one-sixth of all the land on Earth. It lasted until 1917, when Russia was declared a republic.
The German composer Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of his cantata Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, in Leipzig. The title means 'Adorn yourself, O dear soul', and the music was based on a hymn with the same name. It was one of a whole year's worth of church cantatas that Bach began writing in 1724. He also wrote the famous Brandenburg Concertos.
Thomas Edison tested the first practical incandescent electric light bulb. The glowing part inside, called the filament, was made from thread that had been turned into carbon. The bulb shone for 13 and a half hours before it burned out. Edison is also known for his work on the phonograph and on early films.
During the Second World War, the Belgian prime minister, Hubert Pierlot, arrived in London. To get there, he had slipped past the authorities in Vichy France and Spain. His arrival marked the start of the Belgian government in exile. A government in exile is one that leads its country from abroad because it cannot work at home.
The French writer and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, but he did not accept it. This Swedish prize is given each year to an author from any country. Sartre was one of the key figures in a way of thinking called existentialism, and his work has influenced many other subjects.
A solar eclipse occurred over China, one of the earliest recorded eclipses in history.
The Chalcedonian Creed, regarding the divine and human nature of Jesus, is adopted by the Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council.
Japanese Emperor Kanmu relocates his empire's capital to Heian-kyō (now Kyoto).
Construction of the Ladoga Canal is completed in Russia.
The College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) receives its charter.
American Revolutionary War: American defenders of Fort Mercer on the Delaware River repulse repeated Hessian attacks in the Battle of Red Bank.
Northwest Indian War: Native American forces defeat the United States, ending the Harmar Campaign.
André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump, from 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above Paris.
Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas.
The Millerites (followers of Baptist preacher William Miller) anticipate the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day becomes known as the Great Disappointment.
Spain declares war on Morocco.
A plebiscite ratifies the annexation of Veneto and Mantua to Italy, which had occurred three days before on October 19.
The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opens with a performance of Charles Gounod's Faust.
The International Meridian Conference designates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich as the world's prime meridian.
A bank run forced New York's Knickerbocker Trust Company to suspend operations, triggering the Panic of 1907 (pictured).
The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d'état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic.
The educational non-profit organization Toastmasters International was founded at a YMCA in Santa Ana, California.
Workers at the Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina, began a labor strike against the American Tobacco Company that lasted more than five months.
Over twenty-two hundred engineers and technicians from eastern Germany are forced to relocate to the Soviet Union, along with their families and equipment.
Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy, after internal counsel from Dwight D. Eisenhower, announces that American reconnaissance planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval "quarantine" of the Communist nation.
With their album The Supremes A' Go-Go, the Supremes became the first all-female group to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
The Soviet uncrewed space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus.
The US Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for its strike the previous August.
John Adams' (pictured) opera Nixon in China premiered.
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-52 to deploy the LAGEOS-2 satellite and microgravity experiments.
Maurice Papon, an official in the Vichy government during World War II, is jailed for crimes against humanity.
Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the most active Atlantic hurricane season until surpassed by the 2020 season.
A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a national referendum.
India launches its first uncrewed lunar probe mission Chandrayaan-1.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong is formally stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after being charged for doping.
In Ottawa, Canada, the downtown core was placed on lockdown after a series of shootings at Parliament Hill.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “George II and Queen Caroline are crowned at Westminster Abbey”?
C: 1727. 1727 — that’s 299 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The first part of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is published”?
C: 1964. 1964 — that’s 62 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: George II and Queen Caroline are crowned at Westminster Abbey. 1936: The Royal Navy retires the cutlass from battle · 1727: George II and Queen Caroline are crowned at Westminster Abbey · 1964: The first part of Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is published Find it on the page
“The Royal Navy retires the cutlass from battle” happened in 1936. How many years ago was that?
B: 90 years. 2026 − 1936 = 90. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 22 October.
UK story
The English footballer George Cohen was born. He played as a right-back and spent his whole professional career at Fulham. He was part of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. His nephew, Ben Cohen, also became a World Cup winner, but in rugby union.
Well-known people who died on 22 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 22 October somewhere in the world.
International Stuttering Awareness Day, also called International Stammering Awareness Day, is held every year on 22 October. It was first held in the UK and Ireland in 1998. The day helps people understand the challenges faced by those who stammer. Around one in every hundred people in the world has a stammer.
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.
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 “October 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.