Discover · History

On this day — August 22

A hand-curated thread of what happened on this date, across centuries.

2012

Milestone

Ethnic clashes over grazing rights for cattle in Kenya's Tana River District result in more than 52 deaths.

2007

Sport

The Texas Rangers defeat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3

the most runs scored by a team in modern Major League Baseball history.

2006

Milestone

Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border over eastern Ukraine

killing all 170 people on board.

2006

Politics

Grigori Perelman is awarded the Fields Medal for his proof of the Poincaré conjecture in mathematics but refuses to accept the medal.

2004

Milestone

Versions of The Scream and Madonna

two paintings by Edvard Munch, are stolen at gunpoint from a museum in Oslo, Norway.

2003

Milestone

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama Roy Moore is suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.

1999

Milestone

China Airlines Flight 642 crashes at Hong Kong International Airport

killing three people and injuring 208 more.

1992

Milestone

FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shoots and kills Vicki Weaver during an 11-day siege at her home at Ruby Ridge

Idaho.

1991

Politics

Iceland is the first nation in the world to recognize the independence of the Baltic states.

1989

Sport

Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts.

1985

Disaster

British Airtours Flight 28M suffers an engine fire during takeoff at Manchester Airport

The pilots abort but due to inefficient evacuation procedures 55 people are killed, mostly from smoke inhalation.

1981

Milestone

Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes in Sanyi Township

Miaoli County, Taiwan. All 110 people on board are killed.

1978

Politics

Nicaraguan Revolution

The FSLN seizes the National Congress of Nicaragua, along with over a thousand hostages.

1978

Milestone

The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment is passed by the U.S

Congress, although it is never ratified by a sufficient number of states.

1973

Politics

The Congress of Chile votes in favour of a resolution condemning President Salvador Allende's government and demands that he resign or else be unseated through force and new elections.