What Happened On
U.S. soldiers watch as a TOW missile strikes the location of Uday and Qusay Hussein
U.S. soldiers watch as a TOW missile strikes the location of Uday and Qusay Hussein
Iraq War - Uday and Qusay Hussein Killed
July 22, 2003
American troops kill Saddam Hussein's two sons, Uday and Qusay, during a raid on a home in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Also killed in the battle was Qusay's 14-year-old son and a bodyguard. Their location was given away by tipster who was awarded the $30 million dollar reward for information leading to their capture.
Jeffrey Dahmer Caught
July 22, 1991
Milwaukee police find human body parts in Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment. Earlier that day, Dahmer offered a man $100 to pose for nude photographs. After entering Dahmer's apartment, Dahmer attempted to handcuff the man and attacked him with a knife saying he planned to eat his heart. The man managed to escape with one wrist handcuffed and flagged down police officers. When they went into the apartment to get the handcuff key they found Polaroid pictures of human bodies in various stages of dismemberment. A further search of the apartment found four severed human heads in the kitchen, two human hearts and other body parts in the refrigerator - and more body parts in the freezer. Scattered throughout the apartment were two complete skeletons and numerous skulls and bones. The following day he would confess to having murdered 16 young men in Wisconsin since 1987, and another victim killed in Ohio in 1978.
In 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death in prison.
John Dillinger Killed? - Or FBI Cover-Up?
July 22, 1934
John Dillinger, the bank robber noted for his daring prison escapes, is reportedly killed outside a Chicago movie house by FBI agents. However, the autopsy, witnessed by more than 40 doctors, had several notable discrepancies: The wrong eye color, height, weight, and no mention of certain known scars. The corpse had teeth that Dillinger was known to be missing. The corpse had a heart condition that was inconsistent with Dillinger's medical history. Even Dillinger's own father said the corpse was not that of his son. The gun the FBI for years claimed he was carrying when killed wasn't even manufactured until after his death. Some claim the person killed this day was actually Jimmy Lawrence, a petty criminal who looked like Dillinger. On the other hand, his sister did confirm the corpse as that of her brother. The corpse's fingerprints, although believed to have been altered by burning them with acid, showed similarities to Dillinger's fingerprints.
Lost Colony of Roanoke
July 22, 1587
A group of 117 colonists land on Roanoke Island. A month later, Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas was born there. Three years later, a relief party would return to the colony to find all of the colonists missing, including Virginia Dare. The only clue to their fate was the word "CROATOAN" carved on a post. Although their fate has never been determined, some believe the colonists joined with the local tribes, such as the Croatans. There are other reports that the colonists were slaughtered by Chief Powhatan because they had merged with a rival tribe.
TV Strike
July 22, 1980
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) joins the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike. The strike boycotted that year's prime-time Emmy awards, with Powers Boothe the only one of the 52 nominated actors to attend, and caused the delay of the start of the fall TV season.
The strike ended October 3, when the guild ratified a new pact for a 32.25% increase in minimum salaries and a 4.5% share of movies made for pay TV.
Federal Home Loan Bank Board
July 22, 1932
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board is established. Its duties included supervising and regulating savings institutions.
Birthdays
Photo Credit: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS
Photo Credit: ANDERS KRUSBERG / PEABODY AWARDS
Alex Trebek
Born July 22, 1940 d. 2020
Canadian-American Emmy-winning game show host. TV: The $128,000 Question (1977-78) and Jeopardy! (1984-2020).
First Woman Movie Stunt Pilot
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes
Born July 22, 1901 d. 1975
American aviator. She was the first woman movie stunt pilot (1929, Hell's Angels). She was portrayed in the film The Right Stuff (1983).
Emma Lazarus
Born July 22, 1849 d. 1887
American poet. She wrote the poem inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. The famous poem contains the famous lines,
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Rap Music Killer
Ronald Ray Howard
Born July 22, 1973 d. 2005
American criminal, "Rap Music Killer." He was executed for the 1992 murder of a state trooper. He claimed the anti-police rap music he was listening to made him do it.
John Leguizamo
Born July 22, 1964
Emmy-winning Columbian actor. Film: Spawn (1997, Clown/Violator) and Ice Age (2002, voice of Sid).
David Spade
Born July 22, 1964
American actor, comedian. TV: Saturday Night Live (1990-96) and Just Shoot Me! (1997). Film: Tommy Boy (1995), Joe Dirt (2001).
Willem Dafoe
Born July 22, 1955
American actor. Film: Platoon (1986, Sgt. Elias), Mississippi Burning (1988), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, title role), and Spider-Man (2002, Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin).
Don Henley
Born July 22, 1947
American drummer, with The Eagles. Music: Take It Easy (1972), Hotel California (1976, #1), and Smuggler's Blues (1985).
Albert Brooks (Albert Einstein)
Born July 22, 1947
American actor, writer. Film: Broadcast News (1987), Finding Nemo (2003, Marlin), and Drive (2011). He is the brother of Super Dave Osborne.
Danny Glover
Born July 22, 1946
American actor. Film: The Color Purple (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987) and Antz (1998, voices of various ants).
Louise Fletcher
Born July 22, 1934 d. 2022
American Oscar-winning actress. Film: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Oscar, evil Nurse Ratched). TV: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-99, Kai Winn Adami).
Oscar de la Renta (Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo)
Born July 22, 1932 d. 2014
Dominican-born American fashion designer. He designed gowns worn by U.S. First Ladies Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama.
