
View Historical Events by Day: What Happened on June 22 in History?
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on June 22nd. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Galileo Galilei is forced by the Roman Catholic Church's Holy Office (the Inquisition) to publicly recant his scientific position that the Earth orbits the Sun. Galileo supported the heliocentric model of the solar system, proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, which places the Sun at the center with the Earth revolving around it. This challenged the long-standing geocentric model, which positioned Earth at the center which was endorsed by the Catholic Church. According to legend, after being forced to recant, Galileo muttered "E pur si muove" ("And yet it moves") this phrase encapsulates the idea that despite what one might be forced to say or believe publicly, the Earth still moves around the Sun. More
Portrait of Galileo Galilei (1800 - 1900)
Source: Google Arts & Culture — portrait-of-galileo-galilei-unknown/bgFGh5q-IuCijw
Author: Unknown (after Justus Suttermans)
The Greenwich Royal Observatory is founded by King Charles II with the foundation stone being laid on 10 August 10, 1675 In 1818 the oversight of the Royal Observatory was transferred from the Board of Ordnance to the Board of Admiralty; at that time the observatory was charged with maintaining the Royal Navy's marine chronometers. The Greenwich observatory is considered as the birthplace of modern astronomy, and the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian. More
The Continental Congress approves the first release of $1 million in bills of credit (paper currency) to help fund the American Revolutionary War. Another $1 million was authorized in July. By the end of 1775, Congress had authorized a total of $6 million bills of credit. The currency quickly lost value, partly because it was not backed by a physical asset like gold or silver, but also due to the fact that too many bills were printed. The loss in value inspired the term "not worth a continental". More
Napoleon abdicates as French emperor for the second time after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, bringing an end to France’s domination of Europe. He was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he lived out the rest of his life. He died on May 5, 1821 at the age of 52.
The Franco-German Armistice formally ending hostilities between France and Germany during World War II is signed. The armistice resulted in the division of France into occupied and unoccupied zones, with the French State, often referred to as the Vichy regime, a collaborationist government that replaced the Third Republic under the leadership of Marshal Philippe Pétain. The signing took place in the same railway carriage at Compiègne where the 1918 Armistice ending World War I had been signed, a deliberate act by Hitler to humiliate France. The armistice came into effect on June 25, 1940, six hours after the Italian government notified Germany of their own armistice with France.
Nazi Germany Invades the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The Invasion, named Barbarossa, was the largest land offensive in human history, with over 10 million combatants taking part. More
Cassowary Colorizations, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The American forces secured Okinawa and the Tenth Army.conducts a flag-raising ceremony. While this marked the end of organized resistance, some Japanese soldiers continued to hide in caves and fight. The battle for Okinawa dragged out over nearly three months and included some of the worst kamikaze attacks of the war. The United States sustained over 49,000 casualties including more than 12,000 soldiers killed or missing. About 90,000 Japanese combatants died in the fighting, but deaths among Okinawan civilians may have reached 150,000. More
The severely polluted Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catches fire when an oil slick floating on the surface ignites; although it was not the first fire or the largest on the river, the incident garnered national attention and led to antipollution measures that substantially improved the river's condition. More
Source: Cleveland Memory.org
Charon, the largest of Pluto's five moons and about half the size of Pluto, is discovered by James Christy and Robert Harrington at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Christy noticed that Pluto appeared elongated in some images, leading to the discovery of its moon. The discovery was announced on later on July 7, 1978. More