Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on January 22nd?

Alfonso VI of León and Castile conquers the city of Valencia from the Moors.

The University of Paris condemns the teachings of philosopher and theologian Peter Abelard.

War breaks out between England and Wales as King Edward I launches a campaign against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.

Pope Benedict XII is consecrated as Pope in Avignon.

Charles V is crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral after the death of his father, King John II.

King Robert II of Scotland defeats a much smaller English force at the Battle of Invernahavon.

King Richard II of England meets with Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, leading to his eventual deposition.

Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I dies, and his grandson Charles V becomes the new emperor.

The French troops under King Francis I capture the city of Milan from the Holy Roman Empire.

The execution of Thomas Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour and uncle of King Edward VI, takes place for treason.

The Royal Exchange opens in London, designed by Sir Thomas Gresham as a center for commerce.

William Shakespeare's "First Folio" is published, compiling his plays.

The German mathematician and physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the mercury thermometer.

Peter the Great of Russia establishes the city of Saint Petersburg as the new capital.

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the first African-American denomination in the United States, is founded in New York City.

The French Revolutionary Wars see the British fleet under Admiral Horatio Nelson defeat the French fleet off the Egyptian coast at the Battle of the Nile.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches the Pacific Ocean, completing their journey across the American continent.

The Treaty of Yandabo is signed, ending the First Anglo-Burmese War and ceding Assam, Manipur, and Arakan to Britain.

The first group of European settlers arrive at Petone aboard the ship the Aurora, to found the settlement that would become Wellington, named after Named for the first Duke of Wellington. By July of 1840 there were over 1000 settlers in New Zeeland .On May 21 1840, Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over all of New Zealand even though copies of the treaty were still circulating throughout the country for the Māori to sign.

The world's first telephone directory is issued, by the New Haven District Telephone Company in Connecticut.

Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, D.C., later merging with Edison's company to form Columbia Records.

President Woodrow Wilson pleads for "peace without victory" in World War I.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade recognized that the decision whether to continue or end a pregnancy belongs to the individual, not the government. Roe held that the specific guarantee of “liberty” in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects individual privacy, includes the right to abortion prior to fetal viability. After Roe, the Supreme Court repeatedly reaffirmed that the Constitution protects for abortion as an essential liberty, which is tied to other liberty rights to make personal decisions about family, relationships, and bodily autonomy. However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022. More

Theodore J. Kaczynski, confesses and pleads guilty, admitting that he was the terrorist Unabomber who killed three and maimed dozens more in a deranged campaign against scientists, computers and jet airplanes. Under terms of the agreement. As part of a last minute plea deal where he was, Kaczynski pleaded guilty to all federal charges against him including 13 counts of transporting explosive devices with the intent to kill or maim. Kaczynski also admitted in court that he placed or mailed another 11 bombs, for which he was not charged. He was spared the death penalty and will serve life in prison without possibility of release. More

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force, marking a significant step in nuclear disarmament efforts.