Events on December 22 49
Year 856
Damghan earthquake: An earthquake near the Persian city of Damghan kills an estimated 200,000 people, the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history.
Year 880
Luoyang, eastern capital of the Tang dynasty, is captured by rebel leader Huang Chao during the reign of Emperor Xizong.
Year 1216
Pope Honorius III approves the Dominican Order through the papal bull of confirmation Religiosam vitam.
Year 1788
Nguyễn Huệ proclaims himself Emperor Quang Trung, in effect abolishing on his own the Lê dynasty.
Year 1790
The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Alexander Suvorov and his Russian armies.
Year 1807
The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
Year 1808
Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).
Year 1890
Cornwallis Valley Railway begins operation between Kentville and Kingsport, Nova Scotia.
Year 1894
The Dreyfus affair begins in France, when Alfred Dreyfus is wrongly convicted of treason.
Year 1920
The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
Year 1921
Opening of Visva-Bharati College, also known as Santiniketan College, now Visva Bharati University, India.
Year 1939
Indian Muslims observe a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.
Year 1942
World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
Year 1944
World War II: Battle of the Bulge: German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: "Nuts!"
Year 1944
World War II: The Vietnam People's Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indochina, now Vietnam.
Year 1948
Sjafruddin Prawiranegara established the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Pemerintah Darurat Republik Indonesia, PDRI) in West Sumatra.
Year 1963
The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira, Portugal with the loss of 128 lives.
Year 1964
The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) took place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
Year 1965
In the United Kingdom, a 70 mph speed limit is applied to all rural roads including motorways for the first time.
Year 1968
Cultural Revolution: People's Daily posted the instructions of Mao Zedong that "The intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty."
Year 1974
Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
Year 1974
The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
Year 1978
The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue a program for Chinese economic reform.
Year 1984
Bernhard Goetz shoots four would-be muggers on an express train in Manhattan section of New York, New York.
Year 1987
In Zimbabwe, the political parties ZANU and ZAPU reach an agreement that ends the violence in the Matabeleland region known as the Gukurahundi.
Year 1989
Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife flee Bucharest in a helicopter as protesters erupt in cheers.
Year 1989
Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
Year 1990
Final independence of Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia after termination of trusteeship.
Year 1997
Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
Year 1997
Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
Year 2001
Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
Year 2001
Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
Year 2008
An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m3) of coal fly ash slurry.
Year 2010
The repeal of the Don't ask, don't tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.