Updated May 21, 2012, 2:28 pm
On May 22, 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.
Go to article »On May 22, 1859, Arthur Conan Doyle, the British writer best known for his creation of the detective Sherlock Holmes, was born. Following his death on July 7, 1930, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1813 Composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany. 1859 Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Canon Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1861 In what is generally regarded as the first Union combat fatality of the Civil War, Pvt. Thornsbury Bailey Brown was shot and killed by a Confederate soldier at Fetterman Bridge in present-day West Virginia. 1868 The Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in cash, gold and bonds. 1907 Actor Laurence Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England. 1947 The Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. 1960 A magnitude 9.5 earthquake, the strongest on record, struck southern Chile. Approximately 1,655 people were killed and 3,000 injured. 1972 The island nation of Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka with the adoption of a new constitution. 1990 North Yemen and South Yemen merged to form the Republic of Yemen. 1992 Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the last time after nearly 30 years in the job. 1998 Voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland cast ballots giving resounding approval to a Northern Ireland peace accord. 2002 A jury in Birmingham, Ala., convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry of murder in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. 2002 The remains of Chandra Levy, a federal intern who had beem more than a year, were found in a Washington, D.C., park. (An illegal immigrant from El Salvador was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 60 years in prison.) 2011 A tornado devastated Joplin, Mo., claiming at least 159 lives and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens turns today.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno turns today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
1922 Judith Crist, Film critic, turns 90 1938 Richard Benjamin, Actor, director, turns 74 1940 Bernard Shaw, Broadcast journalist, turns 72 1950 Bernie Taupin, Songwriter, turns 62 1957 Lisa Murkowski, U.S. senator, R-Alaska, turns 55 1959 Morrissey, Rock singer, turns 53 1961 Ann Cusack, Actress, turns 51 1970 Naomi Campbell, Model, turns 42 1972 Anna Belknap, Actress (“CSI: NY”), turns 40 1972 Alison Eastwood, Actress, director, turns 40 1978 Ginnifer Goodwin, Actress (“Big Love”), turns 34 1979 Maggie Q, Actress, turns 33 1987 Novak Djokovic, Tennis player, turns 25
Historic Birthdays
Arthur Conan Doyle 5/22/1859 – 7/7/1930 English writer.Go to obituary »
76 Louis de Buade Frontenac 5/22/1622 – 11/28/1698
French courtier and governor of New France (1672-82, 1689-98)77 Francois-Joachim Bernis 5/22/1717 – 11/3/1794
French statesman and cardinal69 Richard Wagner 5/22/1813 – 2/13/1883
German composer42 Albrecht von Grafe 5/22/1828 – 7/20/1870
German surgeon and pioneering ophthalmologist67 Catulle Mendes 5/22/1841 – 2/9/1909
French poet, playwright and novelist82 Mary Cassatt 5/22/1844 – 6/14/1926
American Impressionist painter and printmaker39 Giacomo Matteotti 5/22/1885 – 6/10/1924
Italian Socialist leader assassinated by the Fascists in 192467 Johannes Becher 5/22/1891 – 10/11/1958
German poet, critic, editor and government official82 Laurence Olivier 5/22/1907 – 7/11/1989
English stage and film actor, director and producer
