Summary of the Day ✨ 22 May (22/05)
Tragedy struck on multiple fronts as 21 runners died from hypothermia in China’s Gansu ultramarathon, Pakistan Flight 8303 crashed killing 98 people, and a Manchester Arena bombing claimed 22 lives at an Ariana Grande concert, while simultaneously Ireland made history by becoming the first nation to legalize gay marriage through public referendum and President Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
Historical Events 📜
- 2021: Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China.
- 2020: Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.
- 2017: Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
- 2017: United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
- 2015: The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to utilise a public referendum to legalise gay marriage.
- 2014: General Prayut Chan-o-cha becomes interim leader of Thailand in a military coup d’état, following six months of political turmoil.
- 2014: An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
- 2013: Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered by 2 Islamic extremists in Woolwich, Southeast London
- 2012: Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the second tallest man-made structure on Earth after Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
- 2012: SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 launches a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
- 2011: An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
- 2010: Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610.
- 2010: Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
- 2002: Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
- 2000: In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
Famous Births 👶
- 2004: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, American actress
- 2002: Anthony Richardson, American football player
- 2001: Enzo Barrenechea, Argentine footballer
- 2001: Emma Chamberlain, American internet personality
- 2001: Joshua Zirkzee, Dutch footballer
- 2000: Julián Carranza, Argentine footballer
- 1999: Samuel Chukwueze, Nigerian footballer
- 1999: Femke Huijzer, Dutch model
- 1999: Hōshōryū Tomokatsu, Mongolian sumo wrestler
- 1998: Samile Bermannelli, Brazilian fashion model
- 1997: Lauri Markkanen, Finnish basketball player
- 1994: Florian Luger, Austrian male model
- 1994: Athena Manoukian, Greek-Armenian singer and songwriter
- 1992: Anna Baryshnikov, American actress
- 1991: Joel Obi, Nigerian footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer (born 1954)
- 2022: Dervla Murphy, Irish touring cyclist and author (born 1931)
- 2020: Denise Cronenberg, Canadian costume designer (born 1938)
- 2019: Judith Kerr, German-born British writer and illustrator (born 1923)
- 2017: Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (born 1981)
- 2016: Velimir “Bata” Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (born 1933)
- 2015: Marques Haynes, American basketball player and coach (born 1926)
- 2015: Vladimir Katriuk, Ukrainian-Canadian SS officer (born 1921)
- 2013: Sigurd Ottovich Schmidt, Russian historian and ethnographer (born 1922)
- 2012: Muzafar Bhutto, Pakistani politician (born 1970)
- 2012: Wesley A. Brown, American lieutenant and engineer (born 1927)
- 2011: Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (born 1938)
- 2010: Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (born 1914)
- 2008: Robert Asprin, American soldier and author (born 1946)
- 2007: Pemba Doma Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer (born 1970)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Abolition Day (Martinique)
- Aromanian National Day (marginal, celebration on May 23 is more common)
- Christian feast day:
Castus and Emilius - Christian feast day:
Fulk - Christian feast day:
Humilita - Christian feast day:
Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs) - Christian feast day:
Quiteria - Christian feast day:
Rita of Cascia - Christian feast day:
Romanus of Subiaco - Christian feast day:
May 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Harvey Milk Day (California)
- International Day for Biological Diversity (International)
- United States National Maritime Day
- National Sovereignty Day (Haiti)
- Republic Day (Sri Lanka)