Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Today is the 203rd day of 2026. There are 162 days left in this year.
Notable Events
1587
A second English colony, also fated to vanish under mysterious circumstances, was established on Roanoke Island off North Carolina.
1706
The Acts of Union 1707 are agreed upon by commissioners from the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which, when passed by each country's Parliament, leads to the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1793
Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first recorded human to complete a transcontinental crossing of North America.
1796
Surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company name an area in Ohio "Cleveland" after Gen. Moses Cleaveland, the superintendent of the surveying party.
1833
The Slavery Abolition Act passes in the British House of Commons, initiating the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire.
1894
The first ever motor race is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The fastest finisher was the Comte Jules-Albert de Dion, but the "official" victory was awarded to Albert Lemaitre driving his three-horsepower petrol engined Peugeot.
1916
A bomb went off during a Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco, killing 10 people.
1933
Aviator Wiley Post returns to Floyd Bennett Field in New York City, completing the first solo flight around the world in seven days, 18 hours and 49 minutes.
1934
A man identified as bank robber John Dillinger was shot to death by federal agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theater.
1937
The Senate rejected President Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court.
1942
The United States government begins compulsory civilian gasoline rationing due to the wartime demands.
1943
American forces led by Gen. George S. Patton captured Palermo, Sicily.
1944
The Polish Committee of National Liberation publishes its manifesto, starting the period of Communist rule in Poland.
1946
A Zionist underground organization, the Irgun, bombs the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, site of the civil administration and military headquarters for Mandatory Palestine, resulting in 91 deaths.
1973
Pan Am Flight 816 crashes after takeoff from Faa'a International Airport in Papeete, French Polynesia, killing 78.
1975
The House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore the American citizenship of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
1976
Confederate general Robert E. Lee had his U.S. citizenship restored. This vote was made 110 years after Lee, in seeking amnesty, had sworn allegiance to the Union and filed an application for a pardon, but it had not been recognized at the time.
1976
Japan completes its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed during imperial Japan's conquest of the country in the Second World War.
1981
Turkish extremist Mehmet Ali Agca was sentenced in Rome to life in prison for shooting Pope John Paul II.
1983
The first ever solo helicopter flight across the world took place, as Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith flew from Fort Worth, Texas to London and Australia, then finally back to Hurst, Texas.
1990
Greg LeMond, an American road racing cyclist, wins his third Tour de France after leading the majority of the race. It was LeMond's second consecutive Tour de France victory.
1991
Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, charged she'd been raped by boxer Mike Tyson in an Indianapolis hotel room. Tyson was convicted of rape and served three years in prison.
1991
Police arrested Jeffrey Dahmer after finding the dismembered remains of 11 victims in his Milwaukee apartment. Dahmer confessed to killing 17 men and was sentenced to life in prison; he was killed by a fellow inmate in 1994.
1992
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from his luxury prison near Medellin. He was slain by security forces in December 1993.
1994
O.J. Simpson pleaded innocent to the slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
1995
Susan Smith was convicted by a jury in Union, S.C., of first-degree murder for drowning her two sons. She was later sentenced to life in prison.
1998
Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of reaching Israel or Saudi Arabia.
1999
The ashes of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, were cast into the sea off Martha's Vineyard.
2003
Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year-old son, and a bodyguard.
2019
The movie Avengers: Endgame became the world's highest-grossing film in history, earning $2.9 billion and surpassing the previous record holder, Avatar, which had been directed by James Cameron.
Notable Births
1890
Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy was an American philanthropist, socialite, and matriarch of the Kennedy family.
1932
Oscar de la Renta, Dominican-American fashion designer (d. 2014)
1940
George Alexander Trebek was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show Jeopardy! for 37 seasons. (d. 2020)
1941
George Edward Clinton is an American musician, singer, bandleader, and record producer. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s.
1943
Bobby Sherman, is an American retired paramedic, police officer, singer, actor and occasional songwriter who became a teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
1943
Kay Bailey Hutchison is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021.
1944
Rick Davies is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp.
1946
Danny Glover is an American actor, producer, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film series.
1947
Don Henley is an American musician, and a founding member of the rock band Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and one of the lead vocalists, as well as the sole continuous member of the band.
1947
Albert Brooks is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's Broadcast News.
1953
Brian Howe, an English rock singer, best known for replacing Paul Rodgers as the lead vocalist of Bad Company.
1960
John Leguizamo is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances.
1963
Emily Ann Saliers is an American singer-songwriter and member of the musical duo Indigo Girls.
1964
David Spade is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, producer, and television host.
1972
Joseph Keyshawn Johnson is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons.
1972
Colin Ferguson is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer. He is known for playing Sheriff Jack Carter on the Syfy series Eureka.
1992
Selena Marie Gomez is an American singer, actress, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series Barney & Friends.
2002
Prince Felix of Denmark is a member of the Danish royal family. He is the younger son of Prince Joachim and his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. He is a grandson of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik.
2013
Prince George of Wales is the eldest child of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. George is the eldest grandchild of King Charles III and second in the line of succession to the British throne behind his father.
Notable Deaths
1932
Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies.
1934
John Dillnger, one of the most notorious gangsters in American history, was shot dead in Chicago by federal agents who were trying to arrest him for having robbed over a dozen banks.
1967
Carl August Sandburg was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln.
2008
Estelle Gettyeman, known professionally as Estelle Getty, was an American actress and comedian best known for her portrayal of Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls (1985-92),
2013
Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina was an American stage and film actor, who worked for years as a Chicago police detective.
2024
Abdul Kareem "Duke" Fakir, was an American singer. He was a founding member of the Motown quartet the Four Tops, from 1953 until shortly before his death in 2024. (b. 1935)
2024
John Mayall, English blues-rock musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers that counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. (b. 1933)
2025
George Kooymans was a Dutch guitarist and vocalist. He was best known as the co-founder of the Dutch group Golden Earring. Kooymans wrote "Twilight Zone", which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart. (b. 1948)
2025
Ozzy Osbourne, was a British heavy metal singer, songwriter, and media personality. He was the lead singer of Black Sabbath, credited with establishing the heavy metal genre through their dark, aggressive style. (b 1948)
2025
Chuck Mangione, American flugelhorn player, trumpeter and composer was a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later with the Jazz Brothers, achieving international success with the jazz-pop single "Feels So Good". (b. 1940)