A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 22nd. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On May 22, 1176, The Hashshashin (Assassins) made an attempt on the life of Saladin, the First Sultan of Egypt and Syria.
On May 22, 1849, future president of the United States Abraham Lincoln was granted a patent for a device to raise boats over obstacles in a river.
On May 22, 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina had had it!
On May 22, 1942, Ted Williams, arguably the best baseball player of that time, joined the United States Navy Reserve and later served in the US Marine Corps as a naval aviator.
On May 22, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson announced his “Great Society” program that was to end poverty and racial injustice in the United States.
On May 22, 1990, U.S. Patent 4,927,855 was issued to Laboratoire L. Lafon, covering the chemical compound modafinil, a medication to treat sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, or obstructive sleep apnea.
On May 22, 2002, Bobby Frank Cherry, former member of the Ku Klux Klan, was convicted of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama.
On May 22, 2015, voters in Ireland passed a referendum legalizing same sex marriage.
On May 22, 2017, an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, was rocked at the end by a horrific terrorist attack by a man of Libyan descent in the name of ISIS.
Comedy film fans had their chance to be among the first in Cleveland, Ohio to see Booksmart on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 7:30 PM at Cinemark At Valley View & XD in Valley View, Ohio!
On May 22, 2021, what may be the saddest and most bizarre event to strike an athletic competition in progress occurred in Gansu, China.
Question for students (and subscribers): Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.