September 22 is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years). There are 100 days remaining. In the Northern Hemisphere autumn begins at 6:23 P.M. EDT.

Events

• 66 - Emperor Nero creates the legion I Italica.
• 1236 - Lithuanians and Semigallians beat Livonian Brothers of the Sword in Battle of Siauliai
• 1598 - Ben Jonson is indicted for manslaughter.
• 1692 - Last people hanged for United States.
• 1776 - Nathan Hale is hanged for spying during American Revolution.
• 1784 - Russia establishes a colony at Kodiak, Alaska.
• 1789 - Position of United States Postmaster General established.
• 1862 - A preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation is released.
• 1869 - Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold debuts in Munich.
• 1893 - The first American-built automobile, built by the Duryea Brothers, is displayed.
• 1908 - Independence of Bulgaria recognised.
• 1927 - Jack Dempsey loses the "Long Count" boxing match to Gene Tunney.
• 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Pe�a Blanca is taken; the end of the Battle of El Mazuco.
• 1949 - Soviet Union detonates its first nuclear weapon.
• 1951 - The first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast, a college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised on NBC.
• 1960 - Mali gains independence from France.
• 1961 - Peace Corps is formed.
• 1965 - The war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir ends after the UN calls for a cease-fire.
• 1970 - Tunku Abdul Rahman resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
• 1975 - Sara Jane Moore tries to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
• 1979 - The South Atlantic Flash is observed near Bouvet Island, thought to be a nuclear weapons test.
• 1980 - Iraq invades Iran.
• 1985 - The Farm Aid concert takes place in Champaign, Illinois.
• 1985 - The Plaza Accord was signed in New York City.
• 1991 - The Dead Sea Scrolls are made available to the public for the first time, by the Huntington Library.
• 1993 - A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-154 is shot down by a missile in Sukhumi, Georgia.
• 1997 - Bentalha massacre in Algeria; over 200 villagers killed.
• 2003 - David Hempleman-Adams becomes the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open-air, wicker-basket hot air balloon.
• 2004 - Autumnal equinox at 16:30

Births

• 1515 - Anne of Cleves, wife of Henry VIII of England (d. 1557)
• 1601 - Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII of France (d. 1666)
• 1606 - Li Zicheng, Chinese rebel (d. 1645)
• 1680 - German poet (d. 1747)
• 1741 - Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist (d. 1811)
• 1788 - Theodore Edward Hook, English author (d. 1841)
• 1791 - Michael Faraday, scientist (d. 1867)
• 1819 - Wilhelm Wattenbach, German historian (d. 1897)
• 1878 - Yoshida Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1967)
• 1880 - Dame Christabel Pankhurst, women's suffrage activist (d. 1958)
• 1885 - Erich von Stroheim, actor, writer, director (d. 1957)
• 1885 - Ben Chifley, former Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1951)
• 1895 - Paul Muni, Academy Award winning actor (d. 1967)
• 1898 - Katherine Alexander, actress (d. 1981)
• 1902 - John Houseman, actor and producer (d. 1988)
• 1905 - Eugen S�nger, Austrian aerospace engineer (d. 1964)
• 1906 - Ilse Koch, wife of Karl Koch, commandant of the concentration camp Buchenwald (d. 1967)
• 1912 - Martha Scott, American actress (d. 2003)
• 1915 - Arthur Lowe, British actor (d. 1982)
• 1918 - Henryk Szeryng, violinist (d. 1988)
• 1920 - William H. Riker, political scientist (d. 1993)
• 1923 - Dannie Abse, poet and writer
• 1924 - Rosamunde Pilcher, novelist
• 1924 - Charles Keeping, illustrator (d. 1988)
• 1927 - Tommy Lasorda, baseball manager
• 1928 - James Lawson, civil rights activist, minister
• 1931 - Fay Weldon, British feminist author
• 1931 - British politician (d. 2003)
• 1932 - Ingemar Johansson, boxing champion
• 1934 - Lute Olson, college basketball coach
• 1938 - Gene Mingo, American football player
• 1943 - Toni Basil, singer, dancer, choreographer
• 1946 - King Sunny Ade, reggae singer
• 1947 - Norma McCorvey, best known as Jane Roe
• 1948 - Denis Burke, Australian politician
• 1951 - David Coverdale, singer
• 1952 - Bob Goodlatte, U.S. Congressman from Virginia
• 1952 - Paul Le Mat, actor
• 1954 - Shari Belafonte, singer
• 1956 - Debby Boone, singer
• 1957 - Nick Cave, musician
• 1958 - Joan Jett, musician
• 1958 - Andrea Bocelli, singer
• 1959 - Tai Babilonia, figure skating star
• 1961 - Scott Baio, actor
• 1964 - Bonnie Hunt, actress
• 1965 - Tony Drago, Maltese snooker player
• 1966 - Stefan Rehn, Soccer player in Sweden
• 1967 - F�lix Sav�n, Cuban boxer
• 1969 - Mara Stephens, actor
• 1970 - Mike Matheny, baseball player
• 1971 - M�rtha Louise, Princess of Norway
• 1972 - Bob Sapp, American boxer, kickboxer
• 1975 - Mystikal, rap music singer
• 1976 - Ronaldo, football player
• 1978 - Harry Kewell, Australian football player
• 1981 - Rocco Baldelli, baseball player
• 1982 - Billie Piper, singer turned actress
• 1987 - Tom Felton, actor (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Deaths

• 1345 - Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Leicester, English nobleman (b. 1281)
• 1521 - Selim I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1465)
• 1554 - Spanish explorer (b. c. 1510)
• 1774 - Pope Clement XIV (b. 1705)
• 1777 - John Bartram, American botanist (b. 1699)
• 1828 - Shaka Zulu, Zulu leader (b. c. 1787)
• 1852 - William Tierney Clark, civil engineer (b. 1783)
• 1873 - Friedrich Frey-Heros�, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1801)
• 1881 - Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (b. 1831)
• 1957 - Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral in World War II (b. 1885)
• 1961 - Marion Davies, actress (b. 1897)
• 1987 - Dan Rowan, actor, comedian
• 1989 - Irving Berlin, songwriter (b. 1888)
• 1993 - Maurice Abravanel, conductor (b. 1903)
• 1996 - Dorothy Lamour, actress (b. 1914)
• 1999 - George C. Scott, actor (b. 1927)
• 2001 - Isaac Stern, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1920)
• 2003 - Gordon Jump, actor, (b. 1932)
• 2003 - Hugo Young, British journalist, columnist and political commentator (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances

• It is the feast day of the following saints:
  • Saints Digna & Emerita
  • Saint Emmeramus
  • Saint Florentius
  • Saint Jonas
  • Saint Lauto
  • Saint Lioba
  • Saint Lolanus
  • Saint Maurice
  • Saint Phocas
  • Saint Salaberga
  • Saint Sanctinus
  • Saint Thomas of Villanueva
  • Saint David's Day
• In ancient Greece, the ninth and final day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the initiates made offerings to the dead.
• In ancient Latvia, the first day of Mikeli, the Catching of Jumis.
• In Europe and in cities throughout the world, Car Free Day.
• Hobbit Day, the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, is observed by fans of J.R.R. Tolkien.

September 21 � September 23 � August 22 � October 22 � more historical anniversaries