22 May 359

A Friday in history

Weekday

Friday

Season

Spring (N. Hemisphere)

Century

4th century

Records

374

  1. 2026

    A gas explosion at a coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi, China, leaves at least 82 people dead.

    Source
  2. 2014

    Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretaker government following six months of political crisis.

    Source
  3. 2010

    Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway and fell down a hillside, killing 158 of the 166 people on board.

    Source
  4. 2002

    Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, had been found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.

    Source
  5. 1998

    In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional.

    Source
  6. 1987

    During Hindu–Muslim rioting in Meerut, India, 19 members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary allegedly massacred 42 Muslims and dumped their bodies in water canals.

    Source
  7. 1980

    Location testing for Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, began in Shibuya, Tokyo.

    Source
  8. 1972

    The Dominion of Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka, adopted a new constitution, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth.

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  9. 1960

    The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, registering approximately 9.5 Mw, struck near Valdivia, Chile, generating tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.

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  10. 1958

    Ethnic riots mostly targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils broke out in Ceylon, resulting in at least 158 deaths over the next few days.

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  11. 1939

    Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel, a military and political alliance.

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  12. 1915

    California's Lassen Peak violently erupted, the only volcanic eruption in the contiguous U.S. in the 20th century until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.

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  13. 1905

    Sultan Abdul Hamid II established the Ullah millet, a separate millet for the Aromanians within the Ottoman Empire.

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  14. 1897

    The first Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of London.

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  15. 1874

    Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem was first performed in the San Marco church in Milan to commemorate the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.

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  16. 1856

    Senator Charles Sumner (pictured) was assaulted by Representative Preston Brooks in the United States Senate chamber in retaliation for a speech in which Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders.

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  17. 1849

    Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for an invention to lift boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. president ever to hold a patent.

    Source
  18. 1844

    In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism, considered to be a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith.

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  19. 1826

    HMS Beagle (pictured) departed on her first voyage from Plymouth for a hydrographic survey of the Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego regions of South America.

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  20. 1816

    A riot broke out in Littleport, England, over high unemployment and rising grain costs, spreading to Ely the next day before being quelled by troops.

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  21. 1766

    A magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck Constantinople and was followed by a tsunami that caused significant damage.

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  22. 1762

    The Trevi Fountain (pictured) in Rome was officially inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII.

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  23. 1629

    Albrecht von Wallenstein and King Christian IV of Denmark signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.

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  24. 853

    Arab–Byzantine wars: The Byzantine navy began a raid on the Nile Delta port city of Damietta, whose garrison was absent at the time.

    Source

Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.

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