17 + (1+7) = 25, 25 + (2+5) = 32, etc.
What Happened On
Photo Credit: Jericho
U.S. National Debt Reaches $1 Trillion
October 22, 1981
It took until 1974 to reach $500 billion in debt. That amount doubled in only seven years to reach $1 trillion.
When U.S. President Ronald Reagan took office in January of 1981, the gross domestic debt, as a percentage of the nation's annual income, had reached 32.5% - its lowest point since 1931. However, a series of tax cuts and expanded military spending and Reagan's economic policies raised the national debt from approximately $900 billion to over $2 trillion. His administration transformed the United States from the world's leading creditor (as late as 1983) to the number-one debtor by 1986.
First Pictures from Another Planet
October 22, 1975
The Soviet Venera 9 transmits pictures from the surface of Venus. The lander portion of the craft touched down and operated for 53 minutes, allowing the return of this single image. The orbiter portion of the craft was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Xerox
First Xerox Copy
October 22, 1938
Chester F. Carlson and Otto Kornei succeed in electronically copying the message from a glass slide to a sheet of wax paper. Xerography is from the Greek words xeros ("dry") and graphein ("writing"). Kornei was not impressed with the results and left Carlson.
Carlson would wait until exactly 10 years later to the day to announce his discovery to the world. He approached IBM with his invention, but they turned it down. In 1947, Carlson sold the rights to the Haloid Company (later renamed Xerox), who used the technology to create the Xerox 914 in 1959. It was the first plain paper photocopier, and has been called the "most successful product of all time."
Houdini Fatally Punched in Stomach
October 22, 1926
The famous magician Harry Houdini is struck four times by a college student challenging his ability to withstand blows to the stomach. Houdini, who was unprepared for the attack and had acute appendicitis, died nine days later. Houdini was famous for his ability to take blows to the stomach. While Houdini was reclining on a coach having his portrait sketched, a college student asked, "if he believed in the miracles of the Bible" and "whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him?" Before Houdini could prepare, the student then began punching Houdini in the abdomen. It is believed that these blows aggravated an existing case of appendicitis that Houdini was unaware of. Houdini remained in pain and on October 24th he developed a 104 °F (40 °C) fever. However, he refused medical help and performed his act that night. Afterwards he was hospitalized and died on October 31st.
Montparnasse Train Wreck
October 22, 1895
The Montparnasse derailment occurred when the Granville-Paris Express overran the buffer stop at its Gare Montparnasse terminus. The driver was trying to make up for lost time and entered the station too fast and the train's air brakes failed to stop it. After running through the buffer stop, the train crossed the station concourse and crashed through the station wall. The train fell onto the road below, where it stood on its nose. A woman in the street below was killed by falling masonry. The driver was fined 50 francs for approaching the station too fast and one of the guards was fined 25 francs because he had been doing paperwork and failed to apply the handbrake.
The End of the World - and the Start of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
October 22, 1844
After several previous failed predictions, October 22, 1844 is chosen to be the end of the world, according to the religious followers of William Miller (Millerites), many of whom gave away their earthly possessions in preparation for the event. Their prediction was based on the 2300 day prophecy in Daniel 8:14 from the Bible: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Miller assumed that the cleansing represented the Earth's purification by fire at Christ's Second Coming. Using the "day-year principle," Miller interpreted a day to mean a calendar year. Setting the starting date to the 457 B.C. decree to rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes I of Persia, he concluded that end of the world would occur between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When that didn't happen, they assumed they had gotten their Biblical chronologies wrong and set the new date for April 18, 1844 using the Karaite Jewish calendar (as opposed to the Rabbinic calendar they had used previously). When that didn't happen, his followers adjusted the prediction to October 22. The failure of this prediction became known as "The Great Disappointment."
Some of the disappointed Millerites left the group and went on to form the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
First President of the Republic of Texas
October 22, 1836
Sam Houston is sworn in as the first president of the Republic of Texas. Having defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto earlier that year, paving the way for Texas' independence, he was a hero to Texans.
In 1837, the capital of Texas was moved to Houston, which was named for him (it was later moved to Austin).
First Parachute Jump
October 22, 1797
André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first frameless parachute jump. His parachute was an umbrella-like design of white canvas with a diameter of approximately 23 feet (7 m). Garnerin rode in a basket attached to the bottom of the parachute. The parachute and basket were suspended below a hot air balloon via a rope running through the center pole of the umbrella. At a height of approximately 3,000 feet (1,000 m) he severed the rope connecting his parachute to the balloon. Even though the basket swung wildly during the descent, Garnerin emerged uninjured.
Earliest Record of a Solar Eclipse
October 22, 2134 B.C.
The Chinese make records of the celestial event.
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 22, 1962
U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces the presence of an offensive Soviet missile buildup in Cuba.
World Record for an Hour's Typing
October 22, 1923
Albert Tangora of New Jersey averages 147 words per minute. Source: Guinness Book of World Records
Amelia Earhart
October 22, 1922
The famed aviator Amelia Earhart flies to an altitude of 14,000 feet (4,300 m), setting a world record for female pilots and her first of many records.
Metropolitan Opera House
October 22, 1883
Metropolitan Opera House opens in New York.
Princeton University
October 22, 1746
College of New Jersey is founded. It was later renamed Princeton. Princeton was the first to use the word "campus" (c 1774).