Orson Bean (Dallas Frederick Burrows)
Born July 22, 1928 d. 2020
American comic, quiz-show panelist. TV: To Tell the Truth (1963-68) and appeared on The Tonight Show over 200 times.
Bob Dole (Robert Joseph Dole)
Born July 22, 1923 d. 2021
American politician, Senator (R-Kansas, 1969-96), Senate Minority Leader.
Dan Rowan
Born July 22, 1922 d. 1987
American comedian. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
Alexander Calder and his La Grande Vitesse (1969)
Alexander Calder and his La Grande Vitesse (1969)
Inventor of the Mobile
Alexander Calder
Born July 22, 1898 d. 1976
American sculptor, painter. He invented the mobile (1931). He is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.
Selman Abraham Waksman
Born July 22, 1888 d. 1973
Ukrainian-born American Nobel-winning microbiologist. While a professor at Rutgers University, he and student Albert Schatz discovered streptomycin, the first antibiotic to successfully treat tuberculosis (1944). He also coined the term "antibiotic," which means "against life."
Floretta McCutcheon
Born July 22, 1888 d. 1967
American bowler. Although considered the greatest woman bowler of all time, she had never held a bowling ball until she was 33. She bowled 10 perfect games of 300 points.
Gustav Hertz
Born July 22, 1887 d. 1975
German quantum physicist. He and James Franck received the Nobel Prize for Physics (1925) for confirming the quantum theory that energy can be absorbed by an atom only in definite amounts.
Rev. William Archibald Spooner
Born July 22, 1844 d. 1930
Spoonerisms are named after him (The reversal of parts of words in a sentence). He once called Queen Victoria "queer old dean" and asked if it was "kisstomary to cuss the bride."
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
Born July 22, 1784 d. 1846
German astronomer. He was the first to measure the distance to a star other than the Sun (1838, 61 Cygni at 11.4 light years).
Deaths
John Dillinger
Died July 22, 1934 b. 1903
American outlaw, bank robber, noted for his daring prison escapes. Although he was supposedly killed outside a Chicago movie house by FBI agents, the autopsy, witnessed by more than 40 doctors, had several notable discrepancies: The wrong eye color, height, weight, and no mention of certain known scars.
Sir Sandford Fleming
Died July 22, 1915 b. 1827
Canadian railroad engineer. He was responsible for establishing time zones (1878). He also designed the first Canadian postage stamp (1851). In values of 3d, 6d, and 12d, and featuring a beaver they were the world's first official postage stamps to feature an animal.
George Crumb (George Speck)
Died July 22, 1914 b. circa 1824
American chef. He is often credited with inventing the potato chip (c1853) after a customer complained that his french fries were too thick. They became known as Saratoga Chips. However, recipes for potato chips had been published in cook books long before his claims of invention.
Estelle Getty
Died July 22, 2008 b. 1923
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Golden Girls (1985-92, Sophia) and Empty Nest (1993-95).
Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti
Died July 22, 2003 b. 1964
eldest son of Saddam Hussein and his first wife. In 1988, at a party thrown in the honor of the wife of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Uday beat to death his father's personal valet with a cane in front of horrified guests before finishing him off with an electric carving knife. The valet had recently introduced his father Saddam to a beautiful, younger woman who later became Saddam's second wife. Uday took this as an insult to his mother. He also tortured Iraqi Olympic athletes who failed to win. Uday and his brother Qusay were killed by U.S. troops during the Iraq War.
Roscoe Robinson Jr.
Died July 22, 1993 b. 1928
American brigadier general, first black U.S. four-star general.
Marty Mann
Died July 22, 1980 b. 1904
American social activist, founder of the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism (1944).
Carl Sandburg
Died July 22, 1967 b. 1878
American Pulitzer-winning poet and Abraham Lincoln biographer.
Reginald Fessenden
Died July 22, 1932 b. 1866
Canadian inventor. He invented the radio transmission method of continuous wave and made the first long-range radio transmission of voice (1906).
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Died July 22, 1932 b. 1867
American theatrical producer. Creator of Ziegfeld Follies (1907). He was married to actress Billie Burke who played Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
James Whitcomb Riley
Died July 22, 1916 b. 1849
American author. The Hoosier Poet. He wrote the poem Little Orphant Annie (1885), upon which the comic strip by Harold Gray was based. Originally published as The Elf Child, Riley decided to rename it Little Orphant Allie for the 3rd edition. However, a printer mistakenly typeset it as Little Orphant Annie and the name stuck.
The poem was based on twelve-year-old orphan Mary Alice "Allie" Smith, whom Riley's family took in as a "bound" servant to help his mother with the housework when Riley was a child.
"Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;"
Cassius Marcellus Clay
Died July 22, 1903 b. 1810
American politician, anti-slavery advocate. Known as "The Lion of White Hall." He published the abolitionist weekly The True American (1845) and served as U.S. minister to Russia (1861-69) where he helped with the U.S. purchase of Alaska.
John Augustus Roebling
Died July 22, 1869 b. 1806
German-born American civil engineer. He was the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge. His use of wire rope enabled him to build suspension bridges thought impossible by other engineers. He died of tetanus from injuries received while inspecting the Brooklyn Bridge.
Giuseppe Piazzi
Died July 22, 1826 b. 1746
Italian astronomer. He was the first to discover an asteroid (1801, Ceres).
Clement X
Died July 22, 1676 b. 1590
Italian religious leader, 239th Pope (1670-76).