On This Day - October 22nd
October 22nd is no ordinary date. So many things have taken place today and continue to every single year! Congratulations if you’re already celebrating a birthday or anniversary – ever wondered who you share your special occasion with? Here are some of the most interesting things to have ever taken place today, along with some famous birthdays you could have bragging rights over.
On this day
Civil War broke out in Portugal.
The 1383-1385 crisis broke out in Portugal as King Fernando died. He left the country with no male heir to the Portuguese throne which led to a period of Civil War across the nation.
The Scilly Naval Disaster took place.
In 1707, the Scilly Naval Disaster took place, during which four Royal Navy warships were shipwrecked, and 1400 men died during a storm off the Scilly Isles. This event led to the 1714 British Act of Parliament competition to scout out longitude at sea.
The first-ever parachute descent took place.
In 1797, Andre-Jacques Garnerin made history as he made the first-ever parachute descent. He did so from a balloon in Paris – and, thankfully, parachute technology has only improved since then!
GMT was adopted worldwide.
In 1884, the International Meridian Conference in Washington DC finally adopted GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time. In so doing, they created 24 international time zones with the longitude zero at the Greenwich meridian.
A car dealership opened in London!
In 1897, the world’s first-ever car dealer opened in London. The city is now filled with over 1,700 car dealers!
Special Days Falling on October 22nd
As mentioned above, October 22nd happens to be an important date every year for many people around the world. Here are some of the reasons why.
International Stuttering Awareness Day
Stuttering can affect children just as it can affect adults. It is a disorder that makes the person speaking repeat themselves, using strange stops and creating sounds that block the flow of their speech. It can also lead to abnormal body movements that accompany impaired speech. Today’s a great day to learn more about the condition and how people live with it!
National Nut Day
Yes, really! There’s a whole day dedicated to nuts – whether you’re partial to a cashew or a Brazil nut, October 22nd is dedicated to these crunchy and often sweet snacks that grow all over the world. Nuts such as almonds, too, are fantastic flavor-adders for a variety of dishes and desserts. If you’re not a big fan of nuts, you might want to look the other way today – but if you’re the opposite, it’s a great excuse to grab a bag and have your fill.
International Caps Lock Day
NO ONE LIKES BEING SHOUTED AT VIA TEXT! However, today is dedicated to the wonderful caps lock key or button we all have on our computers and phones. It also serves as a means to remind us that using all caps in our conversations, tweets, and so on isn’t proper etiquette and can be misinterpreted!
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This page was last modified on October 21, 2023. Suggest an edit
This month in history
In 1967, tens of thousands of anti-war protesters stormed the US Pentagon during a stand against the Vietnam War. Around 250 people were arrested, and many were struck with nightsticks and rifle butts.
Famous Birthdays on October 22nd
If you were born on October 22nd…
…you’re a Libra! In fact, you are on the last Libra day of the year! But that doesn’t make you any less Libra than the rest of them. You’re still as level-headed, kind, and generous as the rest – and, hopefully, your friends and family love you all the more for it.
You share a birthday with thousands upon thousands of other Libras today – why not mark the occasion and take a look at some of the fantastic facts we’ve lined up about Libra on our Fact City page? Who knows – you might learn something new about yourself!
