General events on June 22nd

In 1870, the first Boardwalk in America was invented. Right Said Fred said he was to sexy for anything else.
In 1933, the Illinois waterways opens, linking the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1943, federal troops put down race-related rioting in Detroit that claimed more than 30 lives.
In 1991, an estimated 200,000 Albanians turned out in the capital Tirana to cheer visiting U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

Government and Politics on June 22nd

In 1772, Slavery is outlawed in England.
In 1774, Parliament passes the Quebec Act, extending Quebec's boundaries as far south as the Ohio River, and as far west as the Mississippi River.
In 1775, first Continental currency issued ($3,000,000).
In 1849, Stephen C. Massett opens at the San Francisco courthouse as the first professional entertainer to use the (allegedly) only piano in California.
In 1868, Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union. It had first joined in 1836 but seceded in 1861.
In 1870, Congress created the Department of Justice headed by the Attorney General.
In 1873, Prince Edward Island joins Canada.
In 1877, 125 years ago, President Rutherford B. Hayes tried to depoliticize the government some, ordering all federal officials to resign any positions they held in political party organizations.
In 1936, Virgin Islands receives a constitution from US (Organic Act).
In 1942, 60 years ago, Congress codifies the rules and customs pertaining to the display and usage of the U.S. flag.
In 1943, WEB DuBois becomes first Black member of National Institute of Letters.
In 1954, Congress passed the revised organic act for the Virgin Islands.
In 1957, Kansas City stopped using streetcars in its transit system.
In 1963, COVER OF SATURDAY EVENING POST New York Governor NELSON ROCKEFELLER & his new wife, HAPPY
In 1964, the provisions of the Internal Security Act of 1950 denying U.S. passports to communists are ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1965, Japan and South Korea signed a treaty in Tokyo establishing diplomatic relations.
In 1970, juries of fewer than 12 persons is ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court.
In 1970, President Nixon signed a measure changing the voting age from 21 to 18. The 26th Amendment, passed July 1, 1971, affirms.
In 1977, 25 years ago, John Mitchell became the first former attorney general to go to prison. He was in a minimum security facility at Maxwell AFB near Montgomery, AL. He began serving his sentence for his role in the Watergate coverup and was released 19 months later.
In 1985, on the cover of TV Guide: "Nancy Reagan". Other Articles: James Darren, Black TV Reporters
In 1988, Democrat nominee-apparent Michael Dukakis said the Rev. Jesse Jackson was getting "very serious consideration" as a running mate.
In 1990, African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela addressed delegates at the United Nations, where he said victory for a democratic, non-racial South Africa was "within our grasp."
In 1990, South African police tightened security around President de Klerk and detained 11 right-wing activists after a published report detailed an alleged plot to assassinate de Klerk and black nationalist Nelson Mandela.
In 1992, 10 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that "hate crime" laws that ban cross burning and similar expressions of racial bias violated free-speech rights.
In 1995, House and Senate Republicans announced agreement on a compromise seven-year budget-balancing plan that would cut taxes by $245 billion and slow spending for Medicare, Medicaid and dozens of other programs.
In 1995, President Clinton's nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Henry Foster, failed to win Senate approval.
In 1996, at their first summit in six years, Arab leaders meeting in Cairo, Egypt, urged Israel to prove its commitment to peace by resuming negotiations without delay.
In 1998, the Supreme Court made it much harder for students who are sexually harassed by teachers to hold school districts financially responsible, ruling 5-to-4 that a key anti-bias law applies only if administrators know about the misconduct.
In 1999, The Supreme Court ruled the Americans with Disabilities Act does not extend to people with poor eyesight or other correctable conditions.
In 1999, President Clinton visited ethnic Albanian refugees at a refugee camp in Macedonia.
In 2000, 2 years ago, Independent Counsel Robert Ray ended his investigation of the 1993 firings in the White House travel office, issuing no indictments but saying he'd found "substantial evidence" that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton played a role in the dismissals.

War, Crime and Disaster events on June 22nd

In 1807, the British board the U.S.S. Chesapeake, a provocation leading to the War of 1812.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for the second and last time after his defeat at the battle of Waterloo.
In 1918, 53 circus performers and many circus animals were killed when an empty troop train rear-ended the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train, which was stopped in Ivanhoe, Ind., to fix its brakes.
In 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris.
In 1941, Germany, Italy & Romania declared war on Soviet Union during WW II. Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Coincidentally, German novelist Erich Remarque, who wrote "All Quiet on the Western Front," was born on this day in 1898.
In 1941, Operation Barbarossa began when over 150 German army divisions invaded Russia across an 1,800-mile front between the Baltic and the Black Sea.
In 1944, President Roosevelt signed the "GI Bill of Rights," authorizing a broad package of benefits for World War II veterans.
In 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa officially ended, with 12,520 Americans and 110,000 Japanese killed in the 81-day campaign.
In 1947, 12" rain in 42 mins (Holt, MO), a record rainfall.
In 1969, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, the Cuyahoga River burned. Actually, it was the oil and other scum on it that burned.
In 1977, 25 years ago, B. G. Kelly and D. L. Wilson are the first women assigned to serve aboard a U.S. Coast Guard ship.
In 1994, President Clinton announced North Korea had confirmed its willingness to freeze its nuclear program.
In 1995, Riot police stormed a hijacked jumbo jet in Hakodate, Japan, freeing all 364 people on board and capturing a lone hijacker.
In 2000, 2 years ago, The state of Texas executed Gary Graham for the 1981 killing of a man in a holdup outside a Houston supermarket; Graham insisted to the end that he was innocent.

Royalty and Religious events on June 22nd

In 816, A.D., Pope Stephen IV, [V] elected to succeed Leo III.
In 1340, Edward III, King of England, sails for Flanders with his army
In 1377, Richard II succeeds Edward III as king of England.
In 1483, Dr. Ralph Shaw preaches against Richard III of England's coronation
In 1740, King Frederik II of Prussia ends torture & guarantees religion & freedom of the press.
In 1897, Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee with a procession through London to a thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral; she became queen in 1837 at the age of 18.
In 1911, Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
In 1982, 20 years ago, Prince Chuck & Lady Di take Prince William home from hospital.

Human Achievement and Science events on June 22nd

In 1611, English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in present-day Hudson Bay by mutineers.
In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced to recant that the Earth orbits the Sun by Pope (but on Oct 31, 1992, Vatican admits it was wrong).
In 1675, the Royal Greenwich Observatory is established in England by Charles II.
In 1808, Zebulon Pike reaches his peak, it was all downhill after that.
In 1832, the pin manufacturing machine is patented (John I. Howe).
In 1847, the doughnut was invented. Who ate the holes? The next day, local policemen are suddenly five pounds heavier.
In 1910, the Zeppelin Deutscheland becomes the first airship to transport passengers.
In 1936, Harry Froboess dives 110 m from airship into Bodensee & survives.
In 1946, Jet airplanes were used to transport mail for the first time. Funny, but it didn't seem to speed mail delivery up a whole lot, did it?
In 1978, James Christy of the U.S. Naval Observatory discovers a small moon orbiting Pluto (12,000 miles away), Charon.
In 1983, the crew of the space shuttle Challenger released a West German satellite into space, then retrieved it with the shuttle's robot arm five times - demonstrating the shuttle's ability to retrieve and put back into orbit satellites in need of repair.

Arts and Prose events on June 22nd

In 1342, Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, (Shire Reconning).