June 22 in History

Significant events that happened on this day.

Historical Events

2009

Eastman Kodak announced it would discontinue its legendary Kodachrome film after 74 years

The iconic color film stock, immortalized in Paul Simon's song 'Kodachrome,' captured some of history's most famous photographs including Muhammad Ali...

1986

Diego Maradona scored both the 'Hand of God' goal and the 'Goal of the Century' against England in the World Cup quarterfinal

In the same match, Maradona first punched the ball into the goal (which the referee missed) and claimed it was 'the hand of God,' then minutes later d...

1978

James Christy discovered Charon, Pluto's largest moon, by noticing a bump on photographic plates

The astronomer spotted a periodic bulge in images of Pluto taken at the US Naval Observatory. He named it after the ferryman of the underworld from Gr...

1948

The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks carrying 492 Caribbean immigrants to Britain

This former German troopship brought Jamaican, Trinidadian, and other West Indian workers responding to Britain's labor shortage. Their arrival marked...

1944

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law

Major

Officially the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, this legislation provided college education, job training, and home loans to returning WWII veterans. It...

1941

Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union with over 3 million troops

Major

The largest military invasion in history began at dawn, breaking the Nazi-Soviet pact. Hitler's forces advanced on a 1,800-mile front with 3,000 tanks...

1940

France signed an armistice with Nazi Germany, effectively ending French resistance in World War II

Major

In the same railway car where Germany surrendered in WWI, Hitler forced France to sign their surrender. The humiliation was deliberate - Hitler even h...

1937

Joe Louis knocked out James J. Braddock to become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world

The 'Brown Bomber' won in the eighth round in Chicago, beginning a championship reign that would last 12 years - still the longest in heavyweight hist...

1874

A swarm of Rocky Mountain locusts descended on the Great Plains, covering an area larger than California

The largest concentration of animals ever recorded - estimated at 12.5 trillion insects - darkened the sky for days. They devoured every plant in sigh...

1870

The United States Department of Justice was officially created

President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill establishing the DOJ to handle the government's legal business. The department's first major task was prose...

1815

Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for the second and final time, four days after his defeat at Waterloo

After escaping exile in Elba and ruling France for 100 days, Napoleon's attempt at comeback ended in Belgium. This time he was sent to remote Saint He...

1633

Galileo Galilei was forced by the Catholic Inquisition to recant his belief that Earth orbits the Sun

Major

Under threat of torture and execution, the 69-year-old astronomer knelt before the Inquisition and denied heliocentrism. Legend says he muttered 'And...

1611

Explorer Henry Hudson, his son, and seven loyal crew members were set adrift in a small boat by mutineers

After a harsh winter trapped in ice in what's now Hudson Bay, the crew rebelled against their captain. Hudson, his teenage son John, and the sick and...