Birthdays
Annette Funicello
Born October 22, 1942 d. 2013
American actress. Mouseketeer on the original The Mickey Mouse Club and star of 1960s Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon. Film: The Shaggy Dog (1959).
At one time, she dated singer/songwriter Paul Anka and he wrote his hit song Puppy Love about her.
She died of complications due to multiple sclerosis.
Christopher Lloyd
Born October 22, 1938
American Emmy-winning actor. Film: Back to the Future (1985, Doc), The Addams Family (1991, Uncle Fester), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Max Taber). TV: Taxi (1978-83, Reverend Jim).
Curly Howard (Jerome Lester Horwitz)
Born October 22, 1903 d. 1952
American comic actor. One of the Three-Stooges. Known for phrases such as "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!", "woob-woob-woob!", and "soitenly!" Curly joined the Stooges in 1932, replacing his brother Shemp Howard.
He died at the age of 48 after a series of strokes that began at the age of 42.
Sarah Bernhardt (Rosine Bernard)
Born October 22, 1844 d. 1923
French actress, called Divine Sarah. She is considered the first great actress to appear in a motion picture (1900). She suffered an injury to her knee when she leaped off the parapet during a performance of La Tosca. The mattress on which she was to land was misplaced, and she landed on the boards. This injury never healed properly, and led to the eventual amputation of her leg (1915). She continued her successful career after the amputation.
She also starred in the first feature-length film shown in the U.S. (1912, Queen Elizabeth).
Jeff Goldblum
Born October 22, 1952
American actor. Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Transylvania 6-5000 (1985), and The Fly (1986).
Squeaky Fromme (Lynette Alice Fromme)
Born October 22, 1948
Charles Manson follower. She was convicted of attempting to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford (1975).
Catherine Deneuve (Catherine Dorléac)
Born October 22, 1943
French actress, international film star. Film: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, French Film Academy Award) and Belle de Jour (1967).
Bobby Fuller
Born October 22, 1942 d. 1966
American singer, songwriter, formed The Bobby Fuller Four. Music: I Fought the Law (1966). He died in a mysterious car accident just as the group was taking off.
Tony Roberts
Born October 22, 1939
American actor. Film: Play It Again, Sam (1972) and Annie Hall (1977).
Bobby Seale
Born October 22, 1936
American political activist. He co-founded the Black Panthers (1966) with Huey Newton.
Timothy Leary
Born October 22, 1920 d. 1996
American psychologist. He promoted the psychedelic experience of the '60s with his famous phrase "Turn on, tune in, and drop out." U.S. President Richard Nixon called him "the most dangerous man in America."
Joan Fontaine (Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland)
Born October 22, 1917 d. 2013
British-American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Suspicion (1941, Oscar). She and her sister Olivia de Havilland are the only siblings to have won lead acting Oscars.
Sidney Kingsley (Sidney Kirshner)
Born October 22, 1906 d. 1995
American Pulitzer-winning playwright. Writings: Men in White (1933, Pulitzer) and Night Life (1962).
Franz Liszt
Born October 22, 1811 d. 1886
Hungarian composer. He is famous for his Hungarian rhapsodies.
Deaths
First Black Admiral in the U.S. Navy
Samuel L. Gravely, Jr.
Died October 22, 2004 b. 1922
American military leader. First black admiral in the U.S. Navy (1971). Gravely was also the first black in the U.S. Navy to serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer, the first to command a Navy ship, and the first fleet commander, the first to become a flag officer.
Gravely began his seagoing career as the only black officer aboard the submarine chaser USS PC-1264, which was one of two U.S. Navy ships (the other being USS Mason) with a predominantly black enlisted crew. Before June 1, 1942, African Americans could only enlist in the Navy as messmen; PC-1264 and Mason were intended to test the ability of African Americans to perform general Navy service.
Inventor of the Popsicle
Frank Epperson
Died October 22, 1983 b. 1894
American inventor. Patented the Popsicle (1924). He claimed he discovered it when he was eleven years old and accidentally left a glass of lemonade with a mixing stick on a windowsill overnight causing it to freeze.
He originally called it the "Epsicle."
Annie Jones
Died October 22, 1902 b. 1865
American bearded woman. Jones joined P.T. Barnum's circus as a child of only nine months, for which her parents received a salary of $150 (over $2000 in today's money) a week. By the age of five, she had a mustache and sideburns and was known as the "Bearded Girl."
William Barton
Died October 22, 1831 b. 1748
American Revolutionary officer. Famous for his capture of the British general Robert Prescott in 1777. He also helped design the Great Seal of the U.S. It bore a spread eagle with the motto "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one).
First President of the Continental Congress
Peyton Randolph
Died October 22, 1775 b. 1721
American patriot. First and third president of the Continental Congress (1774, 1774-75). He also served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1766-1775).
Peter Scolari
Died October 22, 2021 b. 1955
American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Bosom Buddies (1980-82, cross-dresser Henry/Hildegarde), Newhart (1984-90, Michael Harris). and Girls (2012-17, Tad Horvath).
Soupy Sales (Milton Supman)
Died October 22, 2009 b. 1926
American comedian. TV: What's My Line? (1968-75).
Arthur Hill
Died October 22, 2006 b. 1922
Canadian Tony-winning actor. Stage: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962, Tony). TV: Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971-74, title role).
Cleavon Little
Died October 22, 1992 b. 1939
American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. Film: Blazing Saddles (1974, the sheriff